Was There a Fictional Work Helped You Realize the Truth About the (T)ruth?

by BabaYaga 50 Replies latest social entertainment

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  BabaYaga

  The pen really can be mightier than the sword, and even fiction often carries much weight and powerful messages.

  Did you read a book or watch a movie that made you think? Did an "entertaining" work plant a seed of doubt?

  For me, there were several. The first one I can remember making a definate comparison to the Witnesses in my mind was Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.

  Mention is made of the Martians understanding that art and science and religion could co-exist. I was always appalled that the WT literature always seemed to be pitted against science, as if there were two separate teams. In my mind, they really could coexist. In the (T)ruth, apparently they could not.

  I just found the quote:

  "They quit trying too hard to destroy everything, to humble everything. They blended religion and art and science, because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle. They never let science crush the aesthetic and the beautiful."

  What were your fictional gems, that helped to open your eyes?
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  quietlyleaving

  I can't think of a single work off hand but there have been some. I think any work of "fiction" that enables one to develop the art of mindfulness/disinterestedness is a gem especially for those of us who have been taught to live our lives in a non-mindful/non-disinterested fashion. I think in this sense parts of the Bible have to figure imo
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  BabaYaga

  I agree, Quietly. But surely you can think of one of your examples, nudge nudge?

  Another one for me was the movie (ironically enough, entitled) "Witness" with Harrison Ford. A very young Amish boy witnesses a murder, and is needed to identify the killer. All of a sudden, not of his actions or will, his Amish bubble is shattered. I remember thinking that there was no way he could ever see his Amish community the same way again, and that was not his fault. It was pretty clear to me that in the fictional continuation of the story, he would no longer be Amish.

  Again... "just a story" really got me thinking.
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  stillajwexelder

  1984 George Orwell
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  JWoods

  The novels Atlas Shrugged and Brave New World. The movie THX1138.

  They all illuminated for me exactly what the Society Vision of the New World would really be like.
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  Dune

  1984.

  I read it in the 11th grade and re-read it several times. I didn't notice the similarities then, but looking back its almost scary how similar the JW heirachy is to 'the party.
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  Olin Moyles Ghost

  Yes. The Bible.
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  JeffT

  I don't think a work of fiction influenced my decision to leave, although there are a number where I can see similarities to JWism. 1984, "The Village"

  I've written a novel "Armageddon's Disciples" about a completely fictitious religion, but it is based on my life as a JW. I've been trying to find an agent and sell it. Last week I sent a query to the agency that represented "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed." We'll see what happens. I hope that as a work of fiction it might open some eyes.
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  PSacramento

  The Shack,

  It reminded me how crucial Love is and how much God truly loves us, no matter how much we don't deserve it.
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  undercover

  Yes. The Bible.

  Ditto. When I started having serious doublts, I took the time to read whole sections of the Bible instead of prescribed snippets suggested by the Society. The deeper I got into it, the more I realized that it was not only not God's Word, it was as much fiction as it was anything else.

  Nothing really helped me realize anything before, but after leaving I found several works of fiction that captured the essence of being trapped in a cult.

  I had read 1984 in high school but didn't think much of it then. I reread it after leaving and was able to really relate to it in a way I couldn't before.

  The movie The Village was a good analogy of life inside the Watchtower world, though I'm sure the screenwriter/director never meant for it to relate to JWs specifically. I think that movie was less popular than his other ones because one really had to have been in a similar figurative situation that would help them understand the story better.

  I also liked V for Vendetta. I loved the symbolisms in this movie. I went back and read the graphic novel afterwards. Liked the movie better.

  This next one is going to be hard to explain. It's not on the surface, it's underlying...really deep. It might even be a bit of a stretch, but I connected it so maybe someone else will have as well.

  I started watching MadMen on AMC and loved the show. The styles, the dress, the cool factor, the characters. Then part way through the second season, I suddenly realized that I could relate to the main character Don Draper. He was a man with a dark past. He had survived a terrible ordeal but in doing so, he had to change his entire life...including his identity. That old identity, no matter how hard he tried to forget it kept coming back to haunt him. Having lived under the shadow of his past had changed him. For the good? That's up to the viewer to decide, but watching his character struggle with his relationships, his past and his sometimes destructive behavior, it made me think of what its like to leave the JW lifestyle, change your life, your personality yet have it come back and haunt you when you least expect it and how we'll deal with that struggle.