UBM strategies: Befriend the KH outcasts

by Check_Your_Premises 45 Replies latest jw friends

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises

    I also never said, and I certainly never implied that anybody should "kiss ass" or "bend over backward".

    I think it is very important for the sanity of the ubm to speak about the things that trouble them. If you do it in a way that focus' ONLY on the person (not on the org), and are VERY humble about it, they respond and take the costs you have had to bear to heart. In fact it is quite troubling for them to see their honest, humble spouse being forced to bear the costs of their decision.

    If you scream, "I hate the WT cuz you are never around!!!" don't expect alot of sympathy. They will chalk it up to you "just looking for things to complain about".

    CYP

  • carla
    carla

    If you scream, "I hate the WT cuz you are never around!!!" don't expect alot of sympathy. They will chalk it up to you "just looking for things to complain about".

    I don't think anyone here does that CYP. Just because we say things here doesn't mean we say them to our spouse. This was supposed to be place to vent as well as exchange ideas.

    It is difficult to have real conversations when the wt is the problem. When a person has taken on an entirely different personality I think it is appropriate to place the blame where it belongs, on the cult and his choice to join. I am not the only to see this, friends, family and even just aquaintances. So I don't think trying to make me out to look like the nut case here is appropriate either. I am not going around screaming at him. He does his thing no matter what anybody thinks anyway. It is not open warfare.

    He can see he has broken the hearts of his family and yet is unable to address it because then it would be going against the org. He would have to take a hard look at the org and it's policies, something he is not ready to do.

    I don't think there is one magic bullet you may be suggesting. From what I have read there are as many different reasons for leaving as grains of sand. But in the meantime the rest of the family still has to lead their lives, with or without him. We still need to laugh, play, and have an emotional bond. Something the wt discourages. My kids need to see that life will go on and even happily. It is his choice to limit his time, and emotions from his family. That doesn't mean I have given up.

    Maybe the jw's level of fanaticism is a factor that some have not thought of in this issue. Even if they see the costs the family has had to bear because of their involvement with the wt it may make no difference anyway, how can we compete with someone who can offer you your salvation and eternal paradise earth?

  • M.J.
    M.J.
    Hassan does not cover that issue, from what I remember.



    Actually, I feel Hassan sort of specializes in it. Much of his stuff is directed toward people whose loved one is locked up in some commune. You can't get more invasive than that.

    To be honest, I never have experienced what you describe. My wife never talks to the elders about anything, much less about me. Zip. Maybe an occasional "conscience" question, but they are of little help. In fact, I'm the one who blabs more to others about what she says to ME than anything else (not something I'm totally proud of).

    I think such a situation is symptomatic of an adversarial relationship between you two. Looks like an area that you both should work on together. The key is building more trust on both sides. It is possible to come to an agreement to not violate each others trust.

    Edited to add: Think for a moment, about this possibility: you may actually be driving him to his current level of fanaticism. I've noticed that since I've switched over to my current approach, her fanatic level actually went DOWN, not UP.

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises
    I don't think anyone here does that CYP. Just because we say things here doesn't mean we say them to our spouse. This was supposed to be place to vent as well as exchange ideas.

    Well I wasn't saying anybody here necessarily did that. IT was the most extreme example of what won't work. I think it is equally pointless to bring before your spouse any cost you have had to bear as a result of their choice, with the conclusion of your argument being, "the WT is bad!!".

    Rule #1 never insult the org.

    Rather I try to focus ONLY on my spouse's behaviour, or the consequences I have had to deal with. I then don't expect her to conclude that the WT is bad. I am not trying to win an argument. I just let her know that she has a responsiblity to try to lessen those costs. If that isn't possible, she has a responsibility to try to offset them. It is not done in an angry way. It is not done in anyway that is spiteful. IT is done only as an appeal to fairness. I always show her religion and her faith respect. I MUST do this if I expect her to respect me.

    I am not telling you that you or anybody else are doing anything wrong. I know that you don't say the things to your husband that you say here. BUt even if you don't say those things here, your attitude is clear. Whatever you say to your husband, don't kid yourself that your attitude doesn't come through loud and clear. I know it isn't fair. I know they act like jackasses. If you ever think you are going to get them to be fair, you are kidding yourself.

    I am just pointing out some problems I have encountered and how I have dealt with them. I have pointed out some things that have worked very well for me. I understand that if some folks are to disgusted to be in the same room with a JW. Beleive me. I guess it is a matter of what you are willing to do to win. I have children at stake here. There is nothing I wont' do.

    CYP

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises

    JGnat,

    There is one other point I would add to this discussion, since it bears directly to it.

    IN GENERAL, negative emotions are only useful in the short term. Jealousy, anger, fear... these are usually shocking and powerful. They focus our mind to the danger that we didn't see before.

    After that, they don't have much use. They cause us to be unbalanced and unhinged and desperate and out of control.

    I have found it is best to use the focus given by these negative emotions to figure out what my situation is, how I got into it, determine the nature of the threat, the nature of the consequences, and then come up with a plan to deal with it. Once I do those things, the raw negative emotions usually give way to a cool, yet resolved, determination.

    CYP

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Carla, keep in mind that the man you married is buried inside that cult shell somewhere. There are two - very different - personalities my husband presents. His natural personality, which is the man I fell in love with, and the cult personality. The cult personality is a pain. The cult personality is stuck-up, judgemental, fearful, and cold. Nevertheless, by "making friends" with the cult personality, in other words, not declaring overt warfare, paradoxically it relaxes. You have less of a fanatic.

    Now, you get to see the man you married more often. Talk to that man, about everything non-cult under the sun. His interests, hobbies, reminisces of his time BEFORE the cult.

    The more my man skips the meetings, the farther away that cult personality fades. Yaay!

  • carla
    carla

    I feel Hassan sort of specializes in it. Much of his stuff is directed toward people whose loved one is locked up in some commune. You can't get more invasive than that.-----------------What he does not deal with is how spouses are supposed to have private conversations when nothing is private anymore.

    Edited to add: Think for a moment, about this possibility: you may actually be driving him to his current level of fanaticism. I've noticed that since I've switched over to my current approach, her fanatic level actually went DOWN, not UP.-------------Sounds like blame the victim here to me. I don’t even talk to him about jw stuff at the moment and haven’t in awhile. He on his own asked about a certain subject lately, in a calm manner I explained a little and he said he would check into it further. How exactly is that driving him into the org further?

    Whatever you say to your husband, don't kid yourself that your attitude doesn't come through loud and clear. -------MY negative attitude toward the wt you mean? Well, yeah I guess I get a negative attitude about groups that condone pedophiles, spread false prophecies, destroy families, etc… That’s just me though. I tend to get a bit

    testy about those things. I also get testy when they have influence over my financial situation, which only occurs after he has spent any amount of time with elders. Then the goofy ideas come and at times I have no say so in the matter. He already knows I have a negative attitude about the org to pretend to do otherwise would be just that, pretending. Just because I say certain things here does mean I even talk to him about them.

    I have children at stake here. -------Me too. That’s why I would never let my children near them and certainly never alone with them. Not only for their physical safety but emotional and spiritual well being as well.

    JGnat,

    There is one other point I would add to this discussion, since it bears directly to it.

    IN GENERAL, negative emotions are only useful in the short term. Jealousy, anger, fear... these are usually shocking and powerful. They focus our mind to the danger that we didn't see before.

    After that, they don't have much use. They cause us to be unbalanced and unhinged and desperate and out of control.

    I have found it is best to use the focus given by these negative emotions to figure out what my situation is, how I got into it, determine the nature of the threat, the nature of the consequences, and then come up with a plan to deal with it. Once I do those things, the raw negative emotions usually give way to a cool, yet resolved, determination.

    CYP-----------------------------------------Not sure if you are directing that at me CYP, but I am not unbalanced, unhinged or out of control. I am merely trying to figure out how to get on with my life the best as possible having a spouse who is in a destructive cult. Nevermind all the emotional damage, I also need to figure out financially what I am going to do. Most men do not give up their earning potentials to raise children and take care of the home and family. The person I used to be able to depend on is no longer here so to speak. The loyalty has changed hands. Like it or not, it is the reality. I still don’t think people who have tried the bend over backwards method to no avail should be vilified as unstable, jealous, full of anger, desperate and the like. As I have said before what I say here is not necessarily what I say to him.

    Should we not be horrified that our spouse joined an insane cult? It is horrifying. This was supposed to be a place to vent as those outside the loop of jw’s have no idea what the heck really goes on. Villifying and using ubm’s who do not go along with some method developed here, is just plain mean. Not mean, very jw-ish.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    That he openly confides in the elders, nasty! I agree, that is a fundamental betrayal of your marriage covenant. I'd have half a mind to feed him misinformation just to get the elders all stirred up.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Carla, we're the ones who proposed a strategy, you came on here criticising it. I feel I am in defence mode, not vilifying mode.

    I've said several different ways that all the strategies in the world won't help if the marriage is fundamentally flawed. I don't know if you've chosen not to hear that, or if you have just decided that those of us who are taking the back-door approach are not sympathetic to your situation.

    I am. I left a violent husband and raised two children on my own. I participated in a single parent support group for over fifteen years. I understand your anguish.

    I just remember when it hit me, the full implications of my husband's involvement in this insane religion. I came in to our bedroom, tears flowing freely. I gazed on him with such sadness. I was in full panic mode. I tried to explain...but he could not hear it. It was as if I suddenly grew horns and a forked tongue, Carla. He stared at me as if I were the devil himself. Then his face went rigid and he kept repeating over and over, "I know it is the truth." Full Cognitive Dissonance in action. So often when I see your posts, Carla, I see that same pain I felt that day. Anyways, I quickly figured out that plainly laying out the facts won't get through a thoroughly decieved person. So I went about figuring out how to get through THAT. It's taken me three years and counting.

    I will continue to advise UBM's who are in full panic mode to calm down, at least in front of their spouse. It can't help the marriage if you think you are married to the devil. Sure, unload here. But in front of the cult personality, don't do anything that will grow you horns and a tail. Do whatever you need to to keep the communication lines flowing.

  • carla
    carla

    I was not criticising any method, simply saying it doesn't work for everybody. And answers I have seen directed at me or KLS or others who say that, are simply told, then you must have a fundamentally flawed marriage. I am telling you, this cult has changed him so severely that other people notice. It is not me being unhinged, desperate or anything else you would like to believe about me.

    Once again, just because I have said something here does not mean I have said it to him. Yes, we actually do go out and are capable of having a nice time and have a semi normal life. If you can call it that when one is in a destructive cult.

    If you knew our family and marriage before you would be shocked by the difference now. By saying my marriage was fundamentally flawed because a method developed here hasn't gotten him out yet is an insult. It can take years for people to leave a destructive cult as you well know. The fact that I had laid out the pain of umb was apparently a mistake.

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