Anyone have a technique to explain mind control, without implicating WTS?

by whyizit 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  whyizit

  Every once in awhile I will be talking to my JW friends and the subject of other religions will come up. They love to take jabs at other religions, as most of you know. I remember one time we were talking about a cult (not WTS) and I mentioned that this guy I knew got kicked out for smoking a cigarette, eternal damnation loomed over his head, while this other guy received a very minor reprimand for screwing some other guy's wife. Like it was no big deal! How crazy is that? (Jaws dropped! I knew I touched a nerve, without ever saying a word about the WTS.)

  I was thinking that maybe I could use this same approach by clueing them in on some mind-control techniques that might give them a heads up on what they are doing and have had done to them. How would YOU tactfully and nonchalantly approach this subject and what specific mind control techniques would you find it most useful to mention?
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  Scully

  If you can get a hold of Steve Hassan's book, Combatting Cult Mind Control, he gives several examples of how he relates to people in various other cult groups by talking about his experiences with the Moonies. When these people listen to him talk about the Moonies, they are more receptive to the information because it isn't a direct attack on the belief system that they are members of, and it isn't until the similarities "click" that they realize that their own cult's tactics are being described.
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  rebel8

  http://jwinfo.8m.com/cult_comparison.htm
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  witnessscorn

  I agree with scully. that is a great book.

  A main point is that you don't understand a group that is so affraid of loosing their followers that they don't allow them to read outside info for fear of loosing them. They have several people in position to run blocker any time someone starts to ask questions or get destracted.

  Watch the Truman Show. It is amazing how closely the organization follows that movie.
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  Arthur

  I too, agree with Scully about Steven Hassan's book. I have been reading it and the similarities are startling to say the least. Mind Control has several different aspects that can be discussed individually at great length.

  However, there is a very important point to remember. One could share all of the cult aspects, case studies, and data in the world with a JW without them ever making any connections to the Watchtower. Mind control has an intrinsic mechanism built into it that shields itself from any discomforting information. I got very good at this over the years as a JW. It wasn't until I hit an emotional rock bottom trying to be a good "Witness" that I was finally able to get to a point where I was totally honest with myself and willing to address all of my doubts about the organization's beliefs. It's sort of like an alcoholic or drug addict. They can point to everyone else as an addict or alcoholic without ever seeing it in themselves; until they too hit rock bottom and are willing to give up their self-delusions.

  Most JWs will never get to the point where they are willing to relinquish the pride and denial that inhibits them from rationally analyzing information. I think that only those who have gone through a "crisis of faith" or have been shaken by some event in their life as a JW will be able to have the open mindedness and the willingness to finally face their doubts.

  I think that another important point to remember is that nobody ever really changes anybody else's mind. It is always we individually who ultimately change our own minds.
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  smellsgood

  "Every once in awhile I will be talking to my JW friends and the subject of other religions will come up. They love to take jabs at other religions, as most of you know. ; I remember one time we were talking about a cult (not WTS) and I mentioned that this guy I knew got kicked out for smoking a cigarette, eternal damnation loomed over his head, while this other guy received a very minor reprimand for screwing ;some other guy's wife. ; ;Like it was no big deal! ; How crazy is that? (Jaws dropped! ; I knew I touched a nerve, without ever saying a word about the WTS.) ;"
  
  smellsgood: I'm not kidding about this...The fact that the WT kicks out people for smoking cigarettes (aka, loses paradise earth, annihilation in place) was, for me at the time, as I was very deeply upset by the religion and its legalism, the REASON I STARTED smoking...I actually "learnt" to smoke while READING COC! That was when I was 18, I had ordered COC, and I had read somewhere (maybe even on this board) that a man was df'd for smoking around the age of 60, and subsequently was so broken up about it that he committed suicide.
  I wanted to wear crosses and smoke in their face if they showed up. (the JW) they really have not come by at all since I did, and I haven't seen them around lol
  This was my main reason. I've never really been able to explain this to people, I don't really try. When you smoke, you get asked why you started in the first place? alot.
  I wasn't around people who smoked at all at the time. My brother had been smoking at that point for two years, but he was out of the house.
  He supplied my sort of "secondary reasons" for starting. He told me alot that I would sound more like Beth Gibbons from 'Portishead' if I smoked.
  hmmm, nope.
  Anyways, I just realised that this is one forum where perhaps this motivation will *kind of* make some sort of sense.
  I realise now how silly that was. I'm only hurting myself, etc.
  
  ahem, 'nuf about me.
  The book I would recommend cos it really does have alot of cults and you can easily cross reference, and it is massive as well, would be "Kingdom of Cults" by Walter Martin, I believe. It does have a Christian bent to it, but it really is quite packed with information. There is an unbelievable amount of similarities between the cults.
  
  of course the internet is a great tool too...look up WWCOG
  Mormonism has many similarities.
  You're right, it is truly a very good way to get through to people. Since it is not "their" religions, those mental 'stop signs' don't automatically go up.
  
  smellsgood
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  Frannie Banannie

  While I'm sure that Hassan's book, as Scully posted, is one of the best to show methods of mind control, there's also a big lesson from history.

  Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler worked up unsuspecting Germans into a frenzy with his speeches......against Jews and others he didn't like.

  He managed, while giving orders to terrorize, maim and kill the Jews and other non-supporters, to avoid getting blamed for this by German citizens....by declaring that they must have misunderstood what he said. With the support of his minions, he instilled fear and thus, mind control over a whole country.
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  jgnat

  Except, Frannie, you can't play the Hitler card too often. It's been overplayed.

  Yes, discussing other cults and the control they hold over their members can cause a JW to pause. True, Arthur, they can quickly suppress it, but the seed's been planted.

  Here's an excellent expose' on Scientology by Rolling Stone. A great opener with a receptive JW, I would think.

  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology