Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?"

by Seeker4 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  Seeker4

  In his article at Freeminds on When Prophecies Fail, about the Witnesses and cognitive dissonance, Randy Watters wrote the following, including an insightful quote from Barbara Harrison Grazzutti.

  It may seem incomprehensible how the Witnesses could ignore the implications of each disconfirmation. Outsiders view the Witnesses as lacking common sense for not leaving the organization after numerous failures. They fail to understand the dynamics of mind control as used by cults. Even many ex-JWs fail to understand that the further disconfirmation of the importance of 1914 and "this generation" will not seriously affect the numbers of those swelling the ranks of the Watchtower. The results of mind control and unquestioning obedience will have the same effect today as it did in Russell's day. His view was, "Where else can we go?" Harrison writes regarding this attitude ,

  "That, of course, is one of the keys to survival of the organization Russell founded on soft mysticism, glorious visions and worldly disaffection. The Witnesses had nowhere else to go. Their investment in their religion was total; to leave it would have meant spiritual and emotional bankruptcy. They were not equipped to function in a world without certainty. It was their life. To leave it would be a death." 24

  This same dependency-unto-death phenomena is at work in thousands of cults all over the world. People wondered at Jonestown: "Why didn't they leave when they saw what Jim Jones was becoming?" The people of Jonestown answered by their actions, "Where else would we go?" They had burned their bridges to follow their Messiah unto death.

  What I'm wondering now is, is the Internet starting to fill that gap in providing a place for disaffected Witnesses to go to? I know many will never leave, but do you think that more, who otherwise would have stayed in, are leaving because the Net is providing such a wealth of answers to questions like, "Where else is there to go to? Who else has the truth? "

  I think it provided those answers for me. Twelve years ago I could never have imagined that I would leave the Witnesses. The Internet made all the difference to me.

  S4
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  zev

  [Q]What I'm wondering now is, is the Internet starting to fill that gap in providing a place for disaffected Witnesses to go to? I know many will never leave, but do you think that more, who otherwise would have stayed in, are leaving because the Net is providing such a wealth of answers to questions like, "Where else is there to go to? Who else has the truth? "
  
  I think it provided those answers for me. Twelve years ago I could never have imagined that I would leave the Witnesses. The Internet made all the difference to me.
  
  S4[/Q]
  
  The Internet gave me the answers or the availability to answers to questions that had been burning inside me for DECADES.
  
  The Internet is an excellent source of information, and MISinformation. One must carefully figure out what is what in order to make an educated decision.
  
  This is why the organization of watchtower leaders is harping on the membership to stay away from the internet, chatting with unknown people who could be apostates and such. What one does in ones own home is for the most part private. The watchtower followers are secretly researching and finding out their own answers.
  
  The watchtower leaders are realizing that great numbers are " cooling off " because Education and Information are readily availble on the SuperHighway we call.....
  
  The Internet
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  MegaDude

  Belief that one must go anywhere is part of the Watchtower programming.

  There is such a strong desire to go and replace the all-encompassing JW experience with something else equally encompassing. I recall ringing up Ray Franz when I first left the JWs and asking him point blank what should I do now that I was out of the JWs. He simply said that with God's help I would work that out for myself. I had hoped he had some recommendations for my spiritual path. Not much at all, and not the guidance I was hoping for. I was looking for someone to show me The Way. There was no clearcut Way, no shortcut. Ray's answer pissed me off at the time. Only later did I appreciate the wisdom of what he was saying. Where the Watchtower gave us a mythical false certainty we now have freedom to choose. And freedom can be bit wobbly to handle for a someone used to being told what to do their whole life.

  The internet has been a fantastic resource for me in leaving the JWs if only that it has brought me into contact with so many people like myself looking for answers to the same questions.
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  Dansk

  Hi S4:

  I know many will never leave, but do you think that more, who otherwise would have stayed in, are leaving because the Net is providing such a wealth of answers to questions like, "Where else is there to go to? Who else has the truth? "

  First off, I never felt I had to go ANYWHERE once I left the lie - but you are absolutely right in thinking that the net has helped many exit, because that is where so many answers are to be found.

  Who else has the truth? Science! On exiting the Borg on realising it was full of garbage I researched to find out if the Bible was garbage, too! IT IS!! Religion is a yoke people don't need. I realise many derive comfort from it, but I cannot live a lie, which is why I left the Borg in the first place.

  Now, the above isn't to say I'm not spiritual, because I am. I hate labels, but I find solace in Buddhism, because it is not a religion in the accepted sense. Buddhism accepts science is right, there is no need to believe in God. It exists on truth. Truth is everything.

  Ian
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  Seeker4

  Dansk,

  I completely agree. One of the things you will first learn from the Net is that there really isn't a need to "go somewhere" else to find all the answers to life's questions. Your purpose is to create your life and live it, and not all questions will have an answer.

  The second thing you'll learn is that there is no ULTIMATE TRUTH, as the JWs would have us believe. There is a lot of truth, and I agree that science will give you a lot of answers - especially about the validity of the Bible as a holy book.

  I too have found considerable solace in the philosophy of taoism and buddhism.

  Also, I was glad your experience was brought to the top of the board, and congratulations on the latest news with your family. Life is good out of the WTS.

  S4
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  SirNose586

  Hooray for teh int4rw3b!!! *hugs the internet*

  Same here man, no internet, no clue what to do!
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  poppers

  "There is such a strong desire to go and replace the all-encompassing JW experience with something else equally encompassing."
  This is so true. People seem to think they have to have a set of rules or beliefs to give meaning to their lives, and so they will substitute one set for another. This tendency is what keeps people trapped in illusion, for any belief in nothing but thought, which has no real substance. Indeed, the possibility of real freedom is cast aside for the assurance beliefs appear to provide.
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  stillajwexelder

  What I'm wondering now is, is the Internet starting to fill that gap in providing a place for disaffected Witnesses to go to? I know many will never leave,

  ABSOLUTELY YES. The internet has become what the invention of the printing press did in the Middle Ages which happened at the same time as the Renaissance and the Reformation. The printing press enabled information to flow more freely and broke the stanglehold of The Catholic Church and where else could they go apart from the church.

  The internet is even more powerful. You could burn banned books that were printed in the middle ages. Bring down a website and half a dozen others fill the gap. As Friedman says - the earth is becoming flat again.

  So where else is there for us to go - on the net - in chat rooms - at organized apostafests arranged over the net. Oh how powerful
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  willyloman

  Loved the Gutenberg analogy (above).

  The internet taught me that I was not alone in my doubts. That those doubts were rational. And that it would be okay to act on them.

  Knowledge is power!
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  MinisterAmos

  I'm reminded of the JW cliche about "false religion" that describes the fine restaurant with nice linens and beautiful art, but the silverware has bits of old food encrusted upon it. The question is even though everything else is nice would you still eat there?

  Where else would you go? Heck, Jesus assembled HIS followers at the base of a mountain, in an open field, at a fishing camp; does it really matter where you go when the food is served with dirty utensils? ANYWHERE but there!

  / Wish I could find the WT I remember that from. Haunts me to this day wondering how I could have sat through that crap.