Doublethink: to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously

by sass_my_frass 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  sass_my_frass

  It's been a while since the last Orwell thread. We went to a great play of 1984 last night. Poor Winston, surrounded by insanity, forcing himself to learn that two plus two could be four, or five, or three, or all of them at once; whatever Big Brother says, to be allowed to live. They had to throw in a bit of dark comedy to distract from the trauma of it. It hurt to watch.

  There are a lot of themes in Orwell's books that touch ex-JWs or recovering JWs deeply. If it's been a few years since you read them in school, give them another go. I read the lot at the same time that Mr Frass was waiting for an answer re marriage. They really stretched my horizons - every character faces a situation where they have to keep their thoughts and emotions to themselves, and every one of them betrays themselves. They're heartbreaking, overwhelming and finally inspiring. If you think there's no way out for you, read George Orwell. You'll find a way.
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  blondie

  Here are some other looks at Orwell and Jehovah's Witnesses.

  http://www.corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/orwell-revisited.html

  http://www.freeminds.org/history/timeheal.htm

  

  http://www.amazon.com/Orwellian-World-Jehovahs-Witnesses/dp/0802065457

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/21741/1.ashx
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  Bonnie_Clyde

  The books 1984 and Animal Farm were recommended reading when I was in high school, but I never read them at the time. I finally read them earlier this year and was astounded at the similarities with the Watchtower. I liked Animal Farm the best.

  The pigs made laws for the animals to live by which were reasonable, but one by one the laws were changed in a way that would benefit only the pigs, and then it was made to look like "nothing has changed." Ever heard that before?

  Commandment 1: "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy" changed to "Four legs good, Two legs better."

  Commandment 2: "Whatever goes on four legs and has wings is a friend" also changed to "Four legs good, Two legs better."

  Commandment 3: "No animal shall wear clothes" broken by the pigs with no explanation.

  Commandment 4: No animal shall sleep in a bed" changed to "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets."

  Commandment 5: "No animal shall drink alcohol" changed to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess."

  Commandment 6: "No animal shall kill another animal" changed to "No animal shall kill another animal without cause."

  Commandment 7: "All animals are equal" changed to "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than other."

  Then there was the horse, Boxer, who worked himself almost to death supporting the cause, and the pigs sent him off to the glue factory but made it look like he had been well taken care of and they eulogized him at his memorial.

  What analogy can we find here with the Governing Body? The one I can think of right now is, "No Christian may take a blood" was changed to "No Christian may take blood unless it is a fraction." Another analogy, the Bethel workers give up their lives to work for the interests of the WT (often decades) and are turned out to pasture in the recent layoffs.

  Trivia question: What was George Orwell's real name?
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  KW13

  I've read both animal farm and 1984 and i agree. I read this while still a witness who was thinking of leaving but wondered what would happen but the main thing i saw were the similarities.

  Also i recommend watching a film called the island. its got some similarities to the witnesses.
  
  "Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid 21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island" - reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones. Lincoln makes a daring escape with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson). Relentlessly pursued by the forces of the sinister institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers"
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  OnTheWayOut

  I read THE ORWELLIAN WORLD OF JW'S.
  It is a fantastic read. I was astounded at the application of 1984's assimilation process and that
  of JW's. Particularly, the term CRIMESTOP. The ability to miss out on simple logic, blindly allowing
  ignorance or reality to protect your mindset. Recommended reading for any doubters.
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  choosing life

  I recently read 1984. Hadn't read it in 30 years. I was shocked how similar it was to the indocrination process and treatment of witnesses.Things like crimethought, doublespeak, erasing history are so applicable. Also shows how human nature struggles to overcome such oppression. Felt defeated when Winston was brainwashed for good. I certainly didn't get as much out of it when I read it as a kid in highschool, before my experiences with the witnesses.
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  AlanF

  Very good observations, all.

  It has been occurring to me recently that a good many fundamentalists of all stripes are heavy into Orwellian doublethink of one kind or another. Crimestop is a good example, where when the going gets tough in a debate, the fundamentalists tend to get bored. They get bored for exactly the reason Orwell described -- they refuse to deal with the facts, and getting bored is a good way to stop thinking about the subject. How many times have we seen JW defenders on this board, upon being put in a corner in a debate, getting bored and refusing to answer questions or challenges? How many times do we find fundamentalist creationists doing the same thing?

  AlanF
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  sass_my_frass

  Couldn't have said it better, AlanF. Any 'conversations' I've ever tried to have with witnesses to clear up my confusion over some issue have ended with their 'crimestop' reaction: it gets to a point where they can't defend their belief and so they cut the thought off, and have to leave. From then on, any conversation I had with them was stilted by their fear of apostacy.
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  Mysterious

  I noticed that in 1984 right away. I read it in my senior year of high school as I was leaving the JWs.

  I also identified with the movie Equilibrium. It features a futuristic society after world war III in which a centralized government has imposed stringent controls on everything in order to prevent future wars. People are told how to think, contraband media is destroyed, and the law is strictly enforced by a group of all male clerics led by the patriarchy.

  There is also a Mercedes Lackey book series called Arrows of the Queen where the border folks believe only in "one true god" and have very strict codes of conduct for their children. It was unthinkable for anyone to disagree with them and even given the chance to get away most would not. I think there were a couple others mentioned in a thread I started a while back. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/27/118112/1.ashx
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  OnTheWayOut

  Good thoughts, AlanF

  My wife tries to understand what my disagreements with WTS are, we start the
  discussion, she tries to defend the position for a hot second. She realizes I have
  thoroughly thought it out, I have questions for her answers, then suddenly she is
  too busy to keep discussing it, we'll talk more later. We never resume that
  discussion.

  It starts again the next time I had any reaction to a meeting point. Ends the same.