by searching99 16 Replies latest watchtower bible
Megsmomma said:
....And, most of the time they get people in at their weakest point in life.
The sad part of it is that they don't hide this fact. How often did we hear that we should persist in the ministry because even if they're not interested today they may have a death in the family, lose a job, fall gravely ill, etc. and then be interested in something better? How did I not see this for what it is? We were actually trained to seek out the marginalized.
Glad to be free,
Nvrgnbk
The sad part of it is that they don't hide this fact. How often did we hear that we should persist in the ministry because even if they're not interested today they may have a death in the family, lose a job, fall gravely ill, etc. and then be interested in something better? How did I not see this for what it is? We were actually trained to seek out the marginalized.Glad to be free,
Nvrgnbk
That's exactly what the point is. By going out door-to-door during the week, who are you going to find? You'll find housewives, retirees, the unemployed, kids, and the sick/depressed. People who are more likely to feel lonely or blue.
You've got people who've suffered many things and are struggling to come to terms with their pain. JWs offer an answer as to why there's no pain, and a smiling face to get you to come into the hall. You give them smiling faces at the hall, and people who seem to be concerned about them, and you've got 'em hooked. And since polite and humble people will be willing to sit down and study the WT literature with you, that's who you get into the hall.
I don't think that there is any one personality type that is drawn to this religion. I do believe that it initially appeals to the uneducated, lonely and disinfranchised that have some personal sense of God. When you first go to the hall you are welcomed liked everyone was your roomate in College. The operating system that is firmly in place will keep you there if you let it. The emerging problem for the WTBS is that people alive today are less obedient than in former generations and are certainly more sophisticated. This makes the initial conversion difficult if not impossible. Just look at the declining numbers.
Men: Psychopaths and narcissists, powerhungry, wanna-be-dictators, who, with no/little education, has no other chanse of achieving a position of authority. When they initially enter the cult, they do so (unconsciously) not primarily because they believe in the religion, but because they see in the religion both a chanse to achieve power, and also a chanse to become "unique" and stand out (in the eyes of the rest of the world). The religion offers both authority (within the religious circle) and also selfproclaimed martyrdom, in relation to the outside world.
Women: Complex personalities: Neurotic and submissive. Alienated from the rest of society. A combination of low self-esteem and the elitist need to be "special" and "chosen", and to become "Jehovahs slave" is a way to do this. Selfproclaimed martyrdom, the need to feel "special".
I think those of us that converted and later left are doomed to pick at our psychological scabs for the rest of our lives. Narcissistic? Yep, I sure am. Self-righteous? You bet.
Am I in hell? LOL
They draw in persons that somehow feel rootless when it comes to religion because they can't feel that they belong to any religion. They can't identify with any of them. The dubs promise to give them a spiritual home.
Hellrider, your description of male and female JWs corresponded to my father and mother's personalities respectively to a T.
