Is The Watchtower Society—A Prison Sentence?

by The wanderer 22 Replies latest jw friends

  • The wanderer
    The wanderer

    Is The Watchtower Society— A Prison Sentence?

    More often then not individuals who are members of this discussion
    board will talk about freedom from the Watchtower Society.

    Some members even have their “handles” containing the word freedom.

    Not A Literal Prison Sentence

    Thankfully, I have never seen the inside of any state institution,
    but it makes me wonder whether the Watchtower Society is a
    form of a prison sentence not so much for the body but for the
    mind and spirit.

    What are your thoughts about this issue? Can you liken the
    Watchtower to a prison or some shackled slavery?

    Respectfully,

    The Wanderer

  • greendawn
    greendawn

    That is precisely what they are, a prison of the spirit, one engages in a rigorous spiritual war with the WTS upon denying its validity and rejecting it. It invariably fights back and a war ensues spirit to spirit as it unleashes its demonic energies against you. It implores its demonic patrons to curse and harm you, to cast a potent spell on you. The same goes for many other religions eg Moslems, mormons, scientologists etc But they don't always succeed.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    I think this feeling of being in "prison" is common amongst exiting Witnesses. The taste of freedom is so strong, the old forms and shackles chafe. Exiting witnesses pay a terrible price in lost relationships. The society makes sure that the decision to break away is never made easy.

    But for those fully immersed in the Watchtower life, they may not ever notice the constraints.

    People voluntarily give up their freedoms all the time. Many come to enjoy absence of personal decision making and responsibility. I'm thinking of real-life prisoners, soldiers, seniors, invalids, and the mentally ill. Even students in our education system choose to conform to a confusing array of rules in order to achieve their goals and dreams (a graduation diploma).

    There are people also, in our prisons and secure facilities, who become fully institutionalized. They may never be able to function with the freedom that most of us enjoy. You might have met a "career student", who, for whatever reason, prefers the structured confines of the school system over the terrifying freedom of the working world.

    Those who are most unhappy, in the organization, I would think, are those who did not choose this religion for themselves. For example, what is a child of a convert to do? Either resist extreme parental pressure to conform, or give in and fake the life. Dependent children may rightfully feel they have no choice but to stay.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    By the way, real life prisoners know why their freedoms have been removed. They have made an error in judgement, done something wrong, and they must pay the price. In our court systems we have well-defined checks and balances to make sure that the rights of the accused are not abused.

    Prisoners know ahead of time how long their sentence will be, what they can do to reduce it.

    Is there ever a dignified exit for a Witness?

  • Pahpa
    Pahpa

    It does seem fitting that an organization that demands control over its members and restrains their ability to make decisions on their own is called THE WATCHTOWER. True, the confinement is often self induced. But the end results is always the same: the loss of personal freedom and the constant oversight of guards.

  • Quandry
    Quandry

    Yes, but a strange one.

    I was "in" for over thirty years. I was young and could have accomplished so much. When it all came crashing down, and I realized it was not true, I had the rude "awakening" and realized that I am now 55 years old, no college, no friends, no retirement, very few vacations to see any other parts of the world, and no idea what to believe. It's sort of like coming out of a coma.

  • Madame Quixote
    Madame Quixote

    I'm sure you are aware of a JW website - (can't remember which one now) - whose logo statement is:

    "Only prisons need watchtowers."

    The JW magazine of indoctrination is called "The Watch Tower" (in case anyone reading this doesn't know it).

  • ontarget
    ontarget

    I heard a quote the other day about religion - and I feel it is very very accurate.

    "RELIGION IS A VESSEL OR A TOMB" to me it describes religion completely.

  • Kaput
    Kaput

    I was "in" for over thirty years. I was young and could have accomplished so much. When it all came crashing down, and I realized it was not true, I had the rude "awakening" and realized that I am now 55 years old, no college, no friends, no retirement, very few vacations to see any other parts of the world, and no idea what to believe. It's sort of like coming out of a coma.

    "What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche) This is the philosophy I embraced after my 30+ years in the Borg. I don't have a college degree, a booming MLM business, or a winning lottery ticket. It was a matter of starting over with my life after exiting the Borg. I felt like someone who had served their time in prison (albeit a spiritual enslavement which nonetheless affected every aspect of my life) and finally exited the Watchtower gates into the "new light" of freedom. The religion of the Witnesses is not your usual brand of Christianity, IF it is Christianity at all. None of the mainstream Christian religions manifest the same overbearing control as does the JW religion, with its overlords bent on maintaining a tight rein over their "skinned sheep". That's why there are so many more ex-JW internet sites than ex-Catholic, ex-Methodist, ex-Lutheran, etc. sites. The frequent changes in dogma regarding blood, transplants, anointed ones, etc. demonstrate that the WBTS is actually a continuously morphing organization, making one doubt if their fickle god Jehovah (Mal. 3:6 "For I am Jehovah; I have not changed") knows what he's doing. With each change in doctrine, the Borg is actually throwing down the gauntlet and challenging its enslaved minions to accept or reject its "new light". At each turn, some leave, but most stay, indicating the power these purveyors of doom hold over their "flock". Right from the get-go you're told "we're not a cult". But how far from "the truth" they really are.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    Quandry - I could not agree more . I missed the horrible experiences of those who were abused or treated so badly. but there is still the frustration of a wasted life. There is the realisation that you are not going to live forever, that God has given you "Threescore and ten" and most of that has gone , and you have wasted it!

    Towards the end of my time I likened it to a treadmill. It was only after I got off the treadmill that I realised that it had been a prison.

    alt

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit