What in the world REALLY attracts new people to the JWs?? Most new ones don't know or understand the complicated theology, so I doubt it's that. Is it the love-bombing & friendliness? The promise of 'living forever' on Paradise Earth? I wonder if people who were raised by parents who were very strict & who enforced rigid family rules would be equally attracted to the authoritarian rules of the WTBTS. Maybe they're hoping to recreate the family dynamics they grew up with: A big 'super-parent' telling them how to live & what to think. Any opinions are welcome.
Do JWs need the BoE as substitute father-figures??
by navytownroger 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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VoidEater
I wonder if people who were raised by parents who were very strict & who enforced rigid family rules would be equally attracted to the authoritarian rules of the WTBTS. Maybe they're hoping to recreate the family dynamics they grew up with: A big 'super-parent' telling them how to live & what to think.
I have posted this exact thought in the past. Yes, many are seeking to recreate their strict family of origin dynamics in their present life, believing this is a mechanism for safety and survival in a troubled world.
This both meets their desire for familiarity and to "make life simple".
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White Dove
My grandmother told me now that I'm divorced, the elders were my heads and I had to obey them as if they were my husband. OMFG!
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VoidEater
Geez, that made me throw up a little...
EDIT: Please, no more "spiritual marriage" religions...
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garybuss
You wrote: I wonder if people who were raised by parents who were very strict & who enforced rigid family rules would be equally attracted to the authoritarian rules of the WTBTS.
Nope! If they're like me, they resist all authority. The last thing we want is more authority over us. I'm not sure what broad profile likes life under a high control group, but most people I know like me who were raised by controlling religious fanatics get a gut full of being controlled by others pretty early in life.
That's why so many of us own our own businesses. Hell, we can't work for anybody else. -
megs
I was attracted to the whole idea of ready-made friends, I liked the idea of studying the bible, and when I went into the KH I thought everyone was SO nice!!! Then I learned that there was one or two catches involved... Like giving up all of my current friends, preaching the end of the world was "very near", not reading any of the organization's history, believing that the UN was the harbinger of Armageddon, condemning my post-secondary education etc etc etc... Oh, and I learned that the people at the KH were actually "love bombing" me, that kinda freaked me out too...
I started going to meetings at a vulnerable time... I'd been having a bad year, things were going poorly, and then my old JW friend turned up... I obviously wasn't thinking straight because my thought process was that God must've had a hand in this, bringing my JW friend back to me so that I could "Find God"... Ughh, I can be a real doorknob sometimes... For a moment, it seemed like I could actually have a bit of happiness in my life, and maybe I could have a chance to start-over... new life, new guy, find God... Again... Ughh...
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WTWizard
Typically, the person that is at high risk at being recruited is single, living without relatives or family, and is having a hard time making friends. Those people are likely to find the "family" attractive, and the promises they make to solve those problems are another lure. Females are at higher risk (notice the scripture that tells of how the women are a large army, and that many congregations have more "sisters" than "brothers"). Those who are fairly young and vulnerable, without access to the Internet, or whose education leaves something to be desired are also easy prey.
Many of these people are also unfamiliar with the Bible. They do not know their way around the Bible. Yet they are not atheists. They believe that there might be a God, or that there is a God, but they need guidance. Often that explains why witlesses claim to have had their prayers answered when they came to the door. If they also lack the skills to fully integrate their thinking, they are probably going to be suckered right in.
The reality is, no one needs the hounders (or the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger) to guide them. The fully integrated thinker needs no guidance beyond gathering all the facts and integrating them, getting a better answer that way. And this is not gender-sensitive--women can become fully integrated thinkers as easily as men, and will need no spiritual guidance afterward.
The big problem is, once they take a look, most are told not to cross-reference anything early on. That is why this cult is so dangerous--curiosity leads to being told that other references from independent sources is from Satan, and then to being drawn in. Eventually, someone newly on their own and living on their own ends up pushing wastes of paper in bitter cold or baking heat, day in and day out, thinking that if they ever quit, they are going to lose everything they worked for. They lost the world as soon as they joined, and often have a hard time gaining it back. Hopefully, the Washtowel Slaveholdery will get so many embarrassments that this will quit working--and soon!
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minimus
For ex Catholics, the priests= the elders.
Most BOEs are not father figures unless discipline must be meted out.
People who join the JWs are in LaLaLand, very idealistic.