J ehovah's Witnesses Elders' manual: Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock (1991
Summary
Suppressed Jehovah's Witnesses Elders' manual "Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock" (1991). While a number of unauthorized excerpts of the document have appeared over the years, including purported HTML versions of most of the book minus illustrations, an authoritative full original scan has hitherto remained out of public view, preventing reliable third party analysis and reportage.
Distribution restriction:
- A copy of this textbook is issued to each appointed elder, and he may retain it as long as he continues to serve as an elder in any congregation. At such time as he should cease to serve in that capacity, his copy of the book must be handed over to the Congregation Service Committee, since this publication is congregation property. No copies are to be made of any part of this publication.
Wikileaks.org has the Elders' Manual online
by VM44 15 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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VM44
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SixofNine
Excellent! The perfect place for it.
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Lady Lee
Don't expect it to last long there
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rebel8
AWESOME!!!!
I don't know if or how this can be edited, but I have some suggested additions:
1. Add the scans of Richie Rich's copy (a username on this forum). He found one with revealing comments in the margins about sex abuse I think.
2. To the section about past attempts to censor, add info about the Quotes lawsuit. If I recall correctly this is one of the publications quoted on the web site that predicated the lawsuit. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/relrpt/stories/s1501367.htm If you can find a copy of the court documents online, link to that and highlight where the WTS specifically states they are suing because distributing direct quotes from their literature causes them embarassment.
3. Add to existing "Description" section: ...This manual exposes the Watchtower Society and its member congregations as utilizing several tactics common to destructive high control groups as described by factnet.org (based on the work of Dr. Maragaret Singer). The following tactics are evident in the elders' manual:
1. Establishing control over the person's social environment, time and sources of social support by a system of often-excessive rewards and punishments.
2. Prohibit disconfirming information and non supporting opinions in group communication.
3. An "in-group" language is constructed.
4. Make the person re-evaluate the most central aspects of his or her experience of self and prior conduct in negative ways.
5. Create a sense of powerlessness by subjecting the person to intense and frequent actions and situations which undermine the person's confidence in himself and his judgment.
6. Create strong aversive emotional arousals in the subject by use of nonphysical punishments such as intense humiliation, loss of privilege, social isolation, social status changes, intense guilt, anxiety, manipulation and other techniques.
7. Intimidate the person with the force of group-sanctioned secular psychological threats. For example, it may be suggested or implied that failure to adopt the approved attitude, belief or consequent behavior will lead to severe punishment or dire consequences such as physical or mental illness, the reappearance of a prior physical illness, drug dependence, economic collapse, social failure, divorce, disintegration, failure to find a mate, etc.
8. Undermine a person's confidence in himself and his judgment, creating a sense of powerlessness.
9. The cult is authoritarian in its power structure.
10. The cult tends to be totalitarian in its control of the behavior of its members. Cults are likely to dictate in great detail what members wear, eat, when and where they work ... as well as what to believe, think, and say.
11. The cult appears to be innovative and exclusive. The leader claims ... to be ... instituting the only viable system for change that will solve life's problems or the world's ills. While claiming this, the cult then surreptitiously uses systems of psychological coercion on its members to inhibit their ability to examine the actual validity of the claims of the leader and the cult. -
startingover
The Mormons have the same situation going on. When you read the comments on the discussion page, it's just like the JW reasoning but using different words.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Mormon_Church_Handbook_of_Instructions_%281999%29
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drwtsn32
Heh, I was the one who submitted this to wikileaks back in May. I got the idea after seeing the Mormon and Scientology stuff posted there.
I don't remember where I got the original (scanned) PDF, but I hope they don't mind. ;)
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Sunnygal41
lol..........guess it was MY day to purge..........I just left a comment..........thanks for the opportunity!!!!
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jookbeard
That's amazing , just downloaded the whole thing, wonder what the twerps at Brooklyn think of that? A secret manual now for millions to see!
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middleman
Hey I've always been curious of the handwritten notes in it. Who wrote them and why do they matter? I've read in other threads that the hand written notes contain some interesting information. I'm just curious of who wrote them to get a better context.
Blessings.............. -
wobble
The handwritten notes refer to a letter to BOE's dealing with child abuse,this letter is NOT in the BOE letters I have seen on line,does anyone have a scan? I think it could be revealing as to their attitude,and practice, back in the eighties.
Love
Wobble