The psychology of a Jehovah's Witness

by drew sagan 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  besty

  SweetPea exit from 8th April 2007:

  after being a long time fader and lurking here for a few years I finally had the courage to speak to my wife the other day she was complaining about how we never get invited back to other JW's houses despite being fairly hospitable ourselves and how she's made some new worldly friends that werre non-judgemental and just nice people. She also mentioned her Mum (also JW but weak - split up from her JW husband) was struggling with the routine and had lots of nice friends out of the KH. Well I picked my moment and decided to go for it... After agreeing that there were nice people out there (I know plenty of them) I said I felt that if you claim to be God's sole channel you have a heavy responsibility to get it right and that I had more than one doctrinal issue. So the floodgates opened - we discussed: 1914 - beliefs prior to that being totally different to those today 1919 - Rutherford not looking out for Jesus as he had arrived in 1874, then not publishing the chosen status until 1943? blood - where is the fraction policy in the Bible? Mediator - why are the Great Crowd not having Jesus as Mediator? Galations 1:1-9 - why are they preaching a new gospel? All the above plus the fact going to meetings is a drag :-) So its been sinking in for a few days and now she is talking about never going back...WOW This is happening faster than I planned.....
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  Robert7

  If the "Truth" was so powerful and irrefutable; how could it be so quickly collapsed by a couple of hours of reading on the topic of 1914?

  Exactly! And this was part of my early stages of leaving. When I would hear on the platform to avoid the lies on the internet, my immediate reaction was "Bull***t, what are you hiding?" I'm not stupid, if its false, then it holds no value, and you should not fear it. Of course I was not a mindless sheeplike follower
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  M.J.

  short on time now, but looks fascinating. I'll bookmark for future analysis!

  Jeremy C, a word of advice for you: beware of those conniving, evil flat-earthers. Don't listen to a word they say! You'll be suckered into their filth!

  (good post!)

  BTW, have you ever heard the truth about geometry? False pagan Greek geometry has led the world away from geometric truth. I have a book called "What is the real truth about geometry?" that we can study together. While you study the obvious truth contained therein, do not make the mistake distracting yourself by studying counterfeit geometry. After all, we know that the way to know what a real dollar bill looks like is to study a real dollar bill--not a counterfeit! Once you are inducted as one of the lovers of Geometric Truth, in order to remain geometrically strong, you must keep away from False Geometry!

  Got it?
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  M.J.

  The more you ask somebody to sacrifice their time, money, and heart into a cause the more they are likely to question that cause.

  True at first, but once locked into the commitment, from a cognitive dissonance point of view the high level of commitment should make them less likely to question the cause.

  To me it seems like the high commitment keeps one's behavior fully in line with the cause, even when doubts creep in. Yet, these doubts are supressed or not fully thought through. They cling to the party line and the prescribed behavior. As more and more doubts build, however, there eventually comes a tipping point where the whole house of cards collapses. It's like a step function. It may be the point when the person actually admits to his/her self that the cause and all the commitment may not be necessary.

  Low level commitment allows more freedom to adjust behavior to belief in a peicemeal and gradual manner.

  That's my take, anyway.

  Great topic, btw.
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  Jeremy C

  While many at this board might not like to admit it, I think even some of us here would not have a problem with casual membership at the Kingdom Hall (like you find in basically every other mainstream faith).

  Yes, drew I believe that you are absolutley correct. Most of us here still have friends within the organization that we love and care about. I certainly do. I would still greatly enjoy fellowshipping with them. You see this with many "unbelieving" mates of Witnesses. Some of them casually come to meetings now and then for decades without making any commitment. I believe that it is because they are attending a congregation where no one has attempted to coerce or guilt them into compliance. They get invited to the weddings and the congregation picnics; and they are happy with simply fellowshipping with JWs without the commitment.

  If you take the Watchtower's demand for organizational allegiance and claims of exclusivity out of the equation; then you have an organization that has no need or desire to use mind control methods. It has no need to maintain "publisher" files on people. Without the claim of exclusivity; an organization does not feel threatened by those who disagree with their doctrines.
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  M.J.

  Without the claim of exclusivity; an organization does not feel threatened by those who disagree with their doctrines.

  But alas, neither does it have the leverage for demanding a high level of commitment either.
• 

  drew sagan

  The more you ask somebody to sacrifice their time, money, and heart into a cause the more they are likely to question that cause.

  True at first, but once locked into the commitment, from a cognitive dissonance point of view the high level of commitment should make them less likely to question the cause.

  I disagree. While it may not be that apparent at first, remember that Jehvoah's Witnesses have one of the worst retention rates for any religion (over 50% I believe). Also, I should clarify my statement. By "question" I do not just mean intellectually challenge the premise of the doctrines. While this does occur, it is much more common for people to simply fall away from the JWs cause they can't live up to the demanding life style. 'Question' probably wasn't the best term to use...