In a recent thread someone mentioned that the WTBTS uses mind control techniques. Do you think this is a conscious ploy? If it is it would mean that the leaders of my religion (I am still an active JW) set out consciously to control people. They would be knowingly manipulating matters in order to repress people. This is almost too terrible to contemplate. Or perhaps this is a by product of a form of religious zealotry that has gotten out of hand. Maybe the initial motivation was sound but now they have introduced so many rules and regulations that they have too much to lose by changing. What do you think?
Mind control.
by New day 64 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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OnTheWayOut
You are on to something. We debate this ourselves because some feel more strongly than others one way or the other. It does seem that somewhere back in the early days, "Bible Students" were free to disagree with certain things and as time went on, there was less tolerance for that.
I don't think that everyone among the presidents of Watchtower to the Governing Body all got up every morning and said they were ready for another day of mind-controlling the members. But when the writers of the strange doctrines said that God "spirit-directs" them (leaving room for error as compared to "inspires") they have to kind of insist that members go along without questioning it.
To me, the biggest factor in Watchtower going further and further down the path of dangerous mind-control was some kind of paranoia that members could not be trusted and would not do the right thing unless they were told what that right thing was. That, and always always always putting the preservation of the organization ahead of anything that might benefit individuals has gotten them where they are today.
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sparrowdown
There is enough info about the psychology of mind control and coercion tactics available to the average person now that it would be difficult to believe they don't know that they are perpetrating one massive mind-f#$k on the sheeple.
Not to mention the avaiability of info re the strategies that marketing consultants and advertising agencies employ.
They would have to, on some level know what they are doing.
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dubstepped
I think it is just zealotry that has gotten out of hand. You can see a lot of the same mind control tactics employed by parents. Heck, my parents (before and after they came in contact with JW's) employed a lot of the same things. They were very controlling in part because they wanted the best for us, and in part because they were narcissists who just didn't want us kids to be "problems" for them. I see the same with the organization. I think that they have overstepped to the point of trying to become the consciences of their followers, which is very controlling, but in my view it is well-intentioned overreaching. If you look at pretty much any group of humans, leaders will eventually emerge, and they will eventually overreach. It is a very human thing to do. -
freemindfade
watch this. I don't believe most are concious to it. But unaware. Products of an existing system. Like disfellowshipping. Most jw would never consider it emotional manipulation outright but also not hesitate using it for just that.
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Magnum
I know this is not exactly what is meant by the term "mind control", but they are trying to control minds by controlling the info allowed into those minds in the same way that N Korea controls the information that the people are exposed to.
The JW leaders do not want JWs to know the actual history of JWdom. They do not want JWs to hear what truth-seeking and honest opposers like some of us on this site have to say. They've instilled in JWs a fear of "apostates", as if the "apostates" have some kind of evil supernatural influence, because they don't want them (the JWs) to hear what these "apostates" have to say. They do not want JWs to think outside of the JW box. They do not want JWs to do a lot of real thinking and analyzing. They do not want JWs to be able to ask the tough questions. That's one reason meetings are formatted the way they are; they don't allow for questioning or honest criticism.
So, at least in that way, I'm 100% sure they try to control minds.
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Illuminated
Research Cult Mind Control. Research Scientology, Mormons, and other mind control cults. Same tactics.
From an outsiders perspective looking in, they know exactly what they are doing. It's one thing to be a cult leader of a small group and to genuinely believe what you're spreading. It's a whole different ball game to be mind control cult leaders of a large group of people. You have to know what you're doing, to carry it forward for so long and with the amount of people under your control. With power and money, calculative strategy comes into play.
I wouldn't be surprised if there are a group of people behind these mind control cults or mind control cults in general, who got the ball rolling and then split it into different cults. The root, being traced back to these people.
Watch this excellent video:
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DesirousOfChange
In a recent thread someone mentioned that the WTBTS uses mind control techniques. Do you think this is a conscious ploy? If it is it would mean that the leaders of my religion (I am still an active JW) set out consciously to control people.
I originally gave the WT Leaders a lot of leeway thinking that they were just "captives" too of this huge machine that is rolling like a snowball going downhill that gets bigger and bigger and bigger...........until I read Steve Hassan's "Combating Cult Mind Control".
The WTS is the poster child for Hassan's description of using mild control techniques. Step by step by step they fit the pattern. That is not and cannot be an unconscious coincidence. [If you throw all the pieces of an expensive watch in a box and shake it, what are the chances that it will miraculously assembly all the pieces as a working time piece? -- Sorry. I just had to use that example.]
Someone up there in the Ivory Towers KNOWS what they are doing. They have a strategy. It cannot be a random pattern that just happens to scream CULT. Who it is or how high up it goes is only anyone's guess or speculation. But it is not by blind chance.
Doc
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FayeDunaway
Great post, magnum! They are so much like the government of North Korea. I saw a documentary where western doctors came in to do a simple operation on blind North Koreans to restore their sight..a common operation in developed countries. There was a big show of what a miracle Kim Jong il had done for them. Oh THANK you Kim jong il!!!! They didn't know it was a common operation in the west, they only were told this miracle was a gift from their Dear Leader.
The half truths, outright lies, special lingo, lack of freedom, propaganda, controlled media, blind worship of their leaders and believing anything they say...or else....and you can't escape without losing everything.
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truthseeker100
Magnum
1. Finding the history of the JWs is not that hard these days.
2. They do not want Jws to think outside the Jw Box.
3.They don't want the dubs asking tough questions.
I think the majority of the real zealous JW's don't want to find the history or think outside the Jw box and don't want tough questions asked, They are just spiritual cannon fodder for the borg. The rest are trapped. Sad situation when you think about it.