thinking - what attracts people to the JW cult

by Married to the Mob 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Married to the Mob

  TD made an interesting point in a anther thread that JW attracts unhappy people

  I agree with him but I have another theory, maybe its not true but there must be an element to it.

  Independent adaptive thinking

  I can cook, infact if I blow my own trumpet I can cook really well! I use recepies like a guide but thats about it. I can adapt and change it with little thought should I be missing something or its not quite right.

  My wife can cook too. With recepies! she treats it like a holy grail. If the recepies says 20 minutes, then 20 minutes it is. If the recepies calls for 450g of something then it 450g of something. If she doesn't have 450g then everything comes to a halt! She is stuck!

  But its not just cooking, alsmost everything in her life has a set of clear instructions. A plan. No plan or instructions and she is a mess! Something comes up that makes the plan not possible, she's a mess.

  And this brings me to my theory.....

  Does JW attract certain types of people because its sets down a plan, tells them how to think, what to do, so on and so forth, effectively removing the one element that enables us to function beyond the normal basis instincts and cope with unexpected changes?

  Does being born into the religion take away your ability to adapt and cope with changes?
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  minimus

  Your thoughts are right on! Many people simply enjoy being told what to do. There's a part of the JW group that prides themselves into being "independent". In fact, they are not really. But they think they are because they easily can criticize and think they're being cool and all.
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  LostGeneration

  The psychological factors of the JW mind are fascinating. I agree that you are pretty much right on. You are right it is a recipe religion. Go to meeting, go in service, study WT books and magazine = Receive everlasting life. The trick is the GB can change the recipe at any time! Anytime they say you have to believe this instead of that, everyone changes their personal everlasting life recipe.

  For most born ins, it is tremendous strain on your mental health. Why else would 70% say "no thanks" once they are of age? Here is this so called perfect recipe for everlasting life with no worries whatsoever, yet so many are able to figure out that its a bunch of pie in the sky bull....
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  yknot

  Yep!

  Another is the image and presentation of what that plan can do to keep people allegedly 'moral'.....

  Lost Gen.... I hear ya! Things are fine until one day there at the lit counter is a copy of the WT with some major change that essentially means you have been preaching a lie but somehow that lie isn't the same as say another church's lie no your lie was just 'past truth' and the light got brighter...and you are suppose to swallow it hook line and sinker!

  MTTM..... your culinary situation is reflective of our house too! My husband considers recipes as 'suggestions' while I won't dare veer off the beaten path until I am certain the recipe could or should be improved.

  For the most part I like reasonable civilized rules.....because boundaries while they can be adjusted are usually there to keep a person safe........
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  OUTLAW

  There`s no thinking involved..

  All the instructions are on the package..

  "WBT$ Instant BullShit"

  Pour 1 cup of water into sauce pan..

  Add "WBT$ Instant Bullshit" into water..

  Boil until something Smells Bad..

  .................. ...OUTLAW
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  garyneal

  Lost Gen.... I hear ya! Things are fine until one day there at the lit counter is a copy of the WT with some major change that essentially means you have been preaching a lie but somehow that lie isn't the same as say another church's lie no your lie was just 'past truth' and the light got brighter...and you are suppose to swallow it hook line and sinker!

  I hope my wife realizes this when she sees the April 2010 WT publication regarding the latest changes to the generation teaching. Unfortunately, she will probably be a baptized witness by then.
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  kurtbethel

  I have found the same thing to be true. My dub guys do not really want to put any serious effort into research and thinking. They are more comfortable with someone telling them what to do and what to think. That actually makes them happy and secure. It is a wide gulf that I can not cross.
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  Simon Morley

  I started to study in the early 80's and at that time it was probably fear and a selfish desire for self preservation. The opening verses to a great song by a band called Triumvirat sums it up for me - it was probabaly about some old pioneer sister anyway:

  "A Cold Worried Lady"

  A cold old worried lady
  Took my hand today
  She warned of gloom, impending doom
  I laughed, and I sent her on her way
  
  Then as she closed my garden gate
  She turned to me and stared
  There was nothin' said, but inside my head
  I felt, just a little bit scared
  
  Alone inside my empty house
  I reflected on her words
  Predicting things so bad, I guess she must be mad
  Still I wish, I wish I'd never heard

  Simon Morley
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  straightshooter

  I started to study in the early 1970s. I wanted to find the religion that harmonized with the Bible. The WTS teachings about the Trinity, hellfire, flag salute, etc. were what convinced me that I should be a jw.
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  cry

  It's sad but it appeals to our most basic evoluntionary needs - food, shelter, health, stability. We are drawn to anything that can make this possible for us. It starts off as very simple and good and descends into a pit of absolute mind controlling heartbreak that is so difficult to give up. Initially the more people fear they cannot achieve the basics, the more they ae drawn into false hopes.