I have seen this more and more the longer I've been out of the witnesses ( over 6 years ) . One of the main objectives of the WT society was to make us have a fear of leaving the witnesses and doubt ourselves so much due to being told we were imperfect and sinful. So then that produced guilt. And that guilt and fear kept many of us from exiting the witnesses for YEARS !
In Steve Hassan's book " Releasing the Bonds- Empowering People to Think for Themselves " he mentions some fears and paranoia's or " phobias instilled into cult members. See if some of these are recognizable to you. He states on pg. 241, " Cults do try to keep family members still in the cult away from ex-members. Programmed phobias can be so strong that cult members cannot imagine themselves happy, safe, and fulfilled outside of the group. They can generate only negative images of life outside the cult. When they think of leaving the group , they imagine themselves being destroyed, along with all other nonbelievers, by the fiery judgement of Armageddon. " Sounds like the witnesses, huh ?
Hassan continues, " Cult leaders like to tell members about floods, earthquakes, fires, famines, plagues, and wars, and use them as proof that the " Last Days " have arrived. They love to proclaim the destruction of the non-believers of the world. " He continues, " A cult members fear is then generalized to include anything which is designated as a threat to the cult identity : Any thoughts, feelings, or information critical of the cult leader, doctrine, or organization. Former members or critics of the group. Doubts or thoughts about leaving the group. "
He states, " Once these phobias are in place, the cult member becomes a dependent personality, filled with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness about escaping the group. Cult leaders WANT their members to be filled with such FEAR and SELF-DOUBT. They want to cultivate LOW SELF-ESTEEM and manipulate members to work harder for praise and promotion. "
So that's it in a nutshell. The WT society always admonished it's members to WORK HARDER, REACH OUT, ADVANCE . All these expressions indicated that no matter HOW HARD a member tried- he or she could never do enough. Thus the groundwork is laid instilling self doubt and guilt into JW members. Then the FEAR comes along when you think you aren't doing enough - they throw Armageddon in your face. Pretty manipulative , you think ? So any newbies or all others I'm interested in how you view this information from Hassan's book. As always, look forward to your takes. Peace out to all, Mr. Flipper