Sociology of the Cult Family

by bluecanary 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  BluesBrother

  I have to admire your determination and passion - but take issue on your style of writing. Humour is ok on this board where we all know what we mean, but you are addressing outsiders . Also some things are just not true , e g :

  "the organization could disfellowship you (excommunicate you) for such crimes as disagreeing with the organization, associating with disfellowshipped friends or relatives, accepting medical care that goes against current doctrine (blood transfusions, organ transplants, etc)"

  Organ transplants are acceptable to J Ws, no problem ..

  "family are disfellowshipped from the JWs, they must be shunned. You must never speak to them..."

  We all know of of d/f that are spoken to, every dub has a different conscience on this. The WT allows for "necessary family business"

  "they do not want you to read older publications "- Why then is every K/Hall library full of them ?

  also dubious are the comments

  J C not mediator... "probably about 75% of JWs aren't even aware of this doctrine)." - guesswork on your part

  " Paranoia runs rampant". - generalisation on your part

  "In fact, JWs have one of the highest divorce rates of any religion" - source citation please?

  As a piece of work , I think my old lecturers would make some caustic comments in red...

  But I like your spunk !
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  bluecanary

  Thank you for your comments, BB.

  Organ transplants were at one time a disfellowshipping offense. I did not distinguish that because (a) all the offences mentioned are equally subject to change and (b) that the Watchtower doesn't issue honorary reinstatements for people who only committed an act that is no longer considered a sin.

  Yes, some people still speak to their disfellowshipped relatives, but they ignore the rules of the WTS to do so. "Necessary family business" is a rare occurance for adult relatives that do not share a home. And the WTS pushes shunning so hard, many members will not speak to DFed family even about necessary business. The ONLY Dub I knew that spoke to a DFed relative was reproved and forced to step down as an elder. Perhaps you come from a more liberal area than I did. But my paper is not about the individual consciences of Dubs. It's about the teachings and overall attitude they create.

  Really BB? You didn't notice that older publications (prior to the 50s and 70s) aren't available on the watchtower CD? You missed the KM about not circulating recordings of older talks because people might be confused by "old light?" You haven't seen the numerous threads about JWs who believe that older publications have been altered by apostates? Just because some of the hard copies are still available doesn't mean they want people reading them.

  The 75% not being aware of the Jesus/mediator situation is indeed guesswork on my part. That was based on information gleaned on this site and through speaking to JWs about it. The terms "probably about" indicate a guess. I would love to see a real poll on this though. Anyone have any suggestions on how to find a more accurate figure?

  I did indeed generalize about paranoia. That is based on my experience and on information gleaned from others. It is also based on the paranoid ramblings of their own publications that encourage people to eschew anything touched by apostates, worry about demons and think of "worldly people" as inherently wicked and amoral.

  The divorce statistic comes from jwfacts.com.

  My professor has read it. He likes the style, but as BB brought out, he'd like to see more sources cited. We're going to discuss it more tomorrow.
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  rebel8

  Your post was really entertaining.

  I would like to nominate bluecanary for UADNA membership.
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  ziddina

  "Organ transplants are acceptable to J Ws, no problem ...." BluesBrother

  BlueCanary is correct; organ transplants have (in the past) been viewed as "cannibalism" and therefore unfitting for "Christians"... Then they flip-flopped on the issue, if I remember correctly...

  They have intruded into the doctor-patient relationship regarding other health treatments, too - vaccines, uh, can't remember some of the others, but if you go waay back - they were espousing many 'quack' remedies with no scientific basis for effectiveness...

  Zid
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  dgp

  Congratulations, Blue.
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  BluesBrother

  To Blue Canary.

  Thanks for your reasoned reply to my post, I appreciate the points made and perhaps a different context of things. I am glad your Professor liked your piece.