At what point did you realize JW's were a Cult?

by Think About It 184 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Think About It

  Most of us X-JW's at one point no doubt defended the JW's when called a cult. Althought being out since 95', when I first came here it took awhile before I could use the cult word to describe the JW religion. Finding out about the pedophile scandal was disgusting, but it was probably finding out here about the WTS history and terrible personal experiences of some on this board that made me finally admit that the JW's were a cult. Never had to read any of the Cult books.

  What made you finally realize that the JW religion was a cult?

  Think About It
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  letsslatejws

  I finally realised they were a cult when there definition of a Cult didnt match the actual dictionary definition of the term. This made me realise how controlling they were & that no matter what you did they still made it there business to know about it....
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  brotherdan

  When I read Chapter 4 in "Combatting Cult Mind Control" by Stephen Hassan.
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  miseryloveselders

  Ya know something, I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, but I still hesitate to call it a cult. Call it my upbringing or background, but I just can't call it that. Maybe I have a warped view of what a cult actually is. I still picture a cult as the folks in Waco, or Powers Boothe sweating in his chair while everyone drinks the kool aid. I find it difficult to lump JWs in with that crowd.
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  undercover

  I still picture a cult as the folks in Waco, or Powers Boothe sweating in his chair while everyone drinks the kool aid. I find it difficult to lump JWs in with that crowd.

  JWs are a cult by definition - but - for the average person in society, the image you described is exactly what they think of when they hear the word "cult". That's why, outside of this board, I rarely use the word cult when describing JWs. No one gets it, outside of those who have lived it and escaped it.

  It took me awhile to admit to myself that it was a cult. Part of me didn't want to admit that I was in a cult. Part of me still had the same idea of a cult as being like Waco or Jonestown instead of door knocking magazine peddlers. Eventually you do get to a point where you have to call a spade a spade and admit that they are a cult and we were cult members.
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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Although I had been DF'd for about 8+ years, I had stumbled across a website sometime in 2002 (can't remember the name) that said it watched the major cults of the world, to include the Mormons.........and to my shock: JWs. WHAT??? I was floored, and thinking of it that way disturbed me greatly. Like MLE, I didn't correalate what I thought to be the definition of the word "cult" to what I was raised in. To me, being in a cult meant the Jonestown Massacre, or people sacrificing goats by the pale moonlight, or something like that.

  Over time and after research/reading, it sank in that (in my humble opinion), I was raised in a cult. For me, it somehow helped put things into perspective. I could start to truly move on. After that realization, I really began to address more of my post-DF de-programming in greater depth. Therapy, good friends as well as lots of hard work and prayer brought me to this point in my life.
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  leavingwt

  Only after reading Hassan's first book, did I realize why I believed things for which there was no (or contrary) evidence. His description of Thought Reform matched exactly with my WT experience.
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  Doubting Bro

  When I read the BITE criteria and the WTS fit almost all of the subpoints. That KM in 07 I think that said we shouldn't do research outside the WTS publications really sealed it for me. That's when I stopped commenting since many of my comments were based on things like Strong's or different translations other than the NWT.
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  St George of England

  When I read 'Reasoning from the Scriptures' p202 - 203, 'Are JWs a sect or a cult, and how old is their religion?'

  This was a talk on the TMS last week and I just sat there wondering how the normally intelligent sister delivering it managed to keep going. JWs are not a sect or cult if you only use the WTS dictionary.

  The idea they have been around since the time of Abel and have not split off from any other group (Adventists???) is proposterous.

  George
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  Think About It

  Ya know something, I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, but I still hesitate to call it a cult. Call it my upbringing or background, but I just can't call it that. Maybe I have a warped view of what a cult actually is. I still picture a cult as the folks in Waco, or Powers Boothe sweating in his chair while everyone drinks the kool aid. I find it difficult to lump JWs in with that crowd.

  MLE.......I know what you are saying. I really stuggled with using the cult word, but finally had to admit it. After seeing all the scandals, flip flops, control techniques, etc., it was embarrassing to finally have to admit that all the time & faith put into what you thought was the truth was actually a cult. It could easily not be a cult, but the WTS GB refuses to change the things that make it a cult.

  Think About It