by Shepherd Book 15 Replies latest jw experiences
I'm scheduled to appear on Atheists Talk radio show this Sunday (I'll have to miss the Public Talk, though).
Here's a link about it: Radio Program.
Does anyone have any advice for me? Or - do you have anything you think I really need to mention? (Like new light or some recent crazy statement in the Tower.)
Shunning and how they now advise members of their congregation to view those of us who have left, for whatever reason, as mentally diseased and they are told we are to be avoided as if physically diseased and contagious.
DON'T COME OFF LIKE AN EXTREME KOOK (ala Koolaid Man)
We must obey the faithful and discreet slave in order to have Jehovah's approval. - ws7/15/2011
Cult leaders are known to use manipulative methods to control the minds of their followers. Is there any evidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses do this? Is their worship cloaked in secrecy? Are they following and venerating a human leader? - w2/15/1994
Then talk about their long history of false dates and bizarre medical commandments.
@Amelia-
Yes, I agree, shunning is a great topic; the host is already planning to question me on that. Do you have any references for the "mentally diseased" and "contagious" statements? I haven't been keeping up with my reading of the Watchtowers lately, so I may have missed that food.
@Desirous-
Good advice. I try to remain calm and rational when discussing the JWs, as I know that any emotion displayed is taken as either a hateful attitude or overwhelming sadness at 'knowing' I'm gonna die at Armageddon.
Did KoolAidMan do something kooky on TV or radio lately?
Depending on how much time you have, you could hit on a good number of different topics. Whatever you're most interested in and comfortable with will probably sound best on air.
Blood doctrine changes through the years
Education
Flip Flops (specific and general)
Shunning
Beating Kids
Pedophelia Cover Ups (STILL going on - see Saipan Tribune from last week)
Misogyny (women are worthless in the cult, except for recruiting new members and helping beat the children)
Mental health/alcoholism issues
Cult Mind Control - Lifton or Hassan or Singer or a combination of them all
$$$Money$$$
If the host doesn't have a preference, you can go anywhere you want with it.
Yes, I have a copy of the offending Watchtower in pdf I can let you have but I think it is still available on their own website.
July 15 2011 Study edition page 16 paragraph 6
Always consider the audience. When talking to athiests, speak the language of reason.
For many of the listeners, one religion might look as kooky as the other. So it is useless to speak to shades of interpretation of the bible, for instance, because this is not the framework they come from.
As a social institution, is it "just like any other" or are there practices that make it worse?
The more I learn about shunning, the more I am convinced it is an evil practice. We are social beings from an evolutionary point of view. To shun is unnatural and does psychological harm.
Also interesting is how the mind can be conditioned to subsume their natural personality to the group. People often firmly defend the indefensible. How does the mind play this trick on itself, and how can it be overcome? There are the stories on this board of people awakening as if from a fog, and quickly discarding falsehood after falsehood. There is liberation - and loneliness - in this awakening. What is the difference between these brave few, and the many that remain in the comfort zone?
How is a person's behavior affected if they begin to view others as either "redeemed" or "condemned"?
Be prepared to answer the question, in a pluralistic society, if it is right to single out a single group as harmful, just because they are different?
Shepherd Book wrote:
Do you have any references for the "mentally diseased" and "contagious" statements?
July 15th, 2011 WT study ed pp 15-16 pars 4-7. You can download the pdf of it at www.jw.org. I think the "mentally diseased" part is in paragraph 6 of the "standard English" edition not the "simplified English," although both are interesting to compare. Here is a recent thread about it.
I agree jgnat.
The first few Thursdays I attended back in the early 80s there was a spate of announcements for disfellowshipping. Even after I had it explained how it was for their own good and it was their own fault and a kindness etc. etc. it made me feel so bad inside I wanted to be physically sick.
I was told I was wrong to feel this way and my feelings needed to be adjusted to Jehovah's viewpoint and then I would see disfellowshipping as a loving arrangement. I shut up. Guilt and fear.
The two witness rule on paedophilia is pretty disgusting too.
