Strategizing against the WTBTS

by Essan 39 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  Essan

  Could we be doing more Brothers and Sisters?

  I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing that there was more we could do to hasten the demise of the WTBTS and to speed up the exodus of it's members. And I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking of possible ways to do this.

  One which I have been considering lately is to make use of the fact that many who leave the Organization actually leave the area, move away, and start a new life. But they often have to leave behind family and friends who will no longer talk to them but who they wish could be 'freed' from the Society.

  If somehow those who moved away to a new area could liase with each other then they could perhaps assist each other to free their friends and family.

  For instance, I moved away to a totally different part of the country when I left the JW's. I'm unknown here to the JW's. If someone from this area - a former JW - were to say to me 'I have family/friends where you live, but they won't talk to me. I want them to find out about all the dirty secrets of the WTBTS' then I could theoretically go to that hall and specifically target the JW family/friends in question, posing as an 'interested one', and start a 'study' with them.

  During the course of that study I would ask the questions and do the research that would cause them to be exposed to things they never knew about the Society. This would be made more efficient by my being told by the former JW I was acting on behalf of what subjects would likely be more affecting for their friends/family.

  In return, someone else could do this on my behalf with my old JW friends in the area that I left.

  Ww would just need a safe, private place for those willing to do this to 'sign up' as 'agents' and say which area and congregation their 'targets' were in and which area they lived - then match people up with targets.

  We could all serve as the undercover 'hit men' for each other.

  Has this ever been tried? Any thoughts?
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  I feel like influencing/convincing people to leave is probably a losing battle in the big scheme of things.

  It is much more efficient, IMO, to offer help to those leaving, considering leaving, or questioning the religion already, AND educating the normal public about the dangers of cults so that fewer and fewer join.

  This way, those leaving - there have always been fairly significant numbers - have the leaving process aided and expedited while fewer people join up to replace them. Eventually, this could lead to net losses in the Borg.

  I think your idea would work, but you would only be helping influence one or two at a time, and the sheer number volume just wouldn't be there. On the other hand, just one person freed from the cult is a victory.
• 

  onefootout

  The total anonymity this site provides, and the internet in general is still the greatest tool. People(self included) are scared to death of getting caught trying to get a viewpoint other than the WTS. I have thought of going to the library, creating a gmail account, and sending links to this site, jwfacts, barb anderson ect to the addresses of witnesses i know, then never using that e-mail account ever again. Totally untraceable. But...the problem with that is it can very often have the opposite effect you want...it just heightens their persecution complex and make them more paranoid about 'apostate' influences, especially in light of recent articles and convention talks. Extreme subtlely is required.

  onefootout
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  I've done what you consider, onefootout, probably a half dozen times.

  Only once did I get a reply, and it was an angry one. The rest are dutifully ignored...unless they linger in the back of the minds of their recipients. Who knows? I think it might be better to activate the "persecution complex" today, in exchange for an awakening later. I look back and can see several things that people (non-JW family) said and did in the past that was designed to get me thinking which I rejected at the time but in retrospect must have been some sort of building block for doubts. A brother-in-Law gave me Krakauer's book "Under the Banner of Heaven" one time and a sister-in-Law just came right out and told me I was in a cult, for example. It was years later that I escaped the Borg, but I look back on those two attempts with fondness and gratitude today, even though they didn't work an immediate exit from the Watchtower.
• 

  sizemik

  It is much more efficient, IMO, to offer help to those leaving, considering leaving, or questioning the religion already, AND educating the normal public about the dangers of cults so that fewer and fewer join.

  I agree with Mad on this point. Effectively planting doubts in a committed JW is not easy . . . they have all the WTS defence impulses in full working order, and progressing it to a point of serious questioning takes no small investment in time and effort, with no guarantee for a result . . . Unless there is some doubt there already, in which case a private undisclosed (to ANYBODY) investigation is the normal MO.
• 

  Mickey mouse

  I think ex-cultists are missing an opportunity of helping one another. Steve Hassan's approach of holding up examples from other groups to show someone parallels in their own is the most effective way to help someone wake up and smell the coffee. Ex mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses need to draw the parallels between the way their cults operate.
• 

  Essan

  That's why I felt that utilizing the JW impulse to study with someone, when their defenses are down, would be useful. I already know some people do this: start studies in order to slowly expose the JW to information they previously did not know, or ask questions which will prompt the JW to do research. It's an effective tactic.

  My suggestion is that we simply could develop this into an orchestrated 'targeting system' whereby we specifically target each others nominated family/friends for this process on each others behalf through the exJW community.
• 

  breakfast of champions

  As and elder, I read a DA letter from someone who had 'apostasized' and though a few thoughts did resonate, for the most part I dismissed it - just as I had been 'programmed' to do - as just a poor, desperate, unfortunate soul who had lost her love of the truth and fallen prey to that nasty 'ol Satan character. So I pretty much know any full frontal assault on the avg. JW is going to fizzle at best.

  Personally, I think humor can go a LONG way, not only in making life 'mentally out, physically in' more manageable, but also in highlighting the fallacies, inconstancies and untruths to friends and loved ones in a way that is more palatable/innocuous seeming. It can be fun too! Had much fun going on about the Ten Toe Tract prophecy talk on the way back from the DC and everyone had a good laugh.
• 

  Essan

  My idea would look something like this:

  We create a forum for the purpose outlined in the OP. Someone joins, willing to participate, and posts a new thread:

  "Hi I'm John, I used to live in X and attended X congregation. I have some friends there who I would like to be exposed to the true history of the Org and the UN Scandal. Are there any EXJws in that territory who are unknown to the congregation who would take this on?"

  Someone might reply:

  "Yeah, I live in that territory but the JW's here don't know me. Give me the details of your friends and a photo if you have it. I'll go to the hall and attempt to start a study with them. Then I'll ask questions about the Org's history, ask for proof, make them do research and present them with my own research. Sound good?"

  And off they go. An undercover targeted 'study' with a specific agenda ensues. Then "John" would agree to do the same for someone else.
• 

  InterestedOne

  Interesting idea. It seems like it could work. Even if JW's became aware of the forum, the worst that would happen is they would wonder if they were being targeted. If the study were skilled enough at not triggering the apostate alarm, maybe some headway could be made.