. . . and for all those attending the 'Safeguard Your Heart 2012 Convention', I pray there is a Starbucks within walking distance of the convention location.
Thought Reform and the Psychology of the 'Safeguard Your Heart!' 2012 Convention
by breakfast of champions 99 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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flipper
BTTT, Very important, infomative thread
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dreamgolfer
BOC,
YOu could not have put it any clearer, a beautiful rundown on why one needs to Stay errrr...RUN AWAY as they say in Monty Pythonville
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breakfast of champions
Whether it's Trenton or Stoke-On-Trent, Cow Palace or Cardiff City Stadium, the thought reform methods of the 'Safeguard Your Heart 2012 Convention' are in full swing again this weekend! Miss it if you can, but read all about it on my original post.
Thanks for the bump last week FLIPPER!
DREAMGOLFER - run awayyyyy run awayyyyy!!! should have paid more attention to Monty Python. . . .
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DesirousOfChange
Also remember your heart is desperate, inclined to bad and treacherous, and the questions is, how is theirs?
Wouldn't that be included under NOT questioning the F&DS?
Doc
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00DAD
BOC: in the end, these aren't really reasons why a person should "safeguard their heart"
So true, and yet another example of WT/JW mental mind-fucking. Actual reasons to safeguard your heart would be something more like:
- Your heart is precious
- Your heart if vital
- Your heart can and should motivate you to do good and wonderful things, but it is vulnerable
- Your heart starts out strong and designed to last a life time, but you still need to take care of it
It's amazing once one become part of the Conscious Class how obvious and disturbing it is the way everything printed by the WTBTS is designed to manipulate and keep the R&F feeling weak, guilty and dependent.
It's a classic abusive relationship. Totally emotionally unhealthy. It will destroy your heart and in the end leave you without hope.
00DAD
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00DAD
In re-reading your OP two things really stand out as particularly insidious (I know it's all bad, but these two are the worst of the worst):
1 - do not even secretly doubt the organization's view of disfellowshipping
There are a couple of things about this that are so disturbing. First is the obvious "hammer down" approach to shoring up the time-honored "Loyalty Test" of the WT's method of keeping the R&F in line: Shun any and all threats to blind loyalty. Do not question.
But the most evil part is the "do not even secretly doubt" aspect. They really want to get inside a person's head and undermine any shred of a healthy self. Obviously anyone that is under the spell of JW mythology and trying to please God will naturally have questions and then when they hear this believing that the abusers spouting this crap are trustworthy they will of course be filled with self-loathing. This is really criminal. It takes a lot of inner strength for an individual to rise above this subtle manipulation. It also takes an awareness that almost by definition anyone that genuinely wants to be good is not likely to possess and certainly as long as they unquestioningly are obedient to WT Rules and Regulations concerning Information Control is not ever going to learn.
2 - unfulfilled expectations of when the system will end are no reason for discouragement
Whoa! Hold on a second. Let's break this down. First of all, what happened to:
Expectation postponed is making the heart sick, but the thing desired is a tree of life when it does come. - Proverbs 13:12
Then lets examine why it is that we even HAVE any expectations that have been unfulfilled. Hmmm, let's see. Oh yes, the expectation that I have of a Paradise Earth came from the WTBTS. They are the source of my (and all other JWs) expectations. They taught me this "hope", they encouraged me to seek this first and foremost putting all other things in second place or even lower. The WTBTS/JWs are the ONLY source of the expectations that I have that have been unfulfilled.
And why exactly have they been unfulfilled? Well there can only be a couple of reasons and none of them are good. Either they are wrong about their chronology and/or Jehovah God is not blessing them and/or maybe he doesn't even exist. No matter how you slice it or dice it the WTBTS is wrong.
So let's review. The WT gave us an "expectation" that was very exciting: Paradise Earth, Eternal Life! We put our hopes on it. Some of us bet everything on it. It has been unfulfilled because they are--to put it bluntly--wrong. And we're not supposed to be disappointed by this? WTF are these guys smoking?!?!?
How cowardly of them to continue pretending they "have the Truth" when all they do is lie. They are fraudulent, religious con-artists making promises that they can't keep and then blaming us for their failures. It really should be criminal what they do.
Why oh why did I ever believe these guys?
So glad I'm out. Now I just need to try to reach my children and offer assistance to anyone else on the way out ...
00DAD
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00DAD
In conclusion, the best way to 'Safeguard Your Heart!' is to
stay as far away as possible from the 2012 District Convention of JWs!
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Emery
This analysis was very helpful and encouraging during my convention, thanks BOC.
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panhandlegirl
Breakfast of champions:
Excellent post and analysis. I have asked myself why, as I was growing up, I never had a clear idea of what I wanted in/or out of life, or even what I really felt about life. As you have pointed out, the borg/FDS (so called) manipulates and damages your self-concept until you never question what you might think or want. I can't believe that I accepted and let these people decide the course of my young life for nearly forty years. I never thought that they might not have my best interest in mind. As 00DAD stated:
So let's review. The WT gave us an "expectation" that was very exciting: Paradise Earth, Eternal Life! We put our hopes on it. Some of us bet everything on it. It has been unfulfilled because they are--to put it bluntly--wrong. And we're not supposed to be disappointed by this? WTF are these guys smoking?!?!?
How cowardly of them to continue pretending they "have the Truth" when all they do is lie. They are fraudulent, religious con-artists making promises that they can't keep and then blaming us for their failures. It really should be criminal what they do.
Why oh why did I ever believe these guys?
My sentiments exactly.
I see that they are becoming more demanding of the members. They are demanding your mind, heart, and soul, without letting you ask, or dare think, about what they are declaring as true. This is scary because so many will think and follow whatever the GB tells them to do. I have close to a hundred members of my family in this organization (only five of us out) and I have no hope that any of them will ever leave it.