I think Sulla has made an important point - for some people, their pride won't let them admit that JW's aren't actually right. They have too much invested in the idea that only they have the correct interpretation of the Bible. They will engage in the most extreme mental gymnastics to avoid recognizing the BS and lies.
The UN Debacle, Disfellowshipping Policies, Child Abuse Cases---Will ANYTHING Ever Sway A JW From "The Truth"?
by minimus 46 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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Quendi
Thank you, Sulla, for sharing your views on the question of JW cult status. It is precisely this kind of discussion and debate that is lacking in the religion and has led to the current crisis. The point you make about 'brainwashing millions' is a big one. I think that is what has happened among Jehovah's Witnesses. The Governing Body has actively engaged in it, and their actions along this line are not unprecedented. Stalin did it in the old Soviet Union and Hitler the same in Nazi Germany.
While it is true there is no single charismatic leader in the religion, I believe that the charisma is there and is exercised jointly by the Governing Body. That can be seen when any of them gives a talk, whether at a district convention or a smaller gathering such as a special talk. I recall when one of the Governing Body gave several talks at a district convention in Denver, Colorado eight or nine years ago. His talks weren't out of the ordinary or especially good, but it was his status that cast a spell over the delegates. After he gave the final prayer, he lingered for a while on the stage. In a way he had no choice because the stage was surrounded by hundreds of people all eager to see, hear, and even touch one of the 'future kings of the earth'. So he spent quite a bit of time smiling and glad-handling with all these strangers. That to me is the sign of a cult.
Decades ago, before the Governing Body really gained power and prominence, you could see the same reaction among Witnesses when they were in the presence of either Nathan Knorr or Fred Franz. I was very conscious of this myself when I met Franz after a talk he gave in Fayette, Alabama in 1976. I was among those who got on the stage after the final prayer and reveled in the glow of being noticed by one of the 'Lord's anointed'. Those of us who did get to talk to Franz afterward spoke of it as something we would remember for the rest of our lives. I imagine that many of those well-wishers at the Denver convention felt the same way, especially those who had brought their children to the platform so that they could meet the speaker.
The arrogance and pride JWs have over the belief they alone have the truth is another feature of this religion that labels it as a cult for me. The followers of Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon and David Koresh all felt the same. I'm convinced that if Witnesses could have settled land with only themselves as residents and where they would have been free to create their own theocracy, they most certainly would have done so. The Puritans did it in seventeenth-century New England as did the Mormons in nineteenth-century Utah. The creation of those societies led to tyranny and terrorism being imposed on the settlers. Jones and Koresh did likewise; and really, it is hardly different among Jehovah's Witnesses today. People are afraid to speak their minds, don't feel free to exercise their free will and power of reason, and have to view others with suspicion because a confidence shared with them might get them into deep trouble with the police-elders.
I've enjoyed this discussion and am looking forward to further thoughts from others. The fact that we can have it is just another fruit of the freedom we can now enjoy and which I have no intention of ever surrendering again.
Quendi
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extractor
At this very moment at the Pic de Bugarach mountain in southern France thousands are gathering because they have been told the world will be destroyed in 2012. There is an alien spaceship in the mountain, and at the destruction of the world the alien ship will take anyone who is gathered nearby to a new world in space. Authorities predict 200,000 will be gathered by year's end.
Step 1 Convince people some superior being is communicating with you, and only you.
Step 2 Convince them the end of the world is soon, very soon.
Step 3 Convince them the only means to survive the impending destruction is to follow what the earthly leader is saying.
Cult.
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minimus
interesting thread!
I refused to think that JWs were a cult but I do believe they are now. They simply replaced the Faithful Servant from Charles Taze Russell to eventually a "class" representing the anointed.....HAHA!!!!
Only a cult could buy that one! Only a cult could convince a person to ignore their own blood if they disagreed with the "Faithful Slave".
Only a cult could convince you it's GOOD to die rather than live from taking blood.
Only a cult member could accept the UN/JW "library card" bullshit and think there is nothing wrong.
I could go on......
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Sulla
We seem to be split right down the middle on this question...
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botchtowersociety
People who become JWs aren't necessarily stupid. Some have emotional needs. For example, JWs are very succesful at recruiting fresh immigrants. These people feel uprooted, without a base, and alone. JWism provides something needed by people in this situation.
Some of us joined when we were young and naive. We were all young and inexperienced once.
As for me, I didn't stay in out of pride after the scales fell from my eyes. I endured for nearly a decade. It was, I guess, a measure of fear, that kept me in. The unknown is scary.
Love too. I love the woman I married.
Once I knew a child was on the way, however, I simply refused to subject him to the situation I was raised in. I could not do it any more.
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Sulla
Interesting, Botch. Love kept you in, then it pushed you out. A mysterious thing...