by Found Sheep 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Third definition tenyearsafter. I test against characteristics of a "high control group". Individualism is suppressed, and there is penalty (emotional or physical) for leaving.
Under this definition, the military comes pretty close. Bootcamp is a deliberate effort to erase the individual in favour of group action. The graduate gets put back together but it is still pretty extreme indoctrination.
OK thank you lots of great thoughts! Just woke up will respond soon It makes me feel like it's a degree.... I have another work friend I just realized is an ex JW but not like me. He doesn't feel it's pain like I do more of just a part of his past. He was a convert in late teens got out 15 years later and not a lot of shunning was given to him. He would sound more like the Mormon I work with tword JW's.
I dislike the use of the term "cult" because everybody's definition of a cult is something other than what they belong to. You end up arguing about the meaning of the word. I prefer calling such organizations toxic social groups. Randy published on one of my articles on freeminds.org.
In my thinking, ANY group can be toxic to a person who is willing to erase his sense of self for the group. The difference is that some groups don't tolerate any other kind of person.
I'm a Mormon and can say, definitively, that we aren't a cult by today's standards. We don't exercise unreasonable control over our members, discourage them from higher education, forbid their free intercourse with members of other religions, we don't have a doctrinal snubbing, and we have both traditional doctrine and non-traditional doctrine. We also have a great apologetics arm at BYU.
We believe in the Book of Mormon, we believe in apostles and prophets as did the early saints. We believe they were called, ordained and commissioned to guide the church. We not only believe in life after death, but that we existed as spirits before coming here. We also believe that angels and men are of the same race and that all angels become men, live upon the earth and then return to God. As children of God, we believe that man can be resurrected to personages of glory and might. Also, that all animals and plants existed as spirits before they were made a part of this earth.
Many people who have suffered near death experiences have reported meeting not only people who had died and passed on, but people they knew before coming here. People don't remember their previous lives because of a veil placed over their minds.
BTW, the early Christians were accused of being members of a cult, not by the Jews, but by the Romans. They also were accused of secrecy and, in some cases, being stand offish.
If anyone has any questions on Mormonism, I'll give you straight answers. Just send me a private message.
As for ex-Mormons who say they are snubbed, I can tell you it's not church doctrine nor does the church in the least encourage it. Since we believe that marriage transcends death, many spouses resent it when their husbands or wives renounce their religion and become bitter against it. People are encouraged to make their sacred commitments before entering the temple. We believe in the family unit and when someone leaves, it destroys that unit. The spouse who remains faithful finds it increasingly difficult to live in the church with their children without the husband or wife who bailed on them. That may result in conflict and snubbing, but it's not encouraged by the church.
