were you STRESSED when you joined the dubs?

by refiners fire 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  refiners fire

  The technical literature on cults reckons that stress is a big factor in cult conversion.
  A lot of cults induce varied emotional states within recruits,
  they artificially generate conflict in the minds of the recruits. In fact, of the ones Ive seen, MOST of them do in some way or other!

  They use active techniques of "mind manipulation" in the conversion process. The Mormons do. The Moonies do. The pentecostals do.
  Yet the Witnesses dont.
  Now if stress must be a factor in conversion, as the cult literature says, this causes me to wonder if perhaps people who decide to join the Witnesses are stressed in some way in their personal life before joining.

  I know my parents were.
  They converted in December 1962.
  My mother told me that fear over the "Cuban Missile Crisis" was on their minds at that time.
  But more...
  My father had been having an AFFAIR and their marriage was on the rocks.
  Not only that, but three months earlier the family business had FAILED.They lost a fortune.
  Then, an obscure little man with glasses and a briefcase knocked on their door.
  The rest is history.
  What about you??
  Was there personal stress manifest in your life when you became "convinced" that the Witnesses had "The Truth"??
• 

  flower

  Hell yea I was stressed, wouldnt you be? I mean your sleeping peacefully in your mothers womb nice and cozy and warm and the next thing you know someones pulling you by the head and dragging you out into the light. Hell yea it was the most stressful time of my life. I screamed my bloody head off.

  flower
• 

  refiners fire

  Well said Flower. And good to see you.
  Yeah, people who were BORN into it,Like you and me I guess, are invalid in terms of this survey.They are victims of it beyond their own control.

  Im wondering about folk who made an "adult decision" to join.
  Personal problems at the time?
  Yes or No.
• 

  neyank

  Flower,

  Talk about being under stress.

  HAHAHA

  I like it.

  neyank
• 

  Amazing

  Hi RF: Keep in mind that cults come in "degrees" ... so the tactics of JWs are more mild than more extreme groups, and this makes it more difficult to see the tactics. The JW religion does use current world events to make their case ... in good times they play of "Peace and Security" as fulfilling prophecy, then shift in time of war to talk about the "Last Days". The Watchtower uses and manipulates FEAR par excellence.

  If you talk to a Moonie or Mormon they will swear up and down that stress and manipulation were not used on them ... they feel their grups are just as unique as the JWs think they are unique. This is the trick of any cult, to make them feel that it is every other group that is a cult, but they are truly of God.
• 

  flower

  LOL I know what you meant RF..just kidding around with ya.

  My grandmother became a witness in...1947 i believe it was not long after she lost a child through a tragic accident.

  Agree with Amazing too..the dubs use the same tactics as the Mormons and the Moonies. Its only harder to see and more subtle because the dubs dont force us to live in communities away from the rest of the world. That is one of the most brilliant tactics of the dubs. They can control us just the same as the other cults while we are still out in the world.
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  refiners fire

  My grandmother became a witness in...1947 i believe it was not long after she lost a child through a tragic accident

  Ah, thanks for that.
• 

  AjaxMan

  Agree with Amazing too..the dubs use the same tactics as the Mormons and the Moonies. Its only harder to see and more subtle because the dubs dont force us to live in communities away from the rest of the world. That is one of the most brilliant tactics of the dubs. They can control us just the same as the other cults while we are still out in the world.

  Well said, flower.
• 

  ChuckD

  My mother was recruited right around the time I was born. She was ripe for the picking, with a husband who drank like a fish and sundry other issues going on. The organization gave her some nice easy answers for complex problems.

  cd
• 

  lauralisa

  Hi Refiners,

  My first encounter was at age 30 when I was 8 months pregnant with my 2nd baby, with a two-year old son who was ADHD city, and a husband (for whom I felt little/no erotic attraction) who was almost constantly away on field tests in the arctic. I couldn't stand my life, and was franticly desperate for a reason to feel hopeful for the future.

  Then 'paradise' came to my door.....

  Flower wrote:

  Its only harder to see and more subtle because the dubs dont force us to live in communities away from the rest of the world.

  Flower - actually even though there are no "gated communities" so to speak for dubs, there are powerful and insidious control tactics employed that achieve the same result...

  When I think back now on the HUGE amount of effort it took to abstain from just about everything 'normal' and routine in everyday culture, it scares me.... there were SO MANY things we just couldn't participate in in the neighborhood, or at school, or at work, or anywhere... and that leaves you with no social life other than - well, field service? Barf...

  I can't think of one person who was ensnared during the 11 years I was active who wasn't in some kind of crisis or turmoil...

  Thanks, laura