Fear leads to becoming uneducated

Still Totally ADD

The other day my wife and I listen to a talk about making the planet and it's people better. One of the things the speaker brought out was on education. She brought out studies show that fear causes a person to keep from learning. That is a big problem for children who live in big cities where they are in fear of their lives. That made me start thinking about my childhood in the JW cult and all the other children who were raised in this cult. Speaking for myself only I remember how afraid I was of everyone in school. After all they were all part of satans world and they were out to get me. In fear of the holidays because god was going to kill me if I took part in it. In fear of even education because satan controls all the wisdom of the world and we don't want to be part of that. As I look back I can see how this sponge of a brain I had was made into a rock unable to absorb anything. It was not until I finally woke up about this cult did my mind start to work again because I was not afraid to learn. I was not afraid to expand my knowledge of many things. So this is one big revelation for me and all I can do is shake my head in disgust on all the things I could have learned if I was not so afraid. Still Totally ADD

Giordano

It was not until I finally woke up about this cult did my mind start to work again because I was not afraid to learn. I was not afraid to expand my knowledge of many things.

We had a second problem being a witness...........the JW's fear education, thinking critically, college, reading books and the list goes on.

People with no education (WTBTS) will warn you about medical treatments and human biology without any hesitation.

No wonder the Pew survey indicates the JW's are next to last re advanced education among the major religions in the USA.

Make Lemonade

Still Totally AD: Totally agree with you.

I would like to add, once you get over the fear of reading and participating on this site, you can benefit from a wealth of information. Try the search box here. People who posted here years ago have shared what they learned. That happened because they got over their fear.

When I think about the fear your comment acknowledges, this thought occurs to me: Why did we have no fear to confront different viewpoints while going door to door? My answer is that we allowed ourselves to refuse to deeply consider reasoning that did not fit our preconcieved bias. We gave out literature, but refused to take literature. Fear played a big role.

Our training was to have "one way discussions". Part of our thinking included these gems: "Jehovah's witnesses are the happiest people on earth". "Only people with a good heart will hear the good news". "Study of the Bible has led them to clear thinking-ability, improved self-confidence, hope for a happy future, and the resultant joy".

Then these fearful thoughts influenced our reasoning abilities. "Apostates are mentally deseased", "Bad association spoils useful habits", "Do not be drawn away", "Saten is misleading the entire inhabited earth (we excluded J. W.s from being included as mislead) "Stay on the road to life". "You will die at armageddon".

The biggest fear of all: "You will loose your family and friends". That is a threat and has been used. It is an evil to punish people who have lost the fear of men. Who speak out with conviction because they know the truth about the truth.

You make a good and useful point.

pbrow

I dont know that I was afraid of all the other kids.... I sure wanted to do all the things that they could do, except Halloween. Halloween and armageddon were powerful when I was a kid. I wanted nothing to do with something "directly linked to satan.

I would say lack of education allows others to scare you for sure.

I tell my kids as much as possible.... if anyone tells you not to read a certain book then they are trying to hide something from you. Get knowledge wherever you can !

pbrow

Still Totally ADD

Thank you Giordano, Make Lemonade and pbrow. All good points you have all made. I am beginning to see how fear is one of the biggest tools cults use to control there people. The Wt. has cornered the market on fear factor. Even right now there is still some things I will not do because of the fear the Wt. has instilled in me. (Anything that deals with hardcore demon stuff, movies, ouyja board anything like that) Maybe one of these days I will overcome this fear. But it is not my biggest worry in life. Learning is the number one thing now. Still Totally ADD

Apognophos

I've done some reading on this subject and I just want to clarify some terminology. There's a difference between the general low-level anxiety that most JW youths feel about the world, and the intense fear that comes from living in an abusive household or hearing gunshots in your neighborhood while trying to sleep or do your homework. It's the intense fear which is associated with a sort of "cortisol burnout" that damages the hippocampus.

Also, the word "learning" can be used in a couple different ways. The JW fear of learning about the world in general, of being "worldly", is a combination of tribalism -- the desire to belong to a group and the fear of outsiders -- and superstitious fear (specifically, demonophobia). Most academic subjects do not trigger these kinds of fear, so learning is not inhibited in the student.

The more general definition of "learning" is simply absorbing new information. If a JW youth does moderately well in school, then he is probably not suffering from the kind of fear referred to in the thread title. We're talking about the difference between a fundamental learning disability that comes from trauma, and the unwillingness to learn new things because one's worldview is threatened.

That being said, some JW children have unnaturally high anxiety, and internalize a lot of the Armageddon talk that passes over the heads of the other children in the audience. And some are actually in households that are blatantly abusive, beyond the ambient abuse that comes with the teachings instilled in JW youths. But I don't see a direct connection between the kind of fear events that inhibit general learning, and a JW upbringing, for the average child.

I'm not actually disputing your premise that your upbringing made you hesitant to learn about the world, and I can relate personally to this. Just clarifying that a fear of learning is not the same as the learning disability that is being talked about in the scientific literature.

Here's a good reference: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/622/

Make Lemonade

Apognophos: Your comments and reference had this effect on me. Problems have degrees of seriousness. Compares to first, second, third degree murder. Add manslaughter and self-defence, you have a basis to say that "sin" has degrees. Sickness can be minor or major. Etc..

When it comes to giving advice or taking actions to help, a deeper understanding of the problem will be beneficial. I will not work on my vehicles like I did in the 60's. Why? I do not understand the computers, sensors, or electronics. My truck had a sensor light coming on which prevented it from passing a smog test. My neighbor cleared 3 of the five codes and recommended a repair shop. The transmission repair shop recommended I take it to the dealer. At the dealer the mechanic had to ask for a specialist to look at the problem. The specialist found the problem and replaced the computer sensor or whatever it was. Then the truck passed smog and has been sold. It was sold to a company that I do business with. I see the truck about twice a month. The truck is performing well and my friend is happy with it.

We all want to help in whatever ways we can. When the problem is over our heads it is best to find people with expertise about the problem. Your information about fear is helpful. Should a search for a professional become part of the solution? Or is the answer found in common sense?

Thanks for the information.

Still Totally ADD

Apognophos thank you for the information. Like I said at the beginning everyone raised in this cult went through diffrent degrees of fear. For me it was very great and yes my parents was very adbusive towards their extreme view of what the Wt. taught. Of course the PO who live next to us who tried to kill me because I caught him sexual adbusing my friend most likely brought on more fear than I could handle. I was almost 8 years old at the time this happen. Most likely that had alot to do with it. I just thought it was interesting the effect fear can have on a person when they are young. Make Lemonade I agree there is diffrent levels of fear and what could result from it. I just feel this is just another tool the Wt. uses very successfully to control the flock. Thank you for your observations. Still Totally ADD

Apognophos

Sorry to hear that, it does sound like you had a lot tougher childhood than most JW kids My biggest fear that I had to overcome was demonophobia, personally. My parents are both very fearful people, constantly looking around them for possible threats. I wasn't scared of people, but who could fight against a spirit creature? So I had to slowly overcome that as I moved into adulthood.

Giordano

Taking this conversation a little further.......I came into the truth or actually was dragged into it by my newly converted mother in the mid 1950's.

Demon references were, if my memory serves, non existent. Satan and his demons existed but they were 'somewhere else' not in a garage sale item or toy etc. I left in the mid 1960's, with my wife, after pioneering where the need was great and holding the Assistant Presiding Minister position, also the Ministry School servant and Bible Study servant. I worked with 10 different Circuit servants and no mention of personal demons was ever made or taught. We rarely even talked about Armageddon. It was understood that it would happen at some point but not the next day or week or year. 1975 was an aboration......a breaking of trust with it's followers.

Apparently sometime after I left a revival of demonology must have taken place in the WT publications?

The WTBTS especially under the direction of freddy franz had a tendency to play the 'watch out for'......... or it's 'coming now card' to boost membership.

A religion like the JW's has strong appeal to the less educated among us. Fear wasn't necessary to promote stupidity.....ignorance was. Thankfully ignorance can be reversed .....usually by reading which is the most potent weapon against the WTBTS.

Fear leads to becoming uneducated

Share this