Question about WT study.

jerome

I read a thread recently where SYN was discussing a Watchtower Book study.

Is it really true that they ask you the questions at the end of the chapter and make you restate the a few sentences directly from the few paragraphs that you just read as the anwser?

Was SYN neglecting anything of importance that would be needed to make a more accurate assesment of the situation?

Because reading back something that youve just read dosent sound very challenging. So I figure that theres probally more to it than what i read.

And could someone comment more on the general procedures at the meeting so I could get a better picture? So far it dosent sound too much different from ordinary church.

jerome

Droning on and on is not encouraged, and so answers tend to be pretty short and pretty much from the paragraph, although reading straight from the paragraph is not encouraged either. You just have to change the words ever so slightly to make it sound like you understood the reading.

Older ones here will remember when the question was read before the paragraph was read. It was tough in those days for those who didn't prestudy!

Nathan Natas

I'm one of those "old ones".

Here's how I remember it:

as difficult as it may be for the lucky uninitiated to believe, SYN gave an accurate description of how the "Watchtower study" on Sunday or the "Book study" on a weeknight, usually Tuesday, is carried out.

a. The "study conductor" reads the question prnted at the bottom of the page.

b. People in the congregation raise their hands to "answer" and then read, usually word-for-word, the sentence thatanswers the question. Some congregations are blessedwith a person who has experience that allows him to discuss points from earlier lessons or history, and most groups have the borderline senile old biddy whose answer to ANY question is , "JEHOVAH!"

c. A priviledged brother then reads the paragraph to the audience in its entirety.

d. goto a.

As with shampoo, repeat until done.

It is a thrill that cannot be believed.

Matty

When I said that droning on and on is not encouraged, I forgot to mention that some brothers and sisters ignore this advice and go off on a tangent, sometimes accidentally answering both the a and b question, and also the question in the next paragraph. My dad is one of them.

DevonMcBride

Jerome,
It's called indoctrination. If you were to repeat something over and over again, eventually your mind would believe it to be true. The witnesses read the paragraphs prior to the study, read it again during the study, and then read it again to answer the questions.

This is a popular tactic that cults use. It is also known as affirmations. During my study of self mind control, I used to repeat positive affirmations to build self-confidence. For more information on this see www.freedomofmind.com

Devon

jerome

I knew that someone would bring up the repition of basic concepts as a fundamential characteristic of totalitarian sect indoctrination but I rember doing the same thig at school:

2 1's are 2
2 into 2, 1

2 2's are 4
2 into 4, 2

2 3's are 6
2 into 6, 3

...

My point is can you think of any group or belief system that dosent encourage constant repition of their principles so that you can rember them?

If youre an athelete dont you have to memorize plays?

As far as I can see the main difference is that the Witnesses are repeating ideas that are wrong.

So do all groups whether constructive or destructive use indoctrination?

jerome

alirobbi

I can only speak of the three religions I have attended. I was raised First American Baptist. Then when our family moved, there was only a Southern Baptist Church and my parents would not support there stance on women, so we joined the Methodist church. Then as an adult when I moved, I joined a First Presb. Church.

In all three churches, yes there was Bible study but we did not follow some outline. The verses were read and then a real discussion was followed. We didn't have the answers laid out in front of us. There was no outline to follow along. Everyone gave there thoughts on the passages and believe me we often disagreed. No one was belittled or told they were wrong. And no one sat there and told us what the answer should be. So no not all religions indoctrinate.

The WTS does the repeating because they do not want anyone to have a differing thought. They want them all to think and believe the samething. That can only be accopmplished by having the answers right there for them to read back. and to have them repeated over and over again. Eventually you will come to believe exactly like the WTS wants you to believe. You will consider it to be true no matter what.

Room 215

Wanna throw a monkey wrench into any JW study? Raise your hand and ask a question, or say something like: ``I don't get it.... how can it possibly mean that? Can you help me understand it?

This happens occasionally when a new person, who naively believes his/her teacher's rhetoric that the Book Study/Watchtower Studay is a free and open disucssion of the Bible using literature as a guide, and it's as welcome as a fart in church...err Kingdom Hall.

It brings to mind a quote which I believe is attributed to the great Spanish writer Cervantes, who is reported to have said ``I much rather go through life with questions I can't answer than with those I can't ask.''

Liberty

Hi Jerome,

The difference is that in school or work repetition you are learning facts to help you, facts which have value and are useful. In a Watchtower brainwash most of what you are getting is useless crap. Memorizing math tables or science facts will help you in your everyday life, while learning that a bunch of old geezers in New York are Jehover's right hand guys or that Jesus rules silently and invisibly since 1914, or that the big "A" is always just around the corner are all useless lies designed to enrich a cult and cheat the idividual victim out of a real life.

The other reason for the mind numbing JW studies is too combat individual/independant thinking. You are often instructed point blank that it is evil, unchristian, even demonic to come up with your own explainations or to do independant Bible study. Even higher education is discouraged because it might lead to independant thinking and is therefore a danger to the cult. Punishments for free thinking are much harsher and quicker than the worst sexual perversion, theft, or fraud inside the Watchtower Society. Look at the quick reinstatements for child rape compared to "apostate" thinking. Rapists, theives, and wife swappers are just seen as spiritually weak while "apostates" are seen as truely evil because they are such a danger to the cult's control. This type of moral disparity is not as common in a mainstream church because they are not protecting cult control over their members.

jerome

Thanks or the replies so far.

Could someone tell me how do they discourage the independant thinking?

jerome

Question about WT study.

Share this