Why Witnesses are Zealous - a Dark Reason.

by metatron 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  metatron

  Despite all the fakery and non-credible statistics, there is still a lot of zeal in this organization. Five meetings a week

  are demanding all by themselves. Yet, a dark motivation behind all this activity usually goes unnoticed.

  Simply, Obsessive - Compulsive behavior.

  I see it in the elder who doesn't want to touch door knobs ( germs). I see it in the 40 year old virgin, saving herself for Brother

  Perfect in the New Order. I WIDELY see it in the people who "hafta get their time in" - even though they talk to no one.

  I see it in the meeting attendance of many who cannot descibe what the meeting was actually about. I see it in the

  eruptions of multiple personality disorder and self mutilation disorder in various congregations. I see it in Brother Elder,

  who feels he MUST ABSORB HIS ASSIGNED TIME for a meeting part, even though he has nothing to say.

  I see it in the experiences of elderly Witnesses who preached that Armageddon was Soon! - even though it never came.

  Let me tell you a sad but instructive true story. A very old brother became senile and couldn't remember his own name

  or that of his relatives. What part of his memory remained? "It's Sunday, we go to meeting", "It's Saturday, we go out in service".

  I'm not making this up - what others took as a sign of "faithfulness", I now look upon as a sign of how deeply one- dimensional

  some poor Witnesses have made themselves. Grandpa doesn't know me anymore but he wants to go out in service.

  Another Witness of the same generation gave last words about remaining faithful to his adult children like an old

  soldier fallen in battle. A hug and a few tears might have been the better choice.

  Not enough? Here's more: I frequently see children compelled to "pay attention" at the meetings. Coloring books and the like

  are strongly discouraged so what does Mama do? Tell her kid to count and write down the number of times the speaker says

  "Jehovah". I see the same phenomena sitting behind 14 yr old Sister BarbieDoll who spends the assembly writing her name

  in calligraphy, over and over and over......

  I saw obsession in Brother Knorr, who gave endless tirades about sex. It got so bad that publishers started to complain to the

  Society about it. ( He brushed off the criticism).

  Witnesses are highly compelled people. I can't say that the Watchtower causes obsessive behavior but I'm convinced they exploit

  and encourage it. On a personal level, my own need for medication went away along with my own obsessive thoughts and

  paralyzing depression, once I left the organization.

  Obsession can be a powerful force, strong enough to get people to drink poison Kool-Aid --- or spend every free hour preaching

  about an Armageddon that eludes them over an entire lifetime.

  metatron
• 

  asleif_dufansdottir

  Excellent post! Excellent points!

  Coloring books and the like are strongly discouraged so what does Mama do? Tell her kid to count and write down the number of times the speaker says "Jehovah".

  I've seen it too. Scary. Could be in a manual for raising a child with mental problems.

  I see the same phenomena sitting behind 14 yr old Sister BarbieDoll who spends the assembly writing her name in calligraphy, over and over and over......

  Seen this too.

  How horrible to think of the energy and exhuberance of youth shut completely down and young people actively repress thought and action to the point that many have mental disorders.
• 

  riz

  I see the same phenomena sitting behind 14 yr old Sister BarbieDoll who spends the assembly writing her name in calligraphy, over and over and over......

  Oh my ghod I used to do that. It looked like I was taking notes.
• 

  unique1

  The reason we write our names over and over again is to look like we are paying attention because we are too bored out of our mind to really pay attention. Didn't know all you guys were looking over my shoulder.
• 

  Lady Lee

  I will agree that some people are obsessive/fanatical. My ex was one of them. but he wasn't that way before he became a JW.

  While many of the behaviors may seem obsessive/compulsive I suspect that rather than a OC disorder that usually is internally created to deal with various internal stressors the behaviors seen in most JWs are externally created by the WTS. Once the WTS is out of the picture many or most of the behaviors will subside after time away from the constant source of triggers

  I believe that most OC behaviors by JWs are fear based and created and exasperated by continual exposure to the teachings of a high control group.

  The rules about children not playing during meetings is borg rule.

  People repeatedly writing their name is a self-induced form of hypnosis - most likely used to distract themsleves from the monotony of the same lecture they have heard umpeen times before.

  The germ phobic elder sounds like he may really have a problem

  The virgin sister is afraid of borg-induced condemnation of sin

  Many of the other examples (getting time in, getting to meetings) are either for appearance sake or so no one questions you on whether you are doing enough. I'm not saying some people are doing these things based on internal desire to serve God. Obviously many are.

  True MPD is trauma based. Cult -based MPD is a slightly different problem. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. - both fruit but the similarity ends there. Treatments are quite different

  JMO
• 

  asleif_dufansdottir

  True MPD is trauma based. Cult -based MPD is a slightly different problem. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. - both fruit but the similarity ends there. Treatments are quite different

  Thanks for explaining these points! But isn't recognition that it's a problem, and acknowledging the seriousness of the potential consequences, an important first step?

  edited to ask Lady Lee - How does dissociative disorder fit into this paradigm? Is it possible that it exists in mild form in a widespread way in the society, because of some of the above reasons? Or am I completely misunderstanding it?
• 

  proplog2

  Metatron:

  Are you saying that the zeal of JW's is any more bizarre than any other group of fanatics?

  This is typical of a lot of the worthless threads on this board. Attack JW's doctrinally but quit attacking ordinary human behavior.

  I think the promise this thread makes of "revealing" why JW's are zealous fails its stated purpose but certainly accomplishes it's "intended" purpose - to attackk JW's.

  Don't you think that's kind of dark?
• 

  metatron

  I'm sorry, proplog but your post appears to make no sense at all.

  I don't even know how to reply to it. If they are fanatics as you say, then there is behavior that defines that fanaticism.

  As for a reason for their zeal, I've given one, whether you agree with it or not.

  Mental and emotional illness among Witnesses is very real - as shown by the suicides and widespread depression.

  metatron
• 

  minimus

  The point could be made that if someone has OCD, it's not the Watchtower's fault. He or she could just as well be Roman Catholic and go to mass 3 times a day because of that compulsion.
• 

  Lady Lee

  Thanks for explaining these points! [about MPD] But isn't recognition that it's a problem, and acknowledging the seriousness of the potential consequences, an important first step?

  Absolutely

  edited to ask Lady Lee - How does dissociative disorder fit into this paradigm? Is it possible that it exists in mild form in a widespread way in the society, because of some of the above reasons? Or am I completely misunderstanding it?

  As people begin to study with the JWs there is a real emphasis on "putting on the new personailty". People are strongly encouraged to conform to the norm within the congregations. Certain behaviors are encouraged while others are discouraged. From the way people dress, to smoking, sexual matters, foods they eat, recreation, speech, grooming - over time each one of these behaviors is altered to conform. Even how they think when alone becomes something that is monitored. The real self is submerged and the new personality takes over - the cult defined personality.

  Now this new personality is not born of trauma as in typical DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder - the new name for MPD). This personality is born from a demand to conform. The demand is external to the person. And while it might be argued that all alter personalities are born out of a need to conform to something, be it a demand or a trauma I think there is a distinct difference in where the demand comes from - internal vcs external. Amnesia is rare in cases of cult-based personalities (at least that I know of) In the case of most cult based personalities "therapy" most often consists of freedom, time and distance from the cult, information to free the cultic thinking process and to their power/authority, and the opportunity to relate to the larger world. Most people do this on their own and do not require intensive therapy to get back to the true self. The cult disappears and would not be integrated into the whole. It was not a part of the whole to begin with

  Trauma based therapy entails the client reliving many of the traumas so they gain access to what has happened to them (much can be repressed by the individual). The alter personalities must be integrated in some fashion into the whole person where they began. The person must acknowledge and accept all the parts of the self simply because they are parts of the whole

  One exception to the above cult based personality are people who have belonged to Satanic or Ritualistc Cults. They can and often do develop trauma based personalities