You know it's the Truth, because it attracts crazy people.

by schnell 31 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  schnell

  I wish I was kidding, but I have heard this idea suggested lately as a defense of the WTS. This is God's organization, even though it attracts crazy people, and because it attracts crazy people. "Unlettered and ordinary," et cetera.

  I don't get it. Why is this a good thing?

  Do we say the same thing for other institutions? Which ones? Why?

  And let's test this: If this is really a good thing, why don't we try using it in the ministry? Next time you're out in service, knock on someone's door, and ask the householder if they're interested in joining an organization that attracts unlettered and ordinary crazy people. If this is really a selling point, trying selling it.
  
• 

  Dark Knight

  LOL was this idea suggested by one of the crazy people?
• 

  schnell

  Short answer is yes! He then suggested and immediately retracted that without the Bible, we would not have democracy. Jehovah's witnesses must be getting pretty limber from all that stretching and reaching.
  
• 

  Finkelstein

  Does being poorly educated and presented with an imposing situation of life or death or a possible direction toward overcoming personal problems equate to being crazy?
  
• 

  schnell

  @Finkelstein

  Does being poorly educated and presented with an imposing situation of life or death or a possible direction toward overcoming personal problems equate to being crazy?
  

  For reference and posterity: That does not equate to being crazy. However, rejecting absolutely anything that contradicts the narrative and insisting others (especially children and family) do the same for years or decades is arguably quite crazy. While that is pejorative and somewhat derisive, it's also the observation frequently made by those in the organization who have to deal with others in it.

  My old best friend who has since shunned me has a saying from his grandfather: Half the congregation is there to test the other half. Why should that be the case? I don't know.
  
• 

  Christophoros

  Finklestein,

  Exactly...

  Calling anyone 'crazy' is just sad, and shows a deluded sense of superiority and a very sad callous attitude towards people who may be suffering with mental illness and /or major problems, that happen in everyone's life...

  Those are the kind of vulnerable times and situations that JW's and other cults and movements are notorious for exploiting.

  Look at how Trump just exploited it.

  Aside from the above things,

  'the truth' can also appeal to people who have a love of truth... And for whatever reason, fall for the Watchtower lies...

  Personally, I was a naive 15 year old...

  Is naivete', at whatever age, or stage of life and learning we are in, 'crazy'...?

  So, could we have a definition of what 'crazy' is....?

  It, and similar terms, are actually quite offensive to a significant number of people who suffer with, and/or advocate for, mental illness.

  One way that I kind of agree with the grain of truth that is in the idea being expressed, is...

  Yes, 'the truth' attracts a certain type of criminally insane or evil person... Namely the child abusers who know how the organisation operates...
• 

  tepidpoultry

  You know it's RELIGION because it attracts crazy people
• 

  Christophoros

  schnell,

  in your reply to Finklestein, you sound like you're describing the confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance etc. that is usually part of the damage that goes with the territory of being in the cult.

  As well as the narcissistic, sociopathic, callous, hypocritical etc.. traits that most people will have picked up, to some degree or another...

  Those traits don't define a person as being 'crazy' or whatever other label you choose...

  For alot of people, that is not their true self...

  This is shown when they leave the cult and begin the process of overcoming those influences
• 

  Saename

  Schnell - He then suggested and immediately retracted that without the Bible, we would not have democracy. Jehovah's witnesses must be getting pretty limber from all that stretching and reaching.
  

  Right. Because it wasn't the Greeks in 5th century BCE (Athenian democracy.) No. It was the Bible in late 1st century CE, which forced the Roman empire to invent democracy.

  Logic and evidence checks out.
• 

  schnell

  @Christophoros

  'the truth' can also appeal to people who have a love of truth... And for whatever reason, fall for the Watchtower lies...

  Personally, I was a naive 15 year old...

  Is naivete', at whatever age, or stage of life and learning we are in, 'crazy'...?

  So, could we have a definition of what 'crazy' is....?

  It, and similar terms, are actually quite offensive to a significant number of people who suffer with, and/or advocate for, mental illness.
  

  Nope, I can't in good conscience, except only in a one-to-one joke in person, seriously call naivete "crazy". You're right, it's a pejorative term.

  What I can say is that if someone has a condition that falls under mental illness, they do not need to congregate in a millenarian sect. They need to face their issues honestly, and perhaps seek the help of a therapist and/or medical treatment if it's necessary. Being promised a new paradise earth where it will all be better is manipulative and cruel.

  So, again, this is not a selling point for the organization, and Fear-Obligation-Guilt does not contribute to good mental health. Ignorance and cognitive dissonance do not either. Actual crimes of perverse nature certainly don't, and poison the whole well perhaps beyond redemption.