How Cultish are the JW's?

by xjwsrock 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • DATA-DOG
    DATA-DOG

    Sunday's brain-washing session:

    1) The world at large is controlled by the Devil.

    2) You are forbidden to have friendships with non-JWs.

    3) All non-WTBTS produced media is under the control of the Devil and will not exist in the New World. (That's right, all movies, music, books, all works by the greatest masters and thinkers throughout human history...gone. ONLY JW reading material, entertainment and art/hobbies/pursuits will exist.

    4) How happified are the Dubs to have the G.O.D producing books, movies, and music!!

    5) Jesus chose the WTBTS in 1914.....

    6) Just because it's legal ( I'm assuming they were talking of gay marriage ) doesn't mean it's good! Jeehoober hates it!! ( maybe they were speaking of re-appointing Pedo Elders??)

    7) Only baptized, faithful ( to the GB ) dubs with high standards ( faithful to GB/WTBTS ) are marriage material! Men should be Servants. Newly baptized lovers of Jeehobo are not good enough!!

    7) Some youth complain that King-dumb Maladies aren't as good as Satans kick-ass music!! Shameth on them!!! ( Old Sisters comment-WT Conductors head bobs in agreement..)

    8) Abstain from blood means refusing a medical procedure that saves lives 2,000 years in the future! Jeehoober hates the 4 main components of blood.

    Need I continue??? It's a F****ng cult!!! 10 on a "10" scale!!!! Who cares if it's slightly different from other cults!! IT'S A CULT!!!!!!

    DD

  • xjwsrock
    xjwsrock

    Good points on your list from the WT Datadog...

    Who cares if it's slightly different from other cults!!

    It's an intellectual discussion. While dealing with this religion understandably stirs up emotions, emotion can get the best of us if we're not careful. I think it's good to keep things in perspective and understand what we are actually dealing with here instead of flying off the handle and doing something to either hurt ourselves or someone else. (speaking hypothetically)

    For instance, let's say someone is stuck in JW land like I am. Understanding that being stuck in Scientology or Amish country would be possibly a little worse and that there are "awake" members dealing with that reality as we speak, may be just the slight edge needed to keep us going another day with our burden. Saying "a cult is a cult is a cult" is not dealing with the issue with our eyes wide open to the full picture. It leans back to that 'either/or", black-and-white thinking that we are trying to rise above.

    Understanding we are on a scale with other people, some better, some worse, can help us feel not so alone.

  • DATA-DOG
    DATA-DOG

    I'm aware that this is a discussion. That being said, how is being Amish worse than JWism? How is Scientology worse?

    1) Amish: Live a simple life. Farm and read the Bible. Let your kids go wild and decide whether or not they want to be Amish. If they don't want to be Amish, shun them. Meanwhile, have some weird rules.

    2) Scientology: Life is more modern. Be an actor, make a movie, get rich! It's all good! Give your share to the religion. If your kids or family don't want to be Scientologists, shun them! Weird rules abound.

    3) Jwism: Life is simplified, in theory. You can be rich or poor. Tons of weird rules. Shun everyone who doesn't worship the GB.

    What can really be said about these weirdos?? There is some good and bad in all of them. I believe that all organized religions are ultimately harmful and cults, because they infringe upon the rights of the individual to grow and progress at their own pace.

    Cults place people in round holes, even when the person is a "square peg."

    DD

  • done4good
    done4good

    Maybe less weird and isolated than Scientology or the LDS, but at least equally as controlling as those, and certainly more so in the practical sense.

    There is a reason that JWs have the lowest education and lowest income among the "major" religious groups in the US, as well as some of the most significant mental/emotional health issues. JWs do whatever the GB instruct them to do. "Don't purse higher education"...done. "Don't desire a 'worldy' career"....done. "Shun your ex-believer best friend"...done.

    The evidence of the cultishness is in the empirical results. The statistics and end results don't lie.

    d4g

  • talesin
    talesin

    I give them a 10.

    The image that really sticks in my mind is that of the child martyrs on the cover of their Awake! (TM) magazine.


  • sparrowdown
    sparrowdown
    By their culty fruits you will recognize them.
  • Sabin
    Sabin

    You know I had a thought (dangerous I know) . When they calculate how destructive an earthquake is I believe they go on how many lives it has claimed first, before damage & cost, also in that cost would be the psychological trauma for those still alive.


    You have to now consider not only literal life but also psychological. So a person die's from saying no to blood is one, the trauma caused to the family is many. A person commits suicide is one, the trauma caused to the family is many. ETC. you get my point.

    So if we go from say the last 100 years you would be looking at a 9 possibly a full 10. We shouldn't calculate something like a cult on our own experiences but should take into account everyone involved.

  • xjwsrock
    xjwsrock
    Just a quick thanks to all who posted - I appreciate your input on the topic.
  • OrphanCrow
    OrphanCrow
    Sabin: You have to now consider not only literal life but also psychological. So a person die's from saying no to blood is one, the trauma caused to the family is many. A person commits suicide is one, the trauma caused to the family is many. ETC. you get my point.

    Yes, the ripples that the no blood doctrine has left in its wake are immeasurable.

    We can try to calculate the number dead but that does not account for those who survived without blood but with long term problems associated with oxygen deprivation or from the side effects of alternative and experimental procedures and drugs being used on them.

    It does not account for the children left without mothers or fathers, families who have lost children, or for the health care professionals who have had to watch needless deaths.

    One of the factors that professionals look at when determining where on the "grey scale" of 'cultishness' is the degree of violence or potential for violence that the cult's beliefs generate. I think that the ensuing violence that occurs, when someone who has been given limited choices chooses to die, can be measured in the violence inflicted upon the survivors left behind to deal with the aftermath.

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