Born-in? I guess I am ignorant. I read the Awake for my college education! I guess I am ignorant. I never went to a worldly college! I guess I am ignorant. Unsophisticated? Isn't everyone to a degree. I guess I am ignorant. But I do know the Wt Is a cult and I was smart enough to leave. So please let me live my poor grammar ignorant life and live in peace. LOL Remember even ignorant people can learn. Still Totally ADD
Do You Think Jehovah's Witnesses Are Typically Ignorant People?
by minimus 46 Replies latest jw friends
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konceptual99
There are Witnesses with all levels of intellectual capability. Some are genuinely thick but most aren't even if they are not highly educated or even academic.
Plenty of Witnesses have well paid, white collar jobs that are far from menial roles. Plenty have good businesses. I have know plenty enough who read lots, are interested in the arts and culture, have a reasonable knowledge the sciences and so on.
What most mentally in Witnesses lack however is the willingness to question and investigate beyond the boundaries set by the WTS. For some this is an intellectual challenge for others it's the application of cognitive dissonance.
For example, a Witness may have an interest in the sciences and the intellectual capability to understand some complex aspects of physics, chemistry and biology yet simply discards all the material that presents a worldview contrary to the simplistic world of the Bible. They are conditioned to replace nagging questions with an approach of "leaving it to Jehovah". What's worse is some go further and employ pseudo intellectual nonsense to make it seem like they employed critical thinking skills and are not simply dismissing things without serious thought.
This can be considered "wilful ignorance" but for most it's simply cult conditioning that they really don't question. Like an addicted alcoholic they don't realise they have a problem and it's only when they wake up to that fact that they then make the choice to remain wilfully ignorant or seek to change their behaviour when confronted with information contrary to their JW viewpoint.
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tor1500
Hi,
They are just like any religious person...they feel because they can quote scriptures they are intelligent...that's because they like to dumb down to look pious, I'm such a Christian, I don't know about certain things but I know my bible....that's the mind-set....just like what's going on now...they feel something is up, something is going to happen, & they think they know....wonder what witnesses thought during, other turbulent times, like Depression, civil unrest etc...
The Ignorance is just game....to show they are not of the world...one time I said to a sister...AKA: she didn't know what that meant, but she knows how to rack up points for coffee and how to get free stuff...
Many at my hall, have been to college and they are professionals...they give intelligent comments, but they don't apply it...many think because they give good comments that they are spiritually strong and they are a dedicated witness in good standing...NOT....they are just good students...how many students in school were smart but class clown or were bullies but smart....good comments mean nothing...
Some witnesses never went to school so what they learn from the org. makes them seem educated...sometimes the more ignorant a person is the more arrogant they are...
Again, don't believe the hype, witnesses are smarter than they let on....
Many people do lose site of what's really important when it comes to money and higher education...some people are professional students, never graduate and when they do, they go back to school to avoid the real world...that's what the org. is somewhat talking about...don't get too smart or too rich to forget about Jehovah...
Tor
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OnTheWayOut
I was naive. I was exposed to the JW's as a youth, but did not join then. I went from being a high school drop-out stoned, drunken teen to the military and then became a JW when I reached my bottom. The point is that I knew nothing- I knew little about Christianity and non-Christianity, I knew less about science and education and certainly never heard of faulty logic, cognitive dissonance, and cults. I could have been approached by Scientologists or Mormons or Seventh Day Adventists and been on a completely different "Ex" forum right now.
Most "born-in" JW's remain deliberately ignorant of science, education, philosophy, psychology, and even what's happening politically. Most converts have a better grip on some of that, but not much better.
They just learn to scoff at everything and think they "know" something of far more value than learning "worldly" things.
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Vidiot
OnTheWayOut - "...Most 'born-in' JWs remain deliberately ignorant of science, education, philosophy, psychology, and even what's happening politically..."
That's because they grasp - on some level, deep down - that to not remain that way would inevitably call their beliefs into question.
Funny... you'd have thought the guys crafting Org's cosmology would have considered that.
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DJS
Hey minimus, we agree!!! Hoodathunkit?
Definition of ignorant: Merriam Webster
. 1 a : destitute of knowledge or education an ignorant society; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified parents ignorant of modern mathematics b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence ignorant errors
Dubs are fundamentalists. Note the following article regarding fundamentalist religious people, from a study conducted by Northwestern University, and intelligence:
http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/study-finds-link-between-brain-damage-and-religious-fundamentalism
The researchers define fundamentalism as a cognitive approach that “embodies adherence to a set of firm religious beliefs advocating unassailable truths about human existence.“ They write in their paper that the appeal of such a rigid way of thinking is in promoting “coherence and predictability” within a religious group.
Other studies have suggested the same thing. Not only are less intelligent people more likely to be drawn to fundamentalism, intelligence appears to be negatively impacted by fundamentalism. It makes sense. Use it or lose it. Duh.
The Pew Research Center publishes an exhaustive survey of US religions each year. And each year the Dubs rank last in educational attainment.
So whichever definition of ignorant you want to use, either educated/informed or intelligence, yes, Dubs would rate more highly on average in the ignorance factor based on multiple empirical studies. Averages, people, don't have a fit pitch. Of course there are a few smart dubs. For now.
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SummerAngel
Just to add uneducated does not necessarily mean ignorant.
Main thing I wanted to say which is really another thread entirely is the recent and I believe very worrying trend in UK for JWs to home educate their kids.
This means children already isolated from most other children and certainly anyone who thinks differently to them will have almost no contact with diversity and normality. They are dependant on their parents usually mums who have very little education. Don't forget a few men may have slipped through the net to get a basic trade but if you are female your destination is baby maker or pioneer. Personally I don't get think home education should be allowed.
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Phizzy
I was both ignorant and naive when I left the JW's. Born in, I never had the chance to get at knowledge that would have opened my eyes.
I guess I was better informed than most of my JW peers, I read a lot, including a quality Newspaper, but when I look back I realise there was a huge quantity of stuff I simply did not know.
I set about rectifying that,reading many works on Science, especially Evolution, Philosophy, History and Politics etc etc
I also made a study of Religion and its Books.
JW's are kept in the dark, it saddens me that many ex_JW's do not use their freedom to open their minds by educating themselves. It is all so freely available, but many, especially it seems those who left in recent years, are too darn lazy, they think because they know that the JW's ain't got Da Truf, that is sufficient.
It is not, you are very prone to thinking and talking bollocks if you don't educate yourself !
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nonjwspouse
The are willing to be mind trained to stay ignorant. that does not mean there are not smart cult members. remember, the cult uses emotional control, not rational.
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Chook
I really feel sorry for those born into jwland and to have been mentally manipulated from a young age. I feel guilty that I tried to persuade my children , which thank god did not take up the cult teachings. The Jw teachings don't stand up under close scrutiny, but the problem exists because of cognitive dissonance which ALL believing Jw are still under this spell. As to " are JWs ignorant " they invented the word ignorant.