Do we blame the Governing Body too much?

by no-zombie 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Lee Marsh

  There are couple or a few huge factors going on here.

  The GB assumes total control over all JWs. JWs don't vote them into office. They take it and keep it.

  It even tries to have control over those who have left.

  The use the God-card and the death card to maximize effect. Fear of both is pretty powerful stuff. For people who do believe in a higher power of some sort, the need to believe in a God that protects them is an ace-up-the-sleeve for many people.

  Cognitive Dissonance.

  In When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World (1956) and A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), Leon Festinger proposed that human beings strive for internal psychological consistency to function mentally in the real world.[1] A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance.[1][2] They tend to make changes to justify the stressful behavior, either by adding new parts to the cognition causing the psychological dissonance (rationalization) or by avoiding circumstances and contradictory information likely to increase the magnitude of the cognitive dissonance (confirmation bias).[1][2][3]
  Coping with the nuances of contradictory ideas or experiences is mentally stressful. It requires energy and effort to sit with those seemingly opposite things that all seem true. Festinger argued that some people would inevitably resolve the dissonance by blindly believing whatever they wanted to believe.[4]
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

  When people are in a cult and under the influence of the leaders individual thought has a price.

  • What if my thoughts are not true. I will die.
  • What if my thoughts are true and I lose not only my religious beliefs but my family, friends, community, and even my identity.
  • Who am I without an identity?
  • What if I am wrong and give it all up for nothing?

  It is one thing to walk away from your average religion or learn new information that takes you a new direction. But when a cult has possession of your mind, heart, actions and feelings it can be terrifying to walk away. They are trained to be like children. And as children they will not stray too far from perceived safety.

  Way back when they did a study with babies. They had them on a table. That felt safe. But part of the table was glass. That did not feel safe even though they could touch it and knew it was solid. The babies were terrified to crawl out onto the glass table top.

  JWs are just like that. They might have the information that it is safe but it doesn't feel safe because of years of being told it was not safe.

  Who is responsible. The victim or the abuser? To blame the victim for the victimization and the actions of the abusers is unrealistic. otherwise we would be locking up victims and letting the abusers go free.

  Hmmm that is rather ironic, now, isn't it?

  Don't blame the victims!
• 

  enoughisenough

  Lee Marsh, I appreciated your thoughts on the subject...you wrote: Who is responsible. The victim or the abuser?--either the GB are deliberate abusers or they are victims as well and so abdicated of blame.
• 

  Lee Marsh

  Abusers have the power. And they choose to KEEP it.

  Just because a person was a victim, and I suppose you could say they still are, they have plenty of proof that they are wrong. Franz proved it to them and they refused. We have been online proving it to them for over 40 years and still they refuse it.

  • They refused to accept it.
  • They refused to admit their error.
  • They refused to stop raking in the money
  • They refused to stop taking advantage of the people who they are supposed to be caring of.

  At what point do we let abusers off the hook?
• 

  enoughisenough

  Lee Marsh...absolutely right...it is inexcusable that they insist upon welding abusive powers.
• 

  slimboyfat

  I wonder whose idea it was on the Governing Body to change the “faithful slave” doctrine to include only GB members rather than the anointed as a whole. It’s a pretty bold step considering they all served in the organisation and rose through the ranks on the basis that all anointed make up the “faithful slave”. In effect they’re saying that the faithful slave of previous decades didn’t even know their own identity accurately and laboured under a misapprehension that they shared the status with thousands of anointed throughout the world.

  Since they claim sole ownership of the title “faithful slave” now, it seems only right that they bear sole responsibility when they make mistakes.
• 

  Samcats

  It is foolish to expect anything else from an organization run by humans. If the complainers here were in charge it would be just as imperfect
• 

  Ding

  Samcats wrote, "It is foolish to expect anything else from an organization run by humans. If the complainers here were in charge it would be just as imperfect."

  Imperfect humans run every religious organization on earth, but they don't all claim to be God's sole channel of communication.

  Nor do they all insist on being believed and obeyed without question.
• 

  Wonderment

  Ding: "Imperfect humans run every religious organization on earth, but they don't all claim to be God's sole channel of communication.

  Nor do they all insist on being believed and obeyed without question."

  Agreed!
  
• 

  Wonderment

  SBF: I wonder whose idea it was on the Governing Body to change the “faithful slave” doctrine to include only GB members rather than the anointed as a whole. It’s a pretty bold step considering they all served in the organisation and rose through the ranks on the basis that all anointed make up the “faithful slave” [...] Since they claim sole ownership of the title “faithful slave” now, it seems only right that they bear sole responsibility when they make mistakes.

  It seems like a self-appointed increase of power over the rank-and-file. On your last statement, I couldn't agree more.
  
• 

  joey jojo

  Lee Marsh
  There are couple or a few huge factors going on here.
  The GB assumes total control over all JWs. JWs don't vote them into office. They take it and keep it.
  It even tries to have control over those who have left.
  The use the God-card and the death card to maximize effect. Fear of both is pretty powerful stuff. For people who do believe in a higher power of some sort, the need to believe in a God that protects them is an ace-up-the-sleeve for many people

  The org acts like a totalitarian government. They maintain complete control over its members lives, censor anyone that doubts, even encouraging its members to turn in anyone they suspect may have doubts. If a member turns in another, they may feel some discomfort in doing so but overall they feel they have done the right thing. With that in mind, the members are complicit.

  In any totalitarian regime, there are plenty of people that flourish within it and enjoy the prestige, status or power it gives them. While there are not experiencing any personal difficulties, why change anything?

  Those of us that are out can see it for what it is, but as all of us know, losing friends/ family isnt easy, parrticularly if you are born into it. The fear of losing your social structure now and your eternal life later are 2 strong motivators to smile and pretend everything is ok for a lot of JW's.