Were You A Gullible JW?

by minimus 53 Replies latest jw friends

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  sparky1

  "They were forced to get baptized by their parents. They were in the cult but were never gullible." - minimus

  This describes me "to a T". Even as a young boy I knew that the Bible and the theology of Jehovah's Witnesses just did not make sense. But I 'played the game' in order to survive. I played it so well that there was talk of making me an Elder at 18 years old back in the early '70s and with my Bethel application was included a letter from the Circuit Overseer and the Body of Elders stating that I should be considered for the position of Circuit Overseer after my 4 years was up at Bethel. Such is the long, twisted, complicated and rocky road that we all travel in order to survive and get by in life.
  
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  joe134cd

  Totally!!! Lock stock and barrel. What amazes me is just how totally oblivious I was to everything.
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  jp1692

  Gullibility manifests itself in a variety of ways. Succumbing to pressure to do something in which you do not believe and then continuing to stay that course is it’s own kind of gullibility: the false belief that we must do something we don’t believe in and/or conform to a way of life we don’t want.

  Each of us has the power of choice, even when we believed we didn’t.

  Again, I am very well aware of the complex and often sophisticated psychological methods of manipulation that cults use to control their members, but that wasn’t the explicit question asked in the OP.

  Minimus, I’ve noticed that you often create threads on a wide variety of topics that ask for simplistic answers to complex questions. Then, you and others, will take exception to many of the simple, direct answers. This thread is definitely one of those as I noted in my initial response.

  It often feels like you are baiting forum members for an argument rather than inviting us to a genuine discussion.
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  jp1692

  Minimus: I know baptized Witnesses that were raised in the religion and never believed in anything. They were forced to get baptized by their parents. They were in the cult but were never gullible.

  Granted.

  Are those people still in the religion? If so, then I would classify those individuals as gullible for the reasons I explained in my previous posts.

  If not, then I would agree: those people were not gullible. They are former cult members and survivors.
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  Beth Sarim

  Regrettably, I hate to admit and reluctantly admit I was terribly gullible and naïve
  

  As a born-in, you are told from infancy to just ''listen''' and dont' ask questions. You trust teachers, parents, eldubs.....

  Ultimately this trend continues through adolescence through into early adulthood. It's really unfortunate. You are continuously told to ''believe'', ''believe'' and ''believe'' and NOT ask questions.

  Eventually you just learn by experience. Life events. Trials. You just learn ''critical thinking'' skills as you move on. Every time someone says something, you just think to yourself ''just because someone says something, it doesn't mean it's true''. Unless they have evidence to back something up....you just learn to ask questions, be skeptical. Seeing is always ''believing''.
  
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  I quit!

  jp: I'm not sure if the ones that stay in but don't believe it are gullible maybe they just don't want to deal with the consequences of leaving or lack the courage take a stand.
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  I quit!

  Minimus: I would think anyone who joins the JWs of their own free will as I did has be somewhat gullible. I think it boils down to not learning any critical thinking skills.
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  Xanthippe

  I was ignorant rather than gullible. I left school at sixteen so had very little education. We had two books in our house apart from the JW literature, Jane Eyre and The Water Babies. There was no money for books, we were dirt poor. We did have library tickets and borrowed books but it was only a little village library. My parents didnt buy national newspapers. The internet didn't exist.

  I knew nothing about anything but I was intelligent so I worked it out eventually and left at thirty. This is why the cult targets ignorant, poor people, especially in developing countries. It's so easy to make fun of evolution to such people when they know nothing. So easy to say the bible is historically accurate because Babylon, The Hittites and Ur have been discovered. Although I have to say I did worry about that, I knew it didn't necessarily mean the rest of it was true.

  I will say this, I followed my belief system from the heart and lived it. I didn't do it to please anyone else and I really believed I was saving lives in FS. I am genuine and not a hypocrite and there is something to be said for that. I believe it's what got me out.
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  minimus

  Jp, you certainly aren’t the authority on thread discussions. Perhaps, you might consider not being so black and white in some of your opinions.

  Regarding gullible Witnesses, I know some who believed anything Mother said.

  And I know many teens that got baptized and played both sides in order to coexist with their family and friends. Some of these people still call themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses because it is the way they have decided to live their lives. They are not disfellowshipped but they aren’t considered good examples and they still really don’t believe but they are not shunned.
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  jp1692

  Minimus: You might consider not being so black and white in some of your opinions.

  That’s ironic. I am anything but “so black and white” in my opinions.

  Perhaps you should take a minute and peruse the diverse threads I’ve started or commented on. Then you’d see how inaccurate your appraisal of my opinions is.