YES!!!!!!
Hapgood
Yes or No----Do You Believe That JWs Are A Cult?
by minimus 149 Replies latest jw friends
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acsot
Swan brought up a good point about the difference in leaving her former religion and when she left the dubs. And as Farkel said:
"By golly, if the Society told me this green book was black, then I'd believe it was black!"
I'm sure most of us have heard the variation: "If the Society tells us to jump, our only response should be: How High?" The omnipresent (in the dub mind) "Society" qualifies as the leader, but the R&F being told repetitively that a group of men does not constitute a "leader" they can then say confidently: "oh no, we have no leader except Jesus", not realizing that they've just been told what to say, how to say and when to say it, and they obligingly go along with it time and time again.
So yes, of course the JWs are a cult.
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chester
Yes they are.....If they wern't they would not use tactics such as not associating with you when you leave.
Lapuce
I agree with Lapuce.
All you have to do is quit attending meetings and they will no longer associate with you.
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glitter
Of course they are!
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shera
Yes,they follow man.
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minimus
If a Republican suddenly started espousing Democratic liberal ideas, the GOP would ostracize their member. He would lose all power, all clout,etc. He would be a pariah, an outcast! Now, if a JW practiced the same thing in the name of religion and not politics, he's in a cult. What's the difference???
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Farkel
minimus,
: If a Republican suddenly started espousing Democratic liberal ideas, the GOP would ostracize their member. He would lose all power, all clout,etc. He would be a pariah, an outcast! Now, if a JW practiced the same thing in the name of religion and not politics, he's in a cult. What's the difference???
If shunning was the ONLY issue, there would be little difference. Of course, there's more to it than THAT. A lot more. Shunning is not only practiced, it is institutionally enforced upon pain of suffering the same fate: cult. Obedience is demanded and even polite questioning is punished: cult. Members are paranoid of outsiders: cult. Members are also trained to be paranoid of some of their very own: cult. Up until recently, charismatic leaders have run the show in dubland and no one is allowed question a word of what they say, e.g. Russell, Rutherford Knorr/Franz: cult. Membership is brainwashed to spend as much time as possible in their activities and indoctrination centers: cult. Membership is "encouraged" to give all of their assets to their leaders upon death: cult. Membership is divided-and-conquered by a hierarchical leadership arrangement: cult. Membership is constantly made to feel guilty when they don't meet up to the goals and quotas of their leaders: cult. Members and even family members are told they must turn in their own if their own say anything negative about the leadership or doctrines: cult. When a member experiences simultaneous incongruous differences in their beliefs (cognitive dissonance), they are told there is something wrong with their thinking and solve that problem, and they need to work longer and harder for the leadership: cult. Members are told that they alone are special, and the rest of mankind is doomed: cult. Courting for marriage, marriage, dress, grooming, type of employment, education, music and other forms of entertainment are strictly defined by the leadership for its members: cult. Lying is encouraged and glorified if it is done to protect the leadership or throw the "enemy" off track: cult.
Yep. It's a cult!
Farkel
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seeitallclearlynow
Minimus, side point, one of the things I love about you is you aren't proud, but you're fearless!!
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patio34
No, I don't think they're a cult. I think they are a closed system, but a lot of religions are. I think they use mind-control techniques, but I think a lot of organizations do that; some say even some of the media and school systems.
And I'm defining cult in the sense of being like Hari Karishnas, Moonies, or commune-type organizations. JWs are free to leave at any time and aren't coerced to join or stay. True, they do the shunning, but so do others and that doesn't seem to qualify it to me as being a cult.
JWs can keep up with the news, watch TV, do practically whatever they want. They are moral as a rule and peaceable as a rule. Sometimes it can be easy to be so angry about their negatives, which are BAD, but do they really qualify them as a cult?
One thing I have missed a few times about the JWs is that at least people pretend to get along and not gossip. Whereas in other social settings, there's a lot of overt cruelty that I'm very uncomfortable with. Besides, in my 28 years of experience with the JWs, I heard very little cruelty in the form of gossip, etc.
Now, don't get me started on the flip side of the coin: not letting the kids in sports, etc., discouraging college, etc. STEAM!!
But the term cult has practically lost meaning as it's tossed out so freely about groups we don't like or that have hurt us. I call it a "high mind-control group" (from Steven Hassan), which seems much more definitive and descriptive. And there's a lot of mind-control being attempted by many groups.
My 2 cents,
Pat
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2escaped lifers
yes.
Stephanie