Did you ever go back to the Kingdom Hall ..

by acsot 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  acsot

  faking interest so as to gather material for a research paper? I'm in the position now of pretty well being able to plan exactly how I leave for good. I'll be moving to a foreign language congregation at some point in the near future, then after awhile I'll be "selling my house" and "moving" far out of the territory I'm in now. I will then go to maybe two meetings, make sure my publisher card is moved, then disappear.

  However, I'm planning on doing an undergraduate degree soon (after I finish my certificate in journalism) and think I may do cult research, etc. So I'd use the time in the next little while to take notes while at the meetings, concentrating on stuff like Watchtower buzz words, subtle manipulation in the literature, control techniques, you know, all that wonderful stuff cults are made up of.

  Just wondering if anyone else attended meetings with this type of ulterior motive. Must make the time go by quickly, and I'll probably be concentrating more than anyone else in the hall.
• 

  Joyzabel

  Ascot,

  sounds like a wonderful plan.

  I always thought the JWs would be an interesting cult group to study. Getting the buzz words and documenting the phrases that keep their brains shut down is a great way of explaining to others how easy someone can get involved and trapped in a "high control group".

  Have fun and let us know if you ever publish your studies.

  hehe and be sure to take some coloring books while you underline "important" phrases, in case you get bored.

  Joy
• 

  acsot

  Thanks Joy. Problem is it will take some time before I get enough credits to even start writing a paper. That's why I figure I better get my act together now and start attending again, once in awhile.

  The good thing about living in a large urban centre is that people lose track of you. I'm taking care of my elderly mother, so people think I'm attending the foreign language hall I used to go to many years ago (hehehe).

  However, it recently occurred to me that once I'm out completely, just the thought of going back to a KH would be so gruesome I'd never do it. So I'll set the wheels in motion now and gather what information I can. There will nonetheless be a significant lapse of time between attending my last meeting and getting my research down on paper.

  I'll be using Quotes website quite a bit, but nothing beats the personal touch.
• 

  franklin J

  sounds like a VERY interesting premise; to study them as a cult and document the process. Make sure it gets published.

  I have returned to the KH I grew up in only once; and that was for a funeral service.

  When I moved back to the town I grew up in ( Huntington, New York), one of our distant neighbors is a JW familiy which I knew growing up, they had been friends of my parents. The mother watches us through her binoculars ( no kidding, and then tells us what she saw). My wife and I laugh all the time about flashing her.

  Anyway, her husband died a while back and I attended the services at the KH with my father ( one of his contemporaries). After the services; I was swamped by old friends, asking questions about me , my mother and sisters. At first I was very touched; until I realized that these people really did not care how we were---they were expecting to hear bad news. The good news is that we were all well and prospering.

  Sadly, two years after that, my father passed on. With my mothers permission, I informed the PO of the congregation where we attended ( Dad had been an Elder before fading) There was no religious service at the funeral parlor, this by choice. All of my neighbors ( wordly) came to offer support. I called This JW neighbor whose husbands service I attended prior, to inform her of my Dads passing . She told me that she was sorry, but because I was apostate she should not be speaking to me. She did not even extend a phone call to my mother ( despite being a former guest at my parents home many times). Nothing. No one from the JW days ever called any of us to offer condolences.

  I realized at that point that I never want to walk into a Kingdom Hall under any circumstances again.
• 

  willyloman

  I realized at that point that I never want to walk into a Kingdom Hall under any circumstances again.

  Good call.
• 

  JH

  As time goes by, and they show no interest in coming over to encourage me*, I feel the same way towards them, and don't feel like going back to the hall to encourage them.

  *and I'm glad.
• 

  acsot

  franklin J: I understand completely. I am under no delusions whatsoever about the "love" shown by JWs. My mother has been virtually ignored since her heart attack and stroke almost exactly a year ago.

  However, I hate the thought of wasting my life in that cult. For me, if it is to have any meaning at all, any purpose in spending my youth and young adulthood peddling garbage to an unsuspecting public, then I need to do what I can, from a research point of view, to expose them and warn people of the suble yet sinister truth behind the smiling faces and friendly facade.

  Collectively we have a wealth of experience with which to help others. I know that each of us will exit and heal in our own way. I am already studying journalism and plan on continuing writing and researching in various forms, which is why I want to do an undergraduate degree. Being able to attend university is a long held dream, one that was squashed by the WTS when I was young. Now that I have a a job that pays the bills, my educational focus can be of my choosing. So I want to take what I can from the cult and use it to not only to help others but to make sense of the whole experience for myself. I love to write, and if I can do something useful with it at the same time, then that's great.

  And everyone still thinks I'm in good standing so being able to get their information first hand in order to use it against them suits me just fine!
• 

  Scully

  It might be a good idea to go congregation-hopping if you are planning on an endeavour of this magnitude. You live in an area that is densely populated enough to be sufficiently well-represented by JWs with a few dozen congregations to visit. It will be more difficult to develop a personal relationship with members of a single congregation this way, and will help you maintain your "observer" role. One of your goals could be to show that this is an organizational phenomenon instead of a being an isolated subset of weirdos.

  Having an elderly parent who is unwell and disabled "but would enjoy hearing the talk" is a good reason to tape record the meetings surreptitiously.

  Love, Scully
• 

  acsot

  I was hoping you'd post Scully!

  One of your goals could be to show that this is an organizational phenomenon instead of a being an isolated subset of weirdos.

  Having an elderly parent who is unwell and disabled "but would enjoy hearing the talk" is a good reason to tape record the meetings surreptitiously.

  Excellent idea! I'll also be able to do it in three languages (unless, of course, I don't kill myself first because of having to listen to all that mind-boggling nonsense).