by logansrun 17 Replies latest jw friends
Logan -
I see your point exactly, and it pretty much the same as what Richard thinks. Yes, evolving language does change with the context. I suppose students of Greek divinity could talk about "the cult of Athena", etc, and we just kind of know that was not meant as an insult. However, when you talk about the "Jonestown cult" everybody knows what that means, too.
So, if we did eliminate this word from the language, then I guess we need something to use in its place -
Any suggestions?
James
A wise sage once said;
"You can't get wet from the WORD water".
No matter what you call the witnesses; cult or otherwise, they are what they are. Some people throw out the word "cult" in an effort to blanket label them in a derogatory way, which I feel they are very deserving of. But it's interesting what the "actual definition of "cult" is:
Main Entry: cult 
Pronunciation: 'k<
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
...actually the witnesses qualify under all (5) of the definitions, to a greater or lesser degree.
I don't know how much more definitive it gets than coming from Websters Dictionary. But Websters definition is less prickly than what a lot of individuals who throw out the "witnesses are a cult" statements would undoubtedly prefer.
In my opinion, in "official' terminology or description, the witnesses are indeed a "cult".
Are they "Jim Jones" style? No. The witnesses won't shoot you with a machine gun if you leave the district assembly early, but in other ways they can be similarly destructive in the way they attempt (either directly, or indirectly with "good" intentions) your very soul.
Thanks,
Integ.
wb Bradley. Missed ya bro, as I commented on in just the last 24 hours!
How've ya been?
Still defending that cult?
Wanna have some fun in Dallas in July?
LR:
JW's have usefully made themselves guiena pigs in bloodless surgery. Every pint of blood that isn't wasted needlessly is a pint of blood available for trauma victims who really need it. I am sure the techniques used on JW's have spread.
Their aggravating preaching work and resultant persecution has improved freedom for everyone.
They've also created a lot of home businesses to facilitate their pioneer ministry. Some have been so successful in their business models they don't have time to preach and have left the organization. What is the value to an economy of entrepreneurial activity.
Their emphasis on verbal skills has improved the communication skills of hundred of thousands.
Also who else would buy so many four door cars?
Christian Scientists have cult like features. Their refusal of any medical care has provided a lab for testing mind-body relationships in disease.
Do you want to find out the long term effects of caffiene - you've got an excellent control population in the Mormons.
If a cult is too deadly it will die itself.
You cannot be sure what valuable thing the whirlpools in the chaos will produce.
As individuals we can just as easily be damaged by the so called conventional organizations. What about those who have invested years of their life in a company only to have it go bankrupt and they lose their pension? All organizations have the power to impinge on your personal freedom because all organizations require some sort of subordination for the sake of a greater good. People need to learn how to protect themselves in any organization
True... being anti-cult can become a bit of an obsession in itself. And there are people who need that kind of direction to get their opinion of happiness...more power to them I say. I just hope that the blinders never come off their eyes and they realise that they've never really lived... it would be better for them if they die happy, believing that they have The Truth.
Still I like to use the word a lot because it's such a sharp blade, slicing up my old beliefs. Feeling like I should go back? Say 'It's a cult, idiot', and I'll get over it pretty quickly.
sass,
Still I like to use the word a lot because it's such a sharp blade, slicing up my old beliefs. Feeling like I should go back? Say 'It's a cult, idiot', and I'll get over it pretty quickly.
Very interesting point. Actually, I think that comment really cuts to the heart of why many use the word "cult" with such intensity and regularity here. I have no problem using, oh how shall I put it, "reverse neuro-linguistic programming" as long as one views it as just that. Just as "it's the Truth" creates an emotional charge in a JW/ex-JW, saying "it's a cult" does the same. Fight fire with fire, perhaps? Fine. I guess I've been out long enough -- and thought/read/talked about it long enough -- where those verbal cues don't cause much emotion anymore.
proplog,
Interesting. Of course for every societal "positive" the JWs might generate there could very well be equal or greater negatives (including thwarted positives). For instance, although I agree the JWs generate useful services to the community in terms of entrepeneurship (mainly cleaning and construction businesses), certainly someone else would fill this need in the community and those who JWs who were involved in it might be doing something else, such as working for the Peace Corps, becoming a doctor, etc.
Of course, the president of Hustler magazine (can't remember name at the moment) might just as well have been a force for free speech as the JWs have been. You won't find that in the Awake! magazine.
All in all I'm not saying that the "cult" label is totally wrong with regard the JWs, only that it is problematic, culturally contingent and not the full picture.
Little Toe,
Hey! Hope you are well.
B.
Cults are everywhere....doesn't have to be religious in nature either....Large and small families can form their own belief system or be a cult of sorts in the way they go about there lives. One never really knows their neighbors. Do they?
You can play with semantics all you want. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck .......
