by Spectrum 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I was OIC a police Fraud Squad for about 10 years. One of the techniques we used when interviewing people was to 'play dumb' and ask several times for simplified explanations. It usually became readily apparent when people couldn't explain that i) they didn't understand it themselves; ii) they were inconsistent because they were telling lies or making it up as they went along. (Oh, the fun we had!)
It seems to me that this technique could usefully be applied to JWs.
I was OIC a police Fraud Squad for about 10 years. One of the techniques we used when interviewing people was to 'play dumb' and ask several times for simplified explanations. It usually became readily apparent when people couldn't explain that i) they didn't understand it themselves; ii) they were inconsistent because they were telling lies or making it up as they went along. (Oh, the fun we had!)It seems to me that this technique could usefully be applied to JWs.
Joe Grundy, if you ever get the opportunity to interrogate a JW this way, please be sure to get it on video. I'd love to see it!
Just bring your mother to an evangelical bible study group where they study the bible, and only the bible, for an hour or two as a group. I guarantee you everyone in that group will do circles around your mother flipping from one scripture to the next.
Ain't that the truth. The JW's don't know the bible, they have it scripted. There's acres of the bible that the JW's barely skim. I call myself a regular Christian and can run circles around any regular JW in bible understanding. Except I don't have the chapter and verse memorized. These new bible search engines save my butt.
Google results for "Through the Bible in a Year" That's over 56,000 hits.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22through+the+bible+in+a+year%22&meta =
Google results for "Inductive Bible Study"
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22inductive+bible+study%22&meta =
Site ranking for biblegateway.com http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=bible.gospelcom.net/
By the comparison, here's the traffic rank for watchtower.org http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=watchtower.org
Who are all the people who use sites like this, hummm?
Only up to a point, Joe. With most JWs, anyway. Some will argue and harangue until the "cows come home" but most reach a point (personal discretion applied) where they feel the conversation has become unproductive. They will leave. Usually, this discretion is exercised shortly after they are asked something they never thought of before. It is a "fight or flight" trigger for them to face the reality that they don't know the answer to a Scriptural question.
Some few will "fight" (make it up as they go; among posters here, think Schizm, scholar, and jw) but most run like a scalded dog, with an empty promise of "I'll have to do some research on that and come back. Is that okay?"
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
edit: jgnat, I think you accidentally linked a stat other than biblegateway.com
Auld Soul,
I suppose we had it easier dealing with crims than one would with JWs (now there's a thought!).
1. The crims did not usually have the option to leave
2. The tape recorder was running.
jgnat, I think you accidentally linked a stat other than biblegateway.com
Nope, it's the same one. Biblegateway resides on the gospelcom network.
LOL, "the tape recorder was running". That doesn't seem to have stopped some elders with an agenda.
Can people deep in cognitive dissonance even HEAR themselves?
JWs are taught by proof-texts rather than seeing things in context. That is how the publications are set up with strings of cited scriptures and snippets
Although scheduled to read the Bible in segments at the TMS, many JWs never read the assignment; which is why few JWs have any comments to offer at the meeting. Even the elder/MS assigned the part has done it on the fly. The WTS also schedules so much material that you cannot do any research if you did read the assignment and had any questions.
Many JWs don't even know the bible has 66 books, let alone the names of them.
Blondie
jgnat, That's odd. Biblegateway.com has a higher ranking.
"Can people deep in cognitive dissonance even HEAR themselves?"
This is an interesting point, and to continue the crims -v- JWs analogy (I know more about crims than I do about JWs), good conmen (almost) have to believe in their scam so that they can be convincing to their victims. Some of the most interesting offenders I dealt with were corrupt politicians. They had an amazing level of self-belief (and denial), even when the corruption was readily apparent.
And to continue the analogy - amongst conmen the mantra is 'Con your family and friends first, because they're the easiest'. Interestingly, we had a few casrs where conmen had inveigled their way into a church congregation and conned other members. The victims were extra-susceptible because they couldn't believe that a 'True Believer' would be dishonest. Reality came hard.
