How many times have we meet Jehovah`s Witness`s that could`t remember what they preached years earlyer?..They will down right deny it,until you stick thier own literature under thier nose..Some say it`s because of BrainWashing,some say it`s Selective Memory....What causes memory loss in Jehovah`s Witness`s?..
...OUTLAW
Jehovah`s Witness Memory Loss.....BrainWashed or Selective Memory
by OUTLAW 21 Replies latest jw friends
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OUTLAW
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minimus
They can't help being dumb. Just like sheep. Dumb.
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OUTLAW
Minimus..Dumb???..LOL!..So would that be Dumb,or Selectivly Dumb?...OUTLAW
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minimus
Ahhhhhhh Good Question!! Those that are dumb because they just are, can't help it. The others just like to stick their heads in the sand and stay dumb.
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blondie
The WTS quits mentioning the old thoughts/teachings in their current publications...even releasing a new book if possible. It was quite amazing that they did not do that with the Revelation book (probably lack the funds) but still provided the "updates." Most likely, they know from past experience that JWs hang onto the old book and they would have people at the book study with both old and new hearing different words read (happened with the Daniel book).
The WTS also keeps pounding on the new thought at talks at the KH and conventions/assemblies.
It also works for their benefit that there is such a turnover, so that older JWs are gone (or dead) and if a teaching changed 5 years ago, 50 to 75% of the congregation could have become members since then and know nothing about it. New JWs are kept busy reading current pubs and have little time to read the old (obsolete) pubs.
I found the old pubs very enlightening when I started reading them.
Things JWs who came in the last 5 years would not necessarily know:
1) organ transplants were once a df'ing offense
2) vaccinations were once forbidden
3) that the GT temporarily ended in 1918 to start up in the future.
4) that the people in Sodom and Gomorrah would be resurrected
5) that God and Jesus were the superior authorities
6) that some people alive in 1914 would be alive when the end came
7) that a creative day is 7,000 years long
8) Add your own
Blondie
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V
Try this test with a JW:
Ask them about an assembly or convention right after the event has ended. Ask what specific points they enjoyed the most. Rarely if ever will they be able to name more than one, if that.
Attending a JW event is a "mind-off" experience. Occasionally a talk is enlivened by a interesting illustration, but most speakers are just repeating, repeating, repeating. This puts the average JW into a trance, while note-takers ritualistically jot recycled topics, and elders shuffle their papers.
Afterwards the JW is encouraged to bubble on about how great the program was, how hard hitting, how timely, etc. But this is just another event ritual--devoid of specifics or substance.
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NanaR
Outlaw,
It depends on how many years worth of "new light" you're trying to keep track of. I remember things that I learned early on, and I remember that they changed, but I sometimes have trouble remembering WHEN they changed. (Having the CD now to refer to is helpful on that).
If you read through literature in the months or even a year just prior to a major "new light" revelation, you will see that they progressively "soften up" the explanation of the "old light" to make the "new light" more acceptable when it comes.
Also, when they do a flip one way and then later flip back, it isn't too difficult to see how a person might "forget" the switch.
Is brainwashing involved? I believe the way the WTS chooses to present material is at best intellectually dishonest and at worst brainwashing. But I haven't come to a definite conclusion.
Individual witnesses for the most part are (I believe) just trying to keep up with "current truth". As someone who rode the merry-go-round for over 40 years, I can say it was a constant juggling act -- trying to remember what was "currently" TRUE. And then when you have people around you who haven't been around as long, you have nobody to confirm whether or not something you "remember" was actually the case or just your scrambled memory.
They believe it is their responsibility to leave the former understanding and embrace the current one. So while I don't actually believe they totally "forget" what they once taught, they have no incentive to actively remember it either.
Just my 2 cents,
NanaR
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purplesofa
Ask them about an assembly or convention right after the event has ended. Ask what specific points they enjoyed the most. Rarely if ever will they be able to name more than one, if that.
Attending a JW event is a "mind-off" experience. Occasionally a talk is enlivened by a interesting illustration, but most speakers are just repeating, repeating, repeating. This puts the average JW into a trance, while note-takers ritualistically jot recycled topics, and elders shuffle their papers.
Afterwards the JW is encouraged to bubble on about how great the program was, how hard hitting, how timely, etc. But this is just another event ritual--devoid of specifics or substance.
your assessment is right on from my experiance.
purps
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Gill
My mother swears blind that having a blood transfusion was ever a disfellowshiping offense. She claims that NOT one person has ever been DF'd for taking blood.
She also denys that she complains bitterly that the Watchtower society is worse than the Catholic church for demanding money. HOWEVER, I do not have selective memory on this one, and I remember numerous occassions when she has complained about the money grabbing organization.
Definitely brainwashed, dumb and selective memory problem.
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Apostate Kate
I often wondered that myself. It leans towards brainwashing because I knew people who I spent lots of time with talking about preparing for the end in 1975, who remained faithful droids after. 10 plus years later they said that 1975 was never discussed, taught, talked about or believed to be the Big A date, when I was there with them talking about it and we all believed it was the date prior to it.
So that had nothing to do with new light since it never happened...