Why Can You See Through the Watchtower While Others Cannot?

by The wanderer 77 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  AK - Jeff

  The WTBTS hold is NOT brainwashing.

  jgnat - I respectfully disagree - my opine comes from having been there - yours is purely observational.

  Jeff
• 

  thetrueone

  The king keeps comtrol of his slaves and the power that he has obtained, by the vertue of information given.

  If the general public was to be taught in a step by step process how the WTS organization came to be from it's very begining to present day, they would probably never walk in to a

  kingdom hall. So the key aspect of the culling is the information and how and when it is put forth. .......
• 

  avidbiblereader

  A brave man dies once, a coward dies everyday!!!!!

  abr
• 

  collegegirl21

  My parents didn't come in contact with the religion until I was 8. They didn't really do much until my grandma died of a blood transfusion. My mom and her were really close, and I think at that time that my mom looked for something to fill that void of losing her mother. With her having a bible study, I think the lady stressed how they didn't approve of blood transfusions, so my mom grasped on to this and ever since they've been controlling and my life has been hell. But I am slowly getting out of it, it will come soon enough.
• 

  becca1

  My path to enlightenment was very similar to Auldsoul's. Finding out about the UN/NGO issue allowed my mind to go places I had not allow it to go before. I was able to take a close look at doubts I had had for many years. Once I did that, I was ablr to see the "truth" for tha sham that it is.

  I agree fully with Mary, that seeing the flaws in the org. is too painful for most. The longer you are "in" the harder it is to face your doubts. It is a sad thing to realize you've been deceived and wasted so much of your life on an illusion.
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  Since the question was asked, I believe it is both. For one thing, people get invested in an issue, cause or group, and it causes them to ignore issues they see.

  I went to Gilead, and it was officially over for me when we got to 2 Kings. There we learned that the "prophetic anti-types" were the following: Elijah = Rutherford and Elisha = Knorr. What a horrible feeling to realize that this "religion" wasn't the truth. But I was caught in the Gilead riptide, so off to Africa! (more another time)

  But you aren't supposed to question anything. Whereas Jesus supposedly had all the answers to any question asked, the GB doesn't, and they don't mind telling you what you have to lose if you disagree with how they run things. Barbara Andersons recent experience should illustrate that nicely.

  I don't think it is an either/or, but a mix of both.
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  Sorry for the second reply, but I have something else to say regarding Gilead

  The whole point isn't to study the bible and learn about principles, but to reinforce the GB authority, so that as a missionary, you will blindly go wherever these men send you. You are supposed to believe that they are the inspired voice of YHWH. They do this by "types" and "anti types". The types are bible charecters and stories, the antitypes almost always equaled either Jesus with the FD Slave (read: the GB, the "slave class" doesn't exist outside the GB) or just the FD Slave. Here are who are the types of the FD Slave

  Noah, Aaron, Moses (sometimes) Job (chap 2-41. Chap 1 he represented Jesus...) Isaiah, Jeremiah, most of the minor prophets, etc. You get the idea.

  Thus, as a future missionary, when you are taught to "see" bible charecters as the GB everytime you read them, you will be obediant and silently go wherever they tell you to go. So believe me, there is big time brainwashing going on.
• 

  sass_my_frass

  I had to acknowledge that something was missing from my life, and to let go of my fear. I also had to have a bad time there; if the elders had shown me mercy and not dfd me I'd probably still be a believer, or at least an attender...
• 

  bennyk

  1) It is a very human response for one to "throw good money after bad."

  2) Mind control is more detrimental than brainwashing. A brain-washed individual may eventually become capable of independant thought after exiting the intensive indoctrination because the controller is no longer present; mind-control precludes independent thought because the victim BECOMES the censor of his own thoughts.
• 

  mama1119

  But in addition to that, I think even the thought of needing to question your beliefs because there maybe something wrong is terrifying!!

  I agree. I think alot of people have doubts and questions, but the thought of losing family and lifelong "friends" over powers the need for clarification.