When Ray Franz was towing the company line, would you have considered him a cult leader? From his experiences in CoC, would you say the Governing Body meetings were conducted in a format that benefited them personally.
I see the Governing Body as an impotent power responsible for the welfare of millions. Their decision process hinders them from making any active positive changes and forces a reactionary response after issues reach the boiling point.
This might be just my experience, but when I read CoC, I didn't see the portrait of power hungry cult leaders twisting the flock to fuel a burning desire for power. I saw a group of sad old men trapped leading an organization that at one time they felt was God's chosen people.
Why label it a cult?
by rebel8 49 Replies latest jw friends
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Paralipomenon
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Mrs Smith
If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, looks like a duck chances are ... its a duck!
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Lady Lee
Years ago I had a similar issue in regards to the word incest as applied to sexual abuse by family members.
People didn't like the word incest. It was too harsh and stigmatized the victim/survivor. Many just wanted to label it as sexual abuse. Even on this board the word incest is rarely used when it comes to sexual abuse. The whole sexual abuse issue has been labeled pedophilia. Granted the word pedophile places the focus on the abuser which is good. But at the same time it ignores the plight of the victims.
In a similar vein people didn't like the word victim. It denotes a sense of powerlessness. The reality is that at the time of the abuse the victim is powerless. They have very little ability to prevent to assault from occurring.
Personally I prefer to use the words cult, abuser, victim and survivor. The words incest, sexual assault, pedophilia. The are harsh. But what happened was harsh.
I suspect that people don't want to label events harsh because people have a hard time accepting how powerless they were. People have a great need to believe they had some ability to protect themselves. But until people accept the powerlessness of sexual abuse they tend to accept part of the blame on themselves (I should have told someone; I must have wanted it) Their ability to prevent assaults is nil most of the time.
I also use the words victim and survivor in specific ways. For me the word victim applies from the time the abuse started until the point where the victim recognized the extent of the damage done by their abuser. This would also include an acceptance of the powerlessness to avoid the abuse.
At that point on the word survivor is more appropriate. Especially since they reclain their feelings of powerfulness and begin to heal.
For myself I believe this applies to cults and the victims->survivors of cults
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seek2find
I think it's like the debate over whether Alcholism is a disease or an addiction (Weakness) it's all in how each individual preceives it. If we label it as a cult, we (some of us anyway)are making the statement that we have wised up and aren't going to fall for the deception anymore. As far as the leadership goes, I don't beleive any of the leaders at the top beleive that it's anything other than "Gods Organization" in some ways they are the most deceived of all. Like Ray said in "Crisis of Conscience" they are victims of the organizational concept. seek2find
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Mum
The word "cult" has negative overtones. Our society (USA) comes up with new words often once a word has negativity associated with it. I have also seen the word "sect" applied to JW's. When I was a child, I was crippled; then I was handicapped; then I had a disability; I think I am currently physically challenged. I was also poor, then disadvantaged, now culturally deprived, I think. I have not changed (though less poor), but the terminology certainly has. Every prettying things up with vocabulary enhancement, I remain, SandraC
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Vernon Williams
Becaise it is a cult?
V
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Hortensia
well, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
seems like a cult to me, but it doesn't matter much to me what you call it. I'm not going back. I know that calling it a cult polarizes people, well too bad. Free speech means having to hear stuff you don't want to hear.
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neverendingjourney
I agree with you, Rebel. The word "cult" can mean many things to many different people. It's a conversation stopper. I prefer the term "high-control group" or "high-control religion." It's very hard to argue that JWs aren't that. Calling it a cult seems to be therapeutic for those of us who have been hurt by the religion, but it does nothing to help people understand what the religion is all about. By using the word "cult," people that are on the fence might tune you ought because they think you are clearly biased. A lot of people reserve the term for groups like the branched davidians and the Jim Jones cult. They don't believe JWs are in the same group, so they dismiss the claims of people that call JWs a cult.
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OUTLAW
Why?..Because it is a Cult..There is no point in WhiteWashing the fact,Jehovah`s Witness`s are a Cult...OUTLAW
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drew sagan
IMO the only thing that matters is the nature of the group, not the label.
Yeah, and the nature of the group is that they are a cult.
It seems to me that the negative aspects and definitions of a specific word can tend to confuse the nature of the discussion because emotions are involved. I personally didn't like the term 'mind control'. When I eventually realized that many of my decisions where based upon fears the Watchtower had implanted in me, I finally accepted that I had been under a form of mind control.
I do personally prefer the terms 'exclusive high control group'. I think it is much more descriptive in describing what we typically would regard as a cult.