How do you explain mind control

Mrs Smith

How would you explain mind control within the WBTS to a person who has never been a JW? How do you explain that inteligent people can fall prey to the JW message? No one wakes up in the morning saying "Today I'm going to join a cult!" I sometimes feel so stupid for believing their @#$%*!! for so many years.

Mrs Smith

Hello. Is anyone here?

dedpoet

It's very difficult to explain IMHO.

It's something you have to have experienced to fully understand, I guess.
As to why otherwise intelligent people join a cult, that's another tough
one. In my own experience, I was not long divorced and had just lost
my mother when I joined, so I was at something of a low ebb personally
when the jws knocked.

When people are off balance in some way they can be wide open to a
cult, which is probably why some cults hang around colleges - all those
young people away from home for the first time, maybe not knowing
anyone, and susceptible to the persuasion of a friendly stranger who
approaches them.

With the jws, I think they can sense when someone they meet is in
distress, and try to capitalise on it. I know was often able to spot
that in the people I called on in the ministry.

Mrs Smith

Thanks deadpoet. I was starting to think that I was the only one o the forum.

My parents started their study after immigrating to SA. They had no friends here and no support system. I can fully understand why becoming a JW with instant friends was apealing at the time. After almost 30 years in the WBTS they are fully intergrated JWs.

unique1

It is like a weird teenager being accepted by the cool kids. The kids that have all the answers and that is why they are so cool and elite. The kid just thinks he got luck and accepts whatever they say because, they are the cool kids. He at the time doesn't realize that there is an ulterior motive even though he gets straight A's and will be valedictorian.

OnTheWayOut

I'll give it the short version of a try.

We want to believe we know all the answers. JW's explain everything as if they have all the answers.
If our lives are in turmoil, or we are just looking for deeper meaning, we may be approached at just
the right time by magazine peddlers to give them a listen.

Once we agree to listen, they explain answers to questions we never thought we had.
They believe what they tell us, and it sounds so good. Too bad it isn't true. That's a fleeting
thought, but then we start to thinking- they are intelligent, they seem very happy. I would
like to think I am intelligent, and I would like to be happy. Our mind experiences cognitive dissonance.
If you explain things as an expert, the novice literature student won't know how to disagree with you
or refute any of your claims.

From Wikipedia:

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term which describes the uncomfortable tension that may
result from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time, or from engaging in behavior that conflicts
with one's beliefs. More precisely, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where
"cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The
theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that
compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so
as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted
to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these examined how beliefs often change to match behavior
when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.

So, if your actions are "worldly" or normal, and your mind hears all these wonderful answers that seem to
explain everything, you want to believe. If you start to believe, then your actions are different from the JW's
and they don't fully allow you to believe you are safe at Armageddon until you change your actions. You
experience the dissonance between your new knowledge along with emotions against your former beliefs and
attitude. Your behavior starts to conform, and eventually you are completely won over to any beliefs the JW's
tell you. It may be that you resisted for awhile, but they were so sure, and then you went to the hall and met
about 100 people who were so sure, and heard intelligent people agreeing with that magazine.

That's the short version. There's plenty more. Try Steve Hassan's book- COMBATTING CULT MIND CONTROL.

Mrs Smith

Thanks Unique 1. I've never hear it put that way before but it's easy to understand. I'll try it on my friends that are asking these questions.

Onthewayout. I really want to read Steven Hassan's book. Not that easy to come by here in SA. Will have to order it. Thanks for the great info. I'm going home now but will check this post in the morning so please keep the coming!

Have a great evening or morning whatever time it is there!

Must really get the net at home cause I spend half of my work day catching up on the post I missed while I'm at home.

OnTheWayOut

The mind-control cult uses deceptive recruiting techiques.
They withhold information about their changed doctrines, or failed prophecies.
They may say you are free to leave, but they don't tell you what happens
to full members who try to leave. They implant fear into you so that you will
feel the need to join and never leave.

The mind-control cult uses coercive retainment practices.
They continue picking on the fears that they implanted- keep Jehovah's favor or
you will be destroyed. Demons are powerful. Stuff like that. Pesecution is proof
that Satan is after you. Worldly things that interfere with spiritual things are
Satan's lure.
They finally reveal that leaving means being cut off from loved ones and friends.

Mrs Smith

Yes I understand that but explaining to people that have never been JWs is an other story. I don't think they understand that it's easy for people to be scamed in this way. No one wants to think that they are gulible.

greendawn

They put out ideas whose real impact eludes the conscious mind, once taken seriously and accepted they have consequences occuring in the unconscious mind that otherwise go unperceived. Eg how much effect will believing that the JW leaders are the only God appointed and directed spiritual leaders on earth today? It will no doubt create a lot of respect and fear for them which will facilitate their deception of the JW masses and deter them from criticising them.

How do you explain mind control

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