I got a pm asking this question. How would a JWs radar go up if you were leaning toward questioning things or even showing information from the Society's own publications that was damning toward them?
Under What Circumstances Might a JW View One As An "Apostate"?
by minimus 21 Replies latest jw friends
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Open mind
It's kind of like Gay-Dar, only in this case it's "J" - Dar.
Some JWs Aposta-Dar is much more sensitive (read "paranoid") than others. I can remember sharing a fairly amusing story about a recent CO that didn't cast him in the most dignified light. Most local JWs thought it was hilarious. But I'll never forget the reaction I got from a couple of particularly "Gestapoish" elders. Each one individually gave me the "evil eye" after I told the story. You know, "you're not promoting unity, Open Mind", blah, blah. They didn't say it with their mouths but the eyes were sending the message loud and clear.
If you're still in: "Cautious as serpents" is very good advice.
Open Mind
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Dragonlady76
Any percieved, pressumed, or even fabricated deviation from the truff, no matter how small.
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minimus
Please continue to define what an "apostate" is per the Witnesses.
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NewYork44M
If you are presenting arguments that are typical of an apostate (i.e. NGO, 1914, generation, and etc.), you are toast.
If you are asking questions that suggest general confusion, the elders will dismiss you as just a dumb slave.
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NewYork44M
If you start the discussion with "Minimun says..." or "Blondie says...", they will shot you on sight.
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Dragonlady76
If you start the discussion with "Minimun says..." or "Blondie says...", they will shot you on sight.
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Terry
The #1 signal that you are in the presence of CULT is that thought crimes are possible.
Not being free to think for yourself, to question, to provide a balance to a strong view on the other side as the loyal opposition should signal red flags galore.
As Jehovah's Witnesses become more and more vulnerable to being proved false by their own printed materials (thanks to the Internet) the lockdown on thinking will grow worse and worse.
It is now possible to raise suspicion of "apostacy" by merely asking a question that hasn't been printed at the bottom of a study article.
Nothing original is allowed!
It will soon come down to this: There are the thoughts you are allowed to think and to parrot aloud. Stray beyond them and you are marked as Apostate.
JW's now FEAR disproof like never before.
Prior to the availability of printed articles from the past on the Internet JW's were fearless debators and intrepid at jousting over scripture. Now, with a refutation a mouse click away they scurry like frightened cockroaches when a lightswitch is flicked!
Hiding within the darkness of their ideology is the only solace remaining. Wielding the power of veto over your thoughts and expression is the last vestige of the self-indulgent autocracy in Brooklyn.
It is tragic to reflect on the fact that what has distinguished mankind from the lower animals has been the ability to pursue the solution the question "WHY?"
Today, it will identify you as poison in a Kingdom Hall and target you for banishment.
FEAR to think. FEAR to think. FEAR to think at all......
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AWAKE&WATCHING
My MIL called me last night and began to question me about my total lack of meeting attendance for the last 4 months. I told her I had some things I was researching. She kept at me about Jehovah's spirit, Satan getting in if I'm not at meetings, blah, blah, blah.
Finally I just told her I don't know why "we" believe that the FDS was hand-picked by Jesus when they were doing the same as other churches and how dare they say that Jesus isn't my mediator. She didn't believe that, I must have misunderstood, so I told her there is page after page on that subject - look it up on the WTBTS CD.
The main point I made was YOU CAN'T CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD AND BE WRONG. She tried the imperfect BS. I told her the prophets were imperfect and the point is if they were supposed to be speaking for God they would get it right. The fact that they don't proves God has nothing to do with their "interpretation". What is wrong with God that he doesn't have the power to make them understand? Then onto 1914 etc., etc.
It felt good to get it out.
She said, "You probably shouldn't say these things to anyone else, they'll think you are an apostate."
I said, "Why do you think I haven't gone to any meetings?"