The Governing NARCISSUS: the psychology of the FDS

by Terry 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Gopher

  A JW child learns to attract attention by not pledging allegience to the flag or sing the national anthem.

  A JW family doesn't decorate for Christmas or Halloween. They stand out by being different and considering themselves superior!

  I grew up JW. Just because JW children have narcissism modelled as the correct behavior does not mean they embrace it.

  I hated being different as a child. It was embarrassing to not pledge allegiance. It was embarrassing to need to leave the classroom while the others had their holiday candy and whatever else they were doing in the classroom while I went down to the library or went home early.

  I (like others have expressed on the forum) didn't feel like I fit in, either with the JW's or with the world. I tried for many years in my adult life to fit, but never got to be in the "in club" among JW's. I felt alone when I pioneered. I felt alone when I was an MS (never an elder).

  I guess I resented, and rebelled in small ways. The elders could see I didn't fit in, and found a convenient excuse to kick me out.

  In time, I was relieved. My time with those self-important and self-absorbed people was finally over.
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  Open mind

  There's nothing WRONG with Narcissism when the world really DOES revolve around you.

  Just ask the dubs.

  Open Mind

  p.s. Nice to see you posting Terry. You were missed. By many.

  Just don't go gettin' all Narcissistic on us, OK?
• 

  Narkissos

  You mean this thread is not about ME?
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  Good read Terry

  I always found the ground players like C.T.Russell and alike were power playing opportunists who were intentionally structuring up their own kingdom

  basically I see Russell taking down the sign on his stores/ Russell Clothing / and putting up Zion's Watchtower instead, his salesmanship in his

  literature was apparent, a marketing ploy that continues today, he just used the bible to validate himself and his literature.
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  minimus

  JWs "simply obey".

  MOST JWs show up at your door because they feel they HAVE to. Most aren't exhibitionists, either.
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  Mrs. Witness

  I agree with Terry. Mr. Witness is VERY narcissistic...he's "the perfect" dub.
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  hillary_step

  Narkissos,

  You mean this thread is not about ME?

  lol....The least Narcissistic person on the Board speaks. You have not had your tongue split also have you? ;) HS
• 

  llbh

  Good post Terry.

  I always thought narcisism apllied at a personal rather than at a group level. I do agree with your argument though.

  I always felt odd preaching though. I felt we never ever taught, how could we, because to teach implies means we have to listen?

  llbh
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  Narkissos

  Now seriously, "collective narcissism" is a rather paradoxical notion, isn't it?

  I mean, narcissistic individuals can use membership and roles within an organisation to build their image of self. But if they don't succeed in ruling the system (like Rutherford) or somehow imprint their own image on it, they will get dissatisfied with it in the long run and leave (like Russell splitted from his earlier adventist fellows) -- which, btw, would raise the question of narcissism among "apostates"...

  Otoh, any collective structure or organisation probably offers narcissistic-like characteristics (concern about its "image" and self-preservation), but this structural trend is usually best served by a handful of highly narcissistic rulers and a majority of low-narcissistic servants who can indefinitely derive a sufficient sense of self from being mere cogs in a unique machinery (narcissism by proxy maybe?).

  I would suggest that the WT organisation was shaped by a few highly narcissistic characters (Russell, Rutherford, Franz) and that its narcissistic structure has been living on since, without any emerging new personality of this kind. It would take another highly narcissistic figure to really change it, for the better or (if at all possible) for the worse.
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  Tyrone van leyen

  It is interesting to note that each self important narcissist that ruled this org. pretty much voided what the others taught in the sucession of their presidencies.

  Russell who started this as was pointed out by Terry voided what he was taught growing up and made his own ideas. Phychopath bully Rutherford voided 98% of what Russel thought. I think when Nathan Knorr came along, Freddy Franz didn't have the balls, but he had the brains. He developed balls later. Under Knorr however he had the unmitigated gaul to rewrite the bible. Now everything Rutherford taught was obsolete. This is significant when you consider Rutherford wrote just about everything going, from the time he took over, to the time of his death in 1942.

  The age of big mouths isn't quite over. Jaracz I would say, still has a pretty big cake hole . Everything Freddy taught is now ignored. The 1975 debacle etc. I think the public is so used to listening and obeying these clowns, they don't even realize that if anyone of these fellows were presenting their ideas to whoever was president in their their own reign and time as an Rank and file, it would instantly create an ego clash that would send them down the river in a hurry.

  Send anyone of the presidents to meet with the other presidents during their reign as" a lesser R&F", and they would kill each other off ,figuratively speaking with their own egos. It's just a matter of who has the power to shoot their mouths off. So much deviation from the original course has taken place, If Russell were to meet Jaracz today, he would think he was entering the twightlight zone.

  I agree completly with Terry on this one. I have seen my own arogance, almost directly as a result of growing up in this narcissistic framework. We might say that the edicts that we were raised with, didn't come from our parents, we were raised by the authority and teachings of these sick individuals.