Hypothetical Scenario... (Of a CULT, OMG!)

by saywhat29 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  saywhat29

  Okay, this hs been going on in my head for a while, and though I should be focusing on my finals and papers, this little scenario keeps playing out in my head and I wonder if it is just my biased that "OMGZ It's an effing cult!" or if there is some truth to it.

  Say they actually did pass out styrofoam cups with 'True Christian' Kool-aid... and told them that they would be in the new system after they took a swig...

  Do you think that the majority would do it? One would always do it in any religion as all have to have their die-hards, but I think the real identifier of a cult is the idea that *most* would and could not help to do so without question.

  Because I can't help but *know* that my mother, my grandmother, and my sister would be bodies after the end of this little scenario of mine. Is it me?

  What do you all think?

  Right now I see old ladies smiling and telling ach other that this was it, and that they were all giong to be young again, and that they could finally see they loved ones resurrected, and that when they woke up they'd be in the new system....

  Yeah, I know I really should get to working on my paper....
• 

  Paralipomenon

  Not likely. The average witness is selfish, not stupid. The whole draw of the witness belief is that they will never die. A change of doctrine offering an instant paradise would shatter the illusion of never dying for most.
  
  Pulling a number out of my ass, I would think that about 20% would drink the kool-aid without question. It's not natural to kill yourself. Even in Jonestown, the cult followers had to be forced to drink at gunpoint.
• 

  carla

  This seems to be a common fear of those who have left and have loved ones still in. This must be the 4th or 5th thread on this topic I have seen in the past couple months (may not be only on this board, can't remember). The wt may never pull out the actual kool-aid but the members have already drank of it anyway.
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  saywhat29

  *nods* Okay that makes sense- I just see my family as being part of that 20 or whatever percent and wonder if I'm the only one.

  And yeah I guess its the "Fear of the CultZ!" right now as I see the brainwashing everyday and wonder "What If?1" but I guess your right about the doctrine being changed.

  I just can't shake the fear that my own would be (eff that, ARE) kool-aid drinkers, that's all.
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  FreedomFrog

  Actually, I have had that fear before because my parents are die hards and would take that "drink" if crazy leaders "Jehovah" told them to.
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  R.Crusoe

  The next life will come soon enough! For now you have a paper to complete! Getting sidetracked with the next life will have you failing your paper and eventually in a low paid job to work your but off just to get home to sleep before the next shift. Go ask yourself if you want the paper to take your mind off your next life or the low paid job?
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  The WTS went for the goal of having more general control over the everyday lives of it's
  members without micro-controlling them. Many of their demands get negative reactions
  from the flock.

  I suppose stopping their members from smoking was a huge example of how they can
  control their members in a similar way to asking them to drink the kool-aid. But they
  gave the members 6 months to stop smoking. Smoking is expensive and harmful. Many
  did it for WTS, but not immediately. I quit smoking (years later) to become a dub, but
  not immediately.

  Hardly any would pick up the cup and drink- I guess less than 5%. Others might guess
  higher. This would be an immediate demand. It would seem like overstepping the
  organizational controls. The percentage would jump up if the so-called "persecution" of
  JW's became enormous. That's my take on this.
• 

  saywhat29

  *nods* Thaks OTWO, it's just me then and when I think about it I know Witnesses whose brains would kick in. I just at times live in fear of how warped my own family's thinking can be at times, that's all. Thanks everybody!
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  saywhat, I only indicated that the vast majority would not IMMEDIATELY obey
  such a command. The bad news is that the kool-aid command doesn't come
  out as an immediate one.

  "Drink this doctrine. Obey God, Do anything to please God. The FDS obeys God
  and pleases him, they are put in charge of his son's earthly affairs. Work with the
  FDS. The Governing Body represents the FDS. The FDS gets directions from God,
  so the Governing Body represents directions from God. Obey the Governing Body.
  Do anything the Governing Body says will please God."

  Getting to the point of making everyone do whatever they say is delicate. The
  immediate demands are not obeyed. But the seemingly harmless / beneficial
  commands are followed unquestioningly. This could lead to the kool-aid scenario.
  It would just take awhile.

  I am confident that we will be aware of the changes as they impliment them. The
  new "members only" mags are not going to be creampuff articles. They will be hard-
  hitting on exciting the members to think that Armageddon is imminent. It's all the
  WTS really has left that's effective. They got some to sell everything and wait for
  the end before. It could happen again. They could ask the members to do it, and
  send their money in, or move to Patterson or some little country somewhere.
  
  I can see it now, "For a few thousand dollars donated to the worldwide work, we
  can take you in to our compound on an island where the great tribulation won't be
  so great. Your donation will go toward your expenses and helping others in less
  fortunate pre-Armageddon circumstances to escape. We are confident that fleeing
  to the mountains now will aid us in staying faithful as the world approaches the
  chaos upon them."

  Drink the kool-aid immediately? NO, but that's the extent of the good news.
• 

  VoidEater

  OTWO hits it on the head - brainwashing bringing new light to the masses is done incrementally, a little at a time. It might go something like this:

  It's better to have never known the truth than to have known it and fallen away

  Avoid falling away

  Avoid the temptation to fall away

  Many now living will never die spiritually!

  Many now dead are already alive spritually!

  Those that have already physically died and gone to the common grave (sheoul) while remaining faithful are in the best position of all!

  "Many Christians of good conscience are now choosing to end their lives at their peak - pioneering for a year, and then - while their spiritual strength is strongest, taking away the opportunity for Satan to lead them astray"

  Manna! At the next circuit assembly! Contains arsenic!