WT Extremism?

by R.Crusoe 2 Replies latest jw friends

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  R.Crusoe

  Sanctioning family breakups to be expected and Godsent has to be one of the most fundamental aspects to WT dynamics that leaves permanent lifelong rifts in thousands if not millions of peoples lives.

  The circumstances under which they advocate this are various!

  I know they do it with new converts telling them Jesus came to divide and not unite - non JW family - unless they follow along!

  And with JW family who shunn leavers - tempted away by non other than an imaginary bad boy - satan!

  And less obvious - ex JW family who all leave and still have scars from the years of emotional rift and trauma sending ripples down the rest of their lives! - An extreme example being an adult who prevented a dying child having a transfusion and later left JWs - effects flow down the years in any family who hated the idea!

  Also non - JW family who reluctantly readmit you to their decades of established traditions and gatherings as if some mutant has returned amongst them - the rifts are sometimes irrepairable when too many bridges got burned! No amount of talk helps them see a genuine heart!

  Anyhow - it leaves scars in lots of lives for less significant reasons long after! There are many families who will never have 'family associations' and celebration of life as many 'worldly' families do together in natural and wholseome ways as a result of the disection of cultural ties WT dogma infused into networks of lives!

  What is your experience of the long term effects of such WT policies?
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  Pahpa

  While it is an accepted fact that religious differences do separate families, I don't think that Jesus and the early Christians meant that the Christian believer would initiate the separation. They were stating the consequences of how unbelievers, even family members, would create the divide because of not accepting the new found belief.

  In contrast, the Watchtower has encouraged its members to shun unbelievers especially those that were once part of their organization. This cruel policy is "extreme". One might remember that some years ago the policy was different. A JW could associate with disfellowshipped/disassociated members as long as they did not discuss religion. This was a much more reasonable (and humane) policy than the one currently followed by JWs now.
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  WTWizard

  How about being part-responsible for the deaths and loss of values caused when any of my downlines go balistic and start or save huge congregations of witlesses. Even though I am now apostate and obviously not doing any of this myself, all those who I "helped" into the cancer are still doing it. And, all it takes is for one of them to start or save a congregation, and one person dies that would have still been alive without this cancer, and I share a portion of the responsibility for that death.

  On top of that, there is the risk that the witlesses will take it on themselves to forcibly get me back. Then I will have new downlines (unless I have enough wiggle room to sabotage their calls, which is not likely). Those will likely start or save new congregations at some point, where someone will die as a result. Now, I will be officially a value destroyer of the highest magnitude (one whose volitional action resulted in one or more deaths of innocent people). This time, unlike last time, I will have done it with the full knowledge that it is causing death (before, I thought I was saving people).

  Anyone who attempts that is going to have lots of extra work to stop me from ruining all their calls with apostate scriptures and mysticism-busting reasoning that does not come from their Specious Reasoning book.