Brinjen, I too spent most of my childhood hoping it wasn't true and I too wished that I hadn't even been born into it.
Can any who grew up JW relate to this?
by Mickey mouse 46 Replies latest jw friends
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dinah
Brin, my thoughts exactly. How I always wished I didn't know about anything! It always made me wonder what was special about me to have been chosen to receive this "knowledge"?
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WTWizard
Here are the risk factors:
(1) Not having access to the correct information. When you read the littera-trash and do not have reasonable information, and especially when someone is there trying to rush you through it before you have a chance to integrate something, you have nothing else to go by. All these apostate web sites are actually a shortcut for that integration--giving the readers a chance to make them before the study conductor has the chance to force ahead.
(2) No friends, or very few. When you have few or no real friends, it is an appeal. And, if you are having major difficulties meeting the opposite sex, the promise of them helping you is too appealing (especially without accurate information about all the broken promises ahead).
(3) Change of pace. Today's jobs are stagnation ruts (if you don't believe it, then I suggest seeing how many jokes there are about not moving ahead, the people goofing off, people that can't wait until quitting time, vacationitis, etc.). The cancer provides a new prospective and a new routine that can be appealing, at least at first.
(4) People with little or no accurate Bible knowledge. Even the biased knowledge provided by other religions can help against joining the witlesses. More fully integrated knowledge helps because you will not believe in any religion that demands sacrifice purely on the principle of sin. Either way, decent Bible knowledge helps people to see that the witlesses do not follow it.
(5) Crap living conditions. The promise of better conditions, like that of more friends or the opposite sex, can be a strong reason for many to get scammed. To them, the witlesses are just another get-rich scam (except, instead of them doing any work, Jehovah is going to do it).
(6) Having had a death in the family. The hope of seeing their loved ones, on the earth, is powerful. They are often told that they will see their family member, but only if they join the cult and stay faithful for life.
All too often, such people have more than one of the above risk factors. And the witlesses are programmed to exploit any or all of them. So, in they go. And usually they are in to stay, unless they are smart enough to integrate (the central rule is no integration of the facts, and they keep changing things so people cannot develop fully integrated honesty).
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brinjen
Brinjen, I too spent most of my childhood hoping it wasn't true and I too wished that I hadn't even been born into it.
Looks like we have a few things in common after all JG.
It always made me wonder what was special about me to have been chosen to receive this "knowledge"?
Know that feeling well.
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Burger Time
There are also those like my Mom who see the JW's as a sign from God. Her story was of praying about finding the answer to a scripture. She had gone to her priest and he told her to pray about it. Well low and behold during a prayer the JW's came to the door using that exact scripture. So it's only natural to see that as a sign. I don't really blame her for embracing it. She always remarks how it was life changing, much how when we see what appears to be the light it's life changing for us. Every single person here who has officially or unofficially left knows that feeling of just "knowing". The same is said for those who come in. They have that same "knowing" feeling, which is something extremely hard to break.
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Layla33
Oh I was raised in the "truth" and I can totally understand how someone can be swayed by it. You have to understand man's need to make sense of the world around them, God and religion is a great explanation for things that make no sense. Questions like "why do we die", "why is there so much sickness and unhappiness in the world", "how did we get here"? And here comes a JW giving this idea that HEY, YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER! And you have GUARANTEED FRIENDS!, and WE ARE ALWAYS SO HAPPY AND LOVING!
Oh I can totally understand how someone can get caught up, just like I understand how people rationalize it to this day. I may not agree (like I really don't), but I do understand.
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Burger Time
I agree with Layla, it's just human nature. Plus there is a rebellion factor to being a JW that plays in it too. It kind of reminds me of this http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/2-religions-that-their-parents-dont-belong-to/ but on a multi cultural level.
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blondie
The WTS targets people when they are down:
1. Lost a loved one to death
2. They or someone close have a serious illness
3. Severe financial problems
4. Divorce
5. Problems with children
6. people with low self-esteem
7. depressed
8. idealistic people wanting to change things offering black and white answers
9. people at a turning point in their life
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R.Crusoe
The basic human need in any who are absent a network of community or family is a tribal one!
And JWs offer an ideal vision plus much initial person to person contact - the very thing that most humans respond to!!
Additionally they do not highlight negatives the recruit is unaware of the sinister nature of and go full steam ahead severing all prior dependency the individual had on their previous way of life and culture! This is the nail in their coffin if they ever step out again!!
And remember in the WTs All Seeing Eye they have lots of history about what works in getting people to come along! Their Kingdom Ministry is evolved speak to lure people in! Ahh - but then they say it was all about the individuals original weakness if they ever leave and suffer some depressive conditions! Likely they have been pushed even further into co dependency - no longer on humans in their family - but on WT literature which the WT just love to do!!
The KM is religious grooming psycho speak disguised as salvation and liberation from your own life and sexuality - possibly some of the few things you had left to enjoy?
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R.Crusoe
The premise by a JW is that they are holding out eternal life to recruits!
We know that is how they think and that is the basis for all their reluctance to divulge any negative consequences to ever leaving!
We know that the WT know many will fall away and suffer because they fully bought their sales talk about all the next life goodies waiting for them under the WT tree!
This is the basis for defiance and deviance in relaying a any balanced perspective on the reality that lies ahead of those they recruit!
In effect they are sold an imaginary reality for the price of their whole belief about their own soul and family members!
The imaginary reality is a lie!
It is a whole lifestyle lie!
That is the deviance that recruits start to wake up to and then feel helpless to counteract when other family are along with it all!
And so what tactics do elders employ? Maximum support for the most brainwashed family member to keep tabs on the rest!!
It is a carnivorous infrastructure gnawing away at the emotions of any who wish to exit - especially if taking family away is probable!
And the WT do deserve to answer for the unbalanced lie they sell at such a high price despite knowing the tragedy lying in wait for many they deem satans followers just for leaving them behind!!
They really are a highly funded, delusional-deceptive ,opinionated, self righteous organisation!