Jehovah's Witnesses Purposely Confuse Meanings of Words- to Control

by flipper 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  flipper

  Thanks for all the great responses ! You guys and gals are great ! Been workin all night last night - I'll respond.

  JAGUAR BASS- Very true. All controlling people use confusing words to control.

  SAMMIE LEE'S WIFE- I agree that the WT society and witnesses try to control people by wording to make members of the congregation their family instead of their actual families. It's sick and twisted. And the term worldy in JW land has always denoted negative connotations as you say , ie. wicked people. Really weird.

  AWAKENED at GILEAD- It is strange how the word " worldly " is always so negative in witnessville - yet when a man is described as " worldly " outside the organization it's a compliment that he has traveled the world and is experienced . But to witnesses it's definitely a negative thing.

  CAMEO-D- Yeah, very true. If the witnesses were honest with themselves they'd see that they contribute to " worldliness " by purchasing things in the world. Good point.

  I QUIT- Good point about how the witnesses abuse the word " spiritual ". They think that going to meetings and out in field service makes them " spiritual ". But they may be jerks and unloving and hateful not showing the fruitages of the spirit - yet if they go to meetings and out in service they are spiritual. The term " pioneer " is crazy when you think of it. Makes you think of 19th cntury people going out westward settling in homesteads or something.

  SPECTRE- Very good points you make. I feel more spiritual now like you after being out of the witnesses over 5 years . I'm resolved within myself as well about death and other things like that. Your college instructor was smart.

  WITNESS 007- I love worldly people too ! They're fun !

  SLIMBOYFAT- I'll have to check into that book. Sounds interesting.

  LOUBELLE- I hear what you are saying . It took me some time to get the JW language out of my vocabulary as well. LOL! The other day I was talking to a JWD buddy and I said something about my " secular work " a JW term- and he said, " Did you hear what you just said " ? I'm like - Jesus ! LOL!

  HAMSTERBAIT- Indeoendent ! Very true. They make independence look bad- when it's really good.

  UNDERCOVER- I agree- I think being called worldly is a compliment. But to JW's it's an insult.

  BURN the SHIPS- Newspeak. Exactly.

  QUIRKY- LOL! Very true. As a witness I always wanted people to call me by my first name. Instead of brother so and so. It sounded so weird. Even after being out 5 years - it still sounds weird. Babylon the Great was a strange term too !

  OUTLAW- Very true. The WTS feeds the messages to the witnesses which confuse them.

  KURT bETHEL- Wearing a tie and suit- how worldly ! LOL!

  FARKEL- You are exactly right ! The WT societys interpretation of the generation is 2,000 years off ! Good point
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  jwfacts

  Prophet. A prophet was a person that made predictions for the future. After numerous Watchtower predictions went wrong they changed the meaning of their being God's prophet to an organzation that preaches.

  Paradise. The Bible consistently refers to paradise as being in heaven, yet a JW always discusses paradise as earthly.

  Organisation. JW's always think of organisation as referring to Jehovah's chosen people. The word organization appears on the Watchtower CD 17,000 times (the properly spelt organisation a further 40 times). Yet the word does not ever even appear in the Bible.
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  darth frosty

  You are absolutely right. Another example I was watching the history channel and they were talking about torture devices and mention how the romans were using a four post cross as early as 70BC.

  Just another term they like to throw confusion around.
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  Confession

  My favorite: "The Truth." If, from infancy, a person has used the term, "The Truth," to refer to his religious organization (properly spelled with a "z," ) how much easier is it for him to decide it really is the one-and-only true religion? Just think of how many times the typical JW says "The Truth" in an average year.

  "Aren't we glad we have The Truth?!"

  "How long have you been in The Truth?"

  "I remember when I first came into The Truth."

  The Truth, The Truth, The Truth... Let's see now. Should we consider whether our religion is what it claims to be? [Huh? How can you question The Truth???]

  How pathetic that such a beautiful word as "truth" came to be hijacked by this authoritarian religious publishing company. Even after coming to realize the WTS was baloney, it still took me quite awhile to stop using the term. You still see some people use it here. Maybe we should all repeat to ourselves, "It's NOT the truth! It's NOT the truth! It's NOT the truth!" in an attempt to cancel out all the times we used the word to describe the completely effed up religion we were in.
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  AllTimeJeff

  Great thread. Something to keep in mind, The Governing Body MUST control all aspects of the conversation.

  They will not answer questions that they do not raise. To them, only their questions are relevant. Thus, only their definitions of words are relevant.

  Because of their stand against not acknowledging any questions from outside JW sources, they can not only can the answer to their canned questions, but they allow themselves to make up their own vocabulary.

  The isolation/insulation automatically creates an environment to do this. Their vocabulary, (which they cynically call "the pure language") is designed only for them.

  Only an ex JW can really sniff out what it is and what they try to do. Others can point out that the Governing Body does this, but only ex JW's can interpret.
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  flipper

  JW FACTS- Good points . The WT society is far from being a prophet as you said because most of what they've foretold fails to happen. And as for a paradise - I think the WT societies heads are really " in the clouds " on that one. Funny they refer to themselves as an " organization " - yet the word never comes up in the Bible.

  DARTH FROSTY- Oh yes - The old " cross " misconception . The witnesses words are all about deception and misconceptions.

  CONFESSION- " The truth " is such a loaded expression the witnesses use - very true. Good point you make that by the witnesses asking people , " How can you question the truth " ? - that it discourages them or any other person from even using critical thinking to examine their beliefs ! No wonder they are so deluded. They are not allowed to question anything. I've been out of the witnesses 5 years and it took me about a year and a half to 2 years to stop referring to it as " the truth ". It does take time to lose the language.

  AL TIME JEFF- Good point you make that the governing body controls ALL aspects of conversation in their members. Very true that they only answer questions that they raise, or think are important , and they ignore the rest. And only their definitions of words are relevant to them. It's one reason I spend a lot of time now as an ex-witness to speak to others about the dangers of " cult speak " like the witnesses do . After being a witness for 44 years - I know how dangerous it is
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  WTWizard

  I remember "condescending". The proper meaning is "to look down on, with disdain". However, they render it as the complete opposite when dealing with Jehovah--claiming the word to mean "lowering oneself to a lower level".

  I have noticed that Jehovah is condescending, but only in the standard sense of the word. In the Washtowel sense, no.
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  flipper

  WTWIZARD- I remember that's true what you are saying. When I was a witness they DID use the word " condescending " in a positive way describing Jehovah condescending to humans. But the actual meaning of the word is a negative characteristic in people. Good point