What I want to know is "How can such a sophisticated process of indoctrination exist, without experts in phsychological manipulation : Men who know exactly what they are doing."
WT Dept of Mind Control????
by Luo bou to 11 Replies latest jw friends
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OnTheWayOut
Someone will come here and offer you links to good previous discussions, most likely.
Meanwhile, opinions will suffice. The thing with WTS is it is really Cult-Lite compared to Heaven's Gate or
Jonestown or many others. The members are not physically starved at the compound and have to sell
beads or flowers for "Leader" and nobody has to bend over and get physical with "Leader" (as far as we
know).
What they do have is proven formulas from cults. Control the Information foremost. Don't let the members
question what they are told and keep them busy reading WT literature. Control the fear in people, control
their behaviours and thoughts. How do they do all that without experts? It took time to develop the
tactics, but they slowly found formulas that work.It seems that many things simply became mind-control issues because the issue was resolved better by not
trusting the members to do the right thing. If members questioned the things in writing, find a way to tell them
not to question the things in writing. Never say the WTS is "wrong" on anything because the members will not
respect that. If the members are busy studying and getting their field service time in, the organization loses less
of them to "independent thinking." That's how they slowly became a dangerous mind-control cult. -
llbh
I agree with the above and would like to add to it the following observations about high mind control organisation.
Any group which is misogynist, homophobic, racist or anti education, is about control in one form or another; and it is usually a mixture of these, if not all four. They are usually averse to the arts and culture too.
Regards David
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WTWizard
There is a difference. Jonestown killed. The Jehovah's Witlesses take the use of your life away for their own purposes. The effect just takes longer, but either way a life is wasted.
I don't know which is worse--at least Jonestown didn't have people spreading the cancer for 130 years and throwing away their lives suffering while pushing Washtowels and Asleeps all the time.
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Lady Lee
I believe they have stumbled on mind control techniques quite by accident. But it is an easy thing to do. People do what they know. They build what they know. The foundation of this "religion" book publishing company is based on the dysfunction in both men
The basis for the WTS that we know today was built upon a foundation put in place by Russell and Rutherford. This site has some superb discussions on both men and their lifestyles both of which were highly dysfunctional.
While Russell had taken a vow of sexual abstinence even during his marriage he saw nothing wrong with flirting with women he was not married to including those who lived at Bethel with him and his wife. He also saw nothing wrong with writing a book under one name and selling it to the public and then republishing the same book under a new name and selling it again to the same people - even to the point of lying to people that the new book was not the same. He lied to the public. He lied to the courts in his divorce case. Clearly ethics, morality and honesty were not issues for him
Rutherford took things way beyond the dysfunctions that Russell brought into the WTS. He had no problem lying to the public or to Bible Students. He had no problem lying to the courts or the media. He had no problem fleecing JWs so he could live a lavish lifestyle. He took his mistresses on grand trips and cruises, had Beth Sarim and Beth Shan built for his own use. Reading just a fraction of what he wrote makes a person wonder how anyone would follow this madman. He was an alcoholic who had no problem smuggling booze into the country during prohibition.
Both these men set a standard of dysfunction in their daily lives that transferred into the org they built. We copy what we know. If all we know is dysfunction that is what we will build.
Rutherford took his brand of dysfunction a huge step forward. In the years between the 2 World Wars Rutherford was slowly developing a scheme to increase the sales of WT literature. In the book 30 Years a Watchtower Slave William Schnell discusses the various ways Rutherford experimented with "the blueprint for all Theocracy later to be established in America" (p68) He continues by saying:
It bothered these Watchtower leaders very little to set foreign taskmasters over their brethren, in almost the same manner as the Egyptians had done to the Israelites, whose later history they after all were using as a blueprint for the establishment of the New Nation. Much less did it bother them that such behavior was contrary to established Christian principles. . .
. . . It seems that most of Jehovah's Witnesses, having sunk so low in individuality thinking and having descended to the nadir of a Zombie-like existence, will put up with slavery if it is enforced upon them top down theocratically by their own taskmasters, (p68)
Rutherford deliberately experimented with what techniques worked best to control his slaves. He took what he already knew and refined it to what we see today. That;s not to say the presidents after him didn't continue or even further oppress the slaves.
A few years ago when I began to really see the WTS as a cult I realized that the mind control techniques they used were the exact same techniques used by an abusive parent or spouse upon his/her family. Lying, cheating, fear, information control, association control, demands for allegiance. It doesn't matter if it is 1 person with 1 follower/spouse or a parent lording it over his family or a corrupt leader running a country , company or religion. The techniques they use are the same. And they work very well. It takes some people decades after leaving the WTS to begin to see the damage that was inflicted on them.
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Luo bou to
Lady Lee I just logged in by identifying the words the asylum Thought that was amusing Anyway back to the topic I think you've nailed it. An accident, dysfunctioal men doing what works. Which begs the next question. Why were we so susseptable? I come from a dysfunctional family. Come to think of it most of the witnesses I knew did. Did we enable the abusers?
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Lady Lee
Well for abusers to do what they do they need victims. People who have been in it for generations cannot see the spiritual abuse for what it is. I suppose in that sense they are enablers. Like the victims of spousal or child abuse they truly believe:
- this is normal
- safer than being out in the world.
- they are not intelligent enough to think clearly on matters
- they are too imperfect to understand what God wants of them
- like all children they don't know what is good for them therefore they MUST rely on others to tell them
Emotionally and definitely spiritually they never grow up.
Not all people who become JWs were abused as children although I believe a great many did.
But many people get caught because they are in transition or are having some kind of crisis in their lives; change of job, loss of a relationship perhaps through death or separation/divorce or a long-distance move. Their normal supports aren't there for them. They may be feeling lost and vulnerable and here comes a JW with all the answers to life's problems. When you feel like you are drowning it is easy to grab the first lifeline thrown your way. What they never realize is that they never get pulled out of the water. They are simply towed along with their heads just barely above the water. And like true victims they feel grateful for what little of the lifeline they get.
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Mrs. Fiorini
I'm not an expert in cults. I have, however, noticed an interesting common thread among many. Their beliefs are unsupportable.
In the case of the WT it takes only a little effort to shoot down their doctrines. They have preached Armageddon is coming over and over again, each time failing in the prediction. They claim the date 1914 is biblically significant, only to be exposed as having miscalculated using historically incorrect dates for their starting point. They must constantly come up with "new light" when the old light fails to hold up. I could go on and on, and many have on this site over the years.
IMO groups whose dogma is weak make up for it by trying to strong arm their followers into believing, hence the mind control. If their beliefs held any water, they wouldn't care who criticized them or who their followers talked to. The doctrines would stand on their own and followers would stay.
Those who lead cults have a psychological need to maintain the fantasy. The insecurity they feel with their weak beliefs is lessened when others believe too. So they expend a lot of effort trying to get and keep members who reinforce the group views. They also feel very threatened by those who see through it. (No wonder they hate "apostates")
A main motivator for many cult leaders, I believe, is fear of losing control. Lady Lee talked about abusers in family relationships. Nobody has to train them in specific techniques for them to know how to intimidate, abuse and control their victims. I don't think cult leaders need to be trained in mind control to know how to control their followers either. Charismatic leaders have the ability to attract followers, and when those followers start to see through the smooth talk, they resort to deception, manipulation and intimidation.
A recent poster shared articles from the old newspaper The Brooklyn Eagle. It once printed an article about C T Russell that included a letter from a former follower in England. In it he said of Russell, "He has deluded thousands of followers into believing Christ returned to this earth in 1874, though in a spirit body and therefore invisible to the natural eye. Very many have gone so far as to sell up their homes over here, expecting to die before 1914 (at the latest), and many others have so arranged their affairs as to last till that date only. I myself was connected with his movement for twelve years, but my eyes, thank God, are now opened. When one leaves their society because of enlightenment, Mr. Russell at once advises his followers to shun such an one and counsels his followers never to read anything emanating from any other source but his own pen! I could write you for a week telling you of the bitterness and the sorrow that this man Russell has left in many a Christian home here in England." Sound familiar? Change 1874 to 1914, 1914 to 1975 and Mr. Russell to the Watchtower, and you have a letter that many on this board could have written.
The same abusive and dysfunctional pattern has continued with Rutherford, Knorr, Franz, etc. until all those who run the organization today are as much victims as victimizers. It is much like abuse in families which gets passed on from one generation to the next. It has become a very sad situation that is bigger than any of the individuals involved.
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Lady Lee
Mrs Fiorini
Many people accept the idea that cults are defined by their doctrine. The problem with that is that many cults or high control groups are not religious. They can be financial, political, psychological, social or familial as well as a few others I can't think of off the top of my head.
For the most part we tend to follow the definition of cults as defined not by what they believe but rather how they get and keep their recruits. Cults use lies, half-truths, fear, manipulation, the control of behaviors, information, thoughts, and emotions (The BITE model). There are many different scales used to define cults by how they control people rather than what they believe.
So while I agree with your first 3 paragraphs, they are not enough to really define a religion as a cult. Your last four paragraphs - right on target.
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