by bohm 25 Replies latest jw friends
Your observations were much like my husbands the first time he went to Sunday meeting. He also felt that they were overly critical of other religions though and he found that very offensive. In a "We're better than them" sort of way.
I haven't been reading your past posts, so I don't know why you went to the meeting but I am curious if you will be going to more.
Eh?
Linp24: Are there actually classes or training sessions for jw folks to learn to act "sincerely interested in you." If this behavior is fake, do the persons engaging in this fake love bombing realize their behavior is cynical?
The Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting (the main two parts of the mid-week meeting every single frigging week) do not specifically work on "acting sincere" but it is part of the meetings. In the school, the members give their 5-minute talks and are commended by the elder in charge of that meeting on how they "showed interest" in the person they were talking to. The Service Meeting has little demonstrations of how to show sincerity and interest in "householders" when attempting to recruit. It has plenty of other things, but showing sincere interest in people is a huge part of it.
you said "and all your friends and family stand up, one by one, and answer questions". They stood up to answer?
Thanks for the replies!
DESIGNS, OTWO: What really bugs me now after some reflection is how easy it is to create such a controlling atmospheare, and how innocent it seems on the outside. Right now i feel the rules there are not what is controlling these people, the rules simply work to set up social conventions and skewed ideas of what constitute teaching, studying, rewards and enlightenment so that people learn to control themselves and their peers. I really feel there was something going on in that room at the last study that was neither ethical or healthy, perhaps that was mind control.
DACHEECH: I hope you will find a way so they only go after they have made a truly informed descision regarding the teachings...
LOUBELLE: I dont mean to imply anything regarding intelligence of the average witness - i am sure that man of the answers i didnt understand was because i was not smart enough ;-). But was it not painfull to have a prepared, thought out answer ready for a study question, and then have someone give a totally broken analogy?
WTWIZARD, OPEN MIND, BUBBLIE: Watching my girlfriends friends 'help' her by backstapping and shunning is a continious source of pain and does more to drive me away than anything they have written. I know about the encouragement on how to deal with strangers, but my problem is not really that someone reach out a tad more than he or she would on his own, my problem is how they are taught not to reach out in certain circumstances. oh, and in this kingdom hall they have solved the problem of screaming kids by boxing of a part of the hall with large glass panes, so no matter how hard they scream of joy they can keep on participating in jehovahs happymeals ;-) .
JONATHAN DOUGH: I have read your site and, well, i didnt mean to imply that i think the trinity is anti-biblical, rather that i dont understand the evience for and against.
EDMOND DANTES: Do you have any financial records from the jehovahs witness which show how much of their revenue come from magazine distribution? I have to admit its hard for me to imagine they actually sell a lot of that stuff. Perhaps they should branch out and begin to deliver mail. Ofcourse, the new system would be low on pet dogs.. ;-).
TENYEARSAFTER: I feel for your wife :-) . If you put together a couple of articles from the golden age you can conclude that the new system will be populated by white men without arseholes he live on sunbeams and only work in the garden and go to the meeting all day long. Unless you are one of the annointed where you dont get to garden. Now that i read it like this it actually make sence jehovahs would remove the assholes ;-).
BOOBY: No, that was my bad. English is (clearly) not my first language and the sentence was badly translated. I meant they was given full attention.
TWINKLY, etc.: Well, my girlfriends parents are jehovahs witnesses and she is babtized, so that is my angle. I have read CoC, CC, apocalypse delayed, Combatting cult mind control and a lot of stuff on the internet. I know the worst attitude is 'it cannot affect me', but from where i am now, seing someone i love getting hurt again and again, i think it is very difficult to pursuade me with arguments about how great everything is, and on the more 'fact' oriented side, before i will seriously consider a religion i need to harmonize it with natural science, and so far i have not even seen the WTS ATTEMPT to do that. How is it going with you and your husband?
JONATHAN DOUGH: I have read your site and, well, i didnt mean to imply that i think the trinity is anti-biblical, rather that i dont understand the evience for and against.
That section alone is 60,000 words long so I doubt you actually read the site; maybe glanced at a few sentences. The evidence you are looking for is in there, in depth.
They do not have official classes in faking interest in new members. That is part of the basic training--every time there is an article mentioning return visits and studies, they mention how we are supposed to show "interest" in those people. They mention continuing to show attention to such ones, "lest Satan gets in and derails the study". All part of the main training for the misery.
