I agree with Flipper as well. I personally have a hard time believing that any active and dilligent JW is going to spend any significant amount of time on this site. If they do, they certainly won't/aren't posting anything, and to me that would be a sign of doubt in their mind and either A.) they are passively exploring that doubt (we've all done that in one way or another, continue with behavior that while not an offense worthy of DF-ing still is "wrong") or B.) They are looking for firepower to further prove "the truth" for themselves. If they can come on here and see that all these evil "apostates" truly are as bad as the the organization makes them out to be, and they can prove the validity of JW teachings by finding "apostate" arguments they can disprove for themselves. Either way, they're not saying much, if anything at all.
Those looking to leave and/or fade surely get lots of much needed support, as do those of us who are or have gone through recovery periods and really need some perspective.
And I think it's natural for any JW, no matter what level of seperation they may be at from the organization, to be some what put out of their comfort zone with this site. I know I surely was, and I stumbled onto this site YEARS after I'd been DF-d. But that word, "apostate" really does have such a crazy scary connotation for a JW, I think ESPECIALLY anyone around my age (28). When I was a kid in the organization an "apostate" was a rare thing to be heard, and when you did hear about it, they were always very dramatic stories.....like some CO just went coo coo one day, and on the platform spewed apostate teachings, resigned, and walked off the stage leaving his wife as he walked away with his mistress. Seriously, this was the apostate story I remember hearing when I was a kid. The older you got, the more it was hammered that being an "apostate" was on par with being possessed by satan himself. Yet it was always something I never fully understood....it was never explained to me exactly what made someone an apostate, just that it was the worst thing possible. So you develop and feed a fear that is literally based on nothing.
What is an "apostate"? It used to be anyone who was discussing and/or questioning any thoughts or ideas that were not exactly what was laid down by the FDS. And supposedly even though it had "always" been this way, now an "apostate" is anyone who regardless of whether they voice anything or not, simply THINKS or WONDERS to themselves about things not directly handed down by the FDS.
I think there in lies the fear, because anyone can look up the definition of a cult in a dictionary, and control of thought is very high on the list of identifying factors. Ok...but a trained JW will "know" they're not part of a cult...so it can't really be thought control....but they can't have questions in their minds that could seep into their hearts about god's one true religion...and these "apostates" trick people into questioning the organization.
So not only are these "apostates" pure evil, but they try and trick into thinking something different than you're supposed to in this non cult organization that just looks a like a cult, to an outsider of course. But outsiders don't really understand the gravity of things.
And truly, because I know I didn't, JW's never really think about the fact that using the societies definition of an "apostate" LITERALLY makes everyone else in the entier world an apostate. If you're at school, work, on a bus, a plane.....you're SURROUNDED by "apostates." Just because they're not or never were part of the organization doesn't make a difference. I think JW's try and rationalize with themselves all these other people are just ignorant, rather than knowing "the truth" and not following it. When in reality JW's are actually the ones suffering from ignorance, but because they're told they're superior they truly never, ever see it.
So yeah, apostates are scary things. Until you realize they're no different than anyone else, and not everyone in the world is scary...this place can be very intimidating. That is, until like another poster above said, and it was VERY well said, you give yourself PERMISSION to think differently. It's a basic human right that is easily forgotten about within the organization. Self permission, what a concept
