Why they MUST treat DFd and DAd the way they do

by Mad Sweeney 11 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mad Sweeney

  Several decades ago a researcher named Solomon Asch conducted an experiment on conformity to determine the conditions under which individuals will deny their own senses in order to conform with a group.

  If you view the video clip, you will notice in the first two scenarios presented that those who conform tend to do so for one of two reasons: one, they doubt their own judgement in the face of unanimous opposition or two, they still believe they are right but conform in order to avoid conflict within the group.

  The key to total shunning of DFd and DAd individuals, as well as constant pressure to avoid "bad associations" is based not only in the conformity behaviors mentioned above but due to what Asch discovered in the third scenario presented in the video, when the test subject has a single confederate who agrees with him. The key to conformity within a group is unanimity. Just one dissenter can release a thinking person from the mental bonds of group conformity, giving him free license to think for himself. This is incredibly dangerous to a high-control group such as JWs, who pride themselves on the unity of their worldwide brotherhood.

  If they allowed free association with those who do not conform to the group, the majority of even the staunchest conformists would feel free from the obligation to conform. There would be A LOT more of us and a lot fewer of them. (As a side note, this is one of the values of being a fader who still has some association with members - we can plant seeds if we're careful; a DFd or DAd person has no contact.)

  Here's the video:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

  Please view the clip and comment on my comments, and share the Asch experiment with your friends. (you might want to look up Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo while you're at it...oh, and Lifton's thought reform research...etc.)
• 

  moshe

  Thanks for this- another study that was done shows that a person will deny his own observations- like smoke coming in under a door- if every other person in the room claims to see nothing (paid test subjects)- the dissenter will revise his opinion to agree with the group.
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  Yup. Also, the 'smoke filled room study' showed something termed 'the bystander effect' (google for more info). That one is partially due to conformity with the group as shown by Asch and partly because as a group member, individual responsibility for actions are diluted, with most people feeling like someone else (usually someone with more authority) will fix the problem.

  One sees an accident on the side of the road and drives on by thinking, "a police car is sure to come by soon" or "certainly someone else already called 911." A JW sees a problem in the local congregation or in the WT and thinks, "surely Jehovah sees this and will take care of it in due time" or "Who am I to question? If it's wrong, someone else certainly spotted this, too. I'll wait to see whether it gets fixed."
• 

  LongHairGal

  Of course, it is a no-brainer. People would be curious to know why somebody DA'd themselves. They would want to know why somebody was DF'd.

  The religion does NOT want people to know that people left because something is WRONG with the religion. They would rather you believe those people committed 'fornication'.
• 

  peaches

  i hate it,,,,it is just so wrong on so many levels....
• 

  Lozhasleft

  If the ones left in the halls were able to talk to us about the injustices of our judicials or our findings against the org. it would naturally disturb them. Its just too dangerous for the org. to allow it - but of course that's so wrong on so many levels because they are denying people important information which would affect their judgments and beliefs and subsequently the lives they're leading. Not to mention the whole inhumanity and cruelty of it. Disgraceful.
• 

  mindmelda

  They do it because, like so many other people who have treated others unjustly, they think God wants the to do it.

  It's amazing how awfully you can get people to treat another human being if you brainwash them into thinking God wants them to do it.

  If they accept that as the ultimate authority and then it's backed up by a strong and enforcing visible authority, man, you can get people to rape, torture, murder and incarcerate people all in the name of God.

  Hell, shunning is just the first stepping stone to dehumanizing someone to where you think it's fine for them to die in a fire, don'tcha know?

  That's what they wish on every Df'd person and every worldly person, God wants them to do it, so why bother treating them like humans?
• 

  dgp

  Marked.
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  It's amazing how awfully you can get people to treat another human being if you brainwash them into thinking God wants them to do it.

  If they accept that as the ultimate authority and then it's backed up by a strong and enforcing visible authority, man, you can get people to rape, torture, murder and incarcerate people all in the name of God.

  Absolutely true. And it isn't the fault of the members, who are mostly victims as much as those whom they may victimize with their self-righteous hatred. Which leads to another psychological research project. Stanley Milgram's "Obedience to Authority Experiment." As long as someone else who is viewed as "in charge" tells you to do it, you usually do it. This is why the "Trust the FDS and GB" articles come out so often.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk
• 

  mindmelda

  Yes, that's true. It's like the old "I'm leaving you as monitor" situation in a classroom, which teachers avoid like the plague anymore.

  What happens is you give one kid this "authority" to tell on everyone, and so he ends up writing down other kids for stupid things like squirming in their seats to please the teacher.

  We're all a bunch of brown nosing apple polishers by nature, apparently. Give us an inch and we all think we're middle management. LOL

  There are SO FEW people who will buck what they perceive as an established authority that will punish THEM if they don't treat other people badly.

  We used to do those experiments in psych class where you can make someone think they're really sick if nearly everyone tells them something like "Man, you don't look so good." as they come in. It's really mean, but it works every time. If you tell someone something over and over, they believe it, and they even make it happen! Pretty soon, the person was pale, had a headache or a stomachache, felt nauseous, and sometimes, even developed a fever.

  We're so susceptible to that that a person who truly believes they are sick will develop all sorts of symptoms even if there's no organic reason for it, and if they do it long enough, the body reacts to that altered state by actually developing certain illnesses.