by TastingFreedom 28 Replies latest jw friends
Like any generalizations, there are exceptions. While the mind control really works well, it isn't infallable or foolproof. It CAN be overcome. It HAS BEEN overcome in many of our cases.
Here's hoping that more and more people WILL overcome the programming.
Does this mean that rational argumentation about religion is useless? The answer may be disappointing. Religious belief is not bound to regular standards of evidence and logic. It is not about logic but about something more intuitive and primal. Arguments with believers start from a false premise -- that the believer is bound by the rules of debate rather than being bound by the belief itself. The freethinker assumes that the believer is free to concede; but this is rarely true. At best the bits of logic or evidence put forth in an argument go into the hopper with a whole host of other factors. And yet each of us who is a former believer (we number in the millions) reached some point in our lives when we simply couldn't sustain our old certainties. Our sense of knowing either eroded over time or abruptly disappeared. So sometimes those hoppers do fill up.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-tarico/christian-belief-through_b_213879.html
What makes belief so powerful, among other things, is that the way humans deal with reducing cognitive dissonance is almost always toward the direction of maintaining the status quo, especially when the dissonance relates to oneself personally.
Examples:
1) Your favorite actor/musician/athlete is busted for pedophelia and the evidence is overwhelming.
Cognitive dissonance ensues because there is a conflict: you really like and respect the guy versus he's accused of pedophelia. How do you reduce the dissonance?
"Well, he's just an actor/musician/athlete, not a role model. I can still like his movies/songs/team without liking him personally."
Easy to do because the dissonance isn't all that personal and the consequences are not all that serious.
2) You are shown evidence that thousands of leaders of your OWN religion have been accused of pedophelia. Many of them did jail time. Some were DFd and many were not. The religion has paid out millions of dollars in settlements to victims of pedophelia. The religion has DFd many of the victims of pedophelia for speaking out publicly about their experiences.
Cognitive dissonance ensues because there is a conflict: this is YOUR OWN religion that you have dedicated your life to believing it is God's CLEAN organization versus this is a religion that does not deal with pedophiles or their victims in a just or loving way. How do you reduce the dissonance?
Because this touches on YOU much more personally than case 1, you are more likely to reduce dissonance by discounting the evidence as anecdotal, exaggerated, and isolated incidents. "This never happened to anyone I know. My congregation elders would never do such a thing. Slanderous gossip about such things is unchristian. That rumor was probably started by some disgruntled apostate. The entire pedophile issue is a bunch of lies endorsed by Satan."
Changing your own viewpoint or the status with which you view someone or something personal and dear to you is incredibly difficult even without the influence of cult mind control. But being in a cult like the JWs makes it even harder.
Leolaia wrote:
While this is true for some, we see people joining this board all the time who do what you construe to be the impossible. Your generalizations are rather overdrawn. Many follow in step with whatever the Watchtower Society says, but others (unknown how many) are questioning and have doubts, or who believe "their own thing" regardless of what the GB says.
This is true, there are always exceptions to the rule. There is a bit of generalization but I would say it's fairly accurate from the observations made in the last 10 years. It is not impossible for someone to come to the board because they have doubts, but these are people who have already taken the first step. They have entered que questioning phase and have started to research, they are already confronting their deamons.
One thing is to have doubts, and another one is to take steps to liberate yourself from the cult, once you realize all the B.S. People choose to continue to be trapped because of the fears instilled. It is possible to overcome the indoctrinization and programming by refuting the teachings by the Watchtower. We have managed to get this far, because we were able to be honest with ourselves and trust in the common sense and have verified facts to convince ourselves that we need to become free from this cult that had taken over our lives.
Good stuff it is a powerfull conditioning program they have.
TASTING FREEDOM- Excellent thread by you ! Good job explaining how mind control works. Like you stated the WT society trie appealing to JW members emotions whipping them up into high expectations of a " fantasy " paradise - which keeps getting delayed as time goes on.
It is true : The mind control is very difficult to break through - however in time it can be done by re-programming the neurotransmitters in witnesses brains and flooding their synapses in their brain with authentic human kindness and giving them access to important information outside the WT cult experience. One reason the witnesses brains are fried is because they are not allowed or encouraged to do ANY outside studying of ANY other reading material outside the cult.
You are right the WT society puts a block in these people's minds where it shuts down their critical thinking ability. Many times ; only after having STOPPED going to meetings do the cobwebs in witnesses minds get jostled just enough to start listening to different concepts from the outside. Our brains have an amazing capacity to re-program in our neurotransmitters and become free thinking again. Just have to start thinking free .
I'm going to use some of these techniques on my JW nephew very soon. We just have to assist our own minds to break free again . Then help others, especialy relatives. Peace out, Mr. flipper
WT has copied succesfully the patern of Big BROTHER in Orwell's 1984. Thought Crime Police was not enough to control the members so they have to creat within the people a mechanism that will block any attempt of critical thinking. WT indeed managed to do that
Great thread TastingFreedom. This is exactly what needs to be read by people who have recently left the mental prison of the Watchtower Society.
Notice the attempt at thread hijack by Alice, completely changing the subject to Muslims. Am I the only one who thinks Alice will eventually wake up if she keeps reading threads such as this one? I have hope for you Alice. There is a very good reason why the Governing Body doesn't want JW's having open discussions where they are free to voice thoughts that might not agree with their doctrine or practices.
Either you people make the tree fine and its fruit fine or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for by its fruit the tree is known. Offspring of vipers, how can you speak good things, when you are wicked? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:33-34
Very good scripture that holds relevance to the WTS publishing company and the false proclamations throughout its existence.
If you eat from the tree that bares rotten fruit so too will that person be rotten inside with false teachings.
Trojan horses implanted by the society.
Yeah, repetition for emphasis is what they are good at. Also providing canned questions with canned answers. I don't think the active dubs do too much real thinking for if they did they would hate where their minds would wind up.
