Watch "Dr. Phil" on Wednesday (page 3)

clarity

Missed the show, did anyone watch or tape it???

c

skeeter1

There was so much more information he could have given out about cults, like the factors used to identify a cult. It was a wetting of the appetite.

I think most JWs who saw his show will say, "We're not a cult. We don't dress and speak like that. Look, how fake. We don't live together, either."

Skeeter

Spectre

It is funny how the jw's almost get overlooked when people talk about cults. I think it's because the group itself is so boring. There's really nothing for the mass audience to discuss.

The word "cult" is an inflammatory trap that derails balanced discussion about the Watchtower power structure. You're on your way to self-defeat and disillusion by insisting that JWs are a cult. As much as I dislike and disbelieve what the witnesses teach and believe, I'm willing to acept they're no more a cult than many other established religions. Here's something to consider:

It's not surprising that JWs are now not commonly regarded as a cult. The younger a religious group is, the more likely it will be regarded as a cult. The more prominent it's leaders are by name, the more likely it'll be regarded as a cult. The more physically separate a group is from the rest of society (especially living in a remote rural environment geographically separated from others) the more likely a group will be regarded as a cult.

The principle works in the reverse as well: Compared to the Scientologists and the Moonies, JWs are an ageing well-established group who - believe them or not - try to put forth rational arguments for their hideous beliwfs. Cults by contrast don't give a monkey's what outsiders think. As the witnesses have grown in size, many many people in non-witness society know of specific JWs or are related to them. Hence, they are more likely to humanize the witnesses.

Besides, in the public's eyes - if they even bother thinking about the JWs at all - the crnakier aspects of the religion have been toned down. The JWs in the 1930s and 40s were almost maniacal in their pronouncements against all other religions. They looked and sounded like cranks. Nowadays, JWs present an almost insufferably respectable image and are relatively more careful how they talk to worldly people about their beliefs.

Like it or not, the natural settling-down and ageing process of religious groups over time confers respectability and even grudging acceptance by wider community.Don't forget that the Mormons and 7th-Day Adventists were at one time treated like cults but are no longer viewed as such.

Lunatic Faith

steve2 you make some interesting points. After fighting off the stigma of being called a cult for my whole life I recently did some research on the term. I wrote about it in my blog www.lunaticfaith.wordpress.com under the title What is a Cult? I found that the word had evolved quite a bit and taken on a much more sinister application thanks to Branch Davidians and Heaven's Gate. Its application has become much broader too and though scholars would support your definition, I believe, laymen (who make up the vast majority of mankind) believe it applies to any group with relatively strange beliefs. Anyway, I included some of my references in my blog, if you are interested.

Room 215

"cult" is viewed as a pejorative by the general public, just as emotionallty laden a term as "apostate" to us.

JimmyPage

I get the feeling that a few of the posters on this thread haven't read the books written by cult expert Steven Hassan.

He didn't believe JWs were a cult either until he examined them closer.

Anyone who has had their family broken up by this organization can tell you how truly sinister the Watchtower is.

I agree with the poster who said that seeing tactics other cults use is a good way to see the JW religion for what it really is.

james_woods

The blood doctrine alone makes them a cult.

It is morally the same thing as the Branch Davidian or Jonestown suicides to demand the death of little kids over some fabricated "doctrine" that was never - ever - in the bible.

elder-schmelder

Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group or leader.

Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
The group/leader is always right.
The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

elder-schmelder

james_woods

And is there even ONE of Elder-Schmelder's list that the JWs do not obviously conform to?

Watch "Dr. Phil" on Wednesday

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