by cantleave 32 Replies latest jw friends
Watersprout
After I left I remember someone told me to stop acting like a 15 yr old. Three months later someone told me to stop acting as if I was 18 Hmmm 3 yrs in 3 months - not bad. Oddly enough about 3 months after that someone told me to stop acting as it I was 21. Wow another 3 yrs in 3 months. It was weird. We might not all get on a scedule liek that but it most definely goes faster.
Everyone's comments are so interesting. This is curious~
The cult must be satisfying some need for those converted. Being born-into...i believe to continue to stay in such a high-control lifestyle, it must also be satisfying some need for as long as the person remains. The need may be to express their true personality, or maybe because of an idealistic reason or something else.
Once leaving of my own free will, after being born-into, there is a pretty intense self-discovery..like watersprout said, I feel like I'm experiencing life like a teen in many ways as well.
Many people find a great deal of comfort and safty when others tell them what to do or think. They are too scared to do this themselves. Often they are not comfortable with what is going on in their lives. Most converts are going through some life crisis when they first begin listening to the JWs at their door. When in crisis mode it is very soothing to have someone else make the decisions.
Some do join because they honestly think this is the perfect solution- perfect ideal - they are taught this in a slow but progressive indoctrination. They don't see it coming and once the snare traps them they either see no way out or their minds have shut down
I have a hard time believing a cult personality could be someone's authentic personality...unless they are mentally not well
...and if a person is mentally not well, then they are not truly being their authentic self. So, no, I don't believe cult personality is authentic for anyone.
This is a good question. I think it is possible. People that like regimen, prefer to take orders from a higher-up, and like sticking to a planned schedule are ideal cult personalities.
Just as a long-time prison inmate becomes institutionalized, long-time cult followers become so. It takes a strong sense of self and independent thinking to break free.
I think the "cult personality" appeals to some people for a lot of reasons.
They can operate from a perceived position of authority - they know their bibles, goddammit, and nobody else compares to them in that regard. (I know they don't actually "know" the bible from a scholarly or learnèd perspective, but they believe they do, because the WTS tells them they do.)
They can follow rules / Principles™ that require no ethical or moral quandary on their part. All the thinking has been done for them. Or so they've been told. This, they believe, absolves them of any responsibility should someone protest against inhumane practices like shunning or child sacrifice. They believe they are doing these things for a greater cause, one that only they can appreciate and understand. If you don't get it, it's because you're not Privileged™ like they are.
There is a certain moral and ethical laziness involved in being a JW. If all you need to do is look up answers in the Publications™ for any question you might have under the sun, you are depriving yourself of moral and ethical growth. You are depriving yourself of the opportunity to examine all the various possible outcomes and come to your own conclusions about what is the most beneficial to the most people involved, or the least harmful outcome, or the most fair, or most reasonable conclusion to reach. The person's conscience becomes dependent on dogma to the point that no thought or careful consideration is required for any decision that they need to make. Often their own consciences become stunted by and strangled in WTS legalism, rather than being allowed to grow and operate freely, according to truth, love, mercy and justice.
Cantleave - I have been stumped by this question since you started this thread. I've always believed that my multi-generational JW family are Jehovah's Witnesses. It just seemed to be so ingrained in our culture as a family. I really did not understand that individually we have an authentic personality, even if we are born-ins.
I just read chapter 4 of Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control. I understand now that the two personalities are mutually exclusive.
I just read chapter 4 of Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control. I understand now that the two personalities are mutually exclusive.
I hope you enjoy reading it.
CANTLEAVE- After re-reading everyone's comments, mine included , and reconsidering the two books I read from Steve Hassan - my answer to your question is : No. A cult personality cannot by definition be someone's " authentic " personality. The answer to your question is even in the title of this thread if you think about it.
A cult personality is given or ingrained into cult members ( including JW's ) by someone else pushing the cult ingrained marketing and indoctrination INTO that person. Thus it cannot BE authentic or REAL or come from within the person himself. If that JW or person in the cult ADOPTS that cult personality as his own it still had to be placed there by efforts of indoctrination ! And that's true for born-in JW's as well. Their parents had to indoctrinate the cult personality into them. It didn't happen all by itself, like by osmosis or something.
In Steve Hassan's books he mentioned that a cult personality can MASK the authentic, human, underneath, real personality and bury it for quite awhile - but the authentic personality IS STILL THERE - just buried or masked over by the cult personality. LEAVING WT touched on this when quoting Hassan that all humans desire deep within to be free. Some are unable to do so because they are controlled by fear and guilt to think it's not RIGHT to think or be free- that's why they stay controlled and SEEM to prefer a cult personality. It's a fake " comfort zone " in which the familiarity placates them into a malaise of robotic stupor - thus they won't leave it. But in my opinion the REASON they are that way is they've been tricked, duped, and indoctrinated to FEEL that way. If you took them away from all meetings, assemblies, field service for 3 months or 6 months - I guarantee you the cult indoctrination would fade in these people AND you would see their authentic, normal , loving emotions gradually come back due to not being AROUND the cult indoctrination methods of the WT society. Just my 2 cents and a nickel more on this- from what I've learned
