Lee (and sizemik), I see how where I missed the original point--admitting it to yourself is not the same as saying it to somebody else. I apologize for the digression.
That C word CULT
by Lady Lee 66 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Lady Lee
GL Tirebiter
It was a very important distinction to make
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sizemik
Lee (and sizemik), I see how where I missed the original point--admitting it to yourself is not the same as saying it to somebody else.
That's not to mean saying it to someone else is off the menu altogether IMHO.
While there may be circumstances where tact is required . . . in most circumstances it's still best to use the correct label with confidence. If the one hearing the use of the correct label is doubtful about it's appropriateness . . . they may well challenge it. But all that does is give you the opportunity to give reasons why, thereby validating your personal perception . . . and maybe educating the listener.
For example; Under almost all published definitions of the word "cult" . . . the JW's qualify hands down. Some may have the misconception that cults refer to Jim Jones or the Branch Davidians . . . and see the need for the same level of extremism, but this is a mis-conception. You now have an opportunity to educate them on what constitutes a cult. Interestingly, the JW's have done far more damage to people, than both the "extreme" cults mentioned above put together.
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AGuest
"... in most circumstances it's still best to use the correct label with confidence. If the one hearing the use of the correct label is doubtfulabout it's appropriateness . . . they may well challenge it. But all that does is give you the opportunity to give reasons why, thereby validating your personal perception . . . and maybe educating the listener."
Well, doo-dah! I think I would like to apply that to me and my "experiences", dear Sizemik (peace to you!)?! Because it almost perfectly describes the situation with my "personal" perception.
Again, peace to you... and my apologies to the dear Lady (peace to you, as well), for the off-topic deviation...
A slave of Christ (which is the correct label... to and for ME),
SA
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Yep, it's a cult. And I was a victim.
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Midget-Sasquatch
I wish I didn't lose the reference to an article in a sociological journal that I read (oh at least 15 years back). It compared the JWs with a few other groups like some protestant evangelicals. The authors concluded the JWs were a high control group but not a cult because its members lived relatively independently and there wasn't a clear "guru" or human leadership that was worshipped.
If the authors saw the self aggrandizing of the GB in this last 5 years or so, I think they would recategorize them.
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Black Sheep
... there wasn't a clear "guru" or human leadership that was worshipped.
That isn't the only article/book that lets the JWs off the hook for reasoning that, had they spent enough time researching the cult, the authors should have recognised as faulty.
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GLTirebiter
It compared the JWs with a few other groups like some protestant evangelicals. The authors concluded the JWs were a high control group but not a cult because its members lived relatively independently and there wasn't a clear "guru" or human leadership that was worshipped.
That is an example of different ways the word is used, and how that causes misunderstanding. Some consider only the most extreme cases to be worthy of the name: People's Temple, Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate and other literally life-threatening groups. For example, an article in Wiki states:
The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance limit use of the term to specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."
The next section of the same Wiki article mentions Steve Hassan and others who consider deceptive recruiting and various emotional tactics as identifying features of a cult:
Steven Hassan, author of the book Combatting Cult Mind Control, defines the term as such: "A destructive cult is a pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have dictatorial control. It uses deception in recruiting new members (e.g. people are NOT told up front what the group is, what the group actually believes and what will be expected of them if they become members)
Thus there will be disagreements when different people don't use the word the same way. Thus (returning to this thread's topic) people who have physically left but still are mentally under group control deny they belonged to and were abused by a cult--clinging to such rationalizations as "It's not a cult, it isn't like they were Jim Jones". These are the problems with that "C" word.
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Black Sheep
The JWs fit both of those descriptions.
They are using different reasoning to arrive at the same conclusion.
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talesin
Yes, GLT, you're right ...
The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance limit use of the term to specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."
Blood Transfusions & Organ transplants
pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have dictatorial control. It uses deception in recruiting new members (e.g. people are NOT told up front what the group is, what the group actually believes and what will be expected of them if they become members)
GB, disfellowshipping and shunning
Good Points!
t