Befreinding the freindless and then dumping them

by highdose 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  highdose

  Unashamedly borrowed from a post from morbizbaby on another thread because i thought it was a point that deserved greater disscuion.

  In the 20+ years i was in my home cong the only people who got converted from a knock on the door to a dunk in the baptisum pool were the "freindless" Those people who were loners, odd bods, misfits in the comunity. The ones who were on some kind of social service register. Who aged 50 still lived with their parents, never went out and had only imaginary freinds.

  Don't get me wrong these are people who often do get missed off the radar by the community and who could do with help and freinds...

  And they would get freinds from the JW's. I've seen JW's put up with any kind of embarrasing body odour, werid clothes, strange behaviour and habits and or lack of social skills just so that they can make another convert.... but then!

  Poor person they don't know whats coming next. All these lovely new freinds that they thought were so genuine and helpfull suddenly dissapear as soon as they've done the one thing the JW's wanted them to do... get baptised.

  Then job done the JW's don't have to be bothered with the embarrsing misfit anymore. Don't have to have their "cool" satus undermined by some werido. Their work is done!

  Soon the sniggers behind their backs start being heard. Then they are cast outside the jw social circle. The hall becomes a lonely place as only a few will bother to talk to them.

  Now this would be hurtful enough for a normal well adjusted person. But for these fragile ones the contrast is shocking! Very soon they leave, a worse misfit than when they arrived. But now fully conviced that they cannot hande the real world.

  But what does it matter to the JW's? They served their purpose, got their hours in , and another unit ticked on the world feild service report. Who cares about the individual?!!
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  Band on the Run

  You have it in a nutshell. Where I live now, the fundie churches seem to adopt mental patients. I can see be friendly. Helping is Christian. The balance of power flows only in one direction. It strikes me as do-gooders adopting a pet. It was that tone.

  Now if it were true friendship with adoration on both sides, it is very Christian and impressive. The patient was so infatuated. Everything about this couple was perfect. I like my friends, perhaps even love them but I don't adore them or have crushes on them.

  The sheer neediness of such patients is scary. I volunteered. They can stand on their own two feets. The self-esteem is often absent.
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  WTWizard

  This is as genuine as our "money(??)" is today. Get people to invest everything in a religion. They have to throw away everything that means anything to them--and that includes whole movie and record collections, church memoralia, video games, decorations that are still in perfect condition, and often perfectly fine jobs. Then they have to waste time and money acquiring suits (and maintaining them), book bags, call books, and whatever else they are "supposed" to. And waste gas and wear/tear on their cars (if not get another because they can't use a pickup truck or 2-door car for field circus though it was fine for their line of work). Continued "friendship(??)" is contingent on making this progress.

  So, once they are baptized, all it is is wasting even more time. Go to Beth Hell. Pious-sneer. Reach out for "privileges(??)". If they don't go along with it, or if they see something wrong with something the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger puts out, push them aside. At this point, there is no way they can go back to their old jobs--those bridges are usually blown up (not just burned). Old records, videos, and pictures are usually somewhere in a rubbish dump. And, even if they do comply, the value of their "friendship(??)" is about the same as the inherent value of a US Toilet Paper Dollar--zero. And Jehovah isn't a friend--he is the ENEMY, usually the reason why such people are in the miserable condition in the first place.
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  DonutZ!

  I remember in my congregation we would get new people and be super friendly but once they got baptized all the excitement would end unless they were given privileges you didn't notice them much after.
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Agreed. They had friends as long as the dubs could count the time spent talking to them. Once the misfits were dunked, the reason for talking with them was gone.

  Can you feel the love?
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  Tater-T

  yep... I'm so glad I saw through the BS... All these years out .. always wondered how they could stay in buisness, being such frauds.. Then again there are a lot of meek still inheriting the earth... with the right heart condition...

  great post.. so true...

  L8r T8r
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  NomadSoul

  Yeah, and also newly arrived immigrants that don't have much family. Perfect targets.
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  wha happened?

  Funny I remember a friend of mine who found it all offensive. A few years after he was baptized, he wasn't exactly breaking records with meeting attendance and service, but he started associatting alot with an elder. They were both married, similar age, so he thought they were friends. After some time, the elder told him that now that my friend is doing well in the congregation, he's basically going to move on to other publishers who also needed help. My friend, who felt he was never in need of "help", took offense because he thought their friendship was sincere, and now he feels like he was some sort of "project." I guess he was.