Do most people become Jehovah's Witnesses out of fear they might be destroyed at Armageddon ? (page 2)

Christ Alone

I personally feel that that is what keeps JWs IN. What get's them in is the promise of a paradise, the rejection of hell, and a feeling that it's a place of true love. After you get in, then you hear about the fear of god.

iamwhoiam

Problem:

1. you are the donkey

2. living forever on paradise earth with no suffering is the desired carrot on a string dangling in front of you

3. armageddon is the person whipping you and yelling, "if you stop running after the carrot, there will be no more carrot"

Solution:

realizing that there was no carrot or voice to begin with = freedom

Reality:

Accepting the above solution is the easy part since it only takes a few thinking skills to figure out. However, wanting freedom will hold you emotionally hostage to the organization since your family will cut you off and make you feel like it's your fault. Your family's love becomes the carrot, and the organization is the one doing the whipping and yelling.

No matter what happens, your ass becomes the designated hub for supposed "friends and family". Atleast if you fade, you might get a reach around.

biometrics

Paradise earth is the sugar to attract people.

Armageddon, shunning, and no outside contact is the JW version of hell-fire to keep you there.

Can you imagine if they went door-to-door teaching Armageddon and shunning.

Finkelstein

But another thing is that the WT society insidiously lures people into joining the cult is due to false promises of allegedly " living forever with no more death, sickness, or pain " .

Flipper

Agree with all your comments folks.

The other pertaining aspect of the JWS question is that ever apparent and luring (carrot at the end of a stick ) part of that wonderful obtainable paradise.

I have to laugh (sorry) at those pictures the WTS. uses in their mags. where you see happy JWS looking at everything around

them including neighbors and friends being wiped out and perhaps birds feasting on their dead bodies and JWS are watching all of that

happy as a Sunday peach.

And you wonder why many JWS kids who grew up listening to that have inner psychological problems ?

Ultimate Axiom

I don't think the fear fo Armegoddon had much to do with my conversion. But I think that 00DAD has a point as to while people stay. But I think it has more to do with their love of the network of friends etc than a fear of shunning. If they had friends outside the Org, they wouldn't give a f**k for shunning.

NVR2L8

My parents became JWs in the late 50's and during these years there was a lot of political unrest. There was also the cold war between the US and USSR. I remember listening the the news on our old black and white TV being scared that the end was near. I am sure this was one of the motivators for my parents to join. Also, my mom had just lost her dad and because he hated the Catholic church he didn't want a religious funeral service. Because my mom and her older sister had started studying with the JW, their whole family blamed them for "corrupting" their father's mind. Of course, at the viewing the funeral parlour was full of JWs - love bombing played a major role in my mom's conversion and she didn't have to make peace with her whole family now that she had all these new brothers and sisters to support her. Then a few years later, her older sister and her husband and children suddenly left the "truth" with no explanation...mom never questionned why and we shunned them completely. My mom never had a relationship with her very large family and we grew up knowing just a few amongst dozens of cousins.

Things haven't changed much today...some become witnesses because they think our world is threatened and something is about to happen and others find comfort within the congregation which fills a void in their life....

Phizzy

Good thread ! I think the same as most on here, either the Paradise earth or the "brotherhood" is what sucks people in, and the fear of Armageddon is what keeps them in, I have had a number of JW's tell me so !

I do know the one exception to the rule, but this guy was an exception to most rules, he came in in the late '60's because talking with JW's at his place of work he heard of the 1975 nonsense, and he fell in love with one of the JW girls, they married not very long after his baptism.

But he told me it was fear of death at God's hand that got him in. I think it is fear of his wife that keeps him in ! Boy is she a force to be reckoned with !

LouBelle

Majority become or stay in because they don't know anything else. They won't have the answers and because they (and we at one time) were that brain washed. I would say yes to Fear - be it "righteous" tm fear, or truly afraid for their lives fear. The fear of god, the fear of not being resurrected, the fear of not seeing their family again in paradise.

When I was on my way out, my "very good friend" told me that she has to think about her children and she didn't want to be blood guilty and associating with me would put her children at risk.

On the Feb 1, 2012 Watchtower - is that the actual cover or has someone made it up?

NewYork44M

Fear and guilt.

Wonderful emotions. If you can tap into these emotions, you can get people to do almost anything.

Ultimate Axiom

That's a genuine cover Loubelle, still available from the official website.

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/?contentLanguageFilter=en&pubFilter=wp&yearFilter=2012

Do most people become Jehovah's Witnesses out of fear they might be destroyed at Armageddon ?

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