Unlocking Phobia's in JW's - Steve Hassan's " Freedom of Mind " book

by flipper 29 Replies latest jw friends

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  SAHS

  The two big fears they promote are those of Armageddon and of sinning against the holy spirit.

  PaintedToeNail: " To this day, I cannot watch doomsday or armeggedon type movies, it induces panic attacks and horrible feelings of dread!" I can certainly relate to this. I have had reoccurring nightmares of a storm coming in the distance since childhood. The storm, of course, represents Armageddon.

  The other fear - that of sinning against the holy spirit - was drummed into my head by my dad. This actually backfired, as I thought to myself, If I've already sinned against the holy spirit and there's no hope for me, then I might as well check out the "apostates" on the Internet - which is exactly what I did. Fortunately that worked out in that I was able to peak at the "man behind the curtain" and see the whole JW thing in a completely new light. Yes, that particular phobia can certainly end up backfiring on some people, producing yet another "apostate" - which can end up being a sort of "thorn in the flesh" for them.
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  flipper

  ZORDINO- Yeah, it IS really true how WT Society makes JW's phobic, for sure. Amazing really.

  SAHS- Indeed I was affected as a child like Painted Toe Nail when I looked at pictures in the orange colored " Paradise Restored " book or whatever it was called in the 1960's which had horrific pictures of women, men, and children being destroyed at Armageddon by lightning bolts and falling into cracks opening up in the earth. I mean, think about it - it was really psychological abuse the WT Society used on us as kids to keep us scared and in fear of EVER leaving the JW organization or we'd allegedly " die " and be " birdfood " as On The Way Out so succinctly puts it in his new book. It was ridiculous fear mongering by WT leaders, but a very sly controlling tactic.

  I'm glad you overcame the fears your dad put into you SAHS and you checked out ex-Witness websites so you could " see behind the curtain " as you phrased it ( I like that phrase by the way ) because it gave you access to information you would not have had access to ever if you just looked at JW literature or WT rhetoric marketing ploys. So yes indeed, the phobias the WT Society TRIES to put into us can backfire on them when we regain our freedom of mind and escape and get our freedom. Good for us ! We end up being the winners in time in that scenario ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  jgnat

  The implanted phobias I've noticed:

  blood

  the Cross

  "unbelieving mate"

  the Trinity

  Hubby and I can't have a reasonable discussion about blood. He has been completely and thoroughly indoctrinated that it is yukky and dangerous. This is a potentially life-threatening phobia.

  Phobias about the Cross and the Trinity guarantee he won't ever darken the door of a regular church. This leaves him with "Where else will I go?"

  And believe it or not, he's indoctrinated with the dangers of marrying an "unbelieving mate" even though he has. And he's happy. He knows I'm good for him. If I provide him any examples of bad matches (JW lethario chasing down unwitting worldly woman), he repeats that if he could do it over again, he would not marry an "unbeliever". He completely ignores that in most of these cases, it is the Witness who is leading on the "worldly". I ask him, does he realize what he is saying?
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  flipper

  JGNAT- I can only imagine how scared it makes you that your JW husband is locked up with his " no blood " phobia ! Jeez. Does he have YOU as his power of attorney on his medical card in case of medical emergencies or YOU as the first contact ? If not, you may want to change it because the elders and JW HLC committee WILL try to pressure him against taking blood if he needs it.

  I'm glad your husband is happily married to you, but him saying if he " had it to do over again " to marry a Witness instead of you is just plain rude on his part and another example of how JW's sensitivity chip implants have been ripped right from their souls and being. Most JW's don't even recognize when they are being rude, crass, or just downright mean. WT Society has stripped them of most normal human emotions. Really scary. I hope your husband realizes in time what a jewel of a wife he has in you JGNAT ! But like many JW men- perhaps he takes it for granted, who knows ? I hope he will eventually leave that cult, that would only improve your marriage even more ! Take care, good luck to you
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  jgnat

  Regarding blood, I've come up a plan which I think is a fair compromise. If he is unconsious and needs an emergency blood transfusion, I will silently stand by and watch him have the transfusion. He can get mad at me later. He'll be mad, but alive. If he has a life-threatening illness but there is time to plan, I will let him state his wishes the best way he knows how. I'll run interference with any elders who show up.

  As for being an insensitive boob, he has his moments.

  He makes up for it, though.
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  jgnat

  By the way, when he spouts his "had to do it over again", he's practically quoting word-for-word from the publications. This is a perfect example of the "put-on" personality that has very little to do with the man underneath. I pretty well ignore the cultic put-on personality and don't chalk it up as the real man.
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  flipper

  JGNAT- I'm glad to hear you have a plan to be his medical decision maker in the case of emergencies and will run interference if elders try to dominate the scene. Good for you. Also it's good that you don't take his coments too personally and realize it's just the cult personality talking and not the real authentic man talking who you married. It sounds as if you have a happy marriage basically if he makes it up to you in other ways. I'm sure it's still a challenge being with a cult member though. I don't know how many of you folks on the board can keep handling it year after year being with JW spouses. I have good male friends on the board who are married to JW spouses still and it would drive me insane. I guess because I WAS married for almost 20 years to a fanatic JW spouse I realize my level of tolerance could never go there again. I tip my hat to you JGNAT and others who are able to hang in there with the circumstance. Hang in there
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  flipper

  Wanted to bump this thread up for newer members, lurking JW's , or anybody who wishes to gain freedom of mind and escape their cult induced phobia's. Take care, comments welcome ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
• 

  flipper

  Since I've noticed a few more newer members join lately I thought they may enjoy this information by Steve Hassan regarding mind control tactics that cults like Jehovah's Witnesses use. Any comments welcome ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  Finkelstein

  Good of you to bring this to people's attention Flipper

  If there's one particular religion where there is a preponderance of fear induced phobias, the JWS could easy be it.

  The constant drumming of Armageddon coming soon highlights this actualization.

  As well so many other things thats been pointed out as evil, the UN, other religions, governments, Colleges and Universities,

  social and community activities.

  Even family members who are not active JWS, the list is a long one.

  What gets placed into JW minds is that there is so much evil ala Satan and wicked evil forces out and surrounding JWS is quite overwhelming.

  The phrase fear mongering gets used in describing religious teachings such what comes out the WTS./JWS

  but realistically shouldn't be all surpassing since this religion is driven at its core by a publishing house.