Why believe in unappealing things?

Terry

Jehovah's Witnesses find hell unappealing. So, they simply DON'T believe in it.

Yet, most christians probably DO believe in hell.

No, it is pointless to say that one group "follows the bible" and the other group doesn't.

Theology is indebted to the influence of "explainers" and "interpreters" who stamp certain things authoratatively.

It must be more than that.

JW's are faced with a giant laundry list of things they MUST NOT do and it makes life difficult for them. They don't even get to go to heaven as a reward. They will have to scrape out a "paradise" situation with what's left after Armageddon.

Are JW's simply cowed? Are they under-achievers? Do they simply settle for what they are offered?

Why believe in unappealing things?

Islam offers 72 young virgins to Muslims who die a martyrs death. Now that seems to appeal to a lot of horny suicides.

My point? There is a strong incentive.

But, JW's?

I think it must be the low education level, the unsophistication, the easily manipulated psychological makeup making them vulnerable.

Am I missing something obvious?

What was my excuse to join?

I didn't intend to, I can say that for certain!

I just started going where my JW friend went (Kingdom Hall) and ended up being absorbed into a "caring" social situation.

Days, weeks, months and years passed.

Was I a member? No. Not yet.

There was pressure place on me to be baptised.

By then, my life was really more JW-socially related than intellectually chosen or ideologically driven.

Belief? Faith? I would be lying if I say those were motivations for me.

An Assembly came along.......and.....I did it. Just like that.

Is it like that for everybody or only nutcases like myself?

BluesBrother

"I ended up being absorbed into a "caring" social situation."

I think that is often the way, Terry. How many times do the Witnesses give experiences where people say how they were drawn to the "love of the brothers"? They want to belong to that community. They want to be a part of it. Usually they are not the people who enjoy a wide social circle or other things in their life. This seems radical, even exciting and it can be theirs!

The questions appear to be answered from the WT books (if you don't think too hard) They can believe that it is all in The Bible.

So, despite having to do The Ministry, despite having no holiday days, no blood treatment and all the other drawbacks, they join up. Perhaps the sacrifices make it seem more realistic ....the "narrow way " and all that.

unstopableravens

72 women i cant even have peace with my one women, i dont know what solomen was thinking,he prob looks at the muslim promise as a joke!

ekruks

Hey Terry,

I would agree with you, that it doesn't seem to me that JWs generally are "i ntellectually chosen or ideologically driven", but simply like the social community. Others I think are dragged long by their husband/wife/parents whom they want to please. Some like the power of being an elder. I never though have really heard someone give some deep intellectual explanation of why they were convinced, other than simply "the prophecy shows God is behind this" while the prophecy is vague, and doesn't prove JWs right but could equally defend all Christian and Islamic religious groups.

Your comment " low education level... the easily manipulated psychological makeup making them vulnerable":
As an adult, I see the organisation very differently - when I look at my parents, elders, and various ones older than me, I wonder how all the time I was growing up, they with an adult mind, fully-developedmentally, could believe such nonsense.

As a child, born-in, I believed it, because I didn't know better, and had the mind and ignorance of a child. I had my doubts, but everyone around me felt otherwise so I concluded I had some stupid viewpoint. But as I got older, the doubts grew, as did my knowledge of the outside world, science, etc. and as difficult and stressful as it was to reject all I knew, I couldn't accept it was "the Truth".

I don't understand how all this grown persons can't see such, and do wonder if they are perhaps not too intelligent. I note many speak of abusive parents, or various traumatic experiences, such as death of a loved one, and wonder if this makes people in desperation cling to the hope of a better world. We had difficult experiences in the organisation and ran out, but it seems when people struggle in the world, they run into something like JWs to hide from the harshness of reality. I hear so many brothers moaning about how hard it is to financially survive in this world, how they work long hours, blaming Satan and the last days, when in reality, the real issue is that they don't have a full-education, with the GB opposed to university - we create the persecution, and that builds our faith - it's crazy, and what is even worse, is that people can't see what seems so obvious. Tbh, I don't think they want to see.

When I try to discuss doctrine with these persons, to point out flaws, they just repeat whatever the Watchtower says or tell me to trust in Jehovah when I don't understand (blind faith!) - they don't concern themselves with whether it's logical, but simply talk about how "this life can't be all there is" and of the paradise, which is whatever they make it to be. Nobody wants to know about the failed prophecies of the date of Armageddon, because it's an attack on their dream world, and that's perhaps in some way why apostates are met with such hostility. By this time, someone is under such influence of mind-control that they don't notice the social aspect, the love-bombing, has stopped! They can't see how medieval the blood issue is - this is worrying, how blind my family are.

Terry

When I try to discuss doctrine with these persons, to point out flaws, they just repeat whatever the Watchtower says or tell me to trust in Jehovah when I don't understand (blind faith!) - they don't concern themselves with whether it's logical, but simply talk about how "this life can't be all there is" and of the paradise, which is whatever they make it to be.

I agree.

I think it is like people who buy a house with all the good intentions in the world. They have pride of ownership and put a lot of effort into maintaining its value.

But, at a certain point, it is more effort than value and they get "upside down".

Rather than let it go---they hang in and hang in and won't let go.

This is often referred to as the "sunk cost fallacy".

The unstoppable urge to continue on the same path simply because you've put so much into it for so long and can't bear to accept the loss incurred so far...

Tameria2001

You hit the nail on the head, Terry. When I left back in 2001, my mother stopped by my house and asked me why I left. I won’t go into the long drawn out details of our conversation, but this part. She asked me why, and I told her that I no longer believe it was the truth. They proved themselves as liars with the whole 1975 thing. I also mentioned a few other times that their predictions fell flat. I have no idea why, but she brought up the Trinity issue, I was not even talking about that part of it. I told her since they showed themselves as false prophets; I can’t be a part of that.

Then one of the last things she said to me, was there was no way she would ever walk away from it. She had invested too much of her time to do that. She would rather sit listening to lies that they spew, keep putting up with their controlling issue, than to admit to herself that she was wrong, and to enjoy the rest of her life. None of her relatives, but a very small few are even JWs. Her mother is still alive, and so are most of her sisters and her brother, none of them are JWs and never have been. Her husband never has been a JW. She only has one daughter who is still a JW, her other two daughters left it a long time ago.

PSacramento

I was never a JW and even though my mother, sister and quite a few elders have tried to convert me, it has never stuck BUT I can say this about why my mother and father and sister are:

My mother became one because the JW's had answers to all the question she had about relgion and God, questions that the RCC didn't answer ( even though she never asked), She likes that she knows what she has to do to be saved.

My older sister became one because of bible studies with my mom and because she liked knowing that if she did this, that and the other things, she would be saved.

The BOTH loved the fellowship, soemthing they never had with the RCC because, well, they never went to church.

My Dad became a JW because he was married to my mom, but stayed because he too loved the fellowship.

cyberjesus

There are many many factors.

I didnt have a choice. I was born in.

I didnt know i could choose different.

Peer pressure made me get baptized.

i didnt really care about a paradise. I was a thankful individual who wanted to give back to my creator..

I didnt know better its the answer. Until i got booted.... Then i got to know the internet... And i learned i had been conned

Can you imagine the shock? For many of us the Matrix is a fantasy movie that is not even close to the real awakening of a born in jw

clarity

This goes right up there with those famous quotes!

>

Ekruks ...

"we create the persecution, and that builds our faith - it's crazy, and what is even worse, is that people can't see what seems so obvious. Tbh, I don't think they want to see."

Finkelstein

The majority of JWS think what the JWS religion encompasses is appealing though, in that

if you were to segment those things individually, such as not being destroyed at Armageddon, living in a earthly Paradise,

or going to heaven to be with god for some, the guiding direction from not doing evil things that would jeopardize the

judgment from god. JWS truly believe that they are very special people in their own self assuming identity which the WTS.

creates. They self identify themselves as being pure and righteous among the rest of mankind and based upon that

they find that quite appealing, to a point of ballooning arrogance.

They can never see themselves as good and wholesome people outside of the organization, because of the indoctrination

there simply aren't any in a theological sense..

Why believe in unappealing things?

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