The BEST way to "wake up" a JW

by Phizzy 46 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Ding

  Pterist suggests analyzing why that JW joined the religion in the first place.

  Although that may be helpful in some cases, I wonder as a general rule to what extent the reason for joining is actually relevant to their reason for staying in.

  For example, a person might be drawn in by the end times chronology, but it doesn't take long to see that the GB keeps changing the dates, redefining terms like "generation," and so on.

  You'd think that such a person would recognize the bait and switch and quickly get out.

  But often they remain convinced it's "the truth" and that the GB speaks for Jehovah despite all the evidence to the contrary.

  Something else is keeping them in.

  Maybe it's the sense of belonging to the group or the excitement at having knowledge that outsiders don't have or the fear of losing family and friends or being destroyed at Armageddon if they leave or even waver...

  In addition, a high percentage of JWs aren't converts at all.

  They are born-ins or raised-ins.

  The issue with them isn't why they joined; the issue is what makes them stay.
• 

  QC

  Sure, emotions are at the core of dysfunction. But the JW syndrome is typical. Exchanging one support system for another ain't easy. That's the same issue with high recidivism inmates.a

  Really, all of us are "stuck" (except Satanus, Tater-T, jgnat ) trapped in some ecosystem distortion of reality. Blowing winds of ideological change determines how the majority traverse the meandering road of reality. JWs are the piñata today. Tomorrow's piñata is inevitable.

  Interesting, "the theory of everything" rubric is more and more plausible; EVERYONE will have to adjust to some difficult rude awakening.
• 

  jgnat

  I like chatting with the disenfranchised and the fringe Witnesses at the hall. Many have some obvious character trait (like a garrulous nature or very shy) that guarantees that they will never completely "fit in".
• 

  SAHS

  Whenever I bring up things about the WTS to my mom and dad, they always come up with, “Who else is teaching the good news of the Kingdom?” And, regarding “apostates,” they always say, “What do they have to offer? Where are they now? What are they doing now? Complaining, beating their fellow slaves, and making money on books.” This is their standard response.

  They fail to realize that JWs, who think they are the only ones promoting the Kingdom of God, are actually quite ineffective at spreading the message and making converts among the earth’s population as a whole. They may be fairly persuasive on an individual level, but they don’t seem to care that the vast majority of humankind (especially the Oriental, Asian, and Islamic lands) are not being reached, and certainly not responding to their message. The mainstream Christian religions, on the other hand, are maintaining a much greater membership population, as their methodology is more effective and appealing in the long run because they use something that has also proved very effective in addiction support groups such as AA: they believe in “attraction rather than promotion”—i.e., making their messages available to everyone to investigate of their own free will as opposed to banging on people’s doors in a show of loyalty to the WTS (a kind of salesmanship) trying to ram it down people’s throats by arguing and denigrating other religions—and using fear to keep people captive.
• 

  QC

  SAHS, your parents have it exactly reversed. Apostates have no authority to “beat” JWs. Disagreeing with JWs is not beating JWs. Those that “beat” others Mt 24:48-50 refers to is those in a position of authority that have the power to wield punitive damage judicially, inflicting damage publicly as in a sentencing.

  What are they exercised about? It’s, “faithful” to the Bible, who is? “Gentile times”2520 years is wrong, time of kingdom rule is wrong, understanding of “born again” is wrong, and their two tier system of Christians (A-grade and B-grade) is wrong, as well as, their incoherent “master delay” stupor, like a “drunkard,” publishing dates 1914, 1919, 1925, and 1975 for the “masters arrival” are all wrong.

  The JW GB vigilante justice is unprecedented. In principle, it’s the “unfaithful” servant footprint and they deserves to be “cut him off” with the “hypocrites.”
• 

  redvip2000

  I completely agree with the idea that it is the emotional aspect of the brotherhood that is the key in waking someone up. Trying to convince a JW with evidence is almost like trying to convince a woman that her BF is a piece of $hit while she is still in love with him. She simply doesn't see it, or finds ways to reason around it.

  Time after time i have seen key moments in people's lives that become the deciding factor in "waking up". In my case, it was when i got married. Nearly every "brother" (many close friends) i invited to my wedding declined the invitation because i was beginning to miss a lot of meetings and stopped preaching for personal reasons. That made me see the conditional love inside the congregation which brought a lot of questions to my mind.

  Another recent one, was an elder i knew that got separated (his wife was nuts). Because of this he was demoted from his position. (key moment). Within a few months he was gone from the organization.

  Yet another was a brother who insisted he was annointed and partook of the emblems. The elders didn't believe he was and so advised him that perhaps he should think twice about doing it (key moment). Within a few months, he was gone from the organization.

  It is these key moments that mess with your emotions that become the click in your brain that finally allows the wheels to start turning and make you think about the organization.
• 

  Emery

  @redvip2000, Exactly!

  THE MOST effective approach towards waking up a JW (IMO) is to let the organization do its damage. Those of us who are currently fading/irregular are in a better position to wake a JW up through our active fellowship. This approach won't work with a high and mighty happy JW. This normally works with the irregulars or JWs who have suffered many injustices. In my experience when their emotional ties to the WT is damaged, it gives you much more room to work with. Of course you have to be tactful and slowly reveal the TTATT because this normally involves risky conversations. So far I have had a 100% success rate with this strategy, but again I also clothe all of my interactions with sincere unconditional love which helps a lot.
• 

  daringhart13

  They only wake up if they WANT to

  OR

  They are treated so terrible, it forces them to take a harder look

  Most of them LOVE being sheep...........they just want to be told what to do
• 

  QC

  bttt
• 

  tornapart

  I don't agree that it's only down to the emotional level. What woke me up was completely doctrinal (starting with the overlapping generation). Then being able to 'see' the man behind the curtain. Or the Emperor with no clothes.

  Trying to get my hubby to see TTATT is difficult but the emotional angle doesn't work at all. However, being able to show him a doctrine as being wrong gets through that chink in his armour.

  I think it is entirely a personal thing. What works for one, doesn't work for another. You have to judge what it is that is each persons achilles heel and go with that. That takes time.