They shoot their wounded.
Do you think those at the top realise that it's their fault - suicide as a result of being disfellowshipped?
by jambon1 61 Replies latest jw friends
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sabastious
Steve2, consider this paragraph in the April 2012 Watchtower study edition:
Consider just one example of the good that can come when a family loyally upholds Jehovah’s decree not to associate with disfellowshipped relatives. A young man had been disfellowshipped for over ten years, during which time his father, mother, and four brothers “quit mixing in company” with him. At times, he tried to involve himself in their activities, but to their credit, each member of the family was steadfast in not having any contact with him. After he was reinstated, he said that he always missed the association with his family, especially at night when he was alone. But, he admitted, had the family associated with him even a little, that small dose would have satisfied him. However, because he did not receive even the slightest communication from any of his family, the burning desire to be with them became one motivating factor in his restoring his relationship with Jehovah.
There is a science called attachment theory, I am sure you are aware of it. When we are born we are hard wired to emotionally attach to whatever is around us which is typically the mother. This bond is considered one of the strongest forces in the universe. In the above example we have a family who willingly give up that hardwired attachment simply because one person in it broke the overbearing rules of a well known destructive mind control cult. Obviously the family members would NOT act against their natural way UNLESS they were put through some sort of desensitization routine. What we are seeing in the Watchtower shunning policy is an erosion of humanity which results in mass suicides. There is a clear and distinct causation. It's obvious that the Watchtower would rather have their members kill themselves than leave the organization for good. This ideal is encoded into the minds of parents which nuetralizes the natural paternal instinct.
The rank and file do not have personal responsibility that's why it's called group think. Any organization which employs these methods should be the entity that takes responsibility for the actions of the group. To blame the rank and file at all is not taking into consideration the psychological environment they are trapped within. Without an acceptance of the true nature of mind control and the effects it has on one's free will, there can be no real progress against mind control cults such as the Watchtower. They must be declared fully culpable or they will continue to ravage the lands of the world with their potent and unethical methodologies.
-Sab
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mamochan13
good points, Sab. The rejection by family, the destruction of the security of family love (2nd and 3rd on Maslow's heirarchy of needs) are what takes away the will to live. And since they view anyone outside the religion as being as good as dead, especially if you are a "sinner" I think they are in effect acknowledging that DFing kills.
Any organization has the right to decide who can be a member. But when you take that right as an excuse to sever family bonds, to treat a person as invisible, to remove that person's emotional supports (and sometimes financial), it's a different matter.
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frankiespeakin
The Governing Body suffer collectively from Narcissistic Personality Disorder with these symptoms:
Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR include [ 1 ] :
- Reacting to criticism with anger, shame, or humiliation
- Taking advantage of others to reach own goals
- Exaggerating own importance, achievements, and talents
- Imagining unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance
- Requiring constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
- Becoming jealous easily
- Lacking empathy and disregarding the feelings of others
- Being obsessed with self
- Pursuing mainly selfish goals
- Trouble keeping healthy relationships
- Becoming easily hurt and rejected
- Setting goals that are unrealistic
- Wanting "the best" of everything
- Appearing unemotional
In addition to these symptoms, the person may also display dominance, arrogance, show superiority, and seek power. [ 6 ] The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder can be similar to the traits of individuals with strong self-esteem and confidence; differentiation occurs when the underlying psychological structures of these traits are considered pathological. Narcissists have such an elevated sense of self-worth that they value themselves as inherently better than others. Yet, they have a fragile self-esteem and cannot handle criticism, and will often try to compensate for this inner fragility by belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth. It is this sadistic tendency that is characteristic of narcissism as opposed to other psychological conditions affecting level of self-worth
Also I think this clip from Ex-JW, Professor Penton, Author on Abusive Religions shows the damage they cause to ones coping ablities:
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steve2
Sab, thanks for your thoughtful comments.
Yes, I am aware of attachment theory.
In response, I suggest that, to one degree or another, humans in general are vulnerable to being excluded and rejected. As I intimated above, we see it in the strong reactions individuals experience when, for example, their spouse, partner, lover etc walks out on them. Statistically, suicide rates are significantly more likely in the wake of relationship break ups than for almost any other cause. Atachment theory has a lot to say about that.
Yes, the Watchtower ensures that members restrict association with non-members, even 'demonizing' worldy associations and indeed, it renders members extremely vulnerable to surviving when in the alient world they are expelled. Yet, what happens in the organization is simply a stricter variant on what happens in so many churches and religions. It doesn't make it any less critical, but it needs to be acknowledged. What I baulk at is the notion that the organization is portrayed in such a sinister and simplistic manner as kind of deliberately hurting people. From the organization's point of view - and just like the stricter religious groups within Christianity, Judaism and of course Islam - it is trying to ensure its message is not contaminated by worldly influences. That it results in such significant pain is a byproduct of the policies even though it is clear from the well-known recent Watchtower passage that you cite, that the organization sees value in ex-members suffering so that they will feel compelled to return to safety. Manipulative, unempathic and calculating, yes. Now, if the Watchtower's reasoning brooked absolutely no room for "repentance"and "return", yet continued to castigate ex-members, I'd have to agree that would be gratuitous beyond words - yet, from the Watchtower's point of view - like it or despise it - it is "only" taking steps to ensure the preservation and non-contaminationof its teachings. Just like the prophets of old not only fumed against "law breakers" but pronounced these law breakers as doomed.
None of this means I approve of the Watchtower's policies and attitudes towards ex-JWs. But it is important to acknowledge the core motivation at work in religions such as JWs which is a kind of "self-preservation".
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sabastious
What I baulk at is the notion that the organization is portrayed in such a sinister and simplistic manner as kind of deliberately hurting people.
Of couse they are deliberately hurting people, that's what cults do. They harm their own flock and create stockholm syndrome in their members. Without calculated trauma cults have no power over their adherants. Their policies are meant to strip you of every shred of dignity and human decency to coax you back into the fold and keep you in line both mentally and physically. This is not simply because they want members, but because they don't want ex members wreaking havoc from the outside.
From the organization's point of view - and just like the stricter religious groups within Christianity, Judaism and of course Islam
Those three religions at least have prophets and holy books. The Watchtower just re-translated the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to suit their own occultist beliefs and practices. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are respectable religions when compared to the inhumanity of the Watchtower. Christian groups for example have a responsibilty to feed the poor, heal the sick and help the needy. The Watchtower has never helped anyone but themselves. They exist soley on the backs of hardworking mind control drones. When is the last time you read a Watchtower? Clearly, you cannot reasonably say that their product is anything but a subliminal centerfuge. Their organizational structure is nothing but a totalistic dictatorship that demands every ounce of strength from it's subjects. They are a fraud through and through and always have been.
-Sab
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Finkelstein
Good comment Sab.
My respect for you has just climbed a notch. !
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steve2
Sab, as I stated earlier, I accept that we may differ on this central point. Unlike you, I do not attribute a singularly and overtly sinister motive to the Watchtower's policies. I think it acts out of a need to control its "flock"from conveniently-defined spiritual corruption. Its methods and its policies stink to high heaven - but its motives are consistent with the purge-the-evil-influence mentality of the Old Testament, minus the resort to overt physical violence.
Yes, I still read the Watchtower literature so I am not "in the dark" about the messages they send their readers. In my view, the Watchtower is no different than a number of other religions and cults.
Let's also not absolve those old "Holy Books" of some unfortunate influence and responsbility for their often violent and hateful messages that their "God" directed against any who were not obedient.
Perhaps inadvertently, you tend to paint these as worthier (?) than the Watchtower; they were not; in fact they were often blatantly worse. The genocidal passages in the OLd Testament are stark testimony to the brutal religiosity at work in the people of pre-Christian ages and that continued throughout many of the centuries post-Christianity. It does not absolve the Watchtower at all - but it does show that, both in the past and the present, the Watchtower "enjoys" a lot of company from other exclusivist groups.
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Finkelstein
I think whats important to realize is that the WTS. organization wants examples to use to show that people who do venture away
from their organization and from of its inherent behavioral controls, that these one will personally fail and go to ruin.
Not only now before the said day of judgment in this system of things but until Armageddon arrives.
Upon that premise then the appearance of subjective apathy concerning individuals presents itself.
The WTS. has a main objective to attract attention toward their organization and use and exploit people to their own specific means
as a devout dedicated member of their organization. This pressing agenda alone creates its own initiative to handle situations toward people
who potentially might depart from their organization. In simplistic terms your good if your in their organization, your bad if not or if you leave.
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Quendi
Our friend sabastious raises an important point that must not be overlooked and gives great strength to his position. The WTS does harm its own flock and creates Stockholm Syndrome in its members. I do not believe this is simply due to being a cult and the natural fallout this would create. As I have pointed out before, and I think this is something our friend steve2 needs to examine more closely, the Society keeps its fingers on the pulse of its corps of followers.
It does this through its field officers who are in constant touch with headquarters. Then, through its publications, especially The Watchtower and Our Kingdom Ministry, it sends back instructions on how the rank-and-file should act, react, think and feel about anything its ruling clique wants to address. Elders, circuit overseers, district overseers, zone overseers, et al also tell headquarters what is going on among their charges and how they react to directives. Look at how the WTS is fighting hard against the backlash it is experiencing over association with the disfellowshipped. Study articles, meeting parts and assembly talks have been used to put forth, maintain, and reinforce its hard line.
Similarly, there is no way the Society is ignorant about suicides or attempted suicides which have followed some judicial committee action. It knows there is some kind of cause-and-effect; otherwise the Kingdom Ministry Schools would not make this a topic for examination. Furthermore, the organization is acutely aware of discussions like this one taking place in various Internet forums. We know it is actively monitoring many of them. Seeing that this is the case, the organization must bear culpability for some of these deaths. There must be some balance of accountability between individual responsibility for one’s choices and the organization’s role in creating the emotional poison some ingest.
Many Witnesses are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome with respect to their continued association with the cult. I certainly did. I supported its positions even when my own conscience had misgivings. I went along with the treatment I received because I was convinced it was all God’s will. I agreed that the goal of such evil and abuse was to rescue me from Satan’s world and put me back on the path to salvation. How wrong I was and how warped my thinking had become! I identified with my oppressor even as that oppressor made it increasingly clear that it did not have my best interests at heart. I am glad now I made good my escape.
Quendi