Will AAWA Become another cult?

by His Excellency 82 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  His Excellency

  Please sorry for english, I have only been learning for 18 months

  Everyone Please think about it, and beware of any initiative designed to solve "a community problem". Becasue Russel also started his own cult on a similar premise like this , claiming to have all the answers to issues whose solutions seems obscured to the majority in his days, and here we are today, constantly bashing our fingers on the keyboard in a bid to finding comfort from the mess He had put all of us into

  John Cedars had shown some signs we should all watch out for, His strong-headedness in the face of many suggestions for a name change is a sign that risk lie ahead.

  Please Thread carefully and thread softly, groups like this often take root like a support system, but the closer you are to it, the more committed you will become, and the harder it will be to distance yourself, then comes emotional control, behavioural control, and et. al.

  In my humble opinion, a forum like JWN is okay, and perhaps it is all we need, we don't need any organised form of ideology that will eventually plunge us and our generation into another mess.

  A word is enough for the wise. Please sorry for my english.
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  Newly Enlightened

  I think by now most of us on here know that we will never surrender our minds again!
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  His Excellency

  And we should especially be weary of anything taking its root from America, don't forget the JW started from there, and now AAWA is incorporated there, please lets be more careful.
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  Simon

  While I agree, it's good to be cautious I do think it's way too early to start labelling groups as a cult and would be wrong to not give people a chance.
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  jgnat

  Surely not all organizations incorporated in America are cults. Use the same measures, duh, to hold AAWA to account. Public accounting on the use of donations is an excellent start. I have also noted that people are free to volunteer or leave as they choose without repercussions.
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  Newly Enlightened

  It's incorporated in Arizona. I lived there for a number of years, it's still the Wild West! Plus their incorporation tax laws seem to be a little more lenient.

  Plus it doesn't claim to be a religion. It's trying to help people get out of religions.
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  His Excellency

  Before you know it, some ex-COs, ex-DOs and disfellowshipped bethelites will become strong stakeholders in AAWA, and again running the association like another religious cult, making us face a greater hell than we once knew, and then things will really get sour, änother vicious circle, and this time the group's ideology wont be based on any popular canon, but a few tyrant wielding their logic on our face without any possibility for questionning.

  Again, I will propose that we be cautious and thread softly.
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  His Excellency

  If John Cedars and his directors do not see a sense in a name change, that is an evidence that "there is fire ahead on the mountain we are climbing"
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  The Quiet One

  I'd personally find it far more worrying if someone in a position of great responsibility made a relatively insignificant change (there's no moral principle at stake here) to something that is already legally established, just because a few anonymous people on an internet forum didn't like it.. Further, even if he were to show himself to be a maniacal tyrant, he only has 1 vote on a board of 8 people. The word 'cult' is absurd when applied to this group, as it has absolutely none of the signs of a cult. Nobody can be punished or controlled by them.. Google 'mind control BITE', and learn something before charging in without any idea what you're talking about.. (don't feel that I'm being nasty, I'm just trying to save you further embarassment)
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  DT

  I think any organization has the potential to develop cult like characteristics.

  I don't think the danger is very high for the AAWA, but it is worth discussing and it pays to be cautious. I think that the AAWA has already taken some positive steps like being unwilling to advocate a particular religion or philosophy.

  I think part of the danger comes from the XJW community itself. There has been considerable support for the goals of the AAWA, but a lot of disappointment with some minor details like the name. I think there has been a tendency to look at the AAWA as a kind of champion of the XJW community that will engage in some kind of epic battle with the Watchtower Society that XJW's as a whole can support.

  I don't think that is a reasonable expectation. I can't speak for the AAWA, but I would be surprised if they viewed themselves that way. They are an organization that was formed by a specific group of people for a specific purpose. I think their name describes their purpose (as I understand it) almost perfectly. I'm glad that they haven't succumbed to public pressure to change their name and focus to something that might receive broader support while possibly diluting its effectiveness.

  I think we would be wise to view the AAWA as simply a tool. It fills a need. It's name clearly defines what it is about and it will hopefully be a useful contact for journalists. It is may also provide some much needed organization for activities that raise awareness.

  It also fails to fill certain needs that many XJW's have. I suggest that some of those needs would be better served in ways that don't involve looking to an organization.