Children of God Cult

by EmptyInside 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  EmptyInside

  I was listening to an interview on public radio of Chris Owens,formerly of the band,Girls.

  Anyway,they touched on briefly how he was raised in the Children of God cult. He mentioned how isolated he felt,and when he left at 16,he accepted the fact that he would lose communication with his mother. Since that is the way of groups like that. But,a year later his mother left the group too.

  And I found it interesting,that he said it still effects his world view being raised in such a group.

  I just found it so interesting how there are so many common denominators,no matter how different the groups are,isolation,cutting off ex-members etc. He compared it to living in North Korea.

  This is kind of what got me to accept that the Witnesses were actually a cult. I was reading Steve Hassan's experience in the group he was in. And it sounded all so familar to me,it was scary.

  Even when I was in,it bothered me on how much like a cult the organization operated. But,I put it out of my mind,feeling we were the exception,not the rule. It has taken me some time to use the term and applying it the organization. It was just difficult to wrap my head around it. I think too,many people still think of a cult like the group Children of God,a bunch of hippies living in a commune,etc.
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  adamah

  Yeah, good point. The term 'cult' definitely is a pejorative, and ALL social groups have intent to control the actions of their members, otherwise they generally wouldn't form into a group of like-minded individuals with a common interest, right? People don't join a knitting circle unless they want to engage in chit-chatting while knitting.

  So the difference between say a crafts club and the JWs or Moonies is the LEVEL of control they try to exert on their members, the influence they try to maintain to force compliance with their policies.

  It's easy to struggle with whether the cult term applies to JWs, until one remembers the practice of shunning that ALL members face if they don't abide with the principles of group, which includes the requirement to conform to a LETHAL blood doctrine which can force members to essentially commit hari-kari, dying due the (willful?) misunderstanding of a single Bible verse.

  It's all the more insidious of a cult, simply because it's hidden in plain sight.
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  donny

  Cult = A small, unpopular religon.

  Religion = A large, popular cult.
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  Londo111

  To be sure, JWs have communes. They are called Bethel--it's like a cult within a cult.

  Essentially a cult, in the usage we are referring to, is a group that employs BITE mind control.

  Cult = a group that employs BITE

  Religion = a group that does not employ BITE
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  adamah

  Londo said,

  "Cult = a group that employs BITE

  Religion = a group that does not employ BITE"

  Which only begs the question: which organized religions DON'T employ BITE, to some degree? Unitarians?
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  Londo111

  I’d say when a group shuns former members. There is lots of freedom to be had in mainstream religion, even those with a hierarchy or a set creed. It also has to do with: how has the locus of control? The individual or the group?

  Cults don’t even have to have anything to do with religion. There are political cults, commercial cults, therapy cults. BITE is BITE. For instance, say there is a therapy cult that employs BITE, does that mean every therapist employs the BITE model? An ethical therapist would allow the individual to retain the locus of control. An unethical therapist would not.
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  DATA-DOG

  " But,I put it out of my mind,feeling we were the exception,not the rule. "

  This is THE lynch-pin for Jehovah's Witnesses. Out of the Billions of people on earth, Jw's are THE EXCEPTION. Falsehood and men's ideas in religion, we are the exception. Charitable organizations, we are the exception as we "truly" help people. Hypocrisy, greed, the molestation of children, we are the exception. Meddling in politics, being a friend of the world, no way, we are the exception. Making money and being commercialized as an organized religion, we are the exception. Incurring God's disfavor by falsely prophesying, claiming to speak for him and then having those words fail, nope, we are the exception. Needing to plan ahead for life and retirement, or getting an education, nope, don't need to, we are the exception as we will never get old or fulfill any career in this system. Whatever any other religion is doing wrong or not doing at all, we are the exception to the rule.

  Until that belief is shattered, you will never get through to a JW.
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  TotallyADD

  When it comes to Unitarian Universalist they are the farest thing from a cult. JW are children of GB cult. Getting through to a JW is like trying to push a dead horse up a hill. Totally ADD