by goddidit 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
So I've been hearing a lot of good things about this book. Apparently, some of its readers were actual believing JWs and it deprogrammed them.
I'm curious why they read it in the first place though, since JWs are discouraged from reading anything outside their own literature.
I know a recent convert who I'd like to help. I could buy him the book. But how do I get him to read it?
Read it yourself, then ask yourself the question.
Hmmm. Thanks Black Sheep. I will.
Ahh, it occurs to me that maybe you assumed I am a JW or fading/conscious but just to be clear, I'm not nor have ever been.
I'm happy to read the book but now you know my position, is this still your advice?
Thanks for any feedback.
I'm a nevabinadub, and I've never read any of his books. I just wouldn't try to coerce anyone into reading a book I hadn't bothered to read myself.
I recommend Hassan's books for people who have friends and loved-ones in a cult. It's not for the cultist; it's for you. Learn to spot the signs of the natural person emerging and encourage that. The book I recommend to flip a Witness is Crisis of Conscience.
Having read both of Hassan's first two books, I recommend the second, Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves.
It has more information both for current and former members of cults to help free themselves from the bonds of cult mind-control as well as information for reaching loved ones still in a cult.
Also, it mentions JWs specifically which CCMC does not. Lastly, it has a lot less of Hassan's personal experience with the Moonies, which is interesting, but not necessarily as informative as his writings aimed at helping others.
They are both excellent books, I just think Releasing the Bonds is the better of the two.
"Combatting Cult Mind Control" is good because it doesn't mention JW's but many JW's who have read it can see similar characteristics in their own religion.
Mindnumbed: "Combatting Cult Mind Control" is good because it doesn't mention JW's but many JW's who have read it can see similar characteristics in their own religion.
That is a very good point. If your goal is to get someone that is still a Kool-aid drinking JW to read a book that might wake them up, then CCMC might work because it does NOT mention JWs.
On the other hand, if you-or someone else--have already woken up and need useful information to help yourself heal and help others get out, then Releasing the Bonds is the much better book of the two, not only for the reasons I mentioned in my previous post, but also simply because Hassan was an older, more experienced practitioner and writer when he wrote it.
I've not read his latest book, but the impression I get from those that have is that it's a streamlined version of RTB.
I read both of Hassan's books shortly after leaving, the first is good for an active JW as it does not mention them directly.
Another excellent book for active J.W's, which doesn't mention them directly, but deals with all the control methods, and a number of the specious arguments or argument methods they use, is Stephen Law's "Believing Bullshit". The title may frighten a sensitive soul, but it is really good. (Prometheus Books N.Y).
We just have to be aware though that J.W's have had their reasoning powers removed, well, stolen in fact, by the methods Dr. Law outlines in his book, but if you get them to read it they may draw the parallels.
I read this when I came to the realization that the Watchtower was not the truth. I denied that they were a cult, that mind control was employed--for a time. Then when I was reading In Search of Christian Freedom, there were several quotations from Combating Cult Mind Control. The quotations I assumed were about a newcomer going to the meeting at the Kingdom Hall for the first time. But it turned out to be about Steven Hassan going to a Moonie function.
The very next book I read was Combating Cult Mind Control. This opened my eyes as to what a cult is, what mind control is, how indoctrination works. After that, I could no longer deny that the Watchtower was a cult and that mind control is in operation. I had my ex-wife read just the section on BITE, and it opened her eyes as well. She said, "I don't want to admit this is true, but it is."
Reading this helped rid me of the various fears and guilt that had been indoctrinated in me over the years. I don’t think I would be sufficiently ‘deprogrammed’ without reading it. I believe it's just as essential of a read as Crisis of Conscience.
