by ILoveTTATT 9 Replies latest jw friends
I am helping out a support group in Spanish for ex-JW's and I need help on something:
If one is DF'd, how would one ever help your relatives? How to get to talk to them and try and help them to come out of the cult?
Give me your best ideas!!
I just know of Hassan's to make a website... but perhaps there are other ppl who can help? Like, other relatives who've never been JW's... have THEM talk to the JW relatives??
I think using a third party could work.
I am looking to make myself available as a third party in the future.
I personally think that using ANY "worldly" source to expose the Org is a mistake. It would just be viewed as a ploy by Satan.
There is an abundance of excellent Bible evidence on JW.NET to use. If they won't view what the Bible says, there is no chance they'll read "apostate" material!
I am talking like using a third person who you TRAIN to talk to JW's... Perhaps someone who agrees to feign interest and then plant little seeds of doubt IN YOUR BEHALF...
I for one KNOW that stuff people said to me while out in service helped me wake up!
Hi ILoveTTATT, I feel that there is a lot that can be done with a little creativity and overcoming phobias of the WTBTS.
With the proper training and a lot of self-control, a third party doing a bible study with a JW might work. From my experience I feel that a person must start by building a relationship with a JW and then ask simple questions that cause the JW to do more research instead of providing the evidence to the JW. I tried having a bible study with a JW once and it did not work well. I did not spend sufficient time building the relationship with the JW to learn more how he felt and I was not prepared for JWs jumping from topic to topic to justify the WTBTS's doctrines. Since the brother switched topics from blood to God needs an organization on earth, I believe that he had doubts about the WTBTS's blood doctrine. Unfortunately, it was also the last time that I studied with the brother.
Last Thanksgiving I did ask JWs who knocked on my brother's door if I could give them something in return for accepting their propaganda. They finally agreed after I told them that it was nothing religious. I wrote www.freedomofmind.com on the propaganda and handed it back to them. They acted slightly nerves and laughed when I wrote on the propaganda. I may have planted a seed of doubt in their minds, but at least they will never place that phamplet with anyone.
In the last 5 months I started experimenting with sending 4 postcards of places that I visited to my former friend, who is a "Spiritually Strong" JW. I figure as long as I am sending postcards to my friends and family why not send one more to my former friend. I only write about what I see and I how I feel about the place that I'm visiting. Sometimes I wonder if I should be sending her postcards. But, then I remind myself that if my friend were to have doubts, she may stop conducting studies with non-JWs, so I may be helping another person from being victimized by the WTBTS.
Lastly, I do feel that it is important to educate non-JWs about the WTBTS and other dangerous cults. Most people are unaware of dangerous cults using BITE control techniques to victimize members, so at appropriate times I talk to people how everyone can be susceptible to BITE control. Also, occassionally I write to politicians asking for them to revise IRS tax codes to add requirements for organizations to qualify as a non-profit.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
Yeah so I guess a third party can work huh? But they have to be vaccinated against cult mind control first...
But I guess options are limited huh?
I'm an "unbeliever" so I am generally ignored anyways. I feel lucky if I throw a word in once in a while, and I entertain myself by snapping Witnesses out of cult mode. It's not that hard. Talk about something unique about them. Ask questions. Be engaged. Soon you will be in a lively conversation without their even being aware of it.
I once did this to a woman at a district assembly over lunch, talking about modern technological wonders, when she suddenly snapped back in to cult mode, "But of course there will be even greater wonders in paradise." Yeah, right. I get dull as dishwater when talking to the cultist. I've gotten pretty good at switching instantly from active and engaged to dull as dirty dishwater. I don't "oppose" the religion. I simply turn in to a vegetable. Let their subconscious chew on that for a while.
At every opportunity I reinforce people's intelligence, insight, and ability to make their own decisions. Who doesn't want to hear that?
Options are very limited. Here are some thoughts.
1) They could get reinstated, as then is the only time they will be able to actually communicate.
2) I like Roberts postcard idea. Maybe making sure that you communicate something, even if its only one sided. You just have to be prepared to not get responses, but to keep trying. Most JW's out of sheer noseyness will not delete an e mail without reading it.
3) Have them kind of ignore it, and push communication and seeign their family. Sometimes, especially with hispanic culture, the cut off of those family ties really wrenches the person doing the shunning.
I think your involvement in the spanish field is fantastic. There is massive growth in Countries like Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela in addition to mexico and the central americas. The reason is the aversion to catholicism, and to be honest they usually attract the best missionaries. Kind hearted self sacrificing people with the right idea about what is important in life. They are just captive to the GB as we all were.
ILoveTTATT - But I guess options are limited huh?
Hi ILoveTTATT, You are only limited by your own fears and how the WTBTS indoctrinates JWs.
If a person's JW family uses FB, create a FB page showing what one is doing and how much fun they are having. If a person knows a JW's smartphone number, send them a picture of what made one think of them and text them "This made me think of you. Unconditional Love". If a person knows a JW's email, send them emails with lots of pictures and letting them know about how you are doing.
Think of what made you happy as a JW that you did with other JWs that was not an approved WTBTS activity. Chances are that those JWs were happy then also, so remind them of what made them happy with a short note like "Do you remember how happy you were when . . . ?"
My point is that the WTBTS will only become more restrictive in the future to JWs and that will be what helps JWs to awaken. So keep on sharing and brainstorming about ideas to reconnect with JWs.
I'm even thinking about starting an ex-dangerous cult (i.e., exJWs, exScientologists, exMoonies, exMormon, etc.) meetup group where I live, but I have not thought of how to make it a positive experience besides only venting about how bad a dangerous cult is.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
Careful with exScientologists... they (the Scientologists) can be NASTY in persecuting ex-members...
