To “daringhart13”: That was one of the best and most insightful articles I have read about how ignorance and fear completely saturate the whole JW culture. Thank you for posting that link (http://darrinhart.hubpages.com/hub/Jehovahs-Witnesses-and-The-Chosen-Path-of-Ignorance). It’s truly amazing how people can be so fervently dedicated and blindly obedient to “God's spirit-directed organization” when in fact they basically no nothing at all about this apparently all-important, all-powerful organization! The WTS is really in effect yet another most poignant and intriguing psychological experiment in cultural conformity and mind control.
The Reason Why JWs Won't Leave The Cult Is Because They Won't Think!
by minimus 35 Replies latest jw friends
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LisaRose
To face the fact that your whole life has been a huge mistake is a very hard thing. The human ego tends to protect itself, any facts that challenge long held beliefs are ignored or dismissed. Those who start to see some of the ugly truths about the religion and are able to articulate it a bit will often say "but where will I go?" this idea that there is no life outside the Watchtower is deeply ingrained in the average Jehovah's Witness. The idea that this old system is irretrievably broken has been drilled into them. They have learned to distrust science, to judge other religions and to think they are lost without the Watchtower to guide them.
Those who manage to break free usually do so only because they have been pushed, badly treated by elders, disfellowshipped or otherwise put in an impossible situation. Even then the tendency is to go back to the only thing they know, to abase themselves and beg to come back, because they often have loved ones they were forced to leave behind. Those who manage to break free both mentally and physically are few.
I feel sorry for those who remain in a prison of their own making, my wish is that this religion is exposed for what it is, a sham, and that all Jehovah's Witnesses manage to get free.
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done4good
It is not that they will not think, or cannot think. It is fear, plain and simple. Fear of loosing their social circle, (big), fear of loosing their identity, (bigger), etc. Fear is a very low level motivator, that works at the lowest levels of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs very effectively. Since the lower needs generally need to be cared for first, (the second Safety level is where most of this fear happens), higher levels, (especially self-actualization where "facts" matter), are of no concern to the believing JW. This is science, and mostly psychology 101.
I know many very intelligent JWs who are not mentally lazy, and perfrom intellectually well in every other aspect of their lives. When it comes to questioning the organization however, the fear kicks in, and all rational thought is suspended.
Most of us did not "think" it through properly either when we were in. It usually takes an event that helps us in overcoming the fear to finally begin to question things properly. Even the "event" itself is more of a process, than a single event.
d4g
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daringhart13
Thanks minimus......much appreciated!!
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daringhart13
Thank you SAHS......I appreciate your thoughts!!
I will never stop being amazed by their chosen ignorance.
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minimus
Good diverse comments!