by purrpurr 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I've been doing a lot of research about mind control, cults etc which led me to look into the world and beliefs of Mormons. The similarities between jw's and Mormons are staggering! It's almost a carbon copy which only a few differences.
Did the JW's set out to copy them I wonder? It can't be a coincidence surely?
They are both cults, so it's not surprising there are similarities. While their individual beliefs are different, the culture is the same because cults use the same basic manipulations.
Controlling your time by having lots of meetings and volunteer requirements so you don't have too much time to think.
Exclusivisim, claiming to be the only route to salvation.
Deception, hiding their history and practices. The JWs lie about their failed date predictions, The Mormons lied about Joseph Smith having multiple wives and although they have recently admitted as much I doubt they are honest about his various scams, he was just a con artist that got lucky.
Fear and intimidation, saying that you must do everything they tell you or you will not gain salvation. Jehovah's Witnesses fear being disfellowshipped and dying at the big A, Mormons fear going to hell.
Love bombing and relationship control. The JWs are by far the worst because of Disfellowshiping, but both groups discourage you from having friends or getting married outside the group.
To be honest i think Mormons have got a harder sell with their off beat ideas/doctrines/history and beliefs than jws. Yet despite this they have out performed the JWS both in membership and money. Although the 2 religions are theologically quite different in some respects. Organizationally, structurally and(or as the above posts puts it) culturally they are identical. Quite often when reasoning with JWs I will use the Mormon faith as an example, to get away from the idea that it's an attack of Satan aimed specifically at JWS.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2015/06/26/june-26-2015-former-mormons/26293/
Dose it sound familiar.
I don't think one followed another's playbook, per se...
...more along the lines of parallel evolution.
x
Also, FTR, I do not view the LDS nearly as negatively as the WTS (it's certainly behaving more honestly, for one thing).
I think of the LDS as the WTS's weirder but nicer older cousin (just as I view Scientology as the WTS's crazier and meaner younger cousin).
Wow, what a bunch of friggin idiots on that forum! They are dumber than J-dumbs! Here I was, thinking that Mormons were better educated.
LET'S REVIEW: .......
DD
And lets not forget the 7th Day Adventists,
which cousin are they? :blush:
Go to the official Mormon website and marvel over how much it could be interchanged with jw.org.
With a word or two changed here and there, you virtually would not notice any difference.
Websites are first and foremost primarily about impression management - and if these two religious organizations have anything in common it is an obsessive need for those on display to be modestly but smartly dressed and smiling. No Mennonite garb at one extreme and no tight pants or short skirts at the other.
I dare anyone to gauge who dresses better and smiles more on either website.
Websites are about managing impressions.
Both websites follow similar templates with impressively engaging and eye-pleasing layouts.
I believe the Mormon website was set up well before jw.org - so who's copying who?
Steve, dont they also have their version of Caleb and Sophia and wasnt theirs put out first?
Seems like we had a thread all about that last year?
A friend of mine, a male friend at that. Has been disfellowshipped from the LDS as he did not stand up to scrutiny. His brother is a pastor? I think that's what they are called. Anyway, we have sat beside a cold, swift brook drinking our wine and compared notes on our religious pasts.
Although doctrinally very different at certain points........The method of culling independent thinking is the same. The standards of morality are the same and the stresses are exactly the same. So too, is the damage to the rest of a child's life on through to adulthood.
Many times he has been suicidal and not able to figure out where it comes from. I gently try to tell him about counselling. Serious cult breaking counselling. I am having it every week and I have a decent woman who knows what she is doing. So in summary. My friend is suffering the same sort of distress as any disfellowshipped JW. Mostly he is suicidal and thinks that the world is going to end. I try to help...........
Umbertoecho,
Yes, pain is pain whether its from rejection by one religion or another it matters not - and it is made worse by the circumstances that give rise to it. When the collective group scorns or shuns the lone individual, it is a significant test of what it means to survive without group approval and support. For those bred and raised in religious organizations, and who have no meaningful experience of life on the "outside", it is literally make or break time. Some of the first forward steps come from realizing you are not alone and that there is little wonder why you struggle given how closeted your upbringing.To find the wherewithal to rise above group-enacted emotional blackmail is incredibly empowering, but in the meantime, for many the pain is too unbearable so it is encouraging to hear of instances where individuals have reached out to one another and provided that gentle support and encouragement... and provided knowledge for knowledge - especailly TTATT - is power.
