Just had a thought…

by Vidiot 65 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Vidiot

  I been reading quite a few experiences on Reddit lately, and their seems to be a common theme coming up…

  …dialed-up-to-eleven shunning of XJWs by their Witness relatives.

  It reminds me of back in the day, listening to some of the over-the-top vitriol displayed by hard-core loyalists when the topic of evolution or apostates came up…

  …I was gobsmacked when I finally realized these guys weren’t offended and indignant because they thought it was lies…

  …they were angry and hostile because, deep down, they were afraid it was true.
• 

  ElderBerry

  That is very profound and yes I think on a subconscious level this is the case. They are frightened that the GB are not Gods channel on Earth. Some family members say “so what do they believe now?”
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  • …they were angry and hostile because, deep down, they were afraid it was true.

    Cognitive dissonance is frightening!

    
    
• 

  Vidiot

  The reason I bring it up is that I can’t help but wonder if there’s something more going on here…

  …that at least some of these loyalists who’ve bet the farm on the Org having the Truth have, nevertheless, grasped intuitively (like so many of us early on) that something is very, very wrong…

  …but if they just stay the course long enough - and more importantly, keep the membership in - it’ll all still somehow come true.

  Taking that line of reasoning one step further, they subconsciously blame those leaving for the Tower’s (potential) fall.
• 

  Vidiot

  Or am I overthinking it?
• 

  FFGhost

  I think you nailed it.

  Some of the most hysterically vicious comments I’ve ever heard were JWs ranting, sometimes at a meeting, sometimes in a private setting, about either gays or evolution.

  It’s interesting, I never heard such utter vile disgust directed toward, say, murderers or drug dealers or child pornographers, etc. Just solely directed toward, as you noted, persons or concepts that very likely, on some level, they hoped were wrong but maybe weren’t.
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  Simon

  They are angry because they wasted their life and can't escape, but you are over the fence and enjoying life on the outside.
• 

  Beth Sarim

  The dub mind set is that the GB WT cannot be possibly wrong.

  Thats what cognitive dissonance does to you.

  The possibility you've squandered your life.

  Expect hostility.
• 

  jehovaxx

  It’s like in the matrix when the bad guy cypher asks why oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?

  If you take the red pill and wake up to the fact the GB are wrong, you then feel lost you don’t know what to believe or what to do, it would be frightening to even consider.

  This is why most take the blue pill and carry on thinking the GB are Gods channel and maybe ignorance is bliss
• 

  TonusOH

  When doubts manifest, one of the possible reactions is to double down and dig in. The more you do that, the more sunk the cost gets. So it builds on itself and you get someone whose devotion borders on fanatical.