Cult or Religion

by Richard C B 225 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  SecretSlaveClass

  Cappy:
  Here's an example of how the religion of my birth is a cult: "All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not." - Nov. 15, 2013 Watchtower
  The only difference between Jim Jones and the Governing Body is that Jim Jones wanted people to drink the kool-aid and die, whereas the Governing Body wants you to refuse a blood transfusion and die.
  Familiarize yourself with the identifying marks of a "High Control Group," known as the B.I.T.E. model.

  Excellent!
• 

  TheWonderofYou

  Somebody already wrote in an other thread example for mindcontrol:

  Behavior Control

  Information Control

  Thought Control

  Emotional Control

  Links

  1: Steve Hassan's criteria for mind control

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/25532/jehovahs-witnesses-cult

  2. A Study of the Persuasion Techniques Used by Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/544/persuasion-techniques-used-jws

  3. written by Jang: Social Psychology And Group Dynamics

  Cognitive Dissonance and again about Hassan.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5822/social-psychology-group-dynamics

  4. Combatting Mind controll with WT references

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/112308/combatting-mind-control-steve-hassan-wt-references

  5) High Control Groups

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/14262/fyi-understanding-high-control-groups-better
  

  
  
  
• 

  Phizzy

  I haven't time to read the whole thread, so I may be repeating stuff already said. But here goes :

  The JW Org is a High Control, Mind Control Group. They use methods common to many such groups, some of whom are commonly referred to as Cults.

  They are not a Religion in reality, they are a Real Estate Corporation posing as a religion to keep their status as a non-taxable Charity, and to keep tax Free donations coming in.

  They are also a bogus Charity.

  Am I wrong in any of the above ?
• 

  freemindfade

  "Cults" (high control groups) have "survivors"

  This board and all the other JW survivors are living proof it is what it is. They didn't just change religions, they survived undue control.
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  tornapart

  Sorry I've only read half this thread but felt I needed to say this. The reasons I believe it is a cult.

  The GB are a small group of men who claim to be God's spokesperson (the Faithful and Discreet Slave) that is ALWAYS being referred to in their literature. If anyone speaks against them they can be disfellowshipped which means they can have no contact with their family whatsoever. A person is looked down on, 'marked', if they don't preach, don't go to all the meetings or other such things. A woman can't wear trousers to a meeting or out in the 'minisrty', a man cannot have a beard (if he does he's looked down on). A person cannot celebrate any holiday, or else they are disfellowshipped. Any sexual indiscretion is brought before three elders who have to go into every tiny detail, if a person is deemed unrepentant, they are disfellowshipped. You cannot smoke, take drugs, get drunk, etc.. if you do are brought before the 3 elders, who can disfellowship you. You cannot openly disagree with ANY of their teachings, or you can be disfellowshipped. If you behave in a way that is deemed 'spiritually weak' you will be marked. If you are disfellowshipped, you will be shunned. Obeying the 'Organisation' is tantamount to obeying God. There is no freedom... to think, behave or talk about.. everything you say, think or do is controlled. if you try and get away it's almost impossible.... your family is held to ransom.

  There are many other reasons but these are off the top of my head. Is it a religion... yes... but in my mind it's also a cult.
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  SecretSlaveClass

  I haven't been following this thread because it wasn't of interest. However after reading it through out of curiosity, I want to know if anyone else gets the impression that it's almost as if Richie is trying incredibly hard to come off as an intellectual hosting an intellectual TV debate show when the audience in fact notices that he should be hosting a kiddie quiz show?

  I almost expect a morning newspaper headline proclaiming "Game show host exposed as fraud!"
• 

  Island Man

  Early in the thread someone posted that the cult identity is more of a spectrum or continuum than a fixed digital state. I agree with this.

  Cult can be seen as one of many properties or metrics of a group - really, every group - that can have a range of values from low to high. A group's cult metric can be determined by examining its culture to see how closely it conforms to the BITE model. It is fair to say that most religious groups will match some aspects of the BITE model to some degree. But when a group's cult metric exceeds a certain threshold, there can be no denying that the group is a cult. For example, there can be no denying that the People's Temple was a cult.

  If we quantify a group's cult metric on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 meaning they have no trace of cult tendencies (which is extremely unlikely for any group) and 10 being the most harmful blatant cults, then we can use a cult metric greater than 5 as the litmus test for designating a group as being a cult. In my opinion, Watchtower has a score around 7.

  It's important to note, however, that a group's cult metric has nothing to do with how orthodox or correct its beliefs are. Rather, it has to do with the group's behavior.
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  Richard C B

  @secretslaveclass, Dont worry mate 3 ppl at least like your post. Im sure you feel really proud about that.
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  jws

  Just read the OP. Are we talking about AWAA?
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  tornapart

  freemindfade:- If you want to find out if your religion is a High Control cult or not, find out what it takes to leave

  Amen!!

  I have been trying to leave for 4 years. It's impossible. I can only 'fade'. If I leave... ie. state that I no longer want to be a JW, any friends I ever had from my childhood onward would be a thing of the past. Family members would disown me, or at least keep their distance. The only way I can do it is by taking my time until I'm almost unnoticed. (almost impossible when my husband is an elder). I am having to keep elders and others at arm's length so they don't discover the real reason,,,,,So please tell me it isn't a cult???!!