"Authoritarian High Control Group".
A bit wordy, but break it down to its individual components, and I think even the most hardcore loyalist would have difficulty refuting the label.
Are Jehovahs Witnesses a cult?
by GoverningBody 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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carla
Watching my jw become one was scary as hell. He took on different facial expressions, (I believe they mimicked whoever he was studying with at the time as well as elders) body gestures and yes, his eyes literally glazed over when first parroting the jw company line (others saw this as well). He became a different person and I was hard pressed to get his authentic self to come out for quite awhile. His change in personality, beliefs, behavior, everything was profound and not in a good way. I was not the only one to see these changes, everybody noticed something was not right. I was asked often, "is he mad about something?" "what's wrong with him?" and so on. I never wanted to say, "yeah, he just recently joined a cult and this is the result, welcome to my world".
I studied nearly every cult expert out there going back to when our military came back from Korea to current day thoughts. I studied religion, bible and jw theology throughout its history. I spoke with a few cult experts. I have no problem saying without a single doubt that the jw's are a cult and are a danger to ones very being. Be it the sexual abuses, domestic abuses (which I have never suffered either), spiritual abuse, lack of blood, shunning, isolation, flip flops, lack of education, rules and regulations and the list goes on and on.
Over the years he has lost the facial/body expressions and is more himself these days. It is my understanding that being in a cult (or any high control group) quite literally changes the brain. My jw is a good man and means well but is so misguided by the carrot the wt holds. I still miss the man I first married sometimes but still love him all the same and know it will never be the same as it once was. Life is bound to change. We have found a dance of sorts that allow us to continue on our journey together in love. We no longer discuss anything jw related or very very rarely, what's the point? He must come to his own conclusions, and now? I think even if he found out it was all hooey he would stay in because otherwise he would have to admit he wasted all those years and lose his conditional friends.
I do not believe every religion is a cult. Reason being in most churches you are allowed to disagree with many things and you are not judged as being evil, apostate and so forth. That being said, most will say that something is not a 'salvation issue' if you disagree. However, you probably wouldn't do well say if you went to a bible study group and said there was no God and no Jesus, those would be salvation issues in the minds of adherents. If you are allowed freedom of thought, able to scrutinize, dress as you wish, read & watch what you wish (within reason, obviously if you are watching child porn you would and should be judged and jailed) basic human freedoms is what I am talking about. If you can leave and retain friendships, employment and family it is probably not a cult.
Are the jw's a cult? yes, absolutely.
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carla
Here's the short version of above post-
They are like body snatchers, yes it's a cult.
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LongHairGal
CARLA:
I imagine it must’ve been hard to see the man you married change so drastically after he joined the Witness religion!
I also believe the religion fits the definition of a cult. What makes them so dangerous is how seemingly harmless they appear to be on the outside..They just don’t seem anything like those other famous cults like Jonestown or Waco. The problem with the JWs comes later with the lifestyle when you’re in the thick of it.
Also, the problem with the JWs is that not everybody is equally damaged by it, in my observation..It’s hit and miss and depends on who you are!..Some people have a fairly happy life there; others might be devastated. For example: it’s harder on women.. IF a woman does not get married OR get a career - she ends up poor if she follows the nonsense about ‘pioneering’..While this can also happen to a man, unfortunately, we live in a man’s world and a woman will end up worse off.
I also agree that not every religion is a cult by today’s definition. I was raised Roman Catholic and could see the contrast. As you said, in most churches you can disagree about certain things and not be viewed as ‘evil’ 🙄 like in the JWs.
Yes, it’s funny you said JWs are like ‘body snatchers’. But, thankfully, in my case, I got MY body the hell out of there 👍🏻.
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Gman2001
YES
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