What Results When JW's Associate ONLY With Fellow JW's?

minimus

I clearly see that JW's are constantly being told to only associate with fellow believers if at all humanly possible. There is to be either no association or at the minimum, very little socializing with non-Witnesses. In your opinion, what does this produce?

unique1

A bunch of psychos with no hold on reality.

freedom96

This results in a very naive group of people, who will have difficulty functioning in real life.

Reminds me of a wild animal born and raised in a zoo. If they let the animal go in the wild, surely they will get destroyed.

Blind leading the blind also comes to mind.

HoChiMin

Like they were subjects of inbreeding from the same family.

minimus

Actually, HCM, I know a few JW's that MUST'VE been inbreds.

integ

It produces a situation where an extreme group mentality ensues, friendships are established

which are hard to break up, people then become locked-in to the religion, and it makes it even

harder to break away, for fear of losing these friends they may have had for years. I know

personally of some who will not leave due to these reasons solely. Also, in a lot of cases big

business associations are established, making it very difficult to break away, because they know that if

they do leave, these relationships would be severed. They've got it all covered.

Thanks,

Integ.

bikerchic

I remember reading a list of identifing marks of a cult and no association outside the group was on the list.

I also know from experience how you are treated in the congergation if you do have "outside" interest or associations. You and your children are marked and treated badly, looked down upon, never really accepted or invited to congergation functions. He,hee but happier, better adjusted to normal society IMHO.

I never adheired to that didn't make my kids either, but then maybe that's why we are all out? We could at some point stand back and see the "religion" for what it is a cult.

Katie (of the I'll go back when pigs fly class)

freeman

Minimus, What it produces is arrested social development and the inability to deal with life as it really is. By cutting oneself off from the rest of the world you are creating an artificial existence and if you ever have to venture out from this biosphere, you will find you are ill-equipped to deal with reality. Further, by denying oneself social interaction with 99.99 percent of the planet’s population based entirely on religious prejudice, you are sowing the seeds of intolerance, aloofness, superiority, and possibly a cycle of hate to be passed on to your progeny.

Freeman

dannyboy

Minimus, you've really been "pushing my buttons" lately ....I don't post much, but somehow this thread and the one about being "screwed up" have got me thinking about stuff that's been buried....

I agree with all the points made here, well said everyone. I always appreciate the depth of understanding and ability to express stuff that I see here on Simon's site. It's a comfort, it really is. (Reminding myself that I'm not alone)

---Dan

blondie

Definitely a cult (or high-control group) characteristic:

Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members

This definitely limits information from outside the group

Isolation from society -- not necessarily physical isolation like on some compound in Waco, but this can be psychological isolation -- the rest of the world is not saved, not Christian, not transformed (whatever) -- the only valid source of feedback and information is the group

Thus all information must come through the leaders (have you met JWs that will believe it only if it was in a WT publication even though the WT publication is quoting from a non-witness source?)

I was told by one sister that they had been counseled on not watching too much news or reading too many"worldly" news magazines.

Blondie

What Results When JW's Associate ONLY With Fellow JW's?

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