Witnesses NOT a Cult. (page 2)

Mr. Kim

Well, there are definitions and other definitions.

Which shall it be this time?

The following is from: Cults In Our Midst, by Margaret Thaler Singer with Janja Lalich, 1995, Jossey - Bass Publishers, San Francisco, Introduction pages IXX - XXI.

There are many definitions and views of what a cult is, and sometimes writers, scholars, and even former members avoid the term altogether. The term cult tends to imply something weird, something other than normal, something that is not us. But as Cults in Our Midst will show, cults are far from marginal, and those who join them are no different from you or me. The issues they represent are basic to our society, to our understanding of each other, and to our accepting our vulnerabilities and the potential for abuse within our world.

In this book, I will use cult and cultic group to refer to any one of a large number of groups that have sprung up in our society and that are similar in the way they originate, their power structure, and their governance. Cults range from the relatively benign to those that exercise extraordinary control over members' lives and use thought-reform processes to influence and control members. While the conduct of certain cults causes nonmembers to criticize them, the term cult is not in itself pejorative but simply descriptive. It denotes a group that forms around a person who claims he or she has a special mission or knowledge, which will be shared with those who turn over most of their decision making to that self-appointed leader.

Cults come in all sizes, form around any theme, and recruit persons of all ages and backgrounds. Not all cults are religious, as some people think. Their reasons for existing may concern religion, life-style, politics, or assorted philosophies. Not everyone who is approached by a cult recruiter joins, and of those who join, not all stay forever. Cults vary in how much financial and political power they wield. Some are local phenomena with only a dozen members. Others have thousands of members, operate multinational businesses, and control complex multimillion- if not multibillion-dollar organizations.

Cults are not always easy to recognize at first glance. Most people have a general grasp of what a cult is and are aware of the rise of cultic groups in the past decades. However, what people are not generally aware of is how cults achieve the control of people's lives that they appear to have.

In my study of cults, I find that the personality, preferences, and desires of the leader are central in the evolution of any of these groups. Cults are truly personality cults. Because cult structure is basically authoritarian, the personality of the leader is all important. Cults come to reflect the ideas, style, and whims of the leader and become extensions of the leader.

- Legend has it that all cult leaders are charismatic. In reality, charisma is less important than skills of persuasion and the ability to manipulate others. In order to start a group, a leader has to have ways of convincing others to follow him or her, and such leaders tend not to relinquish their control. Cult leadership can be a heady role when the leader comes to see the amount of control he or she holds and how easily he or she can influence followers.

Cults present a consumer issue as well as the philosophical issue of whether one person should have near-total control over others. From the consumer vantage point, how can a potential cult member learn what really occurs during membership? Allegations abound that there are deceptions during the recruitment phase and that new members are not at all aware of what will be expected after they affiliate with a cultic group. More than one former cult member has told me that once caught up in the group, he or she found it something far different than it appeared at first.

In order to-understand how someone can be hoodwinked to such a degree that she or he gives up job, family, and the freedom of self-determination, we must look at the social and psychological influence techniques used by cults and cultic groups. This process of planned, covert, coordinated influence (popularly called brainwashing or mind control or, more technically, thought reform) is the route by which the cult leader gains control.

Sometimes people laugh when I tell them about the content of certain cultic groups or show films about the groups. For example, I tell them about assisting former members of a horse cult, an outer-space cult, a sports cult, a weight-lifting cult, a music camp cult, a diet cult, and a hairdressing cult.

While such groups may sound odd, Cults in Our Midst is not about weird people who join crazy groups. It's about how all of us, at various times, can fall into vulnerable states during which another person can wield more influence over us than at other times. We are all more vulnerable to flattery, deception, lures, and enticements when we are lonely, sad, and feeling needy. In such periods of transient vulnerability, most of us are more manipulable, more suggestible, and more likely to be deceived by the flattery and inducement of designing persons.***

Jayson

The problem with accepting that any JW is part of a dangerous sect, or a cult is the same problem with them thinking it is impossible for them to be under mind control. The definition of "cult" like "brainwashing" and "mind control" use the most barbaric examples of what these tactics look like. Everyone being dead, and the compound looking like a concentration camp, or a prision physically is the only type of "cult" that exists to them. The physical freedom is all they can comprehend because they are not in control of their critical thinking skills I.E. Their minds. When you talk about a prison of the mind and not the body the argument becomes, then all institutions are "cults." Who is better than Who. And around we go.

The thing is (and I asked witnesses when they used to harrass me) "If you were under mind control how would you know?"

Pork Chop

What would we do without the good ol' mind control myth?

Francois

I promised a few things in support of the fact that the JWs are indeed a cult and here are a few of almost an endless list of their compliance with various definitions:

http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/c09a01.html

7 ELEMENTS OF A CULTIC GROUP
1) A centralized form of leadership that rules with unquestioned authority
2) A body of convictions, beliefs, and practices set forth boldly as "the truth"
3) A compelling presentation of the group vision to prospects that is inviting and challenging
4) A series of manipulative socializing sessions to instill psychological dependence on the group
5) A definable process of group dynamics used to unethically control and manipulate members
6) A history of abuses of authority by group leaders freely using deception and fear tactics
7) A history of psychological and spiritual abuses of group members that destroy lives

Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following 5 characteristics:
1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members
2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society
3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma
4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds
recruit people
5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society
http://www.allentwood.com/DefDestCu.html

http://www.religio.de/cudef.html
This one immediately above is very good.
http://quitplaying.com/~neirror/neirr.org/s7-aber2.html
Another really good one.
http://www.christiancommunitychurch.us/dovenet/cultdef.htm

http://members.aol.com/beyondjw/dwjw.htm?FACTNet
The above provides a very realistic example of what it’s really like to talk with a witness about their religion.

In all, there are about 25 or 30 defining characteristics of a cult, and Jehovah's Witnesses display each and every one of these characteristics. As noted some people think there are five of these definitions that are essential, some think there are seven. Those kind of arguments contemplate the number of angels who can dance upon the head of a pin.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult BY DEFINITION regardless of their pitiful efforts to squeeze and/or wiggle out of the mold. I say JWs are a cult, and I say fuckem.

francois

expatbrit

Of course Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult! Don't you know that Jehovah's Witnesses are the first and oldest religion? Why, the first Jehovah's Witness was Abel! I know this for a fact, because I bought his bookbag off ebay.

Expatbrit

sunshineToo

LOL @expat

SealingSalamander

As to the comment about there not being armed guards keeping people inside, etc:

What about the fact that God ALWAYS knows what you're doing, where you're doing and who you're doing it with. Not only that, but he has a BIG BOOK that he keeps your record in and he has the perfect ENFORCER in His son who will come down with his two edged sword and KICK YOUR A$$.

Whereas you MIGHT be 'saved' if you follow all the rules and regulations, you MIGHT NOT be because only God knows what's "in your heart" (like you don't.)

AND- this is the BIGGIER- he KNOWS if what you're doing is motivated out of FEAR or if it's genuinely out of LOVE for him which he virtually guaranteed to be impossible with all of the afformentioned doctrine!!!

SOUNDS LIKE A CATCH-22 TO ME!!!

shamus

Interesting question, and good responses. This has cleared up some myths that I still hold on to; that being that the religion is just between a high-control group, and cult. It seems pretty obvious that they are in fact a cult. Just one more thing to let go of.

Thanks for the excellent articles, everyone. This place is really cool, inthat there are so many knowlegeable people here ready to help with these questions that we all have!

core

I pause to wonder what difference it makes ........a cult.......not a cult........who cares when you have escaped!

Call it what you like or debate over words but nothing changes the plain fact that Jehovahs Witnesses as an organisation are as far removed from God as any organised religion. They may be a cult. they may not be a cult

BUT THEY ARE WRONG

Witnesses NOT a Cult.