TV TRAILER: ‘Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: The Jehovah’s Witnesses' Two Hour Special Event - A&E, 9pm ET/PT, Tues, Nov 13, 2018
Didn't see a post about it yet. Will you be tuning in? I know I am!
TV TRAILER: ‘Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: The Jehovah’s Witnesses' Two Hour Special Event - A&E
by MaybeSo 61 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Simon
I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, the JWs are toward the cultish end of the spectrum behavior-wise and have some controlling practices and it's great to get attention to them. But on the other hand, surely any comparison that follows multiple series about the ultra-whacky Scientologists is going to leave them looking pretty tame and it will be a talking point that the WTS can use - I can picture the practice sessions in the service meeting: "hi, you may have seen that terrible programme that had lies about us ... we're here to tell you the truth about Jehovahs Witnesses!"
I feel there may be a risk that some people will over-egg the pudding and try to make them seem worse than they are as a religion. Are Jehovah's Witnesses "Scientology + 8 million members"? I don't think so.
I think this is separate to crimes that happen under their watch such as child abuse although to some degree their belief system and structure can help to enable some of those crimes. This applies to the Catholic Church as well - the crimes of child abuse do not factor into their belief system or them being a cult or not.
I'll have to watch and see what they come up with but I think it's going to be a tough sell claiming that JWs are up there with Scientologists. They are closer to Mormons and while there are probably crimes and abuses that happen there too, there's no compelling evidence that the scale of issues are higher per-capita than other groups and that the majority are not nice people that most would be happy to have as neighbours.
To have someone on the panel who has had his own underage (?) sexting scandal is possibly ill advised because it provides an easy means of attack to discredit and undermine anything that's said.
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dubstepped
Having watched the Scientology series there are so many similarities between the two. If someone wants to pick apart the program they will regardless of who is on it. Sadly it will be many with a disdain for Lloyd Evans that are actually ex-JWs that will be the first to take shots simply because he's on it to the exclusion of everyone else that worked on this.
This program will help inoculate the general public and will help those on the edge in the cult to jump off. It will encourage many that have never had a voice to speak up. On the other side some will bury their head in the sand, others will seek to discredit. Few things are all good or all bad.
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Simon
This program will help inoculate the general public
I hear this a lot but I'm not convinced that it's actually true anymore - is there really any evidence of it? People see the internet as an information resource and how can anyone become a JW with so much information about them out there ... right?
But people don't join because the beliefs make sense and they join despite the information because the internet turned out to be a wonderful method of confusing and spreading misinformation and propaganda as much or more so than information. It's now a tool that the WTS uses to reduce costs and extend their reach.
This applies to product reviews, potential employers, smoking and all manner of things. The information being available doesn't always work.
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OnTheWayOut
I greatly appreciate the exposure. Having been a JW, I can say that we believed some ultra-wacky stuff too.
On the lighter side, if this causes any arguments about Lloyd, he will be the first to say in his non-apology that although he said nothing wrong, he is sorry that people are upset because of their own shortcomings. -
dubstepped
As to the inoculation effect I can only say that on my podcast, which has far less reach than Leah's show, I've had people reach out in emails telling me how much they appreciated knowing more about what JWs are really like. This show will just be another outlet, another voice, another time, and will no doubt help inoculate at least some of the public. If this jackass sitting in his basement on a mic can do so, surely she can at a greater level.
People still advertise that they do windows or roofing or whatever. Why bother, since we all know how to find such companies? Because the right message at the right time brings in some customers, not all, but more than you had to start.
People will still become JWs. The goal can't be to prevent everyone everywhere from doing so. But it will help some people, and if that isn't good enough then I might as well shut down my podcast, this site should close down, etc. But all of these things get in front of different people and help someone out there.
If nothing else, I'd you believe that no measurable good comes from it, it doesn't seem to be doing harm unless you feel there will be a backfire effect and people will start flooding Kingdom Halls.
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2+2=5
It can only be good thing. The media in Australia won’t run anything about JWs, we get shit like the “duchess looks stunning in blue” and “Hemsworth removes shirt on beach”. Most actually don’t know anything at all about JWs, or even give a shit. I think that most though would be shocked at the level of fundamentalism and control among the JWs, combine that with the giant child abuse cover ups, the WT will never win the PR battle that’s getting underway.
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cobweb
I think its true that by putting JW's side by side with Scientology, that Watchtower is always going to come off looking better by the comparison. Less nuts, less scary etc. So in that sense, they will come over as underwhelming.
On the other hand, by just making the connection between the two it inplants the idea that the JW are something scary and leverages the negative feelings that the audience have built up about Scientology over the course of the show and links them to JW's. Now, in people's minds, JW's don't go in the same box as harmless Christian religions, they belong in the box marked DANGER! LEAVE WELL ALONE. That is innoculation in my book.
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Simon
Having been a JW, I can say that we believed some ultra-wacky stuff too.
Yeah, but no worse or wackier than any other religion - it's still basically Christianity complete with super-humans, talking animals, unbelievable miracles and so on.
It's all crazy but JWs are closer to traditional Christianity than Scientology - at the extreme of the bat-shit scale.
People still advertise that they do windows or roofing or whatever. Why bother, since we all know how to find such companies? Because the right message at the right time brings in some customers, not all, but more than you had to start.
Yes, but that works both ways - the information provided about JWs is mostly meaningless to someone who isn't interested in them (but may be at another time) but is very useful to those actively looking for it - I think the predominant consumers of ex-JW information are people leaving the WTS, not those interested in joining it (although that's harder to measure because they tend not to join the community).
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Finkelstein
Any open honest investigation of the JW cult is good for the general public to see and hear.
Might even make a few on the fence JWS to make a step out the door