The reactive mind vs the thoughtful mind...

by RayoFlight2014 16 Replies latest jw friends

  • RayoFlight2014
    RayoFlight2014

    A thought came to me as i was posting on another topic.

    My reactionary mind, responding to watchtower's cruel and hostile treatment of genuine truthseekers who can no longer reconcile with watchtower's narrative was, " may the collapse begin".

    But then my thoughts turned to how that would affect my parents and siblings who are blissfully oblivious with their collective heads in the sand.

    All their hopes and future joy has been postponed for decades awaiting paradise while fighting off the black dog that is depression.

    When it becomes untenable and they have to face reality, what then?

    It brings to mind the saying: " be careful what you wish for".

    My family aren't the only ones who will find it difficult to cope and survive without an illusion to prop up their mental stability.

    So there is an unease going on in my mind; how to bring comfort to those who need that crutch, the prosthetic reality for the mind that religious belief supplies? I cannot fake it so I won't offer them a hope I don't believe in.

    Therefore, when the inevitable occurs, my reactive mind will rejoice at the Watchtower's demise while my thoughtful mind will be running around in a state of panic, picking up the broken pieces of my family's mental health.....if I can't find a remedy or formulate a response plan to suit their individual needs.

    I feel like I need to start preparing them now....but how? I feel inadequate to the task.

    I love these people who are mental captives to the Jehovah's witnesses organisation and it frustrates me to know they will reject and even resent me for saying anything negative about Watchtower.

    RayoFlight2014.

  • stan livedeath
    stan livedeath

    maybe for some trapped in the cult--for whatever reason...will find it a welcome relief.

  • resolute Bandicoot
    resolute Bandicoot

    Dear Rayo, you have well articulated feelings that I have been wrestling with for some time now.

    RB

  • Giordano
    Giordano

    Eric Hoffer wrote in his book....... The True Believer:

    "All active mass movements strive, therefore, to interpose a fact-proof screen between the faithful and the realities of the world. ...by claiming that the ultimate and absolute truth is already embodied in their doctrine and that there is no truth nor certitude outside it. ...To rely on the evidence of senses and of reason is heresy and treason. It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.

    What we know as blind faith is sustained by innumerable unbelief's."

    It is dangerous to believe in illusions. Putting your life in the hands of a Publishing and Real Estate holding corporation keeps the illusion.......... alive and well.

  • RayoFlight2014
    RayoFlight2014

    Hi Stan,

    I agree there will be many who dont really believe strongly that the watchtower is God's channel. Others who, like you said are trapped and looking for an escape. These ones will fare better when the watchtower is fully exposed and begins to have a noticeable decline.

    The folk I'm more concerned about are the ones like my family.... simple folk who's minds are totally captive to the organization, for them it has to be truth.... their mental stability is teetering on a knifes edge while they wait for a promised paradise so they can finally live the "real" life.....they are banking their whole lives on a cruel promise of absolution that will never come.

    For example how does one help a man-child who lacks the capacity to grasp or comprehend an alternative reality?

    They are deep in their delusion, and that delusion has been their comfort in times of emotional distress.

    They are about to be blind-sided and I feel the need to gently prepare them for impact. " brace yourselves, this is going to hurt"

    RayoFlight2014.

  • sir82
    sir82

    The WTS has no monopoly on providing a "crutch" for those who need one.

    If the WTs were to collapse in a flaming fireball, after the initial shock wore off, most JWs would glom onto [some other religion].

    Those who crave strictness and rigidity would pick some other high-control group - there;s plenty to choose from. Those who were in it more for the social aspects would join up with the Unitarians or the Methodists or whatnot.

    I wouldn't worry too much about how JWs would react to the demise of the WTS - they'd get over it pretty quickly.

  • RayoFlight2014
    RayoFlight2014

    Hi resolute Bandicoot,

    I see we share the same dilemma.

    Maybe with help from our friends here we will find some words of wisdom to resolve this conundrum.

    I would dearly love to provide an acceptable and truthful alternative outlook for any who need the type of assurance that false hope and false promise usually gives.

    Unfortunately the answers don't come easy when we have integrity to truth.

    RayoFlight2014.

  • RayoFlight2014
    RayoFlight2014

    Hi Giordano,

    I remember you mentioned "The true believer" in another post.

    I'll have to read that book.

    Thanks for the reminder.

    What you said about perpetuating an illusion is so true...you and I can understand the concept... but attempting to articulate that to a person who doesn't entertain doubts that watchtower is anything but God's organisation, is bound to fail.

    RayoFlight2014.

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    I am in a similar situation and have long since given up in trying to reach them with logic. The mental hoops they jump through astound me. Orwell’s Doublethink has nothing on them.

    So, if the Org. Were bankrupted by Court cases, would it change their faith in the concept of Last Days, Armageddon and a New World?

    I am sure it would not

  • RayoFlight2014
    RayoFlight2014

    Hi sir82,

    Thank you for your input, but knowing my family, its Jehovah's witnesses, or bust. There will be no alternative religion for them.

    I know once I couldn't reconcile with watchtower/ jw's I was repulsed by religion and they will be the same.

    We, as a family weren't in it for the social aspect, we fully believed that Jehovah's organization was the only vehicle to our salvation, our tears would be wiped away and we would be reunited with our loved ones living in gods New Order.

    This will be huge for them and others like them who are genuinely lovely deluded people and I can't help but worry for them.

    RayoFlight2014.

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