I think people that are raised in the religion are not necessarily weak. I think people that become JWs later on in life GENERALLY are in a vulnerable state.
"Weak People Become Jehovah's Witnesses"
by minimus 83 Replies latest jw friends
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Globetrotter
Minimus, I recently made such a statement in the book review thread. The reviewer was trying to refute the notion that JWs are victims of mind control by basically saying "Whoa, don't I wish! I wouldn't have to think". I think that demonstrates weakness, but I did not meant to stereotype JWs.
I, like you, (hey- if I removed the first comma, it would read "I like you," hmmmm....does that change the meaning?) (sorry. it just popped into my mind)...anyway, I, like you, believe more along these lines..
I think people that are raised in the religion are not necessarily weak. I think people that become JWs later on in life GENERALLY are in a vulnerable state.
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plmkrzy
of course not. Sheesh it isn't like JWs have cornered the market on religion or started it either. Religion has been around as long as people have so I guess that would make all people since ancient times have always been week.
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NoBorg
And fat people, and thin people, and dumb people, and smart people, rich, poor, smelly, clean...... etc.
Give me some demographic figures first.
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nilfun
I feel that to be a foolish generalization.
I'd have to agree with James T there.
I can tell you why I think my mother became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
She wanted to the chance to meet Larry Graham at Dodger's Stadium.
Okay, that's not really why.
The people that 'studied' with her showed her extraordinary
kindness and love. She was at a point in her life where she
was extremely vulnerable to their 'attentions'. They swept her
off her feet!The love-bombing made her feel as though she were being
embraced by the family she never had.With JWs, she finally had what she'd been searching for all her
life: to be accepted and loved. There were other reasons, but
those were the main ones, I think.(While she never did get to shake Bro. Graham's hand, she was
able to catch a glimpse of him at a District Convention, as he
hurried away from a throng of witnesses a la "A Hard Day's Night") -
SM62
I think people that come into the borg (as opposed to those raised in) are either weak or unwell emotionally
I think people that become JWs later on in life GENERALLY are in a vulnerable state.
Both these statements are too generalised and are certainly not true of many people I know who became JWs later in life. If that was your personal experience, and you went through a period where you were too weak to think for yourself, so be it, but you shouldn't assume that others felt the same way. I wasn't any more vulnerable when I became a JW than I was at any other point in my life. And, as Scooby pointed out, it takes a lot of strength to keep going as a JW. When I think of all the pulls on my time, finances and emotions, I was very very strong to keep going. To carry on, trying to be different from everyone else, remembering to pre-study for this and that, arranging your time to go out on service even though you have a full time job, 5 kids, a sick and elderly mother to care for, a useless lump of a husband, plus you are studying at college in the evenings etc etc- you have got to be pretty damn strong to do all that (a friend of mine who is a JW does all of that and more!). And the amount of time spent at meetings each week - if JWs were that weak, they would all be in padded cells by now. Most people would not be able to do what my friend does WITHOUT the added responsibility of meetings, Bible study and service - so how on earth can she be weak? She became a JW late in life at the age of 24. Many people become JWs because the message appeals to them - they actually believe they can be happier and look forward to a world without pain or suffering. They want to see their dead loved ones again, and they have a longing to serve God and for some this is the best way. They also enjoy looking into the Bible to try to find answers, perhaps for the first time in their lives. At least those were some of the reasons I came in. And remember, many of us already belonged to another religion when we became JWs and to break away from that was very hard - I felt guilty for years because I felt I had betrayed my Catholic roots. It wasn't a decision I made because I felt 'weak' or 'vulneable'.
Having said that, It also takes a lot of strength to STOP going to the KH and break away - you know you will eventually become an outcast and you lose many of your friends - even your own family can turn against you. To realise that all your hopes were built on a lie is a so depressing that I can't find words to describe it.
Terri
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scrubmaster
NO NO NO NO !!!! that is not the case ----- Everyone I have every meant looks up to and considers me a leader -- because I can make decisions -- so no I am not a weak person......thanks
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Guest 77
How about trusting and naive? Great religion for people who are domineering!
Guest 77
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DanTheMan
I think people who convert to JW's are credulous, which is another way of saying weak minded.
There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts and cold logic. There is no hope for the frustrated in the actual and the possible. Salvation can come to them only from the miraculous, which seeps through a crack in the iron wall of inexorable reality. They asked to be deceived. - Eric Hoffer
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little1
In giving a lot of thought to why my jw ex-boyfriend is the way he is, I have come to believe that he wasn't raised to trust himself to make a good decision. His parent's love was very conditional ("Don't come home if you don't cut your hair, if you don't go to college, if you don't do as we say...") and also very arbitrary. His father once told him to get rid of a car he had bought with his own money when he was 17. No reason, just get rid of it, no argument. So I think he doesn't trust himself. We spent 3 years trying to pick a color for him to paint his living room! He was so afraid of making a wrong choice. Now I think he'd have been a lot more comfortable if the GB would issue a statement telling everyone what color a good jws living room should be, and they'd come around with a paint chip and disfellowship you if you were a shade off! The man is turning 57 in Feb, so I think there's not much hope that he will change.
Some people are afraid to think for themselves, but that doesn't make them weak, really, just afraid.