What is it that makes a religious person within a serious religion eg Catholic or Lutheran different to a religious person in a cult such as the JWs?
How is it that a religious Catholic or Lutheran doesn't become abnormal emotionally whereas a JW does suffer serious imbalances and consequences?
Perhaps ex JWs that joined a mainstream religion and experienced both worlds can better tell the difference.
One point I wish to make is that the Catholic relies on the mysteries of the Church to a great extent for salvation whereas the JW has the entire burden of his salvation squarely on his own shoulders.
Religious persons in cults and mainstream.
by greendawn 5 Replies latest jw experiences
-
greendawn
-
funes
I believe that all religions cause people to suffer even more additional imbalances and consequences, after all life does plenty to keep us unbalanced.... Not because of the religion per se, but because of the infrastructure that each group builds to support their customs and traditions.
It is a human trait to build customs and traditions, we'll try to exclude others and include some, my main problem with most religions is that instead of acknowledging that they're a human construct many religions put the weight of a god behind these structures. After all, it's one thing to argue with another human or humans - quite another thing to argue with god.
After leaving the JWs I attended several different denominations and began to see that a major role played by each of these churches was the identification of self within a specific culture. The same patterns were there as in JWs, it was just that the organization (including the members) were choosing to enter a culture that was more widely accepted than JWs.
In the JWs I believe that a significatnt number of their members truly long to know that one piece of truth that separates them from others. This truth is the kernel that is held to, the kernel that helps them establish their identity in the outside world.
-
Narkissos
Good points.
After I left JWs I attended an Evangelical Church (ultra-minoritary in France), then a more mainstream (still minoritary) Protestant Reformed Church.
The more minoritary the religion, the more "sectarian" symptoms appear.
Subculture vs. culture.
Being a Moslem in a Christian or post-Christian country is quite different from being a Moslem in a Moslem country. What is just taken for granted here becomes an issue of faith, personal choice and communal identity there. It changes everything.
-
greendawn
It looks as though all religions are Babylon the Great especially the JWs who accuse everyone else as being babylon whereas they are right in the middle of it.
There is some kind of subtle poisoning of the spirit operating in all of them. They give spiritual goods but for a hefty price. -
LongHairGal
Greendawn:
You have a point there. Dubs do have a lot placed on their shoulders! I used to think it was crazy that they would tell us that we would be bloodguilty if we didn't preach, etc. In other words, they are putting the responsibility on US for other people. The thing wrong with this logic is this: who is responsible for me??? -
rebel8
There are official definitions of cults. The dictionary says a group with a common goal or something innocuous like that. Most people mean a controlling group that coerces and harms people psychologically.
www.factnet.org -- a good read if you haven't been there yet.