One of the signs of a cult is control over what members wear. "Uniforms" encourage a feeling of belonging and makes people stand apart from those not in the cult. It also makes outsiders painfully obvious when they come in. I think it also has a sort of Pavlovian response in the member, "I'm in my meeting clothes now, time to make a good example to all the nations!" I've heard stories about how actors can't really get into their parts until they put on their costume... they can then BECOME the person they're supposed to be. I think it can be similar.
dynamiterose77
JoinedPosts by dynamiterose77
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"Put on the JW uniform - and take off Humanity"
by stuckinarut2 inwe all know about the variation in the "cult persona vs the "real persona" of those in high control groups such as jws.. it struck me this becomes even more pronounced and apparent when jws actually put on their physical meeting or service attire, or are engaged in jw activities.
they become more robotic as their responses and actions - yes their opinions and discussions- are stripped of humanity and thought, and they become turned into some sort of regurgitating jw orator.. when they literally put on a suit or tie, the level of judgement, arrogance and black and white thinking takes on a whole new level.
take that clothing off, and put them in casual attire to attend some sort of enjoyable activity (eg sports watching or the like) and they become far more relaxed, and "normal".. i have noticed this particularly with my father.
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Do you remember when you realised it was all bulls£&t
by moley ini remember when my faith left me.
i used to enjoy meetings and used to participate but then all of a sudden i was finding myself bored shitless at meetings.
i was taken off the theocratic ministry school for not attending when i was due to give a talk and not long after did something naughty and got disfellowshiped.
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dynamiterose77
I was doing research for a paper when I was in college. I had already been feeling weird about it all for various reasons (I HAD to go to college, no option, got shunned. I had been basically brushed aside my entire life because my dad wasn't in. I had creeping weirdness because of the whole "you can't get married if you die before the end" thing, and all the girls losing their minds to land a brother... I had been laughed at for answering as a child that Macbeth was inappropriate because of witches -yeah, silly, but I was in grade school and humiliated in public for something they taught me was bad, witches and the occult in entertainment... etc etc.) So, for my final I decided to write a paper about frauds and how to educate people against them. I picked up "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural" by James Randi at the library, and the floor fell out from under me when I was flipping through and found out about pyramids:
Jehovah's Witnesses
Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) founded the religious sect now known as the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1872. While at that time there was much support for a theory by one Nelson H. Barbour that called for the end of the world to occur in 1874, Russell didn't come to accept that chronology until Barbour convinced him — after the dreaded date had already come and gone — that Jesus had actually returned — invisibly — at the named date. Barbour was the one who had made the false prediction, and he tried to justify it with a “spiritual” fulfillment.
One of Russell's strange preoccupations was inventing correlations between historical events and the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza. In common with Flinders Petrie and many other fans of Great Pyramid lore, Russell “discovered” hundreds of seeming links that he said showed the divine nature of the Pyramid as a history book and prophetic document which could only be properly understood by an adept.
His analysis, published in 1891, called for the resurrection of all mankind and the end of the world — again — to take place in 1914. Though there were some defections from the Jehovah's Witnesses sect when 1914 arrived and passed, the religion has survived and now prefers not to discuss their founder's odd Pyramid notions. Their most recent calculation called for the world to end in 1975.
As the millennium approached, the Witnesses were busily knocking on doors, trying to convince prospective converts that world conditions were getting worse and that obviously the End Time was approaching.
Again.Shortly after reading that a girl I knew as a small child on up, was impregnated by an MS. She was 15, she was punished. He was not. Then her friend, an elder's granddaughter, also got pregnant... she was congratulated. And I was done.
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Why is Jesus Depicted as the Warrior at Armageddon on just a Horse with a Bow and Arrow ?
by RubaDub ini never understood this.
the wt depicts jesus, the all powerful one to destroy evil, being depicted as using a bow and arrow from a horse.
that seems like something from medieval times.. in todays world of nuclear bombs, precision laser directed bombs and advanced military technology, does a bow and arrow really put a fear into anyone?.
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dynamiterose77
I had to giggle at these finds
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Journals or diaries..
by zeb ini have been keeping a journal for a long time.
anyone else do this?.
i have found that a diary helps to clear the mind of the events bad and good of the day in prep for sleeping..
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dynamiterose77
@Steve2 it was when I was a teen. My mom searched my room I guess. I didn't realize she would do that when SHE GAVE ME THE DIARY as a present. I had it hidden under my bed. When she started bringing up the things I wrote about, including crushes on boys... I threw it away. I started to again with an abusive ex... didn't go well there either. I developed a trust issue and then was just out of the habit. I saw that my daughter started a diary, saw her writing in it one night. I quietly just left the room. It's her private thoughts, I'll leave her to them.
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My fade. Phase 2.
by Beth Sarim inabout to move from ''irregular'' status to ''inactive''.. after 6 months of not handing a field service report since the end of june, i will be recognized as ''inactive''.
there could be 'questions' coming my way.. after having read ''crisis of conscience'' last spring, i could no longer ''actively'' preach or believe the wbts conscientiously.
i could no longer fake hours by putting the 'slip' in the field service box.
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dynamiterose77
Thank you, I finally managed to find Apocalypse Delayed for $18. Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich is only popping up as $80-90+ ... I'll track it down eventually.
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Journals or diaries..
by zeb ini have been keeping a journal for a long time.
anyone else do this?.
i have found that a diary helps to clear the mind of the events bad and good of the day in prep for sleeping..
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dynamiterose77
I need to get back to it. It is a very good way to process information privately. I haven't done it in a long time because people kept reading them behind my back.
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My fade. Phase 2.
by Beth Sarim inabout to move from ''irregular'' status to ''inactive''.. after 6 months of not handing a field service report since the end of june, i will be recognized as ''inactive''.
there could be 'questions' coming my way.. after having read ''crisis of conscience'' last spring, i could no longer ''actively'' preach or believe the wbts conscientiously.
i could no longer fake hours by putting the 'slip' in the field service box.
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dynamiterose77
I'm curious about the James Penton books listed, could you point me in the direction of where you got them? Or did you find them at a library? I am only finding them as expensive out of print copies online, but I'd like to read them. -
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kingdom halls
by pepperheart indo you think the watchtower will sell off any more kingdom hall after the 3,000 have been sold of and why do you think that.
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dynamiterose77
Just saw this article and thought it related to this topic rather well. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/what-should-america-do-its-empty-church-buildings/576592/
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The paranormal.
by Lost in the fog ini know that a lot of the people on here have turned their backs on the idea of a deity deciding that god does not exist.
but what about the unseen spirit world generally such as poltergeists, jinns, voodoo, etc.
if you have become agnostic, atheist, or just don't care since leaving, do you think that there are spirits out there or have you decided that is also hokum?
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dynamiterose77
I've looked into the police using psychics. When they have been used, it is usually an officer acting on their own volition. The departments themselves don't endorse it because it encourages loonies to call in with "tips" that they are obligated to look into, often spending much needed resources on dead ends. Also, psychic testimony is inadmissible in court and even if a department only follows it as a lead and finds something, it can be used against them. "well, how do you know the "psychic" isn't in on the crime and knew the info regardless?" etc.
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The paranormal.
by Lost in the fog ini know that a lot of the people on here have turned their backs on the idea of a deity deciding that god does not exist.
but what about the unseen spirit world generally such as poltergeists, jinns, voodoo, etc.
if you have become agnostic, atheist, or just don't care since leaving, do you think that there are spirits out there or have you decided that is also hokum?
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dynamiterose77
John Edward is not a Psychic. He does a parlor trick that has been around for decades called cold reading. He doesn't 'see' anything that his audience doesn't respond to. He asks “I feel like there’s a J- or G-sounding name attached to this.” and waits for anyone to say "OH that could be George." and Edward says "Yes, that's it!" He didn't see anything, an audience member gave him a target. He then proceeds to look at the person, and makes general assumptions based on the law of averages regarding their age, etc. He will never say anything direct like "There is a man named George that left behind his wife, Mary and his son Phil... he says look in the back of the desk drawer for the keys." It's all based on generalities that people who are bereaved and hopeful can read into... after paying him several hundred dollars. (according to his site, a private reading is $850, he also does workshops at around $700 and goes on tours where tickets can be hundreds of dollars. He's no different from televangelists begging for money.)