AuldSoul, I'm not saying the Internet will have no effect, I'm simply saying its effect will be limited. Yes, it's much more convenient and so much more accessible, but the my point is that generally JWs are not affected by information that conflicts with their beliefs.
I suggest you read some of research on cognitive dissonance; it's helps explain why most JWs can easily reject convincing "apostate" information. Witnesses come across information that conflicts with their beliefs everyday, but they don't lose their faith over it, they simply filter it out.
However, when a person is ready, that information has a huge impact. Very often, this is when a person already has some doubts or disagreement with the truth, which allows to consider information that would otherwise be rejected.
I think the Internet will and already does significantly help those who have doubts to discover a lot of information quickly, which will undoubtedly speed up the process of leaving. However, most JWs aren't open to information that conflicts with their beliefs, regardless of how easily accessible it is.
Konrad West
JoinedPosts by Konrad West
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42
What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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Konrad West
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42
What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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Konrad West
The Internet will have very little effect on the WTS, since the availability of information never was a significant factor to their success in the first place. JWs have never been physically restricted from information; they have always been able to walk into a public library or a bookshop and find countless books that show in different ways why JWs don't have the truth.
Cults can work by physically restricting access to information, but it's not very effective. A much more effective way to control people is to <b>remove the desire to access the information</b> in the first place.
JWs are conditioned through the indoctrination of meetings, personal study and especially witnessing to others to filter out anything that conflicts with their beliefs. Cognitive dissonance removes almost any possibility of being affected by conflicting information.
I think that as long as they are able to keep up the indoctrination and social isolation, they will stick around, no matter what happens to their actual teachings. -
66
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
"In the end, I was ready to loose my family so that I could be free and not die inside."
Yeah, same thing with me. I couldn't hold it in anymore, even if it meant not seeing my family. But at the same time, I didn't really think they would shun me, as I always loved my family more than Jehovah and thought they did too, so when they did shun, it hurt so much more. -
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Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
Lol no! But I do have to remind myself that getting physical doesn't require a deep emotional commitment first. As I was talking with my flatmate I also realised I do have a lot of internalised anger/sadness about it the deceit too.
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66
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
Certainly there are healthy and unhealthy parenting methods, but my focus is more on the doctrinal aspect and its effect. I'm sure that some JW parents are very excellent parents, but the doctrinal requirements mean that their children are still affected.
Parents who use doctrine as an excuse for their behaviour would probably damage their children if they were Catholic, Anglican, whatever.
I'm not saying that JWs is the most damaging, I know there were a few kids who were evangelicals who had it stricter, but I think from posters' comments it's pretty clear that it's not good for kids.
I think for me it stopped me from developing proper close relationships with others, as the instant friendship relieves the need to work very hard at getting close to people. I'm also finding that it makes dating weird, as you're taught to go straight into serious relationship (the road to marriage), so keeping things casual at first is a little tricky.
How did it affect you? -
66
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
Wow thanks for the great responses guys. I really think that if your parent(s) where very literal in following the WT then it is more abusive, and that outsiders with a sympathetic view tend to have only met JWs who were pretty liberal, and hence "dodgy" in the eyes of the literal followers. I remember being so jealous of the freedom that the young ones with "dodgy" parents had, yet also being scared of associating too much with them for fear than their reputation would spread to me. Pity there isn't more research being done into the psychological effects of a JW childhood.
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66
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
There's some good stuff there at freeminds, but I was hoping for some personal experiences rather than WT quotes.
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66
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West ini had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with jws and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a jw is psychologically abusive.
being indoctrinated with the concept of jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
any thoughts?
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Konrad West
I had a long discussion the other day with my new flatmate, who it turns out has studied with JWs and thinks they're wonderful, about my view that being raised a JW is psychologically abusive. Being indoctrinated with the concept of Jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child. Any thoughts?
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7
Using privacy laws to get your DF records
by Konrad West ini was wondering if anyone has used their country's privacy laws to obtain copies of their disfellowshipping, and publisher records from the wt society (and perhaps get them destroyed too.
the records, not the wts!).
i'm in australia, and the law says (according to my research), that they do need to provide you with a copy upon request.
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Konrad West
Well, from my reading of the Privacy Act and the info from the Privacy Commissioner, organisations have to destroy records they no longer need. They have information about me that is no longer necessary for them to have (such as the minutes of my earlier JC meetings), and since they are an evil cult ;) I don't want them to have it.
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Using privacy laws to get your DF records
by Konrad West ini was wondering if anyone has used their country's privacy laws to obtain copies of their disfellowshipping, and publisher records from the wt society (and perhaps get them destroyed too.
the records, not the wts!).
i'm in australia, and the law says (according to my research), that they do need to provide you with a copy upon request.
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Konrad West
I was wondering if anyone has used their country's privacy laws to obtain copies of their disfellowshipping, and publisher records from the WT Society (and perhaps get them destroyed too. The records, not the WTS!).
I'm in Australia, and the law says (according to my research), that they do need to provide you with a copy upon request. I've adapted a template from the CIA FoI site to read:Dear Sir or Madam:
Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and National Privacy Principles 5 and 6, please furnish me with copies of all records about me.
To help identify information about me in your record systems, I am providing the following information:
Full name: XX
Date of birth: XX
Congregation: XX
If you deny all or any part of this request, as per National Privacy Principle 6.7, please cite each specific exemption that forms the basis of your refusal to release the information.
If you have any questions about handling this request, you may telephone me on XXXX.
Any suggestions/experiences?
PS: Why no preview function for posts?