Are there any ex-Jehovah Witnesses in the AB population

[DTCwordfan]

If so, would you be prepared to share some of your experiences of being a member of this august body, and your views now to its operations, brainwashing and propaganda?

If you really do not want to reveal who you are as to your day-to-day "life" on AB, would you consider using a secondary account to relate something.

It would be much appreciated, I suspect, by members of mainstream religious disciplines, aetheists and agnostics.

[Craftypig]

Operations, brainwashing and propaganda........All accusations that could be levelled at virtually every religious organisation.

[DTCwordfan]

yes, possibly, craftypig, perhaps I should have worded it with "intense"......

[Craftypig]

Were you ever a JW DT?

[DTCwordfan]

Lol - definitely not - though there are probably some very apt words using JW that could be used for me....

[beso]

I know I have read stories by ex JWs on http://www.ebonmusings.org but I can't find them now.

There are links to essys by people who have escaped the clutches of the some churches on this page and I would expect some were JWs.
http://www.ebonmusing...ndex.html#guestessays

[jomifl]

It must be remembered that JWs are pretty rare creatures as the conditions required to create one are rather special:
1. Intelligence in the lower 1 percentile of the population
2. Must have met at a JW on enough occasions for what they say to (a). be remembered and (b). believed.
3. Must be extremely naive.
4. Must be poorly educated.
5. must have little contact with normal people

This is why they run in families as it requires both nature and nurture and isolation to produce one that lasts.

[fliptheswitch]

I don't get what you're looking for, DT.

I don't think you'll get much 'dirt', if that's what you want.

My husband (ex) was brought up as a JW, and stayed with the religion for 38 years. My MIL is a JW, and will be for the rest of her days.
I could tell you loads of "stuff", but nothing of real interest, or nothing that is hugely different from many other religions.

They are all about control... all of them.

[DTCwordfan]

Its not the dirt I am after, flip, though I bet they have their fair share. It is this control aspect and how it is initiated, processed and fed through on to keep Witnesses "subdued" - I'm interested in that.

[237SJ]

I think Jomifl`s supposition is rather unfair (regardless of what you think of JWs). My best friend`s mother became a Witness when she was in a very sorry state. Their older (6.5 year old) daughter had been run over by a car and killed. The JWs must have come calling when she was at her lowest and very vulnerable. She`s stayed with the religion ever since and probably completely brainwashed now.

[DTCwordfan]

I think that there is a lot of truth to what you have written, SJ, there does seem to be commnality about targeting folk at a low ebb in their lives.

[DTCwordfan]

commonality.....spelling indeed!

[tamborine]

90y aunt is a JW. She has weekly bible reading at her home & am told not to visit then. She saves me a fortune on birthday & xmas pressies :)

[237SJ]

Well DT I think all of these cults target people with certain tacticts. Isolation being the main one. You`ve only got to look at Stockholm Syndrome to see that. There have been plenty of educated, intelligent people who have fallen foul of cults over the years.

[DTCwordfan]

Do you know how she was inducted, tambo, or any of the "holding" processes?

[missprim]

Dt Is this the religion that doesn't believe in blood transfusions or is that a different religion?

[fliptheswitch]

I definitely think it's a brainwashing cult, DT.. but then I think that about a lot of religions.
I must say, the majority of JW's I have met, have all appeared to be slightly unhinged. Some more than others!

I'm sure I remember AnswerPrancer having some kind of personal experience of JW's. I might have just made that up, but I'm sure he said something like that, on a past thread.

[jomifl]

237SJ, I did not intend to cause offence to anyone that had been taken advantage of by the JWs whilst at a low ebb. Though tongue in cheek, there is an element of truth in my post. The JWs that I have discussed religion with have invariably been ill informed, simple minded and susceptible to confusion, hence easily controlled.

[Graham-W]

My sister in law is an ex-JW. 20yrs ago her son needed a liver transplant and she wouldn't sign the papers as the need for a blood transfusion would have "condemned him to eternal damnation".
Her then husband (non-JW) signed the papers and the transplant went ahead sucessfully.
She left her husband because of this, and because she took up with another man, the JWs expelled her.
She is now married to the other man and the JWs would welcome her back but she has not yet returned to the fold.
Very strange religion that cuts you off in your hour of need!

[tommy-h]

jomifl-had visits in the past,not since invited them in for tea and religious debate,stuck in la la land,not opoen to discussioin.

[DTCwordfan]

Good grief - almost damned if you do and damned if you don't, Graham.

I have heard of The Stockholm syndrome but never really researched it - I understand that it is possible to "reduce" highly intelligent people to semi-zombies intellectualy (excuse the expression) such as you have seen, jomifl and perhaps also manifested on R&S when someone comes up against powerful, rational argument and is reduced to making weak one liners/ feeble insults