As I was sifting through the usual junk mail that finds it's way into my mail box every day, I noticed a pamplet entitled " The End of False Religion is Near ".
I usually trash most of my junk mail, you know the usuall credit card offers, shoppers guides and coupons for products that you'll never use in your lifetime. However this pamplet stirred my curiousity, so curious me just had to check it out.
On the first page of the pamplet, I noticed that the author / authors attempted to define false relegion. Below are the definitions according to the author /authors.
1: Meddles in war and politics.
2: Spreads false doctrine.
3: Tolerates immoral sex.
On page two, the author / authors describe how false religion will end. Everything from a harlot sitting on the back of a fearsome seven headed, ten horned beast , to the destruction of false religion.
On the third page of the pamplet, the author/ authors describe how to identify " True Religion " .
1: Practices true love.
2: Trusts God's word.
3: Strengthens families and up holds high moral standards.
Wow, this is great ! A religion that actually promotes these basic human values ? Awesome ! I'm joining that Church today !
Then I read the fine print at the bottom of the last page.
" The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania "
My heart dropped into my stomach. I've been there, done that. I couldn't believe that I didn't recognize that propaganda from the start.
I studied the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses from 1979 to 1996, and I was babtised in 1997. I resigned from that organization in 2001.
During those years, I heard numerous predections of the end of this " System of Things ". One prediction was 1980. Ok, we are now living in 2006.
If you are a baptised member of Jehovah's Witnessses, the Elders of the congregation are there to encourage you, help you, or maybe even put pressure on you ?
If you miss a couple of meetings or a few hours of door to door service, the helpful and encouraging Elders will be knocking on "your " door.
One Elder asked me this question : ( I didn't answer my door, he caught me outside while I was mowing my lawn )
" How do you think Jehovah feels about you missing meetings and door to door service ? "
I replied :
" Well I guess that is between Jehovah and myself "
Of course my reply shut him down.
In fact, one of the Elders actually asked me to sell my two door Pontiac Trans Am and buy a four door car so that I could haul the other " Brothers and Sisters" around in the " Feild Service "
Another Elder told me that there would be a monument in the " New System of Things " listing the hours of field ( door to door ) service of the Witnesses who make it into the " New System of Things ".
After all of this bullcrap, I decided to get the heck out of Dodge.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have been defined as a " Cult ". In most cases, a Cult will not let you leave without some sort of resistance or show of force. All it took on my part was a letter to the Elders stating that I had resigned, and if any of the Witnesses ever approached me in the future, I would retain Legal Counsel and charge them with " Harrasment ". That did the trick. I haven't seen hide nor hair from them since.
It seems that the pamplets in the mailbox is a new and deceptive tactic, with a deceiving message on the front page. These people just don't give up. I'm pretty sure that the Witness who placed that pamplet in my mail box will be on that monument in the " New System of Things " , or perhaps he or she is being persued by the U.S. Postal Service !
Though the Jehovah's Witnesses are far from being a cult, they sure put a heck of a lot of pressure on their members.
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Comments: 36
Mind Control - The BITE Model
From chapter two of Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves
© 2000 by Steven Hassan - published by Freedom of Mind Press, Somerville MA
Destructive mind control can be understood in terms of four basic components, which form the acronym BITE:
I. Behavior Control
II. Information Control
III. Thought Control
IV. Emotional Control
I. Behavior Control
1. Regulation of individual's physical reality
a. Where, how and with whom the member lives and associates with
b. What clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears
c. What food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects
d. How much sleep the person is able to have
e. Financial dependence
f. Little or no time spent on leisure, entertainment, vacations
2. Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group rituals
3. Need to ask permission for major decisions
4. Need to report thoughts, feelings and activities to superiors
5. Rewards and punishments (behavior modification techniques- positive and negative).
5. Individualism discouraged; group think prevails
6. Rigid rules and regulations
7. Need for obedience and dependency
II. Information Control
1. Use of deception
a. Deliberately holding back information
b. Distorting information to make it acceptable
c. Outright lying
2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
a. Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
b. Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members so busy they don't have time to think
3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Information is not freely accessible
b. Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
c. Leadership decides who "needs to know" what
4. Spying on other members is encouraged
a. Pairing up with "buddy" system to monitor and control
b. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership
5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.
b. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
a. Information about "sins" used to abolish identity boundaries
b. Past "sins" used to manipulate and control; no forgiveness or absolution
III. Thought Control
1. Need to internalize the group's doctrine as "Truth"
a. Map = Reality
b. Black and White thinking
c. Good vs. evil
d. Us vs. them (inside vs. outside)
2. Adopt "loaded" language (characterized by "thought-terminating clichés"). Words are the tools we use to think with. These "special" words constrict rather than expand understanding. They function to reduce complexities of experience into trite, platitudinous "buzz words".
3. Only "good" and "proper" thoughts are encouraged.
4. Thought-stopping techniques (to shut down "reality testing" by stopping "negative" thoughts and allowing only "good" thoughts); rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism.
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
b. Chanting
c. Meditating
d. Praying
e. Speaking in "tongues"
f. Singing or humming
5. No critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as legitimate
6. No alternative belief systems viewed as legitimate, good, or useful
IV. Emotional Control
1. Manipulate and narrow the range of a person's feelings.
2. Make the person feel like if there are ever any problems it is always their fault, never the leader's or the group's.
3. Excessive use of guilt
a. Identity guilt
1. Who you are (not living up to your potential)
2. Your family
3. Your past
4. Your affiliations
5. Your thoughts, feelings, actions
b. Social guilt
c. Historical guilt
4. Excessive use of fear
a. Fear of thinking independently
b. Fear of the "outside" world
c. Fear of enemies
d. Fear of losing one's "salvation"
e. Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by group
f. Fear of disapproval
5. Extremes of emotional highs and lows.
6. Ritual and often public confession of "sins".
7. Phobia indoctrination : programming of irrational fears of ever leaving the group or even questioning the leader's authority. The person under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group.
a. No happiness or fulfillment "outside"of the group
b. Terrible consequences will take place if you leave: "hell"; "demon possession"; "incurable diseases"; "accidents"; "suicide"; "insanity"; "10,000 reincarnations"; etc.
c. Shunning of leave takers. Fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family.
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave. From the group's perspective, people who leave are: "weak"; "undisciplined"; "unspiritual"; "worldly"; "brainwashed by family, counselors"; seduced by money, sex, rock and roll.
I guess they have resorted to the mailing campaign.
About the Mormons ? They are all over the place. I had two of them standing at the front door of my store preaching to my customers. When I asked them to leave, they asked me " So are you telling us that we can't tell people about Jesus? " I replied " No, I'm telling you that you can't do it here because my customers are complaining ". I had to call the police to get them to leave. I guess that I was infringing on their " freedom of relegion ".
Interesting points indeed. It's good to read a comment from a former witness. I had no idea that you were a former member.
BTW, I've experienced all of those control methods that you mentioned. I really didn't think they were a cult because I left on my own with no show of force from them. So yes, after reading your information, they are a cult indeed.
The Mormons dress in black suits, and they wear white shirts with black clip over the pocket name tags. The Jehovah's witnesses wear different colored suits, and men as well as women go door to door, or at least they did when I was a member.
Sandy ,
Your account is the only time that I've heard of the Mormon women going door to door, but by no means do I doubt your word. I've just never seen that before.
Lambs Roar
Silent Lambs
And the largest online community of EXJWs can be found here..I used to moderate there, but it takes a huge emotional toll after a while.
The Jehovahs Witness Discussion Forum Tell em Valis sent ya...
I got up and slowly made my way to the door. I opened the inside door, and the nicely dressed young man in the front of the group, who had already opened the screen door, announced, "Hi, ma'am, we're from the Jehovah's Witnesses!"
At exactly that moment, Suzi, my nine foot boa, who ran loose in the house and who liked to go answer the door with me, stuck her head through my hair and hung it over my shoulder. My hair was quite long at that time, almost knee length, and she had a habit of climbing up the back of my leg and through my hair, dropping her head over my shoulder as if to say, "Hi!" I wasn't really awake yet, and didn't think about her doing it because I was accustomed to her doing it.
I have to give the kid credit, he never missed a breath. He finished with, "And we're at the wrong house!"
They went flying off my porch and never knocked on my door again!
I haven't checked out the links that you provided ( I will though ) , however I know about the child abuse cover-ups. On my last account, there were appx 35,000 complaints of child abuse filed at the Watch Tower headquarters in New York. Also, a lot of the people who filed the complaints were disfellowshipped for defaming the name of the congregation.
According to my Dad, one of the Jehovah's Witnesses in my home town is on the " Child Predetors List " or something like that.
I loved your " Boa " story ! ha ha ha . I'm still laughing my ass off !
Perhaps if all of us had Boas , these people would go away !
This is not suprising at all. One thing the JW elders have in the past failed to do is inform the rest of the congregation when someone is brought up on child molestation charges. They would rather keep their reputation clean than protect the kids in the congregation. Just horrid if you ask me.
And they have the nerve to call their organization the " Truth " ?
Travis brought a lot of light into this subject.
As far as my situation stands, I still have a hard time with celebrating Christmas.
The JW'S have a very unique way of scarring one's soul.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not endorsing them. First of all, in order for the guy to get help he had to submit to an investigation by the elders to determine who was at fault in the breakup. Second he had to resist the constant match making without appearing ungrateful. Third he had to appear to practice the religion. He'd lost interest a while before his wife left him but stayed out of inertia.
When my wife met him he drank liquor and, gasp, Pepsi. He was one of my wife's favorites at work because he was cynical and non judgemental.
She heard a knock on her door, so she looked through the peephole to see who was there. When she noticed that they were Jehovah's Witnesses, she stripped completley naked and opened the door in all of her glory. Needless to say, the witnesses jaw's dropped to the ground, and they got the hell out of there, fast !
I'm not sure how many stopped by her place after that, but I've thought about posing as a JW making a " Brotherly visist " . She's a hottie !
These people have broken up many families, and they did a hell of a lot of damage to mine.
Since I left that organization, I've tried to mend the wounds, but it's hard to do after all of those years. The problem is within myself. I was distanced from my relatives who wern't in the organization during those years, and I'm having a hard time being close to them now if that makes any sense.
It's unbelievable what damage these people do.
Watchtower Vs Former member
I checked out the site that you linked. Great info indeed.
These people have changed their teachings many times, and they continue to cover up the changes.
They have predicted " The End of This System of Things " , and then backtracked claiming that the " Holy Spirit " guided them to change their predictions.
To the best of my memory, I think that their last prediction of " The End of This System of Things " was the year 1980. It's now 2006, and we are all still here!
However, I do not believe the way they do. My grandmother received the Watch Tower for years before her death but she never attended a meeting or gave them money. I don't know if she believed any of the stuff they were writing about, but occasionally my dear concerned mother would try to explain the Bible to her and point out the errors that were so apparent. She understand that my Grandmother was elderly and lonely and if those magazines helped comfort her, then so be it.
The question I have is: If only 4400 are all that is going to Heaven, why on earth are they out trying to get more people to join. I think I would be discouraging membership because 4400 is not an awful lot of people and I would want to be one of the chosen.
12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. I don't think it meant that they are the only people that would get into heaven.
The 144,000 are God's chosen people who will rule with Jesus in heaven for 1,000 years, and they aren't just from the generation that was born before 1914. I've met a couple of people who claimed to be of the 144,000. When asked how they knew, they said that the " Holt Spirit " told them.
The 144,000 are to rule with Jesus in heaven, the rest of the people who survive the Great Tribulation and Armageddon, as well as those resurected during the 1,000 year reign of Christ , will live on Earth.
You can't call it a cult because I think I am the only member. When I pass the collection plate, I get to keep it.