Expert: Andrew - 12/23/2006

Question
Thank you for your reply. I tried asking a Jehovah Witness on this site and all I got was paragraphs and paragraphs of doctrine. Now I understand why they do that. when I show my coworker scripture to try to explain how I believe I feel like I'm wasting my time. Its like trying to talk to the wall. I talked to a minister the other day that does prison ministry. She said that the Jehovah Witness also go to the prisons and preach but that even the inmates know they are a cult. My coworker is so legalistic and when something bad happens to her she falls apart.Is there any way I could possibly get through to her that there is a better way? Or at least get her to see she has been brainwashed.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi, Hope you can help me. When my coworker and I (she is a jehovah witness, when I ask her about the 144,00 she never really answers me. My understanding is They believe that 144,000 are going to heaven. The rest have to stay on earth. But in the bible it says all of the 144,000 are jews. She tells me that they are spiritual jews. OK then, I also read somewhere that the jw's believe they are spiritual jews. Is that why they think that scripture is about them? I hope this isn't confusing.
-----Answer-----
Dear Jeannie,

Yes, of course it is confusing. At best, the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are convoluted, and at worst, they are intentionally confusing. One of the tactics that all cults use is to teach doctrines that are hopelessly incomprehensible, with the intention that the rank and file members will throw up their hands and give up trying to understand, and just trust that someone in the leadership really does understand. In this way, members are coerced into following blindly.

This particular doctrine is perhaps not among the more convoluted ones. Yes, they believe that the original prophecy about 12 tribes (12 x 12,000 = 144,000) pointed to the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. But that so-called "spiritual" Israel, or the true Christian church, which title they believe fits only Jehovah's Witnesses today, rightly inherits all the privileges of ancient Israel as God's "chosen people", blah blah etc. ad infinitum...

So if the bible says the 144,000 are jews (does it?), it is a very short bit of mental gymnastics for Witnesses to say they are the true "Jews" of prophecy based on their perceived inheritance through Jesus.

"Spiritual Israel" in Witness teaching as I understand it means the true followers of Jesus starting with the apostles, including all faithful christians throughout the ages who "would have been Witnesses were they alive today", and finally Jehovah's Witnesses themselves. I do not attempt to keep up with or keep track of their teachings, so this may not be the most accurate representation. My area of expertise does not generally require me to participate in doctrinal discussions.

They also believe that the ranks of the 144,000 were filled in the early half of the 20th century, and that most newly-identified people claiming to be among the 144,000 from among their ranks are probably misguided or impostors. And they believe that the future prospect of faithful persons, whether heavenly or earthly was determined chronologically; that is, that if you were a faithful Christian before 1930 or so, you only had a hope of heavenly life as a member of the 144,000; and if you were a faithful Christian after the cutoff date (1930 or whatever), then you only have a hope of earthly life for an eternity in paradise.

So in effect when they say some are going to heaven, they are referring to the past, as those who are going to heaven have already gone in their way of thinking, and the rest of any faithful Christians alive today are extended only one hope: eternal life in a paradise earth. It sounds very appealing actually, and that is the appeal that makes 10 million Witnesses today swallow down their doubts deep into the pit of their gut and keep on jumping through the countless hoops their leadership requires them to jump through.

The mind games are endless. My area of expertise is exposing the mind games that they use to impair freedom of mind and erode family ties; so I am not the most authoritative source for doctrinal information. Yet I hope this may have been helpful somewhat.

Best wishes,
Andrew

Answer
Dear Jeannie,

Now I understand your experience better. It is very clear to me why it feels like you're "talking to a wall" when you try to explain your beliefs to your Witness coworker.

It may seem to you like it could/should be a two-way conversation. But it is not a two-way conversation, and it cannot be. Inside your coworker's mind, when you explain your views and values, she is patting you on the head as a person who knows no better. Witnesses have absolutely no respect for wisdom that comes from outside their organization, and absolutely no respect for the life journey of non-Witness individuals, and absolutely no openness to the idea that others outside their organization may have any valid connection with spirit. She is trained two hours a week on the average week to be tactful and effective at how to proselytize to you; so chances are she knows better than to pat your head visibly; but rest assured she is doing so inside her mind, and merely making allowances for "your ignorance" in her mindset. It is a most condescending attitude that they conceal well. They believe their organization is like Noah's Ark, and the rain is about to begin falling, so to speak, and anyone outside their "ark" is in the dark, and their only hope of survival is to come into the Witness organization. So the conversation absolutely cannot be a two-way street because of her mindset.

It may seem to you like flawless logic or an appeal to her heart could/should get through to her. But this cannot work because her mind, under the influence of cult mind control, works very different from yours, and probably very differently from anyone you have ever known. To the Witnesses, it is not the weight of an argument that matters so much, but rather where it comes from that matters. They use foregone conclusions, that is, assumptions that everything correct comes from a certain source (their organizational headquarters) and everything incorrect comes from all the other sources. So very simplistically, all they need to know is where the idea is coming from in order to decide whether to embrace it or not. They do not weigh ideas on their own merit. So all your coworker needs to know to tune out your ideas is that you are not a Witness, and therefore you know no better. To the extent that they do listen, it is only to see how best to use the tools in their proselytizing toolkit next.

And they are certainly not moved by appeals to their heart or spirit. They have extensive mind games that enable them to callous their hearts and shut down their spirits when they believe they are right, when they believe they are doing what "God" (actually their organizational headquarters) has commanded them to do, so that the most hateful behaviors can be reframed as loving and kind.

They are very practiced at proselytizing. I mentioned two hours a week of training specifically for how to proselytize. That is a typical week, and only part of a 5-hour weekly series. Unlike most churches who convene for only about 90 minutes a week. 90 minutes is not enough to maintain bondage to mind control, so cults require a higher time commitment.

And on their convention weeks, 2 to 3 times a year, they may spend as many as 20 to 30 hours of listening to indoctrination speeches IN ONE WEEK!

Yes, Witnesses are very legalistic, intellectual, dogmatic about spiritual and social matters; which is of course unworkable and misguided. Spirit and intellect are incompatible, yet they only experience "spirit" through intellect. Legalism and social fabric are incompatible, yet all their social expectations are prescribed and expected. Friends are handed to them pre-packaged, so if raised as a Witness, they never learn how to make friends.

The reason they fall apart easily (not resilient) is because they have put all their eggs in one basket. Their entire life, every aspect of it, is invested in one narrow set of beliefs; and in defining that set of beliefs they have no personal leeway. Everything is dictated with talmudic precision from their organizational headquarters. When forming their individual beliefs on becoming a Witness, which results in exactly the same set of belief system for all Witnesses due to their insistence on absolute conformity, they consider only one side of every issue. A rounded person who has intellectual and emotional resilience has to consider things from all angles, which Witnesses never do. This helps make them brittle. Further, they are not allowed to spend any time on personal growth or self development, even when suffering from very grave personal problems. So all sorts of emotional disturbances and antisocial habits linger and fester year after year. Throwing bible citations at an emotional problem is just not enough.

So if you really want to get through to your coworker, or anyone in a cult for that matter, it will be a much more difficult project than you probably anticipated. The direct approach, as in "Don't you see you're brainwashed?" absolutely does not work, and will simply make her close her mind to anything further you have to say.

It's not impossible to have an effect, just more involved that you might have expected. Is it worth it to you? Perhaps not just for one coworker; but when you realize that you yourself are vulnerable to the same mind control tactics that have ensnared your coworker, and when you realize that your children and loved ones are vulnerable until they have been "innoculated", then perhaps you will find that it is worth the effort after all.

I suggest reading a book like Steven Hassan's "Releasing the Bonds". It gives great practical insight and suggestions on how to get through to such people. In a nutshell, the key is to recognize their threshhold for completely closing their mind to you; and ask open-ended thought-provoking questions as assertively as possible, but only up to that thresshold, then giving them time to think about your questions.

I think everyone should take time to "innoculate" themselves against cult mind control by reading books like the one I mentioned, because everyone is vulernable to the deception and manipulation of cults until they do.

Best wishes,
Andrew