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Critics of Jehovah`s Witnesses/Who Can Speak for God?
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Question
QUESTION: Dear sir,
My two best friends have become Jehovah witness. I have studied with my cousin who is also Jehovah witness. I accepted basic teachings in my hart and I delivered myself to Jehovah in my prayer but did not baptize. I do not plan to do it. Now I am nowhere. Not here , not there. I can not come inside the organization because I do not want to do it. General I accept their theology but do not accept fundamentalism at all. Do you have any advice for me or maybe we can exchange our experiences??
Regards,
Goran
ANSWER: Dear Goran,
I think it is insightful and wise of you to avoid fundamentalism.
It is arrogant for men to speak as if they can fully know the mind of God. No one really knows God's mind, such that they could intellectually and linguistically interpret it for others. Therefore no man is qualified to speak for God or direct others as if he were God's spokesman.
On the other hand, if someone claims to have actually been appointed as an official spokesman through a direct action of God himself, he had better be able to prove it. The Watchtower Society does make such claim, but offers absolutely no proof; and is therefore as arrogant and presumptuous as any clergy who make such claim.
I am sorry you have lost your two best friends to a fundamentalist religious cult. Since you are not joining them in becoming Witnesses, they will pull away from you socially, which will erode your friendship. This is the world's primary complaint against religious cults: Cutting off prior relationships, including friends and family.
Religious cults do this because people who do not have a longstanding foundation of pre-existing relationships are easier to control. Of course they have different excuses, but control is what it comes down to; as there are common denominators such as these across all cults.
Although it is difficult to lose good friends, I believe it would be more difficult (and more soul-distorting) for you to join them. May you have peace as you grieve the loss of these friends and eventually reach out to make new friends.
I wish you success in finding a non-fundamentalist environment in which to practice your theology. Does your theology allow you to practice in private, or with a small group of friends? If not, then you remain at risk of being swallowed up by a religious cult, either the Jehovah's Witnesses or a similar organization.
Have you considered studying the tactics of cult mind control? If you plan to explore other organizations that may be less fundamentalist, yet enable you to practice your theological beliefs in community, a study of cult mind control in advance would help you avoid being ensnared by the manipulations and deceptions of cult mind control. I think it would be a wise precaution.
Very few people actually know what to watch out for, because education in the tactics of cult mind control is not present unless you look for it; yet disinformation about the nature of cults is present. So please be careful, and let me know if I can help further.
Best wishes,
AndrewXJW
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your advice which I think is useful and good for me.
There is a few months that I joined group. We study ancient philosophy like Plato, Cicero, Seneca and so... I am beginning to look with deferent eyes. I want position of living my belive without fundamentalism. That is what I work at. It is hard. My biggest enemy is myself.
May I ask about your personal standings? And how long you needed to build it after expirience with Jehovah Witnes?
Best regards,
Goran
ANSWER: Dear Goran,
It isn't clear to me what you mean by "personal standings". Please clarify your question, and I'll try to answer. I discontinued attending meetings with the Witnesses over 10 years ago.
Best wishes,
Andrew
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dear sir,
English is not my language. I just translate my thinking. O.K. like this :
Do you belive there is TRUTH ?
Do you belive it is our duty ( given from above) to find it?
Do you belive that it is enough to live life that is as close to Gods similarity as you can do it?
To ask you clearly : what is the point of living ?
Your answers are allways very good ! Do not disapoint me , please.
Regards,
Goran
Dear Goran,
My area of expertise is exposing cult tactics in the preservation of family integrity and freedom of mind. I am not a theologian; although I can very much relate to your struggle.
One of the mental devices that the Witnesses teach is to screen ideas by the supposed character of the originator. They do not consider ideas on their own merit, whether the idea is sound or cogent or logical or consistent with love. Instead they look at the speaker, assuming that a corrupt person can only speak corrupt things, and a pure person can only speak pure things.
Of course that is not true at all. There are no absolutely corrupt nor pure people, and those who appear "pure" most certainly do speak corrupt things at times, and vice versa. It is a form of black-and-white thinking (not to mention judgementalism and arrogance) to mentally assign darkness to some individuals and light to others. The real world isn't like that.
My point in describing this particular cult tactic taught by the Witnesses is to explain why it doesn't matter what I think about theological ideas. It just doesn't. My comments on family integrity and freedom of mind should be taken on their own merits. One doesn't expect a chemist to be an expert in poetry, and discount his chemical expertise because he knows nothing about poetry.
In fact, there are no experts on spirituality. Spirituality is a private matter that must be experienced personally between you and your god. If it derives from logical arguments or coercion from other people it may be religion, but it is not spirituality, which only arises from grace and personal connection. The concept that an expert can be found on spirituality, and therefore we can rely on anything other than grace, is the source of all the greatest abuses of power in human history.
Trust your heart. Your god will lead you if you trust only him. Trust no man.
Blessings and peace to you,
AndrewXJW
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Andrew
Expertise
I don't object to Witness theology, but rather their use of social pressure & deceptive manipulations to undermine family ties and control minds. (This may seem contradictory to Witnesses, who draw no distinction between spiritual belief and organizational policy.) I do not engage in theological debate. I support persons impacted by an experience with the Witnesses and advocate early education for everyone so that they can protect themselves from cults by understanding what to watch out for. (It's not what most people think.)
(Ex-)Witnesses: I know how upsetting it is to experience doubts (or anger) about your experience. Time does not heal this wound until you first remove the splinter, which takes more time and effort than you may realize. So, unless you have already put in that time and effort, don't be surprised if you are deeply affected long after the experience. But there is good news! You're NOT an enemy of God for doubting or for failing to meet the requirements of a human organization. An organization that lies cannot be the exclusive spokesman for the God of Truth. Tell me where you're at. I'll understand. I can show you how to begin or continue your recovery and make a life for yourself worth living.
Non-Witnesses: Describe your experience with your friend/relative who is (becoming) a Witness. I can help you understand the Witness indoctrination and social dynamics that are affecting him or her. I can help you put your options into perspective. Keep in mind that people do make their own choices (even though they may sometimes do so under outside influence) and you may not be able to affect this person's choices, even though they impact on you. After all, you do not have the arsenal of tactics that a cult does (and wouldn't want to). A few people manage to save their friend/relative, but don't count on it. What you can count on is navigating the maze more successfully by becoming more informed about your own options.
Experience
I was a Witness for 30 years, and a volunteer at their headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, for a year. I have attended meetings with many Witness congregations across the United States, a thorough cross-section, carefully observing patterns of behavior. Although being a Witness was difficult, and I gradually had more and more doubts about Witness teachings--I was a true believer, so I kept trying to make it work somehow. I stopped attending meetings in 1997 only after receiving an answer to a prayer about doing so, and have since been actively involved in recovery. This includes both my own and supporting others in theirs. Recovery can include reading books, communicating with others in recovery, and participating in support groups and/or therapy. It always involves reclaiming one's own mind and discovering the other sides of the issues that you have been blinded to in the past.
My gradual awakening was socially, psychologically, and spiritually tumultuous. I lost everything from my former life. My suffering was substantial.
But I have gained everything, so it was worth it. Only after beginning my recovery did I gain social, psychological, and spiritual healing and growth, peace of mind, and self-respect. Only then did I discover who I am; and--for the first time--the meaning of real brotherly love.
For more resources on this topic, try these web sites:
http://freeminds.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freedomofmind/
Education/Credentials
Like most Cult Recovery Counselors, I am a cult survivor. I have life experience, not professional training. Also I feel no need to apologize for that. People with professional training cannot understand what it is like to survive a cult unless they have been through it themselves, which few professional therapists have. Understanding what really happened and what works in this unusual social context is as important as psychological training. Most professional therapists are not specifically trained to support cult survivors. Those who are represent a rare and precious resource.
I sometimes refer people to professional therapists regarding deep personal issues. But surviving a cult is a broad experience with other dimensions. Professional therapy can be very helpful as part of your recovery process, assuming that you choose the right therapist. When choosing a therapist, remember that you are the client and they are a service provider. You are the one who holds authority about the relationship. You get to interview the therapist and decide which one to employ.
Be sure to ask what specific training and experience they have around recovery from cult mind control. Most therapists do not have relevant training. Some carry serious misunderstandings about what cult mind control is; and therefore will misunderstand your struggle. So it pays to be selective as a consumer of professional therapy services.
Past/Present Clients
The Witness organization is not like other churches. Most non-Witnesses really cannot imagine what it is like to be a Witness. The organization has unimaginably extensive rules and monitoring that affect every aspect of life, so there is no privacy and no sense of personal independence. "Independent thought" is considered their greatest "sin".
The organization insists on absolute conformity, and claims to directly represent God; so dissent is not tolerated, and authority is totalitarian. Being a Witness is more like living in China or the former Soviet Union than being a member of a religion as you know it. It was the research of Robert J. Lifton, who was studying--not religions--but totalitarian governments, who first began to illuminate the problem of religious cults around the world, which employ exactly the same tactics as totalitarian governments. His work remains a cornerstone for Cult Recovery Counselors still today. (This may be why many governments are tolerant of cults, to avoid exposing their own control tactics.)
Witnesses often experience unusually dysfunctional lives and an extensive array of personal problems stemming from broken family ties, stunted social development, inner unrest resulting from repressed doubts, inability to defend boundaries, and an extreme, persistent feeling of irrational shame. I can help people impacted by an experience with the Witnesses by revealing in detail the policies and social dynamics in the Witness organization that cause these problems.
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