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Critics of Jehovah`s Witnesses/Witnesses preying upon the handicapped
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Question
Dear Andrew,
I work with adults with developmental disabilities (mild mental retardation), and two of my clients are doing in-home bible studies with Witnesses. One of these clients has mentioned she enjoys the bible studies but doesn't want to stop celebrating birthdays and Christmas. This client also received a visit from the Mormon missionaries, and wound up being baptized in the Mormon church (much to her parents' dismay). Now, she's studying with the Witnesses despite being confused about their theology. I cannot tell people who to worship or study with, of course, but my concern and question regards the Witnesses preying on people like my clients who don't understand a lot due to their disabilities. Do you feel they would pressure my clients into becoming baptized or anything else in the church despite not understanding what it entails? Thank you.
Dear Jennifer,
This is ghastly. I'm so sorry that you find yourself in this ever-so-awkward and ever-so-outrageous situation.
The Witnesses believe they are saving lives by making new recruits. So they pressure EVERYONE to become a Witness. The more involved a person becomes, the more that pressure increases. Persons with developmental disabilities would be no exception.
Please note that Witnesses would do this completely without malice. They believe they are helping people, that non-Witnesses will be murdered at the hand of God in the near future, and only Witnesses will survive. So likely their feelings toward your clients are kind and generative, though very misguided. Witnesses practice extensive and convoluted patterns of deception. These patterns are so complex that most Witnesses themselves do not even realize they are lying. The human capacity for self delusion should not be underestimated.
Yet this (that your clients with developmental disabilities are being recruited by Witnesses) is ghastly to me because persons with developmental disabilities are least able to understand the nature of cult mind control and therefore make informed decisions for themselves. The rest of us at least have the capacity and opportunity to educate ourselves in advance about what cult mind control is (although most don't), and therefore there is a chance we would be able to see it in the moment we are exposed to it, and therefore be able to make an informed choice about it. The success of cults is because most of us do not educate ourselves in advance, do not know what to watch out for, and therefore cannot recognize it when it occurs, and therefore cannot make an informed choice.
Persons with developmental disability may not even have the capacity and opportunity to forearm themselves, and are least likely to understand what's happening to them when they're exposed to cult mind control tactics. As a result, their decision to participate is the least well informed. Ultimately freedom of mind is impaired when our capacity to make fully informed decisions is eroded; and thus your clients are losing their freedom of mind. That is outrageous. They should be treated with unusual honesty, not the opposite.
On the bright side, the Witnesses have a fairly enlightened view toward the developmentally disabled. In their view, God is patient with the developmentally disabled, and God is less likely to hold them accountable for their own mistakes. The Witnesses do tend to look after their own, and perhaps it is not the worst community your client could get involved with. In terms of physical safety they will probably be OK.
However, it is noteworthy that Witnesses also suffer much higher-than-average rates of emotional illness. Should your clients be unusually high functioning, enough to be able to detect inconsistencies of dogma, should they ever begin to express doubts, they would likely be exposed to harsh social treatment, almost as harsh as normally abled people would be exposed to. I would say they are at greater risk of emotional trauma than normally abled people, and therefore this is perhaps the last thing your clients need.
Although you cannot tell anyone what to believe about spiritual matters, please note that cult mind control is not a spiritual matter. You can become clear on what cult mind control is by identifying the specific tactics of cult mind control, and communicate with the relatives of your clients about such tactics. Although you may not be able to make decisions on your clients behalf, perhaps you can act as an agent of your clients' relatives in helping execute decisions about appropriate contacts.
I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to write me again, should you have any further specific questions.
Best wishes,
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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