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Critics of Jehovah`s Witnesses/No faith
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Question
Andrew i was reading your reply to the person on the subject "Similar problems for charismatic and Jehovas witnesses" and you made this coment "Yet as a Witness, I had no faith at all, but instead was indoctrinated to hold this intellectual certainty instead,"
WHy did you have no faith? Faith in what? Why do you think that was the case?
Dear Gordon,
I am a former Jehovah's Witness. Although I have spent significant time and energy on my recovery over the past several years, I was deeply indoctrinated and a true believer in their ways at one time.
Jehovah's Witnesses undergo extraordinary mental conditioning, which creates a mental and spiritual condition which is incompatible with faith as I have come to know it today.
Faith, as I know it today, involves wonder and trust, a decision despite the unknown, taking a sort of first step to declare the universe is a trustworthy place worth living in, worthy of receiving our children. (The outcome afterward depends entirely on this decision. Many people decide the universe is not a trustworthy place, and therefore live very dark lives because of that decision.) Faith can be redefined many ways based on whether one is agnostic or believes in God in some form, but this is the basic form of faith.
I think it is fair to say that Jehovah's Witnesses generally have no faith at all because they substitute "intellectual certainty" instead of "a decision despite the unknown". The mental conditioning of Witnesses makes them basically incapable of wonder, of sitting with the unknown and considering it OK not to know. Until it becomes OK, how can one embrace wonder, and until one can embrace wonder, how can one decide despite not knowing?
Witnesses react this way because they are taught with a certain sense of smugness that everything worth knowing is fed to them by an anonymous (mythical?) body of people they call the "Faithful and Discreet Slave". The "Faithful and Discreet Slave" is said to be a direct representative of God. In practice, the "Faithful Slave" is actually the Watchtower Society, that is, the cult leader body.
They believe that God will not leave them "in the dark" about anything they need to know, but rather will inform them by means of the "Faithful Slave" on interpretation of scripture and how to live their lives, and how to survive Armageddon (even special instructions not recorded in scripture), and every other matter they consider important.
Their intellectual treatment of spiritual matters does not require or allow for faith. Rather it requires compliance and extensive intellectual processing, which is like bleaching flour to make it white. The nutritious elements are removed. The faith is removed. All that is left is a smug sense of knowing with absolute certainty everything one needs to know, and even "proving" it from scripture.
Faith cannot be proved. Spirituality cannot be intellectualized without changing it's character into something else. Experience is where real spirituality occurs, but personal experience is considered valueless among Witnesses. As cult researcher Robert J. Lifton describes ("Doctrine Over Person"), Witnesses always subordinate personal experience to group doctrine. So the conditions under which the very faith they purport to value can grow is actually suppressed in favor of "provable" intellectual process.
When a Witness calls another Witness a "spiritual person", what he means is someone who attends every meeting, knows every group-sanctioned correct answer, carries a library with him in a large bag, speaks convincingly and skillfully, and spends many hours preaching door to door.
This is very different from what the average man on the street means when he describes a "spiritual person". I think the average person who comments on such things would mean a certain original experience, a certain innate wisdom, a certain glowing confidence, perhaps even an ethereal metaphysical essence. Witnesses are conditioned not to recognize or value such characteristics, and even devalue them. This makes it easy for pretenders to be promoted to high positions of authority within the organization. All you have to do is pretend really well to get promoted in the Witness hierarchy.
It is hard to explain these phenomena to someone who has not experienced them, but this is my attempt to do so. I hope it makes sense to you to some degree.
It is not that I never had a connection with God. Rather, I believe I had a connection with God so strong that He showed up for me when I was at my lowest points even where my false "brothers" abandoned me. He helped me along in spite of their many injuries. God Himself (the Universe, the Tao, substitute your own favorite nomenclature) showed me the way to freedom and peace of mind and true faith despite the Witnesses extensive mind games which stagnated and almost destroyed my life.
I am still working on faith, since it has taken quite a blow. My confidence in God has never really waned, only my confidence in what constitutes spiritual truth, and that takes time. Thanks for asking.
Best wishes,
Andrew
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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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