Winstein--4
Theocratic warfare
Here's a May, 2007, Nashville, TN, WSMV-TV news clip about Bill Bowen and Silent Lambs support for abuse victims,
their claim that the JWs leaders' organization provides a way for abusers to be handled in the JWs organization and not be
brought to task by the law, and that in March, 2007, over a dozen molestation lawsuits were settled by the JWs organization--with
gag orders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRHaO0y4ro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gag_order
JWs are taught to withhold self-image damaging truth about the JWs leaders' organization from others--"theocratic
warfare." JWs are taught how to create a softened version of JWs leaders' stances for court cases specifically.
"Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" (oath taken before taking the stand in court).
JWs leaders' response:
"Of course, being truthful does not mean that we are obligated to divulge all information to anyone who asks it
of us. Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw your pearls before swine, that they may never...turn around and
rip you open, warned Jesus, at Matthew 7:6. For example, individuals with wicked intent may have no right to know certain
things. Christians understand that they are living in a hostile world. Thus, Jesus advised his disciples to be
cautious as serpents while remaining innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16; John 15:19) Jesus did not always disclose
the full truth, especially when revealing all the facts could have brought unnecessary harm to himself or his disciples.
Still, even at such times, he did not lie. Instead, he chose either to say nothing or to divert the conversation in
another direction." ("Awake! Feb.8, 2000, p.21)
http://www.silentlambs.org/Warfarequotes.htm http://freeminds.org/psych/whylie.htm
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Peer pressure
The JWs leaders' stance on such a distinctive doctrine involves a strong element of peer pressure. Peer
pressure is a two-edged sword that could be thought to cut either way in such things, and I won't consider it a decisive factor
in determining the validity of the JWs leaders' stance on the medical use of blood.
It does bear pointing out that the Governing Body's way of regulating regimented obedience commonly has the effect
of keeping many of the followers from reading or listening to persistent criticism of the JWs leaders' rules. The JWs
are taught that such critics are to be con- sidered hateful of God (even though the alleged "apostate" may have not had anything
like that in mind).
That can't be healthy in regard to the basic procedure used by courts and by common sense about making judgments
otherwise: you need to hear both sides give their case and weigh evidence against gossip before rendering judgment.
No matter how per- suasive the forced points, etc., may seem in isolated consideration, it should at least seem suspicious
to followers on the face of it that the JWs leaders' make a literal 144,000 claim of exclusiveness, make forced points to
insist on agreement with distinctive rules that seem meant to serve the estab- lishment of that exclusiveness, yet it's about
common old material and taught by JWs leaders who discourage that basic procedure, described above, of judging things.
I won't follow that example the other way around and shun people if they read JWs leaders' literature. Some
of the JWs followers I met are some of the nicest people I've met. You don't have to have the same outlooks as me on
such stuff to be a friend of mine (or not be). (Not pushing 'centric condemnation of other whole groups to the fore
is a plus for that to work out.) And I need to use the JWs leaders' literature as a part of the comparison of evidences
that are important to a study of the issues of this article.
Psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and associates once tested peer pressure. When a teacher asked ten students
to "Raise your hand when we point to the longest line" of three lines, nine were pre- pared beforehand to raise their hand
when the 2nd longest line was pointed at. The tenth student was the tested variable and was a different student for
each effort of the test. The tenth student con- formed to the group and raised their hand for the 2nd longest line 75%
of the time this was tested.
A JW might get peer pressure from JWs or non-JWs. But I'd imagine that if the JWs leaders maintain a threat
of particularly strict disfellow- shipping from a JWs' friends and family in on the mix, you could get a lot of people who
show that, as Ruth put it, "Some people had rather be president than right."
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The JWs leaders' doctrine on transfusions isn't the only or most reasonable way to interpret the pertinent
verses (pp.12-42), so it's likely that the reason that some followers don't want to look at alternate views, or admit that
they doubt their leaders' views, to avoid disfel- lowshipping. This could be handy for the JWs leaders whose flocks
go various places and talk to lots of people.