The Mind of the Anti-Witness Crusader

The following post is simply my own personal musings on what makes many assailants of Jehovah's Witnesses (and New Religious Movements in general) tick. It is very personal in the sense that I am analyzing myself and my own path as much as I am analyzing others.

The following comment was written on a Q&A site a few years back:

"I didn't make him do anything. He weighed things up and obviously liked "our life" more..But I was adamant that if he remained a JW I wouldnt be part of his life...He had a choice - Me or the JW world...he couldn't have both"

And this is a good point to keep in mind when dealing with staunch opposers. Sometimes, their problem is a problem of jealousy and misplaced attention, not doctrine. This is especially true when dealing with couples and family members. For example, if a woman value a man's attention very highly, and then suddenly the man's attention is diverted into a religion that takes up a good deal of his time, then it can very well trigger a fear response. The woman fears losing the attention of the one she loves, feels helpless to stop the process, and so directs anger towards the new object of the man's attention: the religion.

Another example that I pulled offline:

I met a an amazing girl in my Business class, of course I asked her out to lunch several times, was always turned down, but I new something just didn't seem right. We got to be really good friends, and I found out she belonged to the Jehovah's witness Organization. I knew nothing about the Religion, so i started to do some research, and was very interested in what I found. I started talking on an ex-JW site, to ask for advice on what I should do, I really liked this girl, and I wanted to know what was it that made her so different from any other person I met.
 
Everyone told me JW was a cult , even after all the readings I did, I still hadn't made up my mind. A friend recommend I read this book, [I was amazed at] how prevalent cults are in our society, I came to find out I had almost fell for a Business Cult which I had no idea at the time was what I thought it was.

From this example, we again see the love factor involved, but also the influence of disgruntled ex-members and members of the subversive Anti-Cult movement.

These signs are all indicative of a classic "confused white knight" type opposer (the other known and distinct types being the "Egotist" who argues merely for the love of arguing and 'defeating' others, and the "Avenger" who feels personally wronged and therefore seeks revenge against his former religion). I name them "confused white knights" because they call to mind a knight in shining armor riding gallantly towards the dragon's keep to rescue the damsel in distress, with his shield and mighty sword in hand; however, when he finally reaches the castle, there is no dragon to be found. The poor knight was lied to! There never was a dragon, and the damsel wasn't even in distress. She had been living comfortably in a quiet little cottage the whole time! The poor knight was lied to!

Many modern day assailants of Jehovah's Witnesses follow a similar path. The major events leading up to the creation of such an assailant are as follows:

Subject has a close personal relationship with either a: lover, friend, relative, ect. That lover/friend/relative either becomes involved in the activities of an NRM (New Religious Movement) or the subject comes to discover a previously established affiliation. Subject wishes to learn more about the group that her "lover" (we will assume "lover" for the sake of this example) has become interested in. Subject comes into contact with propaganda from members of the subversive Anti-Cult Movement (ACM) [This is especially true of JW's, where there are some 350,000+ websites on the internet hostile to them, while there are less than 30 which are either neutral or supportive]. The ACM pumps powerful emotions, such as fear and worry, into the subject through half true or exaggerated information about the NRM (e.g., women in the JW movement must submit to the sexual demands of elders). The subject's fear and worry in time evolve into anger and hatred towards the NRM, which leads to lashing out at and obsession with "proving the NRM wrong" and/or "saving my partner." Thus, a new JW opposer is converted and the ACM movement lives on.

There may also be involved some feelings of jealousy towards the NRM if the "lover's" attention starts to be diverted away from the subject [see the first example].

It should also be noted, that theological or doctrinal interpretations are normally not a prime concern of the Confused White Knight (even though they may claim that they are important). The subject's hostilities towards the NRM are more commonly based on fear for and worry for their "lover" and on the diversion of attention mentioned in the first example.

At this point you may be thinking: "Well Tears of Oberon, that all sounds nice, but I think you are making too many assumptions and leaps of logic. How do you know all this based on a few random internet comments?"

And that is a perfectly acceptable question, and one that I will answer with an even more striking example. This email exchange took place between myself and a blog reader who sought some very specific information. As you read, take note of his primary motivations, his building hatred, and his blinding obsession, all because of a single girl that he knew he couldn't have.

EMAIL EXCHANGE 

Hello Teary,

I hope this finds you well and I hope you are doing very well.

My Name is [redacted], currently working and staying in [redacted]. I am in a serious relationship with a JW lady and want to honestly save her from the dangerous cult she has been brought up her whole life with.  I know for sure that she will be shunned by her fake love showing spiritual family once she realizes the TRUTH about the TRUTH which she believes and preaches as the TRUTH. During my search across the internet for false prophecies of JW data, my search landed me into your blog and seems like you have a large collection of well-preserved books from JW’s. Hence I kindly request you to please send me scanned copies of a few which I have indicated in the word file attached with the mail.

Thanks a ton for your help and God Bless.

Best Regards,

[redacted]

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Dear [redacted],

You say that you are in a serious relationship with a JW lady? And yet, you call her beliefs a "cult," and you call the love of her friends and family "fake." I do not believe that a serious JW lady, who preaches and has strong convictions, would put up with such things, unless you have have not yet revealed your true feelings to her. Does she think that you are supportive of her religion? Have you led her to think that you are interested? That is not right.

You should listen to me, because I too once tried to "save" a JW lady that I loved. What you are doing will not work. It is deceptive and dishonest to make a woman think you are something that you are really not. It is selfish to try to destroy her relationship with her friends and family just so you can have her to yourself.

JW's are good people, whether you agree with their beliefs or not. They really do love each other very much. If you do love her, then you should be honest and tell her that you are opposed to her religion, or you should simply walk away from her and leave her be.

I will not send you the books you requested. I do not want any part of what you are trying to do. But I will give you two things instead: all of my personal research regarding JW prophecies, and a book on their history written by a man who was there from the beginning. Do with them as you wish.


Sincerely,

Teary

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Dear Teary,

First of all thanks a lot for sending me your research file and also the book.

Secondly, please don’t make fast judgments of someone’s true intentions based on reading a few lines in an email. It’s just my humble request. Things between me and her go way long back than what I could describe in few lines.

If you really love someone from the bottom of your heart (as you did I believe when you were in love with a JW lady), then you will never leave them and walk away since you truly know the situation they are in, that’s all what I am doing by trying to help her. She asks me to bring the truth to her and to fight for the one real truth about God. She cries almost every night and  just needs to know what is the truth and I put up the fight for the truth also by her request. She is unable to do it alone since she is not well versed in English language and she is a German who understands English only while explained to her slowly. She also has no big research skills to search for information as you and me both know that most of the JW’s are barred from making their own research since they are advised not to do so. I have been studying her religion and beliefs for almost a year now and I am also really facing a burn out situation now. I agree my words in the last mail were quite harsh and I sincerely apologize for that. It comes out just because of months of frustrations and hard work to find valuable information for my research.

I can’t walk away from a person who truly needs my help and especially at a juncture when they need it the most in their lives. I know she loves God sooooooooo much and I see that everyday of my life. The real selfish and coward if you ask me would be the person who walks away thinking about themselves when they know from inside that they could have done whatever possible in their power to help their loved one. When I know deep inside my heart of hearts that her love to God is being wasted believing in WatchTower teachings and doctrines, I need to redirect her to the right path. She also wants the same believe me if you can. I have told her everything what I feel about her religion and was never dishonest to her (please don’t come to fast conclusions). When I spoke to her about the false prophecies which JW’s had made before, she told me she can’t believe it and can’t accept it unless she sees some kind of evidence related to it. That’s why I decided to make a research also into their false prophecy history. Just wanted show her the evidences I gathered and that’s the reason why I asked you for all those books which I listed in the word file that I send you in the file attached in my previous mail. I don’t never have any motive and gain by destroying her life, I just want to sincerely help her to realize that her love for god must not be wasted. Pleassssse don’t get me wrong. Many JW’s who realize the truth end up in really bad state. I can’t never see her like that and she knows there is surely someone to care if something wrong happens.

If I have those book which I requested, I can save her and her family and even sincerely try to save other people in my locality. They are all good and loving people and I am aware of that since I visit their kingdom hall meetings sometimes. Walking away from people who need help and caring for own self is selfishness; but going through the pain with the sincere effort to make them realize that God is not with a religion which has lied about our Messiah multiple times is really a fight I want to take up for really helping people. I want to make my God and my Messiah win. I don’t know what else to tell you anymore. Don’t know whether you will understand or not. Anyways, It would be very helpful for me if you could pleeaassee send me those books that I requested inside the word file seen in my first mail. God will bless you too if you help me in my sincere efforts.

Yours Sincerely,

[redacted]

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Mr. [redacted],

You say

"If you really love someone from the bottom of your heart (as you did I believe when you were in love with a JW lady), then you will never leave them and walk away since you truly know the situation they are in"

I have no doubt that you have feelings for the girl, but you are misguided nonetheless. I do not think you do understand the situation she is in. I do not think you understand what you are doing.

You are allowing yourself to be controlled by a mixture of hatred, obsession, love and ignorance. That is very dangerous and contrary to reason. By waging war with her religion, by trying to turn her against her family and friends, and by attempting to tear down her beliefs, you will only cause more pain and suffering for her and yourself, not less.

You say

"If I have those book which I requested, I can save her and her family"

There is no "saving" that needs to be done, and it would not be so easy even if you had all of my books. You cannot just throw a couple of books at a person and then expect them to change their entire life and system of values. Believe me I have tried for years with no success. People believe what they want regardless of evidence. You cannot change people or their beliefs -- they can only choose to change themselves.

You should stop trying to change her, and instead try to change yourself. Seek compassionate understanding of what she believes instead of obsessive hatred. Learn to tolerate differences of doctrine. Accept that she loves God, and that you love God, and that is good enough. Find peace within yourself and make peace with others instead of doctrinal war.

I gave you my research that discusses almost all topics related to Witness prophecy. I gave you a book to help you build compassionate understanding. Begin with those and read them. If you have questions, I am always here.


Sincerely,

Teary

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At this point, I will provide just one more example. This is a post from what I previously referred to as an "Avenger" type opposer of Jehovah's Witnesses. He feels personally wronged by the religion in some way, and has unfortunately let his hatred and need for revenge take over his entire life and destroy his mind.

WARNING TO THE WATCHTOWER RELIGIOUS RACKET

To the best of my knowledge their is only ONE unique ~ in cyberspace the ~ clan is all over the world we go back to medieval old English.

The point is any search pages shown here and there are TENS OF THOUSANDS are going to be 98% anti-Watchtower cult pages, as this is my (~) primary mission.

These are links made by me in a 5 1/2 year period all pages created individually and loaded up on the net by hand.

~

YAHOO SHOWS 75,000 PAGES

~

GOOGLE SHOWS 31,000 PAGES

Theses results are INCOMPLETE and UNDERRATED as the indexing is slow keeping up with me

I make dozens more everyday and NETWORK with other apostates ( this is the real scary part for you Watchtower) I actually promote other colleague links like ~, ~ and ~, ahead of my own home page ~

Theses pages are on countless different servers and are cached forever as long as the Internet exist as long as civilization continues.

We have IMMORTALITY yes the Watchtower lied when they promised me everlasting life, but I will get it anyway!

Watchtower I will haunt you from beyond the grave!