u/Fit_Durian3763

I think one of the major problems with “JW thinking” and the kind of training JWs receive is that it can rob people of the ability to truly put themselves in someone else’s shoes or genuinely entertain opposing ideas and arguments.

For example, I’m not gay, but I can still put myself in the shoes of a gay person and understand where they are coming from. That doesn’t mean I completely understand what it feels like to be gay, but I can still reach a point where I say, “Well, you do you, and I accept you for who you are.”

I lean somewhere between agnosticism and atheism, yet I can still understand where creationists are coming from, I can reach a place in my head where I’d be able to say, “Maybe there’s something out there. None of us can know for sure” matter of fact, we can have a healthy argument where I can agree with some of your points and disagree with others but still keep an open mind

With JWs, there seems to be an inability to step outside their own framework and truly empathize with people who think differently. The organization often discourages critical thinking and independent exploration of ideas. If you don’t see things exactly the way they do, word for word, they tend to believe you either need help, correction, or even shunning.

When you say someone is “spiritually weak”, you are invariably saying that you are “spiritually strong”/“spiritually strongER” or somehow better than them….
It’s a slur as far as I’m concerned…

when someone tells you that they don’t agree with jw theology, your first thought as a passionate jw is that something is wrong with them and they need help. They haven’t told you that they committed any crime, you know in your heart that they are “good people”, but your mind tells you that they are somehow at a disadvantage

your first instinct is to try and “help them” fall back in line, because even though you may not realize it, you subconsciously think that some kind of punishment awaits any who does not fully agree with jw theology..

You see, jw official theology is that only Jehovahs witnesses will “inherit” paradise..(they try to pretend that this is not what they believe but you have to read between the lines in most of their publications and watch their body language to realize this) that is why your first instinct is to try and “help” your loved ones who may no longer belive

In your mind, everybody should agree with jw theology otherwise something is wrong with them (at best) or they deserve some kind of punishment ( at worse). It’s a very narcissistic and toxic worldview in my opinion.

It doesn’t matter how you slice it, jw environment becomes a very toxic and judgmental environment especially when it starts becoming clear to jws around you that you don’t fully by into their theology

I don’t think the witnesses are bad people, i think some if not most of them are good/well intentioned people

I just have my reservations about the leadership and their theology

At best I don’t think it is Gods one/only true organization and people can choose to “subscribe” if it works for them or “unsubscribe” if it doesn’t work for them

At worst, I think it is a very dangerous group that no one should be a part of

I tend to slightly lean towards the latter simply because of their no blood doctrine that they heavily “police” and enforce, their CSA cases and the fact that you cannot simply choose to “unsubscribe” if it no longer works for you without consequences.