Mainstream Protestants, Adventists Make Efforts to Remove 'Stereotypes'

OutOfTheCocoon »

Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:23 am Agree: 2   Disagree: 1

One of the first things people say to me after reading my book, "Out of the Cocoon" is, "I guess I never thought of Jehovah's Witnesses as a cult." The second thing they say is, "But your book really opened my eyes!"

However, with that said, I believe that how you label something is far less important than how IT leaves its mark on the world. You can take a label off a can of beans and slap on a label for peaches and it’s still beans inside. Recognizing the dangerous contents is far more important than the label. Organizations who deceive in order to recruit and then use coercion to retain members need to be recognized as destructive and dysfunctional.

I remember hearing about the Jonestown suicides when I was 16 and immediately thinking, "OH MY--if the Watchtower tells my family to commit suicide, they will do it in a heartbeat!" But as I found out later, one's family doesn't have to literally die in order to experience that loss.

Organizations like the Watchtower are responsible for "family genocide." They shun (never speak to or acknowledge) family members who leave...for any reason. My family hasn't spoken to me in 25 years simply because I left. It's like they are, indeed, dead. Out there, but untouchable. In a cult, it's easy to get in but hard to get out.

My mother was uneducated; she didn't know what a cult or destructive group looked like when they came recruiting (people don't join cults; cults recruit people). That's why she opened the door when nicely dressed Jehovah's Witnesses came to deliver their "good news."

I want to raise awareness. That's why I teach free cult education in Denver. Ignorance when it comes to cults is not bliss and can, indeed, be deadly.

Brenda Lee, author: "Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult" www.outofthecocoon.net