People 
| The Paranoia Fear Of Jehovah's Witnesses |
| Written by Christy Darlington |
| Saturday, 11 April 2009 14:42 |
As a Jehovah’s Witness, one cannot even possess or hold a piece of critical literature about the Watchtower without fear that one is allowing “Satan’s thinking” into one’s mind. Paranoia runs rampant in this religion. In Chapter six of The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, authors David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen explain why: “In the church or family that is spiritually abusive, there is a sense, spoken or unspoken, that ‘others will not understand what we’re all about, so let’s not let them know—that way they won’t be able to ridicule or persecute us.’ …In a place where authority is grasped and legislated, not simply demonstrated, persecution sensitivity builds a case for keeping everything within the system. Why? Because of the evil, dangerous, or unspiritual people outside of the system who are trying to weaken or destroy ‘us.’ This mentality builds a strong wall or bunker around the abusive system, isolates the abuser from scrutiny and accountability, and makes it more difficult for people to leave—because they will then be outsiders too.”— The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, 1991, pp. 73-74 From my experience, what these authors have documented about the connection of paranoia with spiritual abuse is so true. I still remember the days when I was new to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I decided to bring my guitar into the Kingdom Hall one night after the book study meeting to play a few worship songs with the kids that I had learned from childhood. Knowing how important Jehovah is to the Witnesses, I chose the song: “Jehovah Jira My Provider.” The lyrics go like this: “Jehovah Jira My Provider, You would have thought I brought Babylon right into the Kingdom Hall that night! The Witness parents stood around just staring at me and their kids in disbelief. One grabbed the Kingdom Hall songbook, Sing Praises to Jehovah, and frantically searched to try to find the song we were singing. Of course, it wasn’t in there. It didn’t matter that the lyrics were doctrinally correct and emphasized Jehovah and His grace. The simple fact that the song wasn’t produced by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society made it taboo for the Jehovah’s Witnesses to sing. Thankfully, the elder in charge of our book study wasn’t there that night or I know I would have been kicked out for this action because only a few weeks later, I tried teaching the kids another song based upon Micah 6:8 that went like this: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what Jehovah requires of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” This time the elder was there and his wife privately pulled me aside and told me that under no circumstances was I allowed to sing songs with the kids that were not in the Sing Praises book of the Watchtower. (I didn’t bring my guitar that night or I think they would have really had a fit!) Thankfully, nobody told on me to the elder about the previous night. So, I was allowed to stay for a few more months before being kicked out for asking too many questions that the elder couldn’t answer, but that’s another story. I am always amazed at how this type of fear controls Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses for years even after they leave. Many are afraid to enter Christian churches for fear of the “cross” posted on the wall, or fear that demons will jump on them when they enter. Fear or “apostates” also keep many trapped to avoid any spiritual literature written by non-Jehovah’s Witnesses. And even after an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness person decides to start listening to outside sources, there is always the fear that Jehovah is angry or Satan is lurking around the corner to snag them. Getting free of this “fear” is difficult. Although I was never baptized and never fully bought into the fear complex of most Jehovah’s Witnesses, even the short time that I was in the Kingdom Hall, I had begun to struggle with being uncomfortable around the Christmas ornaments displayed by my family (I was still living at home as a young single adult at the time). Thankfully, I researched and learned the Christian origin of many of these symbols and this information REALLY helped me overcome the little bit of “fear” they had begun to ingrain into me. This experience showed me how important it is to research and hear the “other side” on ALL of the beliefs that Jehovah’s Witnesses embrace. I learned how twisted their views about Christmas were and I saw how their views on other biblical issues were twisted as well. As the Watchtower lost its authority in my life and the lives of many others I have personally worked with in ministry over the years, I have learned the truth of the Scripture at 2 Corinthians 10:5 as a prescription for getting free of paranoia fear: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (KJV) On this subject, I really recommend the following articles from our www.4jehovah.org website:
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  written by Rick , July 29, 2009 How can we explain the following passages concerning spiritual encounters? Children have reported seeing their parents... naked enduring internal gynecological procedures. Children watch as the aliens perform procedures on sometimes-erect male genitals. These events can induce a profound sense of shame and guilt in children, both for having seen them and for thinking that perhaps they caused these events to occur to their family members. Furthermore, the children learn that adults have no control over the situation and their roles as protectors cannot be fulfilled. Adults are powerless. Only the aliens have power, and the children are wholly and totally dependent upon them. This can lead to a deep sense of distrust and suspicion in young people. Page 252 (Book Title follows) "In other less-frequent scenarios, the aliens might urge the teenage girl to breed... they might bring in a man or boy to have intercourse with her for demonstration purposes. The psychological ramifications of all this can be profound - leading to guilt, shame, distrust, and other psychosexual development disturbances, as well as resulting sexual dysfunction." Page 252 (Same page) "...while bonding and/or sexual feelings are at a peak, the Being begins the gynecological or urological procedures and physically intrudes into her genitals or mechanically extracts his sperm... The sexually bizarre nature of the event is retained deep within the unconscious mind." "The problems engendered by [spiritual experiencers] lead both men and women to question their own mental stability. They are often extremely introspective, having continually ruminated about their odd behavior - both sexual and otherwise - for most of their lives. These problems can be so severe that thoughts of, and even attempts at, suicide are not rare for adults and even young children." Page 253 How can we explain the above passages? "If the abductees are relating events that do, in fact [happen to them], then we are presented with what might be one of the most important events ever to befall mankind. If, on the other hand, the events do not have an objective reality and the abductees are imagining abductions, then we [still] have discovered something of immense importance. We have found a fascinating and inexplicable new psychological and sociocultural phenomenon unlike anything ever discovered in the human psyche before. It is obviously worthy of intense scientific attention. No matter what the origin of the abductions, whether subjective or objective, this phenomenon cannot be ignored." [Yet shamefully, academia ignores them all.] Page 304 Book Title, "Secret Life" by Dr. David M. Jacobs, publisher Simon and Schuster out of print report abuse
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 written by leeleelo , September 08, 2009 What your saying is not a paranoia fear but simple fear of god. And not in the sense of oh god please dont hurt but fear as in respect. I believe if you throughly read your bible you would understand the difference. God clearly states that He is the only one to be worshipped not an idol that is made by mans hands such as the cross. And we respect god's wishes while you might say we dont but we do respect others religious choices if you wish to wear a cross that is your choice. But we will be happy to explain why god dislikes them. We are not afarid of going into these places as you say paranoia is not what we experience our irreverent respect of Jehovah and his Son jesus is what tells us to stay away. For if you truly fear god in the manner i am stating you would never want to displease him. You would always want to do right by him just like a son always wants to do right by his father. We are all god's childern trying to do right by him. So while you say fear as in paranoia it truly is fear as in respect for all god's laws and wanting to please him in all walks of life. report abuse
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Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to be fearful of everything: from Smurf cartoons, Halloween, Christmas to serious religious beliefs involving the Battle of Armageddon, the end of the world and the fear of “apostates.” Even non-Jehovah’s Witness beliefs such as Hell, Trinity, Cross (words that can even send chills down the back of a Witness) can send a Jehovah’s Witness into “paranoia” fear.
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