What's a word that describes the way Witnesses behave as a group?
It may not be politically correct, but I'd go for "retarded".
David_Jay - Thanks. Paul said he was writing a paper. If I was writing a paper, the word I would use would be isolationist.
anomalous:adjective1.deviating from or inconsistent with the common order, form, or rule; irregular; abnormal:Advanced forms of life may be anomalous in the universe.2.not fitting into a common or familiar type, classification, or pattern; unusual:He held an anomalous position in the art world.3.incongruous or inconsistent.4.Grammar. irregular.
fearful, brainwashed, delusional
Over righteous and pious.
Self referential and conformist
Judgemental of unbelievers
It is the feeling of wanting to pound your head against a brick wall while talking to a jw .........that word!
Let Carl Sagan in his book Broca's Brain, help you Paul .
"....One prominent American religion confidently predicted that the world would end in 1914. Well, 1914 has come and gone, and -- while the events of that year were certainly of some importance -- the world does not, at least so far as I can see, seem to have ended. There are at least three responses that an organized religion can make in the face of such a failed and fundamental prophecy. They could have said, "Oh, did we say '1914'? So sorry, we meant '2014.' A slight error in calculation. Hope you weren't inconvenienced in any way." But they did not. They could have said, "Well, the world would have ended, except we prayed very hard and interceded with God so He spared the Earth." But they did not. Instead, they did something much more ingenious.
They announced that the world had in fact ended in 1914, and if the rest of us hadn't noticed, that was our lookout. It is astonishing in the face of such transparent evasions that this religion has any adherents at all. But religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the tough-mindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration were needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry.
'Reclusive' would seem to fit esp. in view of religious connotation.