Do you believe the WTBTS is guilty?

Honesty

Do you believe the WTBTS is guilty of spiritual abuse? What are some of the reasons for your view on this subject?

blondie

http://www.neirr.org/s7-aber2.html

I. Scripture Twisting.

This is the most important distinctive from which all other distinctives flow. Usually there is a deficient concept of Church history or theological categories. Consequently Scripture is taken out of context, carelessly applied, and used to justify wrong conclusions (prooftexting).

Doctrine developed from historical books of the Bible. Here, the historical books of the Old and New Testaments (Exodus, Kings, Samuel, parts of Gospels, Acts, etc.) are used to derive authoritative doctrine for the Church today.
Contextual chaos. Verses are pasted together to prove a doctrine.
Mystical mush. Taking verses intended to be literal or are idiomatic and giving them a "spiritual" interpretation.

II. Controlling Leader/Leadership.

Frequently, near to total submission is implicitly or explicitly demanded by the leader/leadership. This is because they have "the mind of Christ," special revelation, are "God's anointed," etc.

The leader/leadership has a special pipeline to God with no actual accountability. This gives to them a special authority and weightiness in their pronouncements, even in non-essentials.
Scriptures like Hebrews 13:17; Psalm 105:15, etc. are used to manipulate the member and justify the leader's position. These verses are taken out of context and were never intended for leaders who are not accountable.
The leader/leadership often determines the areas of your life that are important for you to submit in. Refusing their counsel is to be rebellious.
The problem is that members of these aberrational groups tend to abdicate their decision making power to the group or leader.

III. Separation/Isolation Of The Membership.

Members are separated from the "world" in a variety of ways in order to protect them from "harmful" influences.

This is couched in spiritual language and is usually sincerely believed by the leader/leadership as an appropriate and necessary step for them to take. "We want to help you to become the best in Christ that you can possibly be. It has been our experience that you can be harmed by living with..., getting involved in..., reading..., associating with..., etc. This certainly wouldn't please Jesus, and you might even fall away from the truth. It has happened in the past."
This separation is often from family, friends, and even other Christian groups.

IV. The Chosen Few.

Spiritual elitism is often rampant in these aberrational groups. All other Christians outside your group are either lukewarm or not true believers at all.

Consequently, salvation is not found outside the walls of the group and other Christians are "fair game" for proselytizing (ie. conversion to a group, tradition or belief system).
Aberrational Christian groups rarely, if ever, cooperate with other Christian groups not associated with them.

V. Uniformity Of Lifestyle.

This uniformity of lifestyle may be manifested in beliefs, dress, language and living conditions.

The desire is to create a true disciple of Jesus Christ. However, the issue is what makes a disciple and how is one identified.
This uniformity can intrude in all the private areas of an individuals life where the Scriptures are silent.

VI. No Dissent.

Because the leadership is authoritarian it follows that there can be no questioning of God's anointed or prophet.

In non-coercive groups and churches differences on lesser points of doctrine and practice are tolerated. It is the unity of the Spirit that is essential. The individuality of the member is always affirmed. However, minor differences of doctrine and practice are not tolerated in aberrational groups.
To speak out or to question is to have a rebellious spirit and to possibly fall under God's wrath.

VII. Traumatic Departure.

Leaving an aberrational Christian Group is always extremely traumatic.

If a member plans on leaving and the leadership finds out there may be a painful confrontation with the leadership who seek to talk the "rebellious" member out of leaving.
Frequently, the person may be told, "If you leave bad things will happen to you. Maybe you will get cancer..., get hit by a car..., lose everything..., go insane..., and even die."
Leaving is also very traumatic because even though the member no longer believes in the group, they have been indoctrinated to believe that salvation does not exist outside their walls. Thus, where can the departing member go?

VIII. In Transition

Doctrines and practices tend to mutate further and further from healthy belief and expressions.

Aberrational groups are never static but tend to devolve theologically. Many begin fairly orthodox, but over time become heretical in major doctrines.
The practices and rituals of aberrational groups also tend to take on divine authority. Practices that were optional or conditional in the beginning become absolute standards whereby commitment and spirituality are measured.

http://safechurch.com/subtle.htm

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False-Spiritual Authority Within the Church.

by David Johnson & Jeff Van Vonderen

What is Spiritual Abuse? “Spiritual abuse can occur when a leader uses his or her spiritual position to control or dominate another person.” (p.20) “Spiritual abuse can also occur when spirituality is used to make others live up to a ‘spiritual standard’.” (p.21) Spiritual abuse occurs when shame is “used in an attempt to get someone to support a belief, or…to fend off legitimate questions”. (p.22) “When your words and actions tear down another, or attack or weaken a person's standing as a Christian—to gratify you, your position or your beliefs, while at the same time weakening or harming another—that is spiritual abuse.” (p.23) “There are spiritual systems in which…the members are there to meet the needs of the leaders… These leaders attempt to find fulfillment through the religious performance of the very people whom they are there to serve and build. This is an inversion of the body of Christ. It is spiritual abuse.” (p.23) “The Christian life begins with freedom from dead works, from religious sytems and from all human attempts to ‘please God’. It’s time for many of us to shake off the religious sytems and expectations we’ve created, and return to that joyful freedom in Christ.” (p.26)
	You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men (1 Cor. 7:23).	Identifying The Abusive System 1. Power Posturing “Power-posturing simply means that leaders spend a lot of time focused on their own authority and reminding others of it, as well. This is necessary because their spiritual authority isn’t real—based on genuine godly character—it is postured.” (p.63) “Those who are in positions of true leadership demonstrate authority, spiritual power, and credibility by their lives and message.” (p.64) “As Romans 13:1 says, There is no authority except from God. Being hired or elected to a spiritual position, talking the loudest, or giving the most does not give someone authority.” (p.64)
	“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds… their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful… Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the cause of the fatherless… they do not defend the rights of the poor” (Jer. 5:26-28).	2. Performance Preoccupation “If obedience and service is flowing out of you as a result of your dependence on God alone, you won’t keep track of it with an eye toward reward, you’ll just do it. But if you’re preoccupied with whether you’ve done enough to please God, then you’re not looking at Him, you’re looking at your own works. And you’re also concerned about who else might be looking at you, evaluating you. Why would anyone keep track of their ‘godly’ behaviour unless they were trying to earn spiritual points because of it?” (p.65) “Are obedience and submission important? Without question. This can be seen in Romans 13:1…1 Peter 5:5…and Hebrews 13:17. To bring balance, however, we must add to these verses an equally important passage. Consider the words of Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5:29: ‘We must obey God rather than men.’ Notice that Peter is saying this to the religious leaders he was disobeying. Out of context, obedience to leaders looks like good theology. Add the larger context, and you will see that it is only appropriate to obey and submit to leadership when their authority is from God and their stance is consistent with His.” (p.66) “In Romans 12:2 Paul says, ‘Do not be conformed… but be transformed… ’. In a performance-based church or family, that verse might be applied like this: ‘Our church or leader is right; we have a truer, purer ‘word’ from God than others. Therefore, we must adhere to our formula or brand of Christianity as hard and fast as possible—so we won’t become like those out there who don’t think as we do. If I do not live up to all I’ve been taught here, I will be letting God down.’ This orientation squeezes people from the outside in. They are not transformed, they are conformed.” (p.66)
	“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widow’s houses, even while for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation” (Matt. 23:14).	3. Unspoken Rules “‘You know we must never disagree with the pastor on his sermons—and if you do, you will never be trusted and never be allowed to minister in any capacity in this church.’ In this case, the unspoken rule is: Do not disagree with the church authorities —especially the pastor—or your loyalty will be suspect. Rules like this remain unspoken, because examining them in the light of mature dialogue would instantly reveal how illogical, unhealthy and anti-Christian they are. So silence becomes the fortress wall of protection, shielding the pastor’s power position from scrutiny or challenge.” (p.67) In some churches there is “an unwritten and unspoken rule that said, ‘It is better to be nice than honest’.” “If you speak about the problem out loud, you are the problem.” “The truth is, when people talk about problems out loud, they don't cause them, they simply expose them.” (p.68) “Too many churches communicate this kind of shaming message: ‘The problem is not that your boundaries were crossed and violated, the problem is that you talked. If you would not have made such a big deal, everything would still be fine.’ If a person accepts that message, they will stop talking. The real problem, however, is that if a Christian who feels violated stops talking, then the perpetrator will never be held accountable for his behaviour.” (p.69)
	“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matt. 11:28).	4. Lack of Balance Johnson and VanVonderen identify two extremes, both of which produce an unbalanced approach to living out the Christian life—Extreme Objectivism and Extreme Subjectivism. “The first extreme is an empirical approach to life, which elevates objective truth to the exclusion of valid subjective experience.” (p.69) “This approach to spirituality creates a system in which authority is based upon the level of education and intellectual capacity alone, rather than on intimacy with God, obedience and sensitivity to his Spirit.” (p.70) “The other manifestation of lack of balance is seen in an extremely subjective approach to Christian life. What is true is decided on the basis of feelings and experiences, giving more weight to them than what the Bible declares.” (p.70) “Even further, we believe it is dishonest—even dangerous—simply to receive and act upon a spiritual directive because you are ‘supposed to be submissive’, or because someone is ‘in authority’. In the end, God is the One before whom we must all stand, the one to whom we must answer.” (p.71)
	They tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger (Matt. 23:4).	5. Paranoia “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 abusers from scrutiny and accountability, and makes it more difficult for people to leave—because they will be outsiders, too.” (p.73) “Ironically, Jesus and Paul both warned that one of the worst dangers to the flock was from wolves in the house (Matthew 10:16; Acts 20:29-30).” (p.74)
		6. Misplaced Loyalty “The next characteristic of spiritually abusive systems is that a misplaced sense of loyalty is fostered and even demanded. We’re not talking about loyalty to Christ, but about loyalty to a given organization, church, or leader.” (p.76) “A common way this is accomplished is by setting up a system where disloyalty to or disagreement with the leadership is construed as the same thing as disobeying God. Questioning leaders is equal to questioning God. After all, the leader is the authority, and authority is always right. This causes people to misplace their loyalty in a leader, a church or an organization.” (p.76) “There are three factors that come into play here, adding up to misplaced loyalty. First, leadership projects a ‘we alone are right’ mentality, which permeates the system. Members must remain in the system if they want to be ‘safe,’ or to stay ‘on good terms’ with God, or not to be viewed as wrong or ‘backslidden.’ The second factor that brings about misplaced loyalty is the use of ‘scare tactics.’ For example: God is going to withdraw His Spirit from you and your family. God will destroy your business. Without our protection, Satan will get your children. You and your family will come under a curse. The third method of calling forth misplaced loyalty is the threat of humiliation. This is done by publicly shaming, exposing, or threatening to remove people from the group. In the abusive system, it is the fear of being exposed, humiliated or removed that insures your proper allegiance, and insulates those in authority. You can be ‘exposed’ for asking too many questions, for disobeying the unspoken rules, or for disagreeing with authority. People are made public examples in order to send a message to those who remain. Others have phone campaigns launched against them, to warn their friends and others in the group about how ‘dangerous’ they are.” (p.76,77) 7. Secretive “When you see people in a religious system being secretive —watch out. People don’t hide what is appropriate; they hide what is inappropriate.” (p.78) “One reason spiritually abusive families and churches are secretive is because they are so image conscious. People in these systems can’t even live up to their own performance standards, so they have to hide what is real. Some believe they must do this in order to protect God’s good name. So how things look and what others think becomes more important than what’s real. They become God’s ‘public relations agents.’ The truth is, He’s not hiring anyone for this position.” (p.78)

AuldSoul

Yes, they are guilty of Spiritual abuse. (Matthew 23)

They close the way to the kingdom of the heavens, blocking it with their endless edicts. They can't abide by their own edicts and neither can those who "learn" from them.

They rob their followers of freedom and they position themselves between mankind and God. They make God's word invalid with their traditions.

They trample on the one they injure and blame the injured one for the hurts they themselves inflict.

They pervert truth and corrupt people.

They are as hypocritical as any other religious organization.

AuldSoul

ICBehindtheCurtain

YES!!!!

IC

forsharry

Absolutely.

Blondie, you are a veritable cornacopia of fantastic information!

Undecided

We shouldn't belittle the WT society, they are Jesus' "faithfull and discrete slave" CLASS. And how do we know this........they say they are, and since they say they are, we can't question the faithful slave and they repeat the name Jehovah all the time. They also have this spirit that helps them vote on what should be your conscience decision. It doesn't work the same on all these slaves, sometimes it tells some of them to vote no and others yes. That's because this spirit doesn't really inspire them, it just directs them. Sometimes later they have to change directions because it was a little dark and more light was needed. Don't worry if you realize you are on the wrong road, just wait on Jehovah, he will send you a new Wt map.

Ken P.

Honesty

Thankyou all.

Blondie, that was priceless!!!

I apologise for posing it as a question, however (JW buzzword learned by years in the ministry as one of Jehovah's False Witnesses) the active JW lurkers seem to view rhetorical questions a lot on JWD and I still have some of that JW mindset that was inculcated (another JW buzzword to get their attention) in me as an assistant book study conductor in the WT cult of deception and lies.

AK - Jeff

VII. Traumatic Departure.
Leaving an aberrational Christian Group is always extremely traumatic.
If a member plans on leaving and the leadership finds out there may be a painful confrontation with the leadership who seek to talk the "rebellious" member out of leaving.

Frequently, the person may be told, "If you leave bad things will happen to you. Maybe you will get cancer..., get hit by a car..., lose everything..., go insane..., and even die."

Leaving is also very traumatic because even though the member no longer believes in the group, they have been indoctrinated to believe that salvation does not exist outside their walls. Thus, where can the departing member go?

How much more abusive than this can you get?

Jeff

garybuss

Do you believe the WTBTS is guilty?Nope! They are just a printing business. I know the Jehovah's Witness people are guilty.

ICBehindtheCurtain

Blondie, I forgot to commend you, for that excellent info. you posted, THANKS!

IC

Do you believe the WTBTS is guilty?

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