If They Weren't a Cult Before.....

by AllTimeJeff 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  rebel8

  A table I created for people wondering if jws are a cult: http://www.jwinfo.8m.com/cult_comparison.htm
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  truthsearcher

  My mother was raised in a different cult--very exclusive and controlling. Makes the JWs look like a Sunday School picnic. They have outlawed all computer use as being evil, however the guys at the top are allowed to use it at HQ. Another classic case of "do as I say, not as I do".

  You would think in this day and age that people wouldn't stand for that type of hypocrisy and control, and yet they maintin a loyal following. Some have awakened to the true nature of the cult, though.

  So, it is possible that the Witnesses could go further down the cult road. When they start to care less about how many members they have, and just about clinging to their doctrines and being "right" in their own minds, then anything is possible.

  When will the sheep realize that they have been in the clutches of the wolves? The Good Shepherd is leading lambs out every day--welcome to all the newbies, may you find true faith in Christ from the Scriptures alone.
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  greendawn

  Those are indeed some of the signs that we dealing with a cult. In fact all talks given by the JWs at their meetings are prewritten by the GB and their intimate trusted associates, and are virtually the same when deliverd to all JWs regardless of where they are in the world. Now they are getting tougher with the marginal variation that is possible.
  
  Just looking at the way they deal with the 1914 generation change shows they are an opportunistic cult, though since 1995 the end is not necessarily near and could be centuries away they still advise JW kids not to attend university to have a better future. And they frequently put out sensationalist false info which clearly implies that the end is about to come to keep the empty headed drones motivated.
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  AllTimeJeff

  My one issue in regards to cults is that it seems most people only think of Heavens Gate or Jones Town, etc etc etc.

  Is it only a cult if the end result is the mass suicide of its members? No, I don't think that way anymore. More to the point I think it is the isolation of the group that makes it worrisome.

  The more that the GB interprets "no part of the world" as an excuse to cover their tracks, history, mistakes and stupidity, the more the R&F will suffer. They isolate their followers simply because they don't want to lose them. If most JW's knew of the UN and the truth about the date of Jerusalems fall and 1914, would they stay in? Thus the control and isolation.....

  I don't think they are the most dangerous group out their. I think it is only the extreme small ones that do the Kool Aid thing... JW's are dangerous and harmful for different reasons. They suck the soul and life right out of you over made up fairy tales.
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  WTWizard

  Even without the literal Kool-Aid, the Puketower is "killing" people. They "die" in the sense that they are no longer allowed to think of themselves. They are no longer allowed to live for themselves. Instead, they are supposed to live for the religion. Every decision and thought is supposed to come from the leaders. I can see a time coming where every word spoken at the door in field circus will have come from the leaders as well, killing any individuality.

  People that live their whole lives like that will become stagnant. They cannot gain any meaning or sense in their lives, since someone else is doing all the thinking for them. If these were killed off and replaced with machines that do exactly as they are supposed to, it wouldn't make any difference to society at large. And the people usually do not enjoy it one little bit. (No wonder so many are drunkards or get so fat; food and drink is the only escape). These people, due to their absence of conscious thought, might as well be dead. And their lives are as ruined as those that actually take poison Kool-Aid, so the Witless cult is just as dangerous as one that actually programs its members to kill themselves.
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  Great comments people looks like the WTS weren't able to rob the hearts and minds of all who got connected with them
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  V

  They have forbidden elders to use outside secular sources in preparing talks. Only secular sources found in WT's may be used, although those have been more spare as well.
  
  They have reigned in all WT conductors. From now on, no WT conductor can use any research he found. All answers to the nonsense questions must come only from the paragraph and the conductor and the commentors can only use scriptures that are cited in the paragraph.
  Could you provide the source of the two items above?
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  startingovernow

  They have reigned in all WT conductors. From now on, no WT conductor can use any research he found. All answers to the nonsense questions must come only from the paragraph and the conductor and the commentors can only use scriptures that are cited in the paragraph.

  Do you have a reference for this statement, ATJeff?
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  BabaYaga

  So glad StartingOver bumped this.

  Great stuff.
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  AllTimeJeff

  Hey there! I didn't answer all of the questions... Sorry...

  There was a specific letter in late summer 06 TABOE (To All Bodies of Elders) that had to be reviewed in its entirety with the body. It gave strict instructions that outside scriptures or research were not to be used by the Watchtower Conductor (WTC). Also, the body of elders, with the CO at his next visit, were to review the WTC qualifications to make sure that he was doing the WT Study as told.

  At the time, I was happy, there were a lot of WTC's who would BS through half the thing. Which as it turned out, made it double BS.

  As for the Public Talk, (PT) that was in the same letter I think. The letter specifically mentioned not bringing in Herbrew or Greek interlinear references, nor to attribute non WT sources in a PT, that there was no need to go beyond the abundant amount of research that the GB had done. (I think the PT's were still 45 minutes at that time, they are obviously now 30)

  I was already leaving and just hadn't announced my intentions, but man, i was thinking "They want everything to sound the same! It'll be boring! Why do it?"

  Because its a cult.