The Watch Tower falsely claims that the entire international Witness brotherhood holds to the same way of thinking on doctrinal matters; that all members in the congregation who are good Christians deeply believe in whatever the “faithful and discreet slave” provides. But, is it so?
Well, one thing is to pretend that you are in agreement with whatever is presented to you and something very different is to really believe in it. It must be reminded that nowadays, in most mainstream religious groups, political parties or other forms of social groups, absolute uniformity in the way of thinking is not a prerequisite to join, because those groups recognize that such uniformity is not possible. In other words, it is required that the adherents submit to the core believes or the organized entity, but even if the members declare that they do not hold to certain believe or procedure, there is no judicial process; no intimidation; no threats of proclaiming you an outcast; no threats of eternal death either. Such methods of intimidation can be found only in the cults or sects, which is exactly what the Jehovah’s Witness organization is. But even if we were to find those types of methods everywhere else, they are a clear attack against human dignity anyways.
Compulsory agreement is no agreement at all. It is very simple. If someone kidnaps my child and asks me to pay him a million dollars as a ransom, and I obey his wishes, taking into consideration all the implications of not proceeding in accordance, who on earth would have the guts to say that such transaction was a voluntary agreement between the kidnapper and myself? Now, imagine that instead of asking me for a million dollars, the abductor informs me that all he wants me to do is to read the Watchtower magazine and believe without question whatever I find there, regardless of how much of it seems to be non-sense. What do you think I should do? Since I profoundly love my child, I will not hesitate to say: Yes, sir, indeed, I have read it, and I believe it all; I even believe it more than the writer himself.
You certainly get the point. The Watch Tower does things in more subtle ways, of course, but the principle remains. Although many Witnesses joined the cult because it was a belief system that looked appealing to them, they now hold to it due to systematic intimidation. The “faithful and discreet slave” has become a spiritual bully.