Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult and here's why I think so (page 5)

B_Deserter

Having read some of the replies, a lot of people seem to be of the mistaken belief that if JWs are not a cult, that must mean they're a-ok. Mormons do everything JWs do, cutting off their members from society, deeming the outside world as "of the devil," hiding the true history of the church from members, and even having bedroom laws and prying elders. They even go a step further with the temple underwear thing. You don't have to be a cult to be dangerous. I just think the traditional way the term "cult" has been applied doesn't really fit with the Witnesses. The elders aren't going to raid your house looking for contraband like R-rated movies, cigarettes, and pornography are they? They tell you how to dress and groom yourself but don't stand there and force you to shave your stubble every morning, do they? Yes, you can be ostracized for doing such things, but you're not physically prevented from doing so. You can still watch R-Rated movies fairly easily. Again, that doesn't mean I'm excusing their behavior. I agree it's wrong and does a lot of damage. The Ex-Amish experience many of the same things we do when leaving their group, and have an even worse time adjusting than we do. They can't even drive cars or even know the value of money (you aren't allowed to keep money until you're a male 18 and up). How many people have you heard running around calling the Amish a cult? Not too many.

All I'm saying is you can't just throw Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon, and the Amish in the same category as the People's Temple or the Manson Family. They're destructive for their own reasons, yes, but to me calling JWs a cult is like calling an earthquake a tidal wave.

B_Deserter

As a child I was always told by my parents to be ready to "obey Jehovah" because the society may ask us to do something that we won't want to do, like drop everything and leave our homes. This is likely a way for the society to condition Jehovah's Witnesses into doing something that will seem very wrong to a lot of them. When that day comes, they'll be fully a cult to me.

carla

Just shows your lack of research on what cults are. Study what researchers and experts have already done. I see some people are reluctant to really research topics, they would rather hang onto ignorant ideas because it is easier or have others tell them what to think. Though it may be your own reluctance in admitting that you were in a cult yourself that stops you from calling it what it is. You may never be free if you let fear guide your research or lack of it. Open your mind it's not such a scary place as the wt has led you to believe.

The wt is certainly (if not more so) as dangerous as Jim Jones, Aum, Heavens Gate, and others. Read and find out why.

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.

brinjen

Cults come in all shapes and sizes, just because the jw's don't fit one description of a cult, doesn't mean they are not. They are a cult, they just don't fit most people's perception of a cult, that's what makes them more dangerous.

calico

I think they can loosely be called a cult. Look at the connotation they give to the term "apostate"--I really like the term that Gill used---MENTAL PRISON--I think that's a PERFECT description!

drew sagan

sammielee24

I prefer the term "high control group" because it is much more descriptive in what it implies about a certain group. The word 'cult' has so many possible meanings in our culture that getting a proper definition of what a cult even is can be next to impossible.

One should simply not use a term or phrase to describe these groups just because it socially implies something more negative. To do so can lead to nothing more than name calling.

I also think that using phrases such as "high control group" actually puts more pressure on groups like the JWs than using the word cult does.

Junction-Guy

I use the word Cult, because it specifically conjures up negative images, to do otherwise candy coats the whole mess.

If the JW's werent a Cult, then there would be no need for a discussion board with 25,000 people telling the world how the WT Society wrecked their families and their lives.

drew sagan

I use the word Cult, because it specifically conjures up negative images, to do otherwise candy coats the whole mess.

So are we to simply to apply negative terms to things we don't like? According to you, yes.

What is at issue rests upon what you personally believe a cult to be, and this is different from person to person. In the vast majority of people it brings up a negative picture, but that is as far as it goes. It does not bring into peoples minds any of the dynamics that makes these groups what they are (i.e. information control, thought stopping, ect). Because of this other factors are usually mistaken by the general public as to what some qualities of cults are. This would include thinking that they all are in a compound (like Jim Jones and David Koresh) with guns and poison. Thus, people attach a wide variety of dynamics to their definition of "cult" that may or may not be good in defining such groups.

So when you are using the term "cult" you are giving out a negative vibe, but possibly not one that actually represents the situation as it is.

skeeter1

I tend to call the Jehovah's Witnesses a "High Control Group". This is less offensive, as they are over a century old and a recognized religion.

OnTheWayOut

I was going to just read this thread after I made my comments earlier.
I was going to refrain from trying to win you over.
Semantics are just semantics. Why waste your time and mine?

I read this statement this morning and had to comment:

...the society may ask us to do something that we won't want to do, like drop everything and leave our homes. This is likely a way for the society to condition Jehovah's Witnesses into doing something that will seem very wrong to a lot of them. When that day comes, they'll be fully a cult to me.

I am pretty sure that Jim Jones and his followers did not knock on someone's door and
recruit them to "a cult." They didn't tell newbies they should join this group of people
and move to a far away compound. That developed over time.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not stand in your bedroom telling you to avoid kinky sex.
They sit in the Kingdom Hall, expecting you to stand before them if it comes up.
If you wait for them to come to your living room and search your DVD library or
wait for them to stand over you while you have sex, then it will be too late. You
have to recognize the problem before that point.

I get your point. If, one day, the WTS asks it's members to sell everything and
"flee to the mountains" by literally moving to their compound somewhere, then
all kinds of alarms should go off. But it will be too late for many. They will already
be conditioned and they will follow the leaders.

Those in the past who have committed mass suicides were at one point feeling that
they had the freedom to "choose" to do as their leaders said. They had the freedom
to "decide" to be faithful to the doctrines or orders. Somewhere along the way, the
line blurred and their "choice" was realized to be fictional. Many Witnesses are already
past that point by baptism. They "choose" to follow for awhile, but eventually start
judging any "weak" Witnesses that don't "choose" correctly.

Someone already said that cults come in all sizes and shapes. Witnesses and Mormons
have done all they can to mainstream themselves. Mormons have more-or-less succeeded
and JW's have not. That doesn't make them any less dangerous.

If it helps, I think of JW's as CULT-LIGHT. They allow the members to make many
living decisions for themselves. But I consider this light version to be even more dangerous
to the fully-assimilated members. If an alcoholic recognizes his problem, he seeks help.
Some never recognize the problem, though. A JW, like the alcoholic who denies his
problem but wants to avoid drunkenness, switches to "light" beer. Before he knows it, he
is drinking a 12-pack a day, then a case. If he drank regular beer, he would say he had a
problem, but he continues to deny it because it's just light beer. That's the JW. He
continues to deny his religion is a cult because he's following a religion that doesn't easily
fit into a "cult" definition.

That paragraph above might be difficult to follow. Here's the short version. Nobody wants
to think they were or are in a mind-control cult. If we can fool ourselves, we are doing the
work for the leaders.

Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult and here's why I think so

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