JW's not a cult (page 2)

dgp

Sure.

"When our own thoughts are forbidden, when our questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts and friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused for an end that never justifies its means. When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult."

Deborah Layton, Jonestown survivor. (Jim Jones; People's Temple)

hotspur

When used to indict Jehovah's Witnesses, the word “cult” has no implicit meaning. It's basically just a slang term for a religion someone doesn't like

.

Only JW would think and say this.... one day they will not deny the irrefutable evidence - it is, in fact, a CULT!

nugget

Spade cult is not a slang word for a religion you do not accept or like it is a word to define certain religious groups that are inimical to their followers. People inside a cult have difficulty seeing it. People outside have less problem. If you don't recognise the harm that others can see may I suggest you are in one.

LostGeneration

Spade said: It's basically just a slang term for a religion someone doesn't like.

I'm sure the victims of Jonestown and the Jehovah's Witnesses (blood and organ transplant policy) would have a different opinion. Oh, wait, they are dead now so they can't talk.

sabastious

They are a cult and here is a reference:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/91207/1/Cults-Steven-Hassans-BITE-model

-Sab

NewChapter

Scale of 1 - 10. 1 = Unitarian Universalists

Open Mind---you triggered my alarms. Are you saying that the UU's are a cult on the low end, or are you simply rating ALL religions on the scale? My question is sincere because I've recently started attending UU, and am enjoying the freedom. If you know something, I really want to hear it. I don't want to make the same mistake again! I'll never fully trust myself again---so SPILL.

sabastious

Open Mind---you triggered my alarms. Are you saying that the UU's are a cult on the low end, or are you simply rating ALL religions on the scale? My question is sincere because I've recently started attending UU, and am enjoying the freedom. If you know something, I really want to hear it. I don't want to make the same mistake again! I'll never fully trust myself again---so SPILL.

I watched one of their youtube infomercials and they kind of creeped me out. They were so quick to glorify their "casual" way of life and spirituality. It was a massive sales pitch and rubbed me the wrong way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st5Pv3lsG60

-Sab

shepherd

Even after I left I refused to consider the JWs as a cult. I think pride got in the way - how could I have ended up in a cult?

But now I can see it for what it is. It really is a cult, because there are defined leaders, the GB. What they say is treated as if it came from God and if you challenge it you get expelled and shunned. And one of the things that demonstrates their absolute power is that they even have the audacity to say that even if they are wrong, a JW must humbly obey until such time as Jehovah corrects the situation.

Are the JWs a cult? Most certainly.

OUTLAW

Ask yourself those aforementioned five questions:

(a). They had Jones as a leader – strong and charismatic.

(b) they thought as a group and weren’t allowed to have any ideas to call their own.

(c) they ended encouraged strongly to exclude their friends as well as relatives from every aspect of their lives and their church activities.

(d) The members more than tithed, they basically gifted all everything they owned to the church, and were in turn cared for by the church (the group was entirely communist);

(e) When their isolation from the surrounding community began to break down, they relocated to a remote spot inside the jungles of South America.

All five factors had been met, so they clearly were a cult.

A 2nd Case Study – Jehovah’s Witnesses. Founded in the late 1800s by Charles Taze Russell, these are the folks that you are likely to come across when they knock on your door.

Let’s compare them to the same five questions:

(a) They do not have a particular leader, strong or otherwise.

JW`s follow the WBT$ GB..Case closed..Try going against anything the WBT$ GB Says..You`ll be DF`d..

(b) They believe that as a result of independent bible study, everybody will eventually come to the same conclusions that they have.

When have Jehovah`s Witness`s Ever had a Bible Study?..Jehovah`s Witness`s Study WBT$ Literature about the Bible..There is no Bible Study..

And..

The JW avoided the Question..

JW`s are not allowed to question the WBT$,there is no indendent thought..

JW`s think,what the WBT$ tells them to think...

(c) Witnesses ask people they don’t know as well as relatives to teach what they think they have learned;

Thats a reply not an answer..JW`s "do exclude" relatives and former friends from their lives,who are not JW`s..

You can always count on a JW to side step a Question they don`t like..

(d) While it’s frequently true that Witnesses devote a lot of their time and effort trying to convert others,

there does not appear to be any monetary pressure – not any more so than any other church encourages tithing.

There are huge honk`in contribution boxes at the back of every Kingdom Hall..

And..

JW`s are not shy to ask for more money from the Kingdom Hall or Assembly stage..

When has there ever been an Assembly when they didn`t ask for more money right from the stage?

(e) It’s their lack of separation from the nearby community that often has them at odds with their neighbors.

They meet none of the criteria. Jehovah’s Witnesses are definitely not a cult.

Right..Give us the address`s of all the WBT$ soup kitchens and charity drop off centres..They don`t exist..

JW associate with JW`s..They avoid association with everyone else..

The answers Provided by this Jehovah`s Witness are Extremely DisHonest..

But..

What else would you expect from a Jehovah`s Witness,the Truth?..

............................ ...OUTLAW

NewChapter

Sebastious:

The video does get silly here and there, but I still don't see any "cult like" activity. I think the problem is that people want a quick answer to what you believe, but that's not so easy with UU, so they end up having to talk more.

I've never heard of anyone being "punished" for leaving, like JW's do. Nor do they try to block access to outside information--they actually embrace it. I'm just looking for something I don't know about them, NOW, before I have more at stake.

They actually honored doubters and atheists last Sunday-and they talked about encouraging serious questions. Something JW's would never do.

Edited

I watched one of their youtube infomercials and they kind of creeped me out. They were so quick to glorify their "casual" way of life and spirituality. It

was a massive sales pitch and rubbed me the wrong way.

JW's not a cult

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