March15,1998 Watchtower
Dangers of Following Men
"A "sect" has been defined as "a group adhering to a distinctive doctrine or to a leader." Similarly, those belonging to a "cult" have "great devotion to a person, idea, or thing." Actually, the members of any religious group who strongly adhere to human leaders and their ideas are in danger of becoming slaves of men. A strong leader-oriented relationship can lead to an unhealthy emotional and spiritual dependency. The danger may be compounded when a person is reared in a sectarian atmosphere from childhood."
Are Jehovah's Witnesses a cult, sect, or a group " adhering to human leaders"? Is the Governing Body a group of anointed [men] who have a "strong leader-oriented relationship" with it's adherers? From my experience in being forced to be part of this cult group of people for 10 years of my life, my honest answer would be YES.
Any JWs out here lurking who tell others that the religious CULT you are a member of do not follow the rules of MEN are liars. For in the same Watchtowe magazine published by being APPROVED by the men who are the leaders of your "institution", it reads:
" Jehovah's Witnesses are students of the Bible. (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; Acts 17:11) The program of Bible education provided by the Governing Body might be compared to a school curriculum outlined by a board of education. Although the board is itself not the source of the material being taught, it does set up the curriculum, determine the method of instruction, and issue necessary directives. If anyone flagrantly refuses to live according to the requirements of the institution,..... he can be expelled."
It really made my laugh that this was under the part of the article called...
"Living Up to Christian Dedication in Freedom"
What freedom would that be?
It really pisses me off when I hear Jehovah's Witnesses lie to other poeple by saying that Jesus is thier leader and that they do not follow men. What a crock of shit that is. It pisses me off that I used to tell the same lie and think nothing of it! Who make up this Governing Body who decide on what the "requirements" for the "institution" will be? Paragraph 11 on page 18 answers that it is a group of HUMANS .
"Presently, the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is composed of ten anointed Christians, .." So the TRUTH is, they are a group of MEN.
"The danger may be compounded when a person is reared in a sectarian atmosphere from childhood."
Does this group of men teach to rear your children into this scetarian atmosphere? YES...they do. They published this article instructing to train children in this atmosphere from INFANCY.
Train Them From Infancy
"... read other worthwhile publications, such as Listening to the Great Teacher, My Book of Bible Stories, The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, and articles in the Watchtower and Awake! magazines." 7/15/96 Watchtower
It's an institution alright.
somebody