by Faithful Witness 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The important point is that the Society holds too much control over JW lives. The debate over whether or not it's a cult is mere semantics and allows the JW to avoid the key point.
They understand that it would be wrong for a religious group to ban their followers from reading their literature and requiring their members to shun a convert to the JW religion, yet they don't consider why it's not a problem for them to do the same.
FW, thanks for posting the link. Unfortunately it doesn't have a link to the original sources.
There also isn't any information about the author of this website.
It doesn't mean that the info on it isn't valid, but it would be nice to be able to independently verify it.
When I google, "University of California at Berkeley (19 Characteristics) cult" all I get is the The Prem Rawat Talk Forum link you posted and a hit to this JWN thread.
Question:
"How many Jehovah's Witnesses does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer:
"I don't know. What does the WatchTower say?
Acceptable alternative:
"I don't know. But I can go to the Kingdom Hall, do some research for you and find out."
Some other questions:
"I appreciate this opportunity to join an Organization that promises me that I will be able to see all my dead relatives again. It's as inviting as an offer the Unification Church once gave me. But my relatives who passed on weren't JWs either. How will I get to see them if I understand this organization correctly?
And if they didn't have to join under pain of death, then why do I?
Why do I have to distribute a magazine that I am not allowed to comment on except to say that it's God's word and explains God's word better than God's word itself?
If I look to a printing press full of anonymous, spiteful and deceitful articles, instead of an individual human leader, will that make me less a member of a cult?
If I belong to an organization that throws away its previous human leaders such as Russell and Rutherford much the same way that Soviet Marxism threw away Lenin and Stalin in exchange for more shadowy bureaucrats or theocrats, will that make me less a member of a cult?
How is this viewpoint different, say, from scientology or the black muslims?
Am I a little hard on the organization?
Yes. For personal reasons.
The original one person J Rutherford who had complete control over the organization is indicative of why and how it eventually grew into publishing a cult.
He was the one who also created the name Jehovah's Witnesses, for those who don't know.
From the Bite model....
8. Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family
I think the following quote from the 15th Feb 1994 WT is so helpful in answering the question : My comments are in brackets thus (.... )
" Cult leaders are known to use manipulative methods to control the minds of their followers. Is there any evidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses do this? (Yes and Yes) Is their worship cloaked in secrecy? ( JW only WT Mag and Flock book) Are they following and venerating a human leader? (Well, not just one, eight actually), Pointedly, are Jehovah’s Witnesses a cult? (Pointedly, yes they are, a Cult in the pejorative sense.)
The article goes on:
"They follow Jesus Christ as their Leader and as Head of the Christian congregation. (Lie) It was Jesus who said: “Do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers. Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One. Neither be called ‘leaders,’ for your Leader is one, the Christ.”—Matthew 23:8-12." (if only they followed Jesus' words, we would not be debating if they are a cult or not.)
Just as an aside on this, in recent times I do not when speaking about them, or to JW's, call them a Cult. If you do JW's get bogged down in the meaning of the word, and the Public get a mental picture of stary eyed zomby like people, which does not exactly fit the JW's they know.
I prefer High-control, Mind-control group, or similar.
To me, the word "cult" is too strongly associated with chanting weirdos in robes, so I have a hard time referring to the WTS as one (I'll never object to anyone calling it that, though, LOL).
I personally prefer the term "authoritarian high control group"; yeah, it's wordy, but IMO, a lot more accurate. Hell, if you break it down word-by-word, even a loyal JW (one with half a brain, anyway) would be hard-pressed to deny that the WTS fits that bill.
That particular classification, to me, is what ultimately disqualifies any claim to legitimacy that the Org makes, in fact; all the other negative aspects of the WTS arguably trace their origin that fundamental defining characteristic.
Elmer: Daffy, you are a duck
Daffy : No I'm not, I only quack and walk like one
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