Radium,
An Apostate is anyone who has turned their back on their religion. To a JW, an apostate is any JW, who even questions any of the the policies or interpretations of the Watchtower Society. To a JW, an apostate is extremely evil and has turned his back on God (who they call Jehovah). This website would be considered an apostate site, and very evil. An active JW would not want to spend time on this website as it might weaken their faith due to the bad people involved and the influence of Satan or demons. There is no independent thought allowed, at all. For example, you could question the Catholic church's stand on birth control quite openly, and no one would blink. A JW could not mention that there were circumstances where it it would be good to accept a blood transfusion without getting into big trouble, possibly getting disfellowshipped (thrown out of the religion). If they are disfellowshipped they are shunned by all the other JWs, even family and friends. This is to force them back into line, and is considered to be for their own good.
The word, apostate, is used in a somewhat cynical, positive way in the X-JW culture (in an outsider's viewpoint), referring to someone who has left the cult and sees how they were programmed, and is, perhaps, vocal about the problems with the Watchtower. On this site, it is a very good thing to be an apostate and the title is worn with pride.
Edited by - concerned mama on 12 September 2002 15:18:28