sir82: There was a questions from readers in the early 50's which gave the green light to JWs calling themselves a "religion".
Prior to that it was an important distinction, at least in the minds of JWs, to not call themselves a "religion". This was, for example, the basis for the old message "Religion is a snare and a racket", as in, "All those other groups are 'religions', and thus crooked, but we aren't a religion, so you should join us."
"Jehovah's Witnesses" (capital W) used to be, officially, "Jehovah's witnesses" (small w). They didn't want people to construe a capital W as implying "the name of a religion". The change from "w" to "W" occurred on or about the same time as that early 50's QFR.
Yes. Funny how that happened.
And not only did the JWs become a "religion" rather than a "corporation that prints books for like-minded people to study the bible"...but the disfellowshipping doctrine tightened up and came down hard at the very same time.
(the following is a copy and paste from a post I made a few years ago)
...the boast of JWs everywhere, for many years, was that "We are not a religion". They were so proud that they could state that - it made them separate from the evil "Christendom". And they would proudly trot out a mantra that would claim that "The Watchtower Society is only a corporation that provides us with literature"...and "we are a group of like-minded people who study the Bible" or something along those lines. But the statement "We are not a religion" was still in use when I was JW kid in the 60s. (which was pretty confusing for a little kid to deal with) Along with the phrases - 'we don't have clergy" "we don't have churches" and the classic - that all important phrase that has so much legal meaning - "we are ALL each and every one of us - an 'ordained' minister". (that 'ordained' minister phrase, by the way, has everything to do with why they have 'kingdom ministry' schools that all the publishers have to attend - they have to maintain schools to train ordained ministers in order to be a 'religion' under tax laws)
After the Second World War, The United States, like countries everywhere, had a huge war debt to deal with. So they made some changes in the tax laws. In 1950, the tax laws were changed and corporations lost their "tax bubble" and they saw increases in corporate tax.http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/legislation/1950.cfm
All of a sudden it became far more advantageous to claim a tax status as a 'religion' rather than a corporation.
The Watchtower had a problem. The Jehovah's Witnesses weren't established as a 'religion' and were usually viewed simply as a 'sect' or a 'cult'. But the IRS had come up with a brilliant idea as to how to evaluate 'religions' - they based it upon the notion of 'genuine belief'. ALL of the members who followed the beliefs of the Watchtower Society had to be proven that they held 'genuine belief' in the Watchtower Society's teachings in order for the Society to qualify as a religion so they could take advantage of the tax breaks afforded religions. And that was a big problem for the Society - how on earth could they do that with every single member of their following?
In 1952 Nathan Knorr announced the official 'biblical' doctrine/policy of disfellowhipping. At that point the Society was able to establish 'genuine belief' in its followers.
In the years to follow the rank and file gradually learned to call themselves a 'religion'. And the Watchtower got their tax exemptions as a religion. And the disfellowshipping practice still stands.
The disfellowshipping policy/doctrine was largely put in place to satisfy the terms of the IRS in determining whether or not the Watchtower Society would qualify for a tax break and had little to do with genuine biblical doctrine.
