tjcurioso: What happens in a lot of families where there are tensions? very often they don't speak years with each other.. or till they dies. And good family relations are broken.. Very sad, with my work I often deal with such situations.... why is this conduct accept, and why is nobody ring on the alarm bell? i know a lot of JW's who have contact with expelled family despite the policy they have to follow.. And of course others who are following strictly the rules...
Enzo, I don't understand Your comparison. We are not talking about familie and all the problems existing in the midle. We are discussing the evidence that points to a certain group as a cult and what determines that group as a cult.
The shunning is ALWAYS a clue that certain group can be or certainly is "destructive cult" or use great control over the members, creating a mentality of us vs. them. The religion of the Witnesses don't have this clue alone (shunning), and if You read all the books that exist about cults and articles about that and compare to the JW, You can see that many of the characteristics attributed to cults fit perfectly in the JW religion. Don't all of them, but many do.
London111 only mention some aspects but there are many more.
See the book Take Back Your Life by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias in page 327-328 were are mention characteristics associated with Cultic Groups and compare with the JW.
There are 15 characteristics mention there and in the JW religion at least 12 fit.
