The Cult of the Jehovah's Witnesses?

[Wrangler]

1st, I have to say that I have a lot of respect for JW's that I have met in person and in this forum.

2nd, this question or accusation comes up in many threads and I thought I'd flush it out and by using a poll. If it is not true, why do so many here, and former members call JW a cult?

3rd, according to the urban dictionary, the defining characteristic of a cult, compared to a religious group is control over its members.

A cult (also referred to as a high control or high demand group) is any organization whose leadership uses mind control on its followers. This applies regardless of the organization's size, beliefs, practices, tax-exempt status, or where its members live and work. Cults can be religious or secular. Cult leadership can consist of one person, two people, or multiple people.
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4th, opinions about the controlling nature of JW's is not meant as critique of their theology. This thread is NOT about debating the JW theology! JW have Freedom of Religion just like everyone else . The scope of this thread is only about the cult aspects of the organization and not its theological doctrines.

5th, my daughter's in-laws have been devasted by the cult aspect of JW. My SIL suffers badly today from an inability to think independently and critically and my 1 year old granddaughter is at grave risk. More details to follow.

 

[Wrangler]

My first encounter with JW was as a child. A next-door neighbor’s cousin was a JW. I played sports with my next-door neighbor all the time and there was something odd when his cousin came over. He attempted to minimize conversation post-game. I talk to the kid every day but the cousin seemed to think my apparently negative or unwelcomed influence could be mitigated the few times a year the cousin came over.


Fast forward 4 decades. I hadn’t seen my daughter in a long time. Out of State, we stayed the weekend and as I prepared to leave, my SIL’s mother felt it was her place to walk me and my daughter to the front door of my daughter’s house to say goodbye. It was as if the JW mother tried to prevent an unapproved word between father and daughter.


Later I learned about the destruction such controlling tactics had on my SIL and half his family. He is not legally my SIL. He is living with my daughter as husband and wife and they produced my granddaughter. Before that, he tried to get out of the cult but they kept harassing him and used his own family against him.


He knew that by living with my daughter, he would be marked or whatever the JW term is for shaming people who act outside the JW organization rules. And this would achieve what he wanted, freedom from JW.


Half his family is so marked and half his family is still in the cult, a term he uses to describe JW. My daughter says he is a spiritually broken man due to their mind control tactics; that he has not developed the capacity to make decisions on his own. I cannot do justice to her witness of how it has ruined the man she loves and half his family.


So as to not violate JW rules, his parents make plans to spend time with my daughter and granddaughter for there is no rule against spending time with people who were never part of JW. If my daughter’s hubby (slang for not legal husband) happens to go along, that is not strictly speaking a violation of ostracizing the former JW member, their own son, who they love dearly. What a foolish game JW puts his family to play in order to love on another through life. My granddaughter’s other grandparents are forbidden to make plans with their own son! It’s absurd and hurtful to all.

 

[APAK]

I do not think that the JW group of believers form a cult. Their style of upper leadership, doctrine and indoctrination and discipline as a very 'tight' group does tend to make one perceive them as cult-like. I consider them no more of a cult as the RCs LDS' or SDAs or the Amish etc, or really any other group that has their own unique twist on scripture, their traditions and doctrine. If they are a cult then the RCs are definitely the largest of them for sure. And then mainline Protestants being the next major umbrella cult structure.

 

[ChristisGod]

I do in the fact they deny the deity of Christ and have a salvation based upon works .

 

[Rita]

Sadly I have been labelled a child of Satan by the JWs, purely and simply because I class myself as a Christian. My ex husbands uncle for quite high up , yet he had been married three times had endless children with different people and expected complete authority over his wife. He preached at every moment possible to the extent where it was rammed down your throat. I would get visits from the JWs whenever he was due to visit England ( he lived in the US ) He never offered to pay for anything, a taker. He never really sewed many good seeds and certainly didn’t reflect Jesus within his attitudes.
After reading 35years a watchtower slave, I must admit that I did see much control within the church and basically saw it as a church of works. Everything seemed to be motivated by getting into the 144000 ………….
I don’t know if the point system still exists , but just something that was said on another thread made me quite concerned, along the lines of a person ‘ not being good enough yet ‘ …..
Rita

 

[Wrangler]

He preached at every moment possible to the extent where it was rammed down your throat.

You mean JW are not good listeners?

Rather than have a conversation, they are in lecture-mode most of the time?

 

[Rita]

You mean JW are not good listeners?

Rather than have a conversation, they are in lecture-mode most of the time?

It was that way with my husbands uncle, but he was staying with us. We did have other conversations but it just had a way of going round to the subjects he really wanted to discuss.
I use to work with a JW and honestly I wouldn’t have known,it was only when we were collecting for a staff members birthday that we found out. She wouldn’t give to the collection and explained why.

 

[Windmillcharge]

characteristic of a cult, compared to a religious group is control over its members.
A cult (also referred to as a high control or high demand group) is any organization whose leadership uses mind control on its followers. This applies regardless of the organization's size, beliefs, practices, tax-exempt status, or where its members live and work. Cults can be religious or secular. Cult leadership can consist of one person, two people, or multiple people.

Whether those definitions are correct I haven't checked.
But there are characteristics of religous so called ' christian ' cults that can be seen in the JW as follows:-
Denial of Jesus as God, imposition of another authority ovrer the bible, an exclusive nature all other Christians are wrong/mislead etc leading to isolation from other Christians and from worldly involvement, to be controlling of there members and to major in minor issues.

The JW do all these things.

 

[ChristisGod]

Whether those definitions are correct I haven't checked.
But there are characteristics of religous so called ' christian ' cults that can be seen in the JW as follows:-
Denial of Jesus as God, imposition of another authority ovrer the bible, an exclusive nature all other Christians are wrong/mislead etc leading to isolation from other Christians and from worldly involvement, to be controlling of there members and to major in minor issues.

The JW do all these things.

Ditto

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

I do in the fact they deny the deity of Christ and have a salvation based upon works .

It's true JW's don't believe Jesus to be God but instead believe him to be the Only Begotten Son of God as the scriptures say Jesus is.
As for you saying they believe that the only way to get salvation is through works that just shows you don't truly know JW's. They teach that the only way to get eternal life is by exercising faith in the fact that YHWH God loved mankind so much that he sent his Only Begotten Son to mankind and that those who exercise faith in this loving act that YHWH God and his Only Begotten Son did will get eternal life. John 3:16
It is true that JW's teach as the scriptures teach that if you love God and your neighbor you will worship the True God only and that you will love no one or anything more than the True God. They also teach what the scriptures teach that you will show your love for your neighbor by not murdering them or stealing from them or bearing false witness against them etc. and that you practice such things simply and only because you love God and your neighbor not with the motivation that such acts will save you but instead you practice what the scriptures say we should do simply and only because we love God and his Only Begotten Son so much we exercise faith in God that he knows what's the best way for a human to live and how we should treat one another and because you love him and exercise faith you put into practice what the scriptures teach is the best kind of loving person that the true God shows us in his word is truly a loving person in his eyes.
If you murder people how can you say you were showing love to those you murdered? If you are stealing from people how can you say you love the ones you're stealing from? If you knowingly accuse people of things you know they didn't do how are you showing love to those people you knowingly accuse of something you know they didn't do?
Showing love for God and your neighbor is something that the scriptures shows us we should practice because of our love for the True God and our neighbor and simply and only for that reason.

 

[ChristisGod]

It's true JW's don't believe Jesus to be God but instead believe him to be the Only Begotten Son of God as the scriptures say Jesus is.
As for you saying they believe that the only way to get salvation is through works that just shows you don't truly know JW's. They teach that the only way to get eternal life is by exercising faith in the fact that YHWH God loved mankind so much that he sent his Only Begotten Son to mankind and that those who exercise faith in this loving act that YHWH God and his Only Begotten Son did will get eternal life. John 3:16
It is true that JW's teach as the scriptures teach that if you love God and your neighbor you will worship the True God only and that you will love no one or anything more than the True God. They also teach what the scriptures teach that you will show your love for your neighbor by not murdering them or stealing from them or bearing false witness against them etc. and that you practice such things simply and only because you love God and your neighbor not with the motivation that such acts will save you but instead you practice what the scriptures say we should do simply and only because we love God and his Only Begotten Son so much we exercise faith in God that he knows what's the best way for a human to live and how we should treat one another and because you love him and exercise faith you put into practice what the scriptures teach is the best kind of loving person that the true God shows us in his word is truly a loving person in his eyes.
If you murder people how can you say you were showing love to those you murdered? If you are stealing from people how can you say you love the ones you're stealing from? If you knowingly accuse people of things you know they didn't do how are you showing love to those people you knowingly accuse of something you know they didn't do?
Showing love for God and your neighbor is something that the scriptures shows us we should practice because of our love for the True God and our neighbor and simply and only for that reason.

The doctrine of the 144 k alone prove it’s a system of works lol

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

The doctrine of the 144 k alone prove it’s a system of works lol

Actually it's not, because the 144000 are those chosen by God. These people didn't just decide they were of the 144000 but God beared witness with their spirit that they have been chosen by God, there's no work's there at all.

 

[Rita]

Actually it's not, because the 144000 are those chosen by God. These people didn't just decide they were of the 144000 but God beared witness with their spirit that they have been chosen by God, there's no work's there at all.

Sadly that wasn’t what was relayed in the testimony of the lady who wrote 35years a watch tower slave. …..now obviously I read that some years ago, it was also someone in the U.K. They gave the impression that you earned points for leaving leaflets, if you were invited in to some ones home, if you brought someone to church ect . This was someone’s testimony. The aim was to climb up the ranks so that you will be included in that number.
Rita

 

[Jane_Doe22]

I’m not remotely a fan of JW, quite the opposite in fact.

But threads like this aren’t going to bring a JW or anyone else closer to Christ.

 

[ChristisGod]

Sadly that wasn’t what was relayed in the testimony of the lady who wrote 35years a watch tower slave. …..now obviously I read that some years ago, it was also someone in the U.K. They gave the impression that you earned points for leaving leaflets, if you were invited in to some ones home, if you brought someone to church ect . This was someone’s testimony. The aim was to climb up the ranks so that you will be included in that number.
Rita

Yes

 

[ChristisGod]

I’m not remotely a fan of JW, quite the opposite in fact.

But threads like this aren’t going to bring a JW or anyone else closer to Christ.

Agreed

 

[BARNEY BRIGHT]

Sadly that wasn’t what was relayed in the testimony of the lady who wrote 35years a watch tower slave. …..now obviously I read that some years ago, it was also someone in the U.K. They gave the impression that you earned points for leaving leaflets, if you were invited in to some ones home, if you brought someone to church ect . This was someone’s testimony. The aim was to climb up the ranks so that you will be included in that number.
Rita

I really don't worry about what people say about the organization of JW's. I can't verify her story to be true or not and I don't judge someone or an organization on the testimony of one person's testimony that I can't verify to be true or not. What I know is what I've been taught in the organization that 144000 are those chosen by God, there's no work's involved. This is something the witnesses believed two decades before 1914 and they said that God began choosing who would be of the 144000 in 33C.E. When the apostles were baptized with Holy Spirit. This is what was taught to me when I began studying with the witnesses. I see for myself how far this teaching goes back with the witnesses. Too many people just believe anything you hear about the JW's as the truth without verifying if it's true or not.

 

[Stan B]

The doctrine of the 144 k alone prove it’s a system of works lol

They used to proclaim, i.e. lie, that the 144,000 were all JWs and they were the only ones going to heaven. The when their numbers increased beyond 144,000 they had to make an amendment: 144,000 will go to Heaven, and another 144,000 will remain here on earth.

JW's have come to my house, and one thing they have in common is an IQ under 90.

The leaders constantly police their members. My niece and nephew were JWs. When their leaders discovered I was talking to them about the Bible on Facebook, they forbade me to talk to them; and if they caught me talking to them about anything, they were going to call the police on me. My nephew and niece were forced to block me on Facebook, ending our relationship.

JW leaders are really a bunch of dull-witted, control-freak Satanists!

 

[Wrangler]

Just a reminder …

This thread is NOT about debating the JW theology! JW have Freedom of Religion just like everyone else . The scope of this thread is only about the cult aspects of the organization and not its theological doctrines.

I do in the fact they deny the deity of Christ and have a salvation based upon works .

The doctrine of the 144 k alone prove it’s a system of works lol

Their doctrines are outside the scope of this thread. Let’s stay on the cult aspect, such as their alleged point system. (This is the first I heard of this but it sounds like a tool for control and guilt and shame).

 

[Stan B]

I’m not remotely a fan of JW, quite the opposite in fact.

But threads like this aren’t going to bring a JW or anyone else closer to Christ.

The Bible seems to take a different approach:

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." Eph 5:11