Comments on: Are Jehovah’s Witnesses a Cult?

By: Robert Sloan

Robert Sloan — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:23:21 +0000

Before we were married my wife was not all that religious. After 9/11 she became enamored of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and became deeply involved in it. She keeps trying to persuade me but I am immune to doctrination,because I can see what is going on. She drinks the kool-aid willingly and I cannot argue against it. That only causes her to dig her heels in deeper. Now she is busy converting her sister,who has an addictive personality.Her sister went through a lot of troubles with drugs and alcohol. I am scientifically literate which helps me identify the lies these people tell. I want so badly to change what is happening with my wife, but I haven’t a clue how to stop this. Because of this we will probably continue to grow apart and eventually split up. I do not relish the day that it happens.

By: Kim Dorich

Kim Dorich — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:27:06 +0000

I bookmarked this blog a while ago because of the new content and I have never been let down. Continue the outstanding work.

By: neweyes

neweyes — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:25:08 +0000

“Witnesses are not put in harms way or asked to do anything that is physically/ or mentally harmful.”

Hundreds died for need of an organ transplant and children suffered from not recieving crucial vaccines before the WT changed their minds about that doctrine. So sad to play with people’s lives like that.

By: April Galamin

April Galamin — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:34:25 +0000

You’ve written an important & informative article Brenda!

There exist other abusive groups that are very similar to the JW’s, one of
which I was a part of for almost 2 decades.

The MO’s of these groups are so similiar.
IMHO, I think FEAR is the major controlling factor.

Love this website & all the best to you.

By: Panama

Panama — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:58:53 +0000

It is nice to definitely locate a website where the blogger is rational. Thanks for creating your website.

By: marc

marc — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:05:13 +0000

“…not put in harms way or asked to do anything that is physically/ or mentally harmful…” Yeah OK,, so you say.

I was working in a room, listening to a small group of people speaking to oneanother. Although I was an outsider, they wasn’t aware I was listening to them at first.

All they seemed to talk about was bad things they have heard that happened recently in the newspapers, about bad things that had happened to them, and about injustice generally. They were talking as though their lives were constant pain and suffering and it seemed they were desiring to be rescued, maybe win the lottery or something.

When I moved closer to them I actually said something to the group to change the subject away from the depressing things, and for a while the conversation was more balanced. But not for long, the conversation went back to the bad things again. I changed the subject again (actually twice) to more balanced conversation, and again the group reverted back, then I gave up and left them to it, they seemed ‘happy’ that way.

I later learned that these are of the same mindset that discourage their children from wanting higher education and to better themselves in their Life. I hear they do this using their church mass (like Neuromberg, germany), by a creepy kind of scare story-telling of ‘how university is demonic’ and ‘everyone takes drugs and has group sex’.

So the children don’t get to live a proper childhood (i.e. Micheal Jackson), they don’t look forward to making anything of themselves, they don’t celebrate the joys of our life that god gave us. All they do is go round spreading negativity, mis-trust, paranoia (all with a smiling face on, as a Front because the ‘image’ of their church is more important than anything else). These are the people that regard “independent thinking as being the work of the devil”.

All they have to look forward to is a ‘hope’ that they will survive the 3rd world war, while having a feeling of never quite measuring up, so they feel they have to recruit more members into this watchtower church.

By: david thomen

david thomen — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:07:15 +0000

howdy
i’m a dissociate j who but still married to a women who was born a j who & will never changed. We raised three children one is a j who {bapstive} the other two are not thank god. I was pre 1975 althought the year was not the spectic end of time it was to be around that time. the generatation living in 1914 {old enough to know what was going on would see the end} I’m not allow to famliy function{ my Bro& sis mother ,father are J who’s only because i choose to disagee with there teaching’s Never I try to change anyone veiw point. Have even defended the J who’s have they were mis represented. But when you are not allow to have a different view point or even voice coment of doubt with out fear of being disfellowship that a cult folks peace worm

By: Spongebob

Spongebob — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:49:27 +0000

No, they are not a cult! David Koresh and his branch davidians was a cult!
Witnesses are not put in harms way or asked to do anything that is physically/ or mentally harmful.
As a disfellowshipped member i respect their choice not to associate with me as “bad association spoils useful habits.
Everyone is born with free will, and the choice to be a JW is their choice.
Having direction and seeking a better way life is your choice.

By: Seeker

Seeker — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:04:38 +0000

Only one piece of advice, is it possible to have properly researched, historically accurate articles that are objective? The above is a highly emotive and subjectively written article, that will just re inforce the JW mindset that “apostates” are a bunch of angry misguided misfits.
Russell openly welcomed criticism and disagreement , forbidding that any one be sanctioned and he welcomed open debate , in his work ” The New Creation ” a book I highly recommend anyone who is associated with the Witnesses and others interested in the history of the Bible Students movement to read with an open mind, he condemns the use of disfellowshipping as a tool to silence or control fellow christians. Bible Students recognise Russell as a fellow brother , a man like any other – imperfect and sinful and in need of the same grace as every other man or woman that has ever lived, he not revered or worshipped as some claim, however any personwho honestly reads his writting will realise that he had great insight when it came to the Scriptures. I will also add I am not a JW or a Bible Student , but I recognise the vast differnce between the two groups !

By: Luci

Luci — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:25:20 +0000

Perhaps I did misunderstand Brenda Lee’s point in that respect, but I do disagree that a cult was created by Charles Russell. The cult (if by cult we mean a high control group) was not created by Russell who was an advocate of congragational self-rule. The creation of the cult was “judge” Rutherford’s doing. It was the judge who made the WT the central authority for all the congregations and set the stage for the present abuses. Until the Rutherford made himself the president the IBSA and the Watchtower Bible and Tract were merely legal entities.

And …Thanks to the judge, there was a mass exodus of Bible Students who formed their own independent groups in the 20’s, many of which still exist today. (And many of them do disagree with some of Russell’s teachings)