Quick note on the Jehovah Witness cult. I was doing a temp job in a mailroom in midtown Manhattan a week ago and was working with a guy who had been there about 2 weeks. This woman in the office started talking to him one day about the Jehovah cult, starting the recruiting process. As soon as she left the mailroom, I gave him the RickRoss.com site to let him know that they were bad news. He told me that several cult members in the company had already spoken to him about the Jehovah cult. Since he was new, they were obviously going after him as a team effort, taking advantage of the fact that he wanted to get along with everyone and not rock the boat. I told him to stand his ground and tell them to leave him alone. I said that they had no right to target him like that, taking advantage of the fact that he just got there. The next day she dropped off more Jehovah cult material for him. I suggested that he give it back to her with a firm "Thanks, but no thanks." I also told him that they were relentless and would not leave him alone unless he made it clear to them that he was not interested in joining the cult. He said too that this woman offered to call him at 4 AM in the morning to discuss Jehovah cult things with him.

Hopefully I gave him enough information in time. The observed recruiting process fits in with the well established cult recruiting pattern:
- Go after a person who is in a new environment and not yet put down roots
- Use friendship and being "nice" as bait, ie: love bombing
- Discuss the target with others in the cult as to how to go after them
- Use "teams" to put as much pressure on the person as possible
- If the person fights back, use character assassination to destroy the person's reputation to punish them for not joining the cult

Matt

Hi Matt,

Yes, I agree that "The Jehovah Witnesses" movement is a cult. I have read a leading Cult reference work and " The Jehovah Witnesses" was in there with the Mormons, Scientology, and several others.

One very consistent thing about these cults, they either ask for a lot of your time, a lot of your money, or both. And yes, they try very hard to keep you in the group, they try to make you think you can't make it without them. Scientology, which I left, is one of these. And there are many others, as I am sure you well know.

Sincerely,

i_was_one

This is my first post and this topic naturally caught my attention. I have been out of the JWS for about 10 years , but I was IN for about 14. I came from a mentally abusive family and suffered from depression. I searched for truth for God. My father was Jewish, my mother Catholic and I was confused and depressed. I read concerning many Chrisitan groups , I prayed and I resisted many groups. I really believed that the JWS was THE one and only TRUTH.

The will say that they are not perfect. I fact I was mentally abused and slandard by many members. I was open about having depression asd this was used against me. Apart from the controlling erroneous ideology, the members can be extremely cruel and dysfunctional. Many people ( like myself) were sincere seekers and mild. But I noticed that although we were constantly admonished to be humble.. those of us that were truly humbled were also bullied by the many hypocritical members who knew how to play the game.

It was treated cruelly. Much had to do with my depression. I am rather educated and also well read in terms of depressive illness and I was able to speak to many "elders" from the headquarters. As time went on the organization wrote about depression and told it's members that it was not a spiritual fault. I was still mistreated and told locally that I must not be spiritual enough or that I must have a bad conscious.

I went to the elders ( as we were told to do) asking if this was proper treatment. I was also ganged up by a clqiue ( each cong. seemed to have a ruling clique).. I was bascially trying to reach them wantng to undertand how this cruel treatment and shunning was "LOVE" The more I questioned the more " love" I received.. the more depressed I got.. I became confused about GOD, Myself , LOVe....I had a total breakdown. They had me thinking that I was bad and that I was not one of "THEM" one of the " CHOSEN"

I overcame my fear ( since I was dying TRUELY) and looked up the jWS on the net.. I saw countless of testimonies similar to mine. I read about mind control and gognitive dissonace and regognized what was happening to me.

I just wish to add that JWS do not all gang up to preach to one person on the job. They are supposed to preach only on their own time..not employer's time. They actually want to get a person to "study".. if a JW has been preaching to a person the others will step back and are admonished to be kind and considerate so that the person and all others will see how loving " GOd's " people are. IF a person refuses listen .. the JW will not necessarily vilify the person... They may say they are not "ready to hear"... they may vilify if the person refused in a mean way.. like say FU you are all A holes... or false profets.. they then will think and say that the person is from the devil.. etc.

The vilifying is done more to peoiple who are in thr group already and disagree..

I know that when I preached it was really from my heart... I really thought I was helping and doing GOd's will... but I did notice others who only saw the person as an obligation.. they were nice because they were TOLD to be nice... I saw so many of them being so very nice to prospective "studies" yet actually be very unkind in real life to people like myself... kind, sensitive and depressed.

I know I was true in my heart... but I witnssed ( pardon the pun) so many hypocrites.....they are after all told over and over that if they are not kind and if they " stumble" a person who they preach to..or encounter as a neighbor.. they will be responsible for the person's life in the eyes of GOD...

I still remember being mistreated in the congregation then observing how the meanest of them could actually be nice to outsiders... these were the types that were actually meanspirited yet showed kindess that was superficial it was an obligation.. not heartfelt.

The people you mention on your job.. may actually mean well.. many JWS were honest hearted.. and they follow what the Organiztion tells them to as far as how to approach people.... they are not supposed to gang up on a target as you put it... they are supposed to be loving , kind, considerate.

One thing ( among many ) that I hated: was that when people got a " study" ( a person that would study a JW publication on an hourly basis) they would count time...this time was recorded on a slip of paper.... the more people you "study" with.. the more hrs .... the more spiritual you are to the elders... they treat you better..... the cycle goes on.. this is not said but practised.

Even just preaching 5 mins is counted... I always found this distasteful...

I preached from my heart NOT for the time... I often would not add up my time properly because GOD knew... why should I care what the elders thought.... but they did care!!! they say thay see low time as a spiritual issue.. but that is a con game.. they use it for or against you and set it up as a reward or punishment.... elders could look at a person " funnY" in front of others and the group would then be cold to you...it was a way for control...

So...these people on you job preach asa gang because they are all trying to make time.... but they are not supposed to do this in this way.... " as a gang"

whoever has establised a relationship is the one that can keep "talking/ preaching"......

Just want to add again that there are good people in the JWS that actually do mean well.

I am still affected by it all... I have PSTD even after all these years.[/code][/i][/b]

From what I see, the Jehovah Witnesses that I have encountered are very friendly and down-to-earth people. Aside from falling asleep in the kingdom hall meetings, they are ok with me. Maybe it depends on which JW's one is dealing with.

Sounds like you really have not looked into the JWs in any depth.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Just going off of experience. Many of my family members are Jehovah's Witnesses. If you really read my words, I kept my comments relative.

Hi Cynthia,

I am sorry for what you went through in the Witnesses. No doubt this group is a cult. All the cults are corrupt at the top, and I think the biggest thing that keeps a cult going is that only a very few, maybe less than one tenth of one percent of the membership, know the movement is corrupt. So the rank and file members work hard trying to recruit new members, putting in a lot of sweat equity, money, or both, while those at the top reap the benefits, be that recognition, a large salary, or whatever.

I was not in JW, but I was in Scientology, it is very corrupt at the top, but very, very few get to meet the upper uppers who dictate the policy, and so most of the organization leaders think they are in a movement which has the potential to save the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. As long as they are in the movement, they will never be told the real truth, 'cause the corrupt at the very top are not going to tell you the movement is corrupt. So unless you experience it first hand, or figure it out for yourself one way or another, you will just buy into them telling you that it is your fault if things are not going as well for you as you had hoped.

I got out of Scientology after being in it on and off for thirteen + years, and all I can say is hip, hip, hooray! Actually, this comment is tounge in cheek, as when I was new to Scientology, the staff of the local mission would sometimes shout hip, hip, hooray! in praise of the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who, although he truly was the founder, was also a charlatan.

God bless you, and best of luck in your future away from the cult of Jehovah Witnesses. I am sure your life will be better out of the Winesses than it was in it. My life has improved since leaving Scientology, probably about the most bizarre of the cults that have been around for awhile.

Finally, I agree wholeheartedly with your comment that most of the people in the Witnesses are really good people. The same is true for the Scientologists. The message is that the Scientologists are the only ones capable of saving the world, and lots of people would want to save the world. Only the main purpose of setting up the religion was not to save the world, but to make money, and lots of it, but only the corrupt people at the very top know it.

And so it goes for most if not all of the cults.

Sincerely,

i_was_one

PS: A good writeup on the witnesses is contained in the book "The Kingdom of the Cults", written by Walter Martin, which you can obtain at a Christian bookstore in your area. That is, of course, if you are interested.

Rmorgan:

My experience is receiving constant and very serious complaints.

A number of JWs die each year rather than take blood transfusions.

Then there are the divorces, custody battles over religion. Not to mention the people that are excommunicated and shunned.

Pretty extreme group.

rrmoderator:

Can you give me the number that die, as well as the number of divorces and custody battles over religion, each year and how that represents the majority?

No one has gathered those numbers specifically though many reports have appeared about JW deaths.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Note the subsection about JWs and Blood.

This archive contains many articles about deaths that could have been avoided by blood transfusions.

Though no specific statistics have been gathered about custody battles regarding the Witnesses in court, they have frequently lost in such cases. So much so that the organization published guidelines to help their members testify.

See [www.culteducation.com]

Also see [www.culteducation.com]

Also, regarding the mental health of JWs...

See [www.culteducation.com]

This study was undertaken regarding the mental health of Wintesses and how their beliefs have caused emotional distress, breakdowns and related disturbances.

See also [www.culteducation.com]

Seems like youu are here as an apologist for the Witnesses, but you really should study the facts before making statements.