Do people really think the Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult?

Hello,

I want to thank you for sticking up for us. Many people are so assuming and don't know the real definition of a cult. So here it is.

In our modern world of the new millennium, the word "cult" has become largely overused and is now a catch-all for any group, religion or lifestyle which someone doesn't understand, or with which they happen to disagree. This is a dangerous trend, as many of the organizations labeled a cult by dissidents are truly legitimate groups. Once the taint of the term "cult" is applied to a particular group, it is often difficult to change that image to the public.

To avoid careless labeling which could be harmful to a group and its adherents, it is important to know just exactly what a cult is, and how it is defined. A cult, by modern standards, is any group that incorporates mind control to deceive, influence and govern its followers. Although most people think of cults as being religious, they can also be found in political, athletic, philosophical, racial or psychotherapeutic arenas.

The mind control, or brainwashing, exerted by cults often take the form of at least several of the following elements:

A totalitarian control over the lifestyle and time of its members - Many cults tend to dictate exactly what its followers should read, eat, how and with whom they should spend their time, and even what they should do in off hours. This totalitarian control is necessary for the leaders to indoctrinate the followers in everything they do, and is also an attempt to separate them from anything not associated with the cult. This is why cults often live together in groups.

A charismatic, self-appointed leader with complete authority - Cult members are taught not to question the teachings, practices, or ideas of the leader. Many cult leaders truly are charismatic people, and are able to influence people to believe them. It is common that a cult member is not told everything up front when joining the group, but that they are taught increasingly controlling ideas and teachings as they go. In the case of some of the more well-publicized cults that have come and gone, it is also common that the leader's ideas and demands evolve over time, becoming increasingly controlling and restrictive. One very clear identifying element dealing with the leader of a cult is that the leader will always focus the attention and veneration of the members upon himself or herself. At the heart of a cult usually lies a very self-centered and self-seeking person.

A focus on withholding truth from non-members - Many cults teach their followers to be completely open and truthful within the group, while at the same time they are encouraged to be secretive and evasive when questioned by people outside of the group. This is another form of mind control-instilling guilt in the members if they hold anything back within the group. The members are taught that outsiders wouldn't understand or that they would only make fun of the ideas and practices and requirements for living within the group. Only specially-commissioned members are appointed to recruit members from outside. New members are usually encouraged to keep silent or even lie, especially to their families and close friends.

The three elements listed above are very successful ways to create a group mentality, an us-against-them way of looking at things. This is essential for any cult that wants to keep its members. The more afraid of the outside world the members become, the more strongly and faithfully they will keep within the safe fold of the cult.

As you know from experience from going to our meetings we do NOT dictate when you should eat, what to wear etc. We do have guidelines just like a parent would to their child but it's not brainwashing. We believe God is our ruler not man and we follow what the Bible says. We also do NOT have rituals as you know from attending our meetings. And we ARE NOT SECRETIVE about our actions. We go out and preach about the Bible in public for goodness sake. We do NOT separate ourselves and live in seclusion. We live in regular homes and subdivisions.

From this definition a lot of Christian religions and religions in general can be considered a cult too as well as anyone who has a group with strong ideas about something. Just about everyone can be considered a cult at this point when you get down to it not just us.

Honestly, most, if not all, of the complaints I've seen about my beliefs on Y!A, are along the line of, I read somewhere, that Witnesses say (insert insane idea), so it must be true.

Best Answer to a recent "question" which listed abunch of false claims of what My beliefs are, was an answer saying Wow, is that true?

My mother once had a student on her bus explain to her what Witnesses believed. She kinda chuckled, and tried to explain it isn't true. He got Really upset, and said Yes it is, I saw it on TV.

As for "#s 6 and 7"of Milky Way's little list. The whole Salvation by Works claim is like the whole simply love Jesus claim. Neither are true, and neither are beliefs held by Witnesses.

Do I think that I can "Earn my way to salvation"?? Of course not, it's something NO human can truly "earn". However, do I believe my actions matter to Jehovah?? Of course, what Christian wouldn't?? Isn't the point of being a Christian, to follow the teachings and beliefs of Jesus?? In that case, simply saying nice things, or having faith in Jesus wouldn't be enough. Even Satan has faith Jesus exists, but I doubt many consider Satan to be "saved".

As for the God's in heaven comment, Not a belief of Witnesses either. I love it when Ids feel they can smugly make baseless claims.

As for saying Witnesses are Completely Unscriptural, this is one of those claims that rarely, if ever, pans out about ANY person or faith. Example, I think most faiths teach the very scriptural principle of showing Love to others.

Cult -- a word much loved and used by the intellectually lazy or the judgmentally incompetent or those who are just plain biased against any belief system that is not their own.

I was reading the Annals of the historian Tacitus the other day, and toward the end of his book he says that the ancient Romans had the most disgusting epithets for Christians -- "a class hated for their abominations," "a most mischievous superstition," "evil."

The pagan Romans spoke ill of the Christians because the Christians did not go along with the Roman supersititons and profligate ways.

For similar reasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, as true Christian followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are spoken of abusively today, just as their Lord was.

But it does not matter what ignorant or biased people say about Jehovah's Witnesses.

The only opinions that really matter are those of Jehovah God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not so-called "mainstream" or "orthodox" Christendom that we believe and teach, but only Biblical Christianity.

You are painting us all with the same brush. Just like with the Catholic Church, i do believe a lot of priests do try and do good, and only the minority of them are child abusers. They get moved to another parish and all is forgiven apparently. And i do not believe all (in fact i believe very little) of what is published on the internet. Its a lot of false propaganda to undermine us, though there have been legitimate claims of abuse. You must remember that none of our members are perfect and many can fall into sin. It goes without saying. And i do not condone the conduct of some of the members of the congregation wrt child abuse. And yes, there should be a system in place to protect children from these predators. But what has this to do with our beliefs, and what exactly makes us a cult?

Well it just goes to show you how Satan is guiding people.....and he will lead them using this type of rationality (or lack thereof) all the way up to Armaggedon when he will attack God's people, since at that time ALL other traces of religion will be gone. But Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult, as mention several times already there are many 'technical' definitions that one could use. But we all know that in the traditional sense a cult is usually a group who is lead by a man, who usually claims to be God or Jesus himself or at best someone 'special' or powerful, and teaches his followers using deception to believe things that are not found in the Bible. And many times these cults are just religious fronts used to cover up one man sick and twisted desire to be powerful and use his members as sex slaves. In this sense Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT a cult. We follow the Bible, and we try to live our lives by the Bible. We don't put tradition and culture before God. Nor do we make excuses for not preaching, nor simply allow immoral conduct. We are very studious and we are eager to learn and share what we have learned with others. We are part of a true worldwide Brotherhood, who ALL teach the exact same thing......and we KNOW we have the Truth. So people can say what they want, but it wasn't JW's who flew planes into the towers and killed thousands of innocent people.......it wasn't JW's who were apart of the mass suicide of 909 in Jonestown (Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple), its not JW's who are apart of the Sunni and Shia murders, or the Isreali and Palestinian fued, which has taken countless lives. Its not JW's who break into your home stealing and killing. All we do is study the Bible, try to apply and preach to people about God's Kingdom just as Jesus commanded. And those are the facts. And according to Bible prophecy......we are not going anywhere anytime soon. -- Psalms 37:9-12

You could say that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a copy of the Jewish Cult that separated themselves some 1900 years ago

Talking to one of my regular passengers, whose a Rabbi, I would say most Christians have much the same problem with JWs that ancient Jews had with the first Christians who they viewed as having been started by an uneducated ex-carpenter of the Jewish Lower Class who was executed for cause by the governing authority. The only education he had was by Mary and Joseph, in the view of the Jews, he made up most of what he said.

He recruited other uneducated, lower class individuals, such as a failed fisherman (Peter) and a hated tax collector (Matthew).

Lacking any formal education, they were easy to manipulate into believing he was the Messiah, something that was impossible, as he did not bring about the destruction (Armageddon) of the enemies of the Truly Blessed People of God, the Israelites, as was prophesied.

After his lawful execution, these clearly brainwashed followers began going door to door telling their brethren that the traditional beliefs, rituals, and observances (holidays), dating back hundreds of years, were no longer valid.

They began creating their own scriptures, to support their false beliefs, instead of relying on the Holy Torah, which had sustained God’s People for hundreds of years.

Finally, there were highly educated individuals, especially in the religious arts, such as Saul of Tarsus, who could clearly prove that they were a false cult, bent on leading God’s People down a false path to destruction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_of_Tarsus

What happened to them, as a result of their false teachings, and their door to door work, was only to be expected of people who have lost their way.

Clearly, what you may or may not think of JWs is reliant on your point of view, just as it was in those first years. Having an advanced education in religion does not mean that you are right, only that you sound that way.

JWs may have come from a simple, and some times, erratic beginnings, but at least they are making a valid effort to do better. You cannot say that for other religions who:

Continue to get involved in politics;

Lie to the IRS about not doing so in order to get their non-profit status;

Avoids paying taxes on retail sales within the church;

Allows immorality to creep into the church;

Immortalizes their founders through the observance of a birthday, death, and/or anniversary of the founding of the church;

Places a pictures of the founders in all their churches, so that all can see and pay obeisance;

Gives tacit approval to the Theory of Evolution; and

Doesn’t teach their followers to preach and teach the Bible, as Christ instructed.

I find myself in a similar situation to you. Although I am not actively involved right now they don't seem anything like a cult. Too many people are misinformed (look at the guy who says they don't believe the bible. A clue - that's incorrect) about them, and a lot of people who have left become opposed to them. These are the types who a) claim it is a cult, and b) start and/or encourage rumours that are absolutely untrue (and any bright 5-year-old would be able to find out the truth regarding these lies by asking someone who knows).

Tim wrote "After reading other responses its easy to see that the majority of people calling us a cult know little of our beliefs."

O really? How much do you know about the Witnesses and their history though you appear to be one? As far as their history, the 1993 "Proclaimers" book does a horrible job on explaining it and does a great job of covering over the REAL history of embarrassing beliefs/doctrines/predictions etc. The 1959 "Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose" wasn't that accurate either.

How long have you been a witness? Are you baptized a JW?...a publisher, pioneer, MS etc?

Can someone please define why the WBTS is NOT a cult by dictionary AND Biblical definition?

Blessings...

MM777

http://middleman777.wordpress.com/

Yes they do. That doesn't make them correct but they can think what they want.

If you are going to use "cult" as defined by a dictionary, then yes Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult. By that definition every other religious group could also be labeled a cult.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

Main Entry: cult

Pronunciation: \ˈkəlt\

Function: noun

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate — more at wheel

Date: 1617

1: formal religious veneration : worship

2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual ; also : its body of adherents

3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious ; also : its body of adherents

Dictionary discription of the word "cult' = a group considered to be extremist or obsessive in their beliefs. I do not consider myself to have either of these behaviors when it comes to my faith toward Jehovah or his son Jesus. I do however, try to encourage others to really check their own belief system, to see if what they have learned is in accord with Jehovah's requirements for man's ability to be a part of His organization, [hence, "Jehovah's"] Witnesses' . He's the one who gave the inspiration to the men His angels guided to write the Bible, the rules we follow are His, not ours.

My main idea in my learning is: He loved me so much, he asked Jesus to come here to earth to ransom us from what Adam and Eve and Satan did to destroy all of us. My love toward my loving Father in heaven, can only grow as I get to know him better, and try to please him so that I might make "his heart glad. Proverbs 27:11