the following is taken directly from the Reasoning Book, page 202, under the heading Jehovah's Witnesses.
parentheses are mine
Are Jehovah's Witnesses a sect or a cult?"
Some define sect to mean a group that has broken away from an established religion. Other apply the term to a group that follows a particular human leader or teacher (yeah, jdubs don't do that at all) . The term is usually used in a derogatory way. Jehovah's Witnesses are not an offshoot of some church (really? just 'cuz they say it doesn't make it so) but include persons from all walks of life and from many religious backgrounds. They do not look to any human (right, except the group of old, senile f*@#ers in Brooklyn) , but rather to Jesus Christ, as their leader. (who, in light of recent publications and articles, doesn't carry as much weight as he used to.)
A cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual (and five meetings a week and at least ten hours of service a month under threat of underhanded or overt consequences doesn't fit this definition somehow?) . Many cults follow a living human leader, and often their adherents live in groups apart from the rest of society. The standard for what is orthodox, however, should be God's word, and Jehovah's Witnesses strictly adhere to the Bible. Their worship is a way of life, not a ritual devotion (yes, absolutely. Those politically climbing elders and c.o.'s who mete out bullshit punishments in judicial committees are really practicing what they preach.) They neither follow a human (this is true, the follow humans, not a human.) , nor isolate themselves from the rest of society. They live and work in the midst of other people (just because witnesses don't live on a compound in nevada and wear white robes, they isolate themselves through arrogance and the belief that everyone else is simply the walking dead. Which is worse?) .
It's amazing to me that I was so completely blinded to the obvious hypocrisy of this supposed "answer" to the question of whether witnesses were a cult or not.
CD
"Are Jehovah's Witnesses a sect or a cult?"
by Cognitive_Dissident 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Cognitive_Dissident
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skyman
cult
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Cognitive_Dissident
LOL. Nice.
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Think
Deadly and Destructive Cult.
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Honesty
Cult.
Managed and controlled by demons.
Deadly to its followers.
Unable and/or unwilling to face reality.
Pathological liars and scripture twisters.
Makes wonderful promises but has never delivered on any.
Please file a lawsuit against me for libel and slander Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
Bob Evans
Walland, TN.
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onesong
Both
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onesong
Not to get off the subject but isn't the word "both" really strange the more you say it.