JW's not a cult (page 8)

Mad Sweeney

Don't back down so easily. I know as JWs we're taught not to debate or argue but we're free now. If I might be wrong about considering the Watchtower a cult, I'd like to know why and from what perspective that comes. What cult qualities does the organization lack? What definition of cult does not apply to the Watchtower?

95% of us here have JW credentials. I had 40+ years in the organization. It doesn't mean I know everything about religion, not even this particular one. So please tell me what is your definition of a cult that doesn't apply to the Watchtower?

I might not agree but so what? I left unanimity and conformity behind at the Kingdom Hall.

sabastious

Chiga, what you are describing is a multi-level marketing cult. Just because they are run like a business doesn't put them outside of the definition of a cult. Lots of businesses can be considered cults as well.

-Sab

Mad Sweeney

Amway is a cult. Their recruiters use all the tools and their retention uses many, as well.

Being a cult isn't about doctrine or even very much about structure. It is what an organization DOES that makes it a dangerous cult or benign.

chigaimasmaro

I must say, I do feel that the JW organization is still a mlm business... but doing some research does give me a bit more perspective on this.. and the organization does have cult tendencies. One of my favourite podcasts Howstuffworks.com had a podcast called "Who's the Leader" and it talks about dangerous cults... and wow.. the JW organization meets almost all of the requirements.

Who is the Leader Podcast (iTunes link)

shamus100

I totally disagree with the cult label. They are more of a high control group, not a cult. Either way, they are a cancer.

ziddina

(a) They do not have a particular leader, strong or otherwise.

Y'know, when I exited the JWs, my very wise therapist advised that I read a book on the subject of cults...

It didn't take very long to realize that the JWs WERE a cult, except for that "particular" leader thing - or as one of the books I read put it, a "single charismatic leader"...

But that was before I learned about the first 50+ years of the cult's history...

Charles Taze Russell and "Da Judge" Rutherford both qualified as "single charismatic" leaders...

Once I found out about the JW's early history, ALL ten [or so...] aspects of cults fit the JWs...

Zid

ziddina

Regarding the term "cult"...

I have heard/read several secular historical experts refer to early Christianity itself as a "cult"...

I think the term is very fitting in that sense, too....

Zid

[Edited...]

Whoops!! Just saw jgnat's comment!! She beat me to it!!!

[jgnat = Juggernaut - hee hee hee hee!!]

ziddina

"For example the GB is always right they are never wrong. When they are wrong they explain that they were not wrong they were right at the time but now what was right is wrong and what would have been wrong is right. Even if you propose the wrong thing that turns out to be right you are wrong because it is wrong to decide for yourself what is right. ..."

Ah, Nugget...

I symbolically kiss your toes!!

That is one of the best descriptions of the Watchtower Society's double-speak that I've ever read!!!

Zid

JW's not a cult

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