After reading this, is there any doubt Watchtower is a cult?
The following information describes cults in general but is not specifically focused on the Jehovah's Witnesses, although they are mentioned several times. The characteristics of cults are so much in line with WT tactics, down to similar phrases and buzzwords.
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html#cq_guru_right
Cults
The group wants to own you.
The cult wants your life. Some cults want all of your money; some want all of your time; most all of them want all of your heart, mind, and soul.
One of the most obvious and visible problems here is "too many meetings". They want to occupy too much of your spare time — like all of it. They have meetings, and then they have classes or "Bible study" or "training", and perhaps also lots of prayer sessions or chanting or meditation sessions, and then they have assemblies and conventions, and then some more meetings, in an endless cycle. And somewhere in the midst of all of that you are also supposed to go out recruiting and/or fund-raising.
The cult also wants to control you. First, they want to control all of your time, and then they will try to control more and more parts of your life: your sex life, your diet, your choice of reading materials, your choice of jobs, your consumption of drugs and alcohol (both legal and illegal), and sometimes even what doctor-prescribed medications you may take.
cults — insist that new members recite the cult's dogma, a lot.
Making cult members work long hours for free.
Do you want to sell books in the airport, or sell flowers on the street corner? Do you want to spend all day, every day, going door to door, begging for charitable contributions
You are always wrong.
The individual members of the cult are told that they are inherently small, weak, stupid, ignorant, and sinful. Cult members are routinely criticized, shamed, ridiculed, discounted, diminished, and told in dozens of ways that they are not good enough. The individual members of the cult are told that they are inherently small, weak, stupid, ignorant, and sinful. Cult members are routinely criticized, shamed, ridiculed, discounted, diminished, and told in dozens of ways that they are not good enough.
Elders or higher-ranking members will berate the newer members and tell them that their work or their spirituality isn't good enough. Again, the beginners are abused by the guru and his henchmen until they reach the inner circle, at which time they can turn around and do it all to someone else who is just beginning.
It is almost a universal cult characteristic that, in the opinion of the cult leader and other elders, newcomers cannot think correctly
No Honorable Exit.
There is simply no proper or honorable way to leave the cult. Period. To leave is to fail, to die, to be defeated by evil. To leave is to invite divine retribution.
Obviously, if everybody leaves the cult, then the phony guru's game is over. So he is the one who really has reason to fear people leaving.
In some cults, members are told to absolutely avoid any contact with people who have left the cult. They are told that the departees are evil and dangerous, and must be shunned and ostracized. Good Scientologists may not have any contact with people who have been "declared Suppressive Persons." Jehovah's Witnesses may not talk to or associate with those who have been "disfellowshipped."
Such ostracism also acts as a strong deterrent to people who may be thinking about leaving.
In the Jehovah's Witnesses, Jehovah 'sifts out' those not truly 'in the truth', those without 'the right heart condition' which is why people leave or must be "disfellowshipped". In the eyes of the cult, no one leaves for legitimate reasons.
Your "true friends for life" who give you "unconditional love" will withdraw their "love" in a flat minute if you violate the cult's rules, and fall out of favor, by doing something stupid like saying that you want to leave. Your own wife might even immediately divorce you.
Independent or critical thinking is discouraged, especially critical thoughts about the leader or the group or the cult's teachings.
In cults, no criticism of the leader, his teachings, or his organization is seen as valid — such criticism is always automatically wrong, just because it criticizes the guru, his teachings, or his group
And actually criticizing the illogical or irrational aspects of the cult's doctrines is considered a very serious moral offense.
Cults almost invariably have strong contempt for the intellect, human intelligence, and any attempt to think independently. They even use the word "intellectual" as an insult.
critical and analytical thought is very threatening to a cult's precepts. The cult's irrational dogma simply cannot stand up to rational examination, so the intellect is treated with scorn and contempt to try to preclude such examination.
Likewise, in cults, there is a reversal of judgement. The cult itself is never judged, or subject to judgement; rather, the people who comment on the cult are judged by what they say about the cult.
Group-think usually means no real thought at all; just repeat the buzz-words and slogans and follow the program. And group-think usually just means that the group thinks that the Guru is always right
Members of the cult are like a colony of insects when disturbed. A frenzy of activity and protective measures are executed when core ideologies are challenged. The stronger the evidence challenging the truthfulness of the group ideology, the more likely members of the cult are to either lash out in a more or less predictable fashion, fall apart, or disband into separate cult colonies .
Cults often demand that people stop thinking logically and just "have faith".
In order to become one of the group, he must embrace all of the beliefs and teachings of the cult, so the newcomer suspends his disbelief
The cult has standard answers for almost everything, and members are expected to parrot those answers. Willfulness or independence or skeptical thinking is seen as bad. Members accept the leader's reality as their own.
Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations.
This is commonplace, and hardly needs any explanation.
Rather than honestly and intelligently debating with critics, using facts and logic, the cult will resort to low personal attacks on the critic, using name-calling, slander, condescending put-downs, libelous accusations, personal slurs, accusations of bad motives, and casting aspersions on the critic's intelligence and sanity --
Another red flag to watch for is how angrily cult members react when the cult or its guru is criticized. especially when they cannot refute that criticism.
It is just in the nature of true believers to demand absolute certainty in their beliefs. They like black-and-white all-or-nothing thinking, and they have little or no tolerance for doubts and uncertainty.
Insistence that the group is THE ONLY WAY.
Only our sect will survive Armaggedon
Only our group understands
"Only our church has received this special new revelation from the Lord."
"Only our church has the correct understanding of the Bible."
"Only our church follows the commandments of the Lord correctly."
Movements will usually extol their superiority over others, as being the sole way towards salvation, or being God's chosen people.
God's, or a celestial, new message to mankind for this particular time
. Impending disaster [Armageddon]
Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate cult members.
The cult also induces guilt by holding up an ahuman, impossibly lofty standard for the perfect member. The members can't ever live up to the standard, so they always feel guilty and inadequate.
The cult's "truth" is the absolute truth, sacred and beyond questioning. The cult's laws, rules and regulations are absolutely correct, always, and therefore to be followed automatically.
There is a reverence demanded for the leadership. They have ALL of the answers, they say, and only to them is given the revelation of "truth".
It is obvious, therefore, that in order to be effective a doctrine must not be understood, but has to be believed in
If a doctrine is not unintelligible, it has to be vague; and if neither unintelligible nor vague, it has to be unverifiable. One has to get to heaven or the distant future to determine the truth of an effective doctrine. When some part of a doctrine is relatively simple, there is a tendency among the faithful to complicate it and obscure it.
Indoctrination of members .
Part of surrendering to the cult is giving up on having a personal life or personal goals. Newcomers are instructed to abandon "selfishness" and to devote their lives to serving the master, his group, and their "great cause"
newcomers should give up on having their own minds or personalities
The group is self-absorbed.
Faithful members will tell you that the cult has given them a whole new life, but that new life is often nothing more than working for free all of the time to raise money for the cult, and recruit new members for the cult, and going to meetings, "Bible study classes", conventions and other get-togethers. And all they talk about is the cult.
Aggressive Recruiting.
Guilt induction is just what it sounds like: make the prospect feel guilty about everything and anything, and convince him that only by joining the cult can he change his life for the better
It is almost a universal cult characteristic that, in the opinion of the elder cult members, prospects and new converts have defective judgement and are not capable of thinking for themselves, so the cult must do the thinking for the newcomers, for their own good
Cloning
Many of the followers end up looking, dressing, acting, talking, and thinking just like copies of the group leader.
Even when the cult doesn't enforce an outlandish dress code, the members still start looking a lot alike. Many fundamentalist cults require the men to wear suits and ties, or office dress shirts and ties, while the women all wear long dresses. But the worst aspect of cloning is that the member's minds become just as uniform as their hair and dress. Members don't just look like the leader, they also talk and think like the leader. Cults simply rob members of their individuality.
You must change your beliefs to conform to the group's beliefs.
The price of admission to the club is that you must come to believe what they believe. You must also be ready and willing to change your beliefs in an instant, whenever the leader expounds some new doctrine.
Cult leaders tend to make up new doctrines whenever they feel like it, while established churches may take centuries to modify their beliefs.
There is also the issue of how much you must conform. Most mainstream religions are tolerant of members who have diverse or differing beliefs on some issues. But cults demand great conformity, and can be very unforgiving of any deviation from standard dogma
Dishonesty, Deceit, Denial, Falsification, and Rewriting History
they lie about the faults or shortcomings of the leader or leaders
they lie about what they have done in the past,
and they lie about their finances
The cult has no respect for the historical truth
Jehovah's Witnesses will deny that they ever believed that Armageddon would come in 1975 — even those people who sold their homes or delayed getting medical treatment didn't ever believe it
Ken Ragge said it well:
All cults have different levels of truth. "Outsider doctrine" refers to information and "truths" which are told to the general public
An Impossible Superhuman Model of Perfection.
Themodel of perfectionis simply impossible to attain, because it is too idealized, too lofty, too perfect. Someone would have to be a living saint or an angel to be that good. This is, of course, great for making people feel guilty and inadequate, which is the goal. Then people are punished and learn to punish themselves for not living up to the group's ideals.
The cult decides what the truth is.
The cult has an elitist world view, and declares that only cult members are "good enough", however the cult defines "good".
The cult dispenses conditional love and conditional approval, often while simultaneously bragging that it offers newcomers "unconditional love" and "complete acceptance". The conditional approval depends on obedience and conformity to the cult's rules.
And of course the cult practices shunning and ostracism of those who leave
Members are told to believe what the leader tells them, rather than trust their own common sense, their own thinking, and their own experiences. Members are told that the leader sees another, higher, reality which they cannot see. Doubts about the leader or his teachings are considered a sure sign of moral failure in the follower.
Cult members also exhibit misplaced faith — like having faith in the leader's interpretation of the "Word of God", rather than in the "Word of God" itself, or in their own understanding of those scriptures
You can't just be a member of the group — your loyalty to the group must be total. You must obey orders without question. You must devote the rest of your life to the cult
The guru demands that you have complete and total faith in him, and believe his statements without question. The cult also demands complete agreement with the leaders, and suppresses any dissent.
Members Get No Respect. They Get Abused.
The cult has no respect for its members, on either the physical, mental, or spiritual planes. The cult demands total loyalty from its members, but the cult has no loyalty to its members. Cult members may be subjected to physical, mental, and/or sexual abuse.
Cults are marked by the callous, cruel, and insensitive treatment of their members. The cult feels no obligation to tell its members the truth. The cult has no respect for the members' minds, opinions, integrity, or feelings
The group is considered more important than the lives of the individual members. The rank and file members are considered expendable; the guru and his cult are not.
Cults often use members like just so much slave labor. Some cults coldly discard members when they have no further use for them.
The leader is not held accountable for his actions.
The leader answers to no one
Flexible, shifting morality
The leader or his group defines and redefines the standards of morality.
Previously illegal or immoral activities become okay because the leader or the group says that they are okay.
Inability to tolerate criticism
Cults react strongly to even mild criticism. Cults have an overactive "circle the wagons" us-versus-them defensive mentality. When criticized, they often engage in ad hominem attacks on the speaker, rather than challenging the truthfulness of his statements, which are often correct.
Many cults practice shunning and ostracism of those who leave the cult. Cults just cannot tolerate people leaving voluntarily. There is a great danger that those who have come to their senses and quit the cult will also lead others out by talking some sense to them, so cults viciously denounce those who leave, and instruct the remaining members to have no contact with those who have left. The Jehovah's Witnesses call deserters and exiles "people who have been disfellowshipped", and contact with such people is forbidden.
but they actually do not want to hear the truth. They just want their own beliefs and superstitions confirmed.
Black And White Thinking
"If you are not living in accordance with the Word of God, then you are following the dictates of Satan."
Cult members work hard at getting more members
That is, the cult is the most important thing in the lives of the cult members. Sometimes, it is their entire life.
Members have to learn and believe all of that dogma. The indoctrination can be anything from merely making people listen to sermons to prolonged intense study to industrial-strength brainwashing. Christian cults are notorious for having "Bible Study" meetings every night. Other cults listen to lectures by the leader, or meet to study his writings, or listen to his tapes, or watch videotapes...
The cult has lots of it to teach you. Dogma can also be defined as doctrine, beliefs, convictions, teachings, precepts, or tenets. And they are all true, always. No critical questions about the leader, doctrine, or policy are seen as legitimate, "because God gave our leader these teachings, so of course they are absolutely right and infallible. Anybody who criticizes our leader's teachings must be an agent of Satan."
One way of testing the cult nature of a group is by challenging the ideology binding the group together. We can discover something about the nature of a group by how well its members tolerate opposition to the ideology that holds the group together. How well do members tolerate difference of opinion, opinion that challenges the very ideological heart of the group?