HYPERGLOSSARY
of American English Hacker
THEOCRATESE
http://bookshelf.info/wordlists/e/eec/www/
apostate, apostasy
- One who has rebelled against and abandoned the {true worship} of Jehovah. Sometimes apostates actively oppose true worship and attempt to influence others to do the same. <<Some apostates were trying to hand out leaflets at our {convention} last week.>> An act or particular case of apostate behavior is called apostasy. (2Th 2:3)
NOTE: Apostates are persons who were once among us, walking in the Truth, not merely outsiders who oppose it. They usually know our beliefs, terminology, and organizational ways quite well.
Apostates tend to seek out unwary Witnesses and engage them in dialogue. Often they were once fine people with an extensive {Truth} background. But they tend to be proud of their independent intellectual accomplishments. <<Based on several years of deep research, careful study, and profound meditation I have concluded blah blah blah ...>> They will claim support for their ideas from others who are supposedly pillars in the Truth. <<I know numerous people, including elders, who agree with me that blah blah blah ...>> They will flatter the listener while speaking condescendingly of Witnesses in general. <<I realize that most Witnesses wouldn't understand; but I realize that you are by no means average, but are truly open-minded.>> The speaker condescendingly suggests that most Witnesses are simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated, but is implying that for the most part we are a bunch of dopes.
Willing association with true apostates, whether in person, by reading their literature, or engaging in electronic debate across the Internet, is itself apostate behavior, and therefore potentially a {disfellowshipping offense}, in addition to being extremely dangerous and outright stupid. It should be avoided entirely.