Fugue's Blogue

Musings on life after the cult

[chrisfugue]

[chrisfugue]

[chrisfugue]

[chrisfugue]

JW’s are poor and undereducated, according to Pew Research 2014 data

You can download the PDF here. 

In 2014, Jehovah’s Witnesses were:

Gender: Male: 35% (2007: 40%) Female: 65% (2007: 60%)

So there are currently 5% fewer males than there were in 2007. Of the religions surveyed, the JW’s have the LOWEST NUMBER of male members.

Age: 18-29: 15% (2007: 21%) 30-49: 34% (2007: 39%) 50-64: 29% (2007: 25%) 65+: 23% (2007: 14%)

There are 6% fewer 18-29 year olds and 5% fewer 30-49 year olds. The numbers that have gone up are ages 50-64 and 65+. This is a sign that young people are leaving.

Of the religions surveyed, the JW’s have the LOWEST NUMBER of 18-29 year olds.

Education: Less than high school: 19% High school grad: 44% Some college: 25% College grad/some post grad: 9% Postgrad degree: 3%

Of the religions surveyed, the JW’s have the HIGHEST NUMBER of high school dropouts and the HIGHEST NUMBER of people who only have a high school diploma.

Put more succinctly: Less than college: 88% (2007: 92%) College graduate: 12% (2007: 8%)

Of the religions surveyed, the JW’s have the LOWEST NUMBER of college grads.

Family Income: Less than $30,000: 48% (2007: 42%) $30,000 - $49,999: 25% (2007: 23%) $50,000 - $74,999: 14% (2007: 17%) $75,000 - $99,000: 8% (2007: 9%) $100,000+: 4% (2007: 9%)

Of the religions surveyed, the JW’s have the THIRD HIGHEST number of families making less than $30,000, and the LOWEST number of families making over $100,000.

[chrisfugue]

Lett’s video is in direct opposition to Jesus’ words

In Stephen Lett’s new video on jw.tv, he says:

"We have looked forward to this next fiscal year and projected expenditures for all of the theocratic activities we're scheduling. In doing the math, we found that the amount of money flowing out will be much greater than the amount of money we have coming in at this time." Look very closely at what he said. They scheduled "theocratic activities" (which he says are numerous construction projects around the world)... and THEN, AFTER THEY SCHEDULED THE PROJECTS, they decided to "do the math"... and they found that they can't afford them, based on their current income level. Compare that to what Jesus said in Luke 14, which by the way is a scripture they have used for decades to tell the sheeple not to spend more money than they make: Luke 14:28 For example, who of you wanting to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, he might lay its foundation but not be able to finish it, and all the onlookers would start to ridicule him, 30 saying: ‘This man started to build but was not able to finish.’ So the governing body acted in direct violation of Jesus' words. They planned without first making sure they had enough to complete the work and now they have to solicit from the sheeple to help them cover their shortfall.  

They scheduled constructions projects without having adequate funds to cover those projects. And now, rather than cut back on the projects, they are putting the burden on the shoulders of the sheeple. 

Hypocrites. 

Begging the sheeple for money to cover projects that they can’t afford to do is outrageous and immoral. Here are some things to remember:

Jw's as a group make less money due to no college and constant reminders to keep their eye simple. This is not simply my conjecture; it is supported by actual research. Download the latest Pew Survey on religious demographics and you will see that jw’s are the religion with the highest percentage of high school dropouts (19%) and tied for last in percentage of members who have an undergraduate degree (9%). They also have the second highest percentage of members earning less than $30,000/year (42%). 

Let those numbers sink in. Stephen Lett is asking for money from a group that has very little income and education... and the reason they have low income and education is because Stephen Lett and his governing body have ordered them to do so. Add to that the fact that the watchtower very frequently uses Luke 14:28 to remind the sheeple not to spend more than they earn. Yet the gb ignores their own advice and plans work they can't afford, then begs the very people whom they've kept poor to dig deeper into their wallets to pay for the work. Why can't they do like other religions and non profits who go to the public to try to raise capital? Have the congregations hold a bake sale, or a yard sale? Wash cars on Saturday? Sell cookies like the Girl Scouts? They are running a CULT and one big advantage of a CULT is that the sheeple must obey and pay. Listen obey and be blessed, and all that other stuff.

[chrisfugue]

Stephen Lett: “Your loans are cancelled! Now, keep paying us.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses have always said that they are different from other religions by virtue of the fact that they don’t pass a collection plate and they don’t hound their members for money.

Oh really?

On tv.jw.org, take a look at the May 2014 JW Broadcasting program, featuring governing body member Stephen Lett.

He tells the sheep, straight out: "We need to increase our finances.”

Then, somewhere around 21:00 minutes, he gets into some classic watchower DoubleSpeak. Follow along on the video if you can tolerate listening to him talk. Here are the relevant snippets of what he says:

“We also have heard from Circuit Overseers and others that some of the brothers and sisters may have a misconception about some of the recent policy changes that have been instituted. For example, all congregations that had a Kingdom Hall or Assembly Hall loan to pay off were informed that their mortgages were cancelled. Now if you think about that it's amazing, isn't it? All their loans were cancelled. Can you imagine a bank telling homeowners that all their loans were cancelled and that they should merely send into the bank each month whatever they can afford? Only in Jehovah's organization could such a thing happen!”

He uses the word “cancel” three times. The congregations loans were CANCELLED. Let’s go to the dictionary.

Cancel verb 5.(Accounting) to close (an account) by crediting or paying all outstanding charges: He plans to cancel his account at the department store. 6. to eliminate or offset (a debit, credit, etc.) with an entry for an equal amount on the opposite side of a ledger, as when a payment is received on a debt.

Ok, so we have our definition of the word "cancel." According to the dictionary, when Stevie Lett said "all loans were cancelled," he must have meant "all loans were closed, all debts were paid, all balances were zeroed. But... but... in his very next sentence, he says:

Can you imagine a bank telling homeowners that all their loans were cancelled and that they should merely send into the bank each month whatever they can afford? Only in Jehovah's organization could such a thing happen!

And later he says:

... some of us took this to mean that the Organization had a surplus of funds and thus took this action, as if the loans did not need to be reimbursed. Could this misconception have affected the amount that some have chosen to donate each month?

So... the loans were cancelled (wiped off the books, paid off.) Once they were cancelled, they are non-existent. When I pay off a car loan, the debt is cancelled. It no longer exists. It is gone. I don't have to keep sending the bank "whatever I can afford."  But after saying they were cancelled, Stevie says that they still exist... and they need to be reimbursed. So they weren't cancelled at all. What happened was: the wt changed the terms of the loans. They no longer tell the congregations what their balance is, and the congregation no longer has a way to pay the loan off. They will just pay and pay and pay. Is this sounding mafia-esque to anyone other than me? 

[chrisfugue]

JW’s, you are using the bible to determine your medical treatment. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?

As most people know, jehovah’s witnesses refuse blood transfusions due to their interpretation of some verses in the bible.

It is absolutely unconscionable for the watchtower to use an ancient text as a guideline for medical treatment. Using a bible verse to dictate what treatment a patient should or should not receive is sheer madness.

The bible does not contain ANY information that could be considered sound medical knowledge in a modern sense. It was written long before humans even started developing the scientific knowledge that eventually led to modern medicine.

Just a few examples:

Bible writers had access to alcohol. Yet they didn't know that you could use alcohol to disinfect or to clean wounds.

They had access to water, yet they didn't know that you should boil your drinking water to kill bacteria. In fact, they didn't know of the existence of bacteria, germs, viruses, etc.

Leviticus chapter 14 gives a "cure" for leprosy that involves dipping birds in blood, killing a lamb and smearing its blood on the patient, and sprinkling blood around the leper's house. Seriously. This was their level of medical knowledge.

And yet modern jehovah's witnesses, who live in a world where patients with leukemia or other blood cancers can have a fighting chance of survival by accepting transfusion of healthy blood... or where a patient who has lost a lot of blood can receive transfused blood... instead of taking advantage of these medical treatments, they choose to let an ancient, uninformed document determine their course of treatment.

Are you out of your minds, jw’s?

[chrisfugue]

Who is REALLY the “Father of the Lie”???

Satan: "You certainly will not die!" (Adam and Eve died.)

J. F. Rutherford: "Millions now living will never die!" (Nearly everyone who was living when he said that has died.)

(Thanks to IcarusMourned on JWR Forum for this.)

[chrisfugue]

Sorry but I'm a newbie, what is a lurker?

Lurker is an internet term for someone who visits a social website (like a forum, Facebook group, etc.) and just reads but doesn’t post anything. There’s nothing wrong with lurking... not everyone is bold enough to jump into a conversation.

[chrisfugue]

This year, the jw’s get more than just an article in the Kingdom Ministry with instructions on how to behave at the convention. They get a video!

Here are some highlights:

0:17 - Make sure you drive slower than everyone else on the highway. In the middle lane.

1:16 - Even though the chairs are hard, uncomfortable, and too close together, do NOT leave any empty seats so that you can be comfortable. Squash your whole family together into the smallest amount of space possible. For 8 hours, 3 days in a row.

1:30 - Hold onto grandma’s wheelchair so she doesn’t try to escape when she’s bored.

1:57 - Be in your seats to listen to the recorded music. Give your mind to the recorded music. Envision the people who recorded the music. Listen to the recorded music. You like the recorded music. Smile and enjoy the recorded music. Do not get up and walk around during the recorded music. We love recorded music, don’t we?

2:07 - If you are late for any reason, you WILL be shamed.

2:13 - Men: do NOT wear tight pants. (Tony Morris obviously had this part included in the video.)

2:21 - Women: if you wear a skirt, you will be forced to stand next to a big ruler, like the ones they have at roller coasters to see if the kids are tall enough to ride. 

2:26 - Grandma: forget the pumps. And shave your beard, please.

2:31 - If you dress like you’re going on vacation, the doorman will be mad at you. (The doorman is a metaphor for Jehovah, in this case.)

2:37 - Instead, dress like you’re going to a wedding. The doorman (Jehovah) will smile in approval.

2:42 - The bible is illegible and unreadable.

2:59 - Don’t bring an old-fashioned camera and tripod. 

3:10 - Don’t use the internet during the convention. You’ll probably stumble across anti-jw stuff, which might actually make you THINK... when you should be smiling and enjoying the recorded music. We love recorded music, remember?

3:20 - Don’t fart.

3:24 -  Don't go out for lunch. People who go out for lunch have tattoos and facial hair, they smoke cigarettes, AND THE WOMEN WEAR PANTS!!! Don't go near those filthy worldly people at the Burger King.

3:29 - Instead of going out for lunch, make yourself a sandwich in your hotel room.

3:34 -  When you choose an ice chest, don't choose one that will lift your seat up into the air.

3:38 - Thumbs up for small ice chests. Ones that hardly hold anything at all.

3:41 - Don’t make a huge sandwich. It won’t fit into your tiny ice chest. And besides, you learn more when you’re hungry. And you can listen to the recorded music, which we all love.

3:44 - No napping! We wouldn’t want you to miss any of the recorded music!

4:13 - Do not cook anything in your hotel room. Soup, chowder, mashed potatoes, meth... just don’t cook anything, ok???

4:19 - Only take as many muffins as you can fit into a large paper grocery bag.

4:35 - Kids... we know you sat in a hard plastic chair, piled on top of your family, for 8 hours. When you get back to the hotel, you may think that you’ll get to have at least a LITTLE BIT of fun. Think again.

4:37 - No, kids, you won’t be allowed to frolic in the pool. Sorry.

4:44 - Do not participate in the riots that often break out in hotel lobbies.

5:04 - Tip the housekeepers. And a tract or magazine is NOT a tip.

5:13 - If your convention is in an open air stadium in the middle of summer, you are going to fry your ass off. Think of it as jehovah shining his happy rays of sunshine on you. Just close your eyes as the sweat trickles down your back, and enjoy the recorded music.

5:20 -  When each day concludes, stay for an extra two hours sweeping and mopping the floors... EVEN THOUGH THE CONVENTION FACILITY HAS STAFF WHO GET PAID TO DO THE CLEANING, BUT WHO ARE NOW FORCED TO TAKE THIS WEEKEND OFF WORK AND NOT MAKE THEIR SALARY FOR THESE THREE DAYS!!

5:24 -  Wearing a $150 suit from JC Penney is no excuse for not getting all filthy slinging a mop. Nice try. Enjoy some recorded music as you mop.

[chrisfugue]

Cleaning Up After the Conventions... What’s That All About Anyway?

The jw’s have a long-standing tradition of renting convention facilities but not allowing the concession stands to be open. They also do their own janitorial work, encouraging their members to grab a broom or mop and clean up after each day’s session.

Isn’t that a wonderful thing for them to do? Well... it depends on who you ask.

I am friends with one of the janitors at the building where I work. George and his wife both work at my building, but they don't make very much, so they supplement their income by working nights and weekends on the cleaning staff at our city's big indoor stadium. Last year, the jw's held their international convention at the stadium. The week before the convention, I asked George if he and his wife were going to be working that weekend for the big jw convention. No, they both had to take off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He said that only a skeleton crew of cleaning people were allowed to work because the jw's do their own cleaning. He and his wife were both upset about it, because they rely on that income. And if it had been any other event going on... any other convention, a boat show, a basketball tournament, whatever... they would have been able to work it. But instead they had to take three days off without pay. So... for George and his wife, and all of the other cleaners, concession stand workers, parking lot toll workers, etc... the jw conventions mean that they won't get to make their regular paycheck. Not to mention the fact that the WTFBS orders the jw's not to go out for lunch. So... all of the fast food places near the convention site won't get the level of business that they typically get during a 3-day event, either. I'd say it's very selfish, self-serving and vain. No regard for the economic impact they're having on others.

All because the WTFBS wants to stand out as "different." They want to be the one group that cleans up after themselves and brings their own lunches.

They LOVE the publicity that they get at their conventions, including the articles where some reporter raves about how clean and tidy they are.

Often the articles say things like: “The witnesses left the coliseum cleaner than it was when they got there.”

But... again, when they get that kind of press, their good publicity comes at the expense of the facility's regular cleaning staff. Think about it: how would you feel if a volunteer group took over your job for a weekend, and a newspaper fawned over how much better the unpaid volunteers did, compared to how you usually do? It's insult to injury. They weren't permitted to work the event, then they get criticized for not doing as good as the people who did their job for free.

A second and more insidious reason why the WTFBS insists on doing the cleaning themselves is that it provides busy work for the sheeple. It gives them yet another group activity, which strengthens and reinforces the cohesion of the cult members. Cults are known for creating tasks that the members must perform together. Strengthens the bonds, and also keeps them busy and tired so they don't have time or energy for personal non-cult activities.

[chrisfugue]

Are Watchtower’s predictions correct?

Coming out of the jw's can be scary. The watchtower has given so many dire warnings on various levels.

For instance, the watchtower predicts that witnesses who leave the religion will have miserable, unfulfilling lives. How many times did you see a drama on a convention where someone took a break from being a jw, and while they were out "in the world" all kinds of bad things happened to them... unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, false friends who take advantage of you, crime, betrayals...

Those predictions are unfounded. However, they are effective because they create a sense of fear and dread in jw's... "If I leave, all of these bad things will happen to me." And then, when a jw leaves and experiences any level of difficulty transitioning into post-jw life, s/he might think: "Wow, the predictions were right. Life outside of the watchtower is full of trouble."

That's called a self-fulfilling prophecy. The watchtower sets you up for failure if you leave, and then if you have any problems whatsoever, you feel their prediction was correct.

Those predictions affect witnesses on an individual level. The same is true for their end-time prophecies, just on a much larger scale.

The watchtower makes all of these bold, doom-and-gloom warnings and predictions... and then when ANYTHING happens in the world that even appears to be in line with their warnings, jw's say, "Wow, look! The watchtower is right!"

They create circular reasoning that goes something like this: "The watchtower says bad things are going to happen in the world. Bad things happen in the world, and they happen because the watchtower says they're going to happen."

The key to breaking out of the circular logic is determining whether or not the watchtower's predictions can be proven correct beyond doubt.

Or are they like Nostradamus? Some people feel that Nostradamus accurately predicted all kinds of major world events, from Hitler to 9/11. But... for those of us who aren't invested in whether or not Nostradamus was right, it's easy to pick his "prophecies" apart. They are written in broad, vague terms. Applying them to real world events requires a dramatic stretch of the imagination and suspension of disbelief. AND... big strike against Nostradamus here... the vast majority of his predictions can't even be stretched to apply to anything at all. So his track record is something like 99% total gobbledygook, 1% gobbledygook that has some elements in common with real world events that took place after he died.

Now compare the watchtower's interpretation of biblical prophecies to Nostradamus'.

In fact, to help you do that, write down a list of prophecies and predictions they have made and see how many have panned out. Of the ones where watchtower claims there is a modern day fulfillment, determine for yourself whether there is incontrovertible evidence that the modern event was actually predicted by the bible verse(s)... or was it just a case of Nostradamus-like stretching and bending and massaging to make it appear like an accurate prediction?

Just one place to start would be 1914. Most good jw's feel that the watchtower nailed 1914, and this is solid proof that they have truth.

What do we know about watchtower and 1914? Well, for starters, CT Russell DID start looking forward to the year 1914 as far back as the 1880s. So he must have had SOME basis for this, right? Well... look closely. Russell was predicting the END of the world in 1914. (More recent watchtower articles hide this fact. They imply that Russell was awaiting the BEGINNING of the last days in 1914. That's wrong... he thought jesus would come and end all governments.)

Look more deeply at the 1914 predictions and you'll see that there are very, very few kernels of truth in what current jw's believe. For instance, it's very common today to hear witnesses say that the pre-1914 world was peaceful, idyllic, almost trouble-free... and then satan was ousted from heaven and the whole world descended into chaos. But... that's not at all what the pre-1914 watchtower was saying. In fact, in 1894, the watchtower magazine said that the world was in such a mess, near anarchy, that many watchtower readers didn't believe it would last until 1914... but that 1894 watchtower magazine assured readers that 1914 would be the END of this time of trouble.

Let that sink in. Do current watchtower publications acknowledge that the world was near anarchy in 1894? Not at all. They tell you the world was at peace right up until 1914.

Dig deep into what you feel are "correct" watchtower predictions. Look at each one very carefully... and chances are, you will see that they fall apart under close scrutiny. (To completely pick apart their 1914 predictions, check out the great jwfacts.com article that uses direct quotes from old and new publications.)

Once you've done your homework and dissected their prophecies and found that they are a modern-day Nostradamus, then it's much easier to release your mind from the fear that they are finally going to get one right. They're not.

[chrisfugue]

So... Jehovah's Witnesses are the nicest people in the world, right?

The smiling, happy, polite, attentive old woman who is standing at your door, offering to teach you things from the bible? She is shunning her own son and his three children, and she is also shunning her stepson and his two children. You see her smiling, helpful face. Her children and grandchildren haven't seen or spoken to her in years. You call her one of the nicest people in the world. I call her my mom.

[chrisfugue]

Some Of My Earliest Mental Conflicts: "Jehovah Gave Us Free Will... but..."

When I was just a little kid, sitting on my JehovahMom's lap and listening to stories from the pink Paradise Lost book (the awful and terrifying book for jw children that preceded My Book of Bible Stories), I distinctly remember the way my rational mind used to wrestle with certain concepts, trying to parse them and absorb "the truth" that she was teaching me.  One of the earliest mental conflicts that I couldn't ever reconcile was this: Jehovah gave us free will, BUT only those who choose to accept the teachings of the watchtower would survive Armageddon.  Even as a little kid, that didn't make sense to me. It was like a mother telling a child: you're free to choose any of the snacks that are in the pantry... oranges, cookies, raisins, crackers... whatever you want to choose. BUT if you choose anything other than an orange, I'm going to punish you.  (Then, to add insult to injury, the mother forces the child to tell all of his friends that his mother is the most awesome mother in the world because she lets him choose ANY snack he wants... and he chooses oranges every day because HE wants an orange, not because he was coerced.) That inner conflict between this assurance that j-ho was a loving god who allows us freedom of choice, and the assurance that if we choose anything other than THIS, he will execute us... that remained in my mind from childhood all the way until I finally walked away from the religion.  It was my first experience with cognitive dissonance, and it was always just beneath the surface as I lived my life. When I would go door knocking, I would sometimes think... these poor people are using their free will wrong, and they don't even know it, and so they are going to die... but... how is that fair???  It's funny how even a kid can poke holes in the jw dogma.  But yet we allowed the watchtower to chain us down. To take away our freedom of choice while telling us that we have freedom of choice.

[chrisfugue]

The way jw's view Christmas

I've thought a lot about the varied reactions that I've seen jw's have toward Christmas. On the far end of the scale, there are people like my jehovah-mom. When she talks about Christmas and the Christmas season, she uses words like "satanic" and "disgusting" and "wicked." When she hears Christmas music playing in the grocery store, she compares it to "smelling filthy cigarette smoke." To hear my mom's reaction to Christmas, you would think it was a worldwide orgy filled with pure human hedonism. But that's just my mom. She pretty much hates everything outside of the kingdom hall doors equally. On the opposite end of the scale, I've heard of jw's who want to emulate Christmas in any way they can get away with.  In the middle, between the two extremes, you sometimes end up with strange confluences of emotional reactions to Christmas among jw's. Perfect example of that: in December of 2010, my last year as a jw, I was talking to a jw couple who are my age. They have a son who was around 8 at the time. The mom was telling me this story (which she thought was just soooo cute and endearing) about driving home from the midweek meeting with their son. It was dark, of course, and a lot of the houses they were passing had Christmas lights up. In the back seat, their son suddenly asked: "Mommy, I know that jehovah hates Christmas, but... do you think it's okay with him if I just think the lights look pretty?" The mom said that she and her husband had to have a quick, hushed discussion in the front seat about how to answer, and then she told him: "As long as we remember that jehovah hates what they stand for, it's okay to think that the lights themselves are pretty." Is it okay with jehovah if I just think the lights look pretty? As the mom was telling me this story, she and her husband had smiles on their faces... you could tell that they thought the question was soooooooo cute and endearing, and they were soooo proud of their little boy for thinking of how to please jehovah. Little did they know that at that point in my life I had already determined that I was getting my children out of the cult, starting at that next new year's day. Little did they know that hearing their story gave me a 64-ounce Super Big Gulp sized dose of confirmation and reinforcement that I was doing the right thing and saving my children from a very troublesome life. Is it okay with jehovah if I just think the lights look pretty? That story has stuck with me for 4 years now. To me, it sums up the cognitive dissonance experienced by jehovah's witnesses, starting as soon as they are old enough to start having logical thoughts. Sadly for this little guy, who is 12 now, his parents are making sure that they throw water on any burning embers of curiosity he ever has about the big, bright world that lies outside of the kingdom hall doors. I hope that in just a few more years, he still has enough curiosity left to lead him to do his research and get the hell away from that cult.

[chrisfugue]

A cousin of mine recently wrote an article about her childhood sexual abuse and she talks about the reactions from JWs. If you want to read it, here's a link check out my /post/94551008240

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

[chrisfugue]

Why Do I Call JW's a Cult? Part 6 of 6

Hassan's final identifying mark of a cult is:

Emotional Control: excessive use of guilt; excessive use of fear, including fear of thinking independently, fear of the world outside of the cult, fear of losing salvation, fear of being disapproved and shunned by the group.

My comments: the watchtower inspires fear in its members, including children (who are very susceptible to fear.) They fear many things. Armageddon is probably one of the biggest fears. Children hear descriptions of how jehovah will soon annihilate almost all 7 billion people on the earth, how the dead bodies will be piled up and picked at by birds. In many publications, pictures of the terrifying destruction at armageddon are shown, just to reinforce the horrific nature of what the witnesses feel is about to happen. As a child, I often had nightmares that were inspired by illustrations in some of the books: graphic and terrifying depictions of people meeting their deaths at armageddon. The fear of destruction at armageddon must always be maintained by witnesses. They are reminded again and again that they must remain faithful right up until Armageddon in order to have a chance to survive, and even then, they have no guarantee. "Probably you may be concealed" is the closest thing they have to an assurance of surviving the destructive fury that is about to be unleashed.

Fear of thinking independently: a properly trained jehovah's witness may actually be afraid of looking at information that is critical of the watchtower. The watchtower warns members repeatedly that they should not even take a glimpse of critical information or "apostate" websites, as if the words carry some kind of paranormal, satanic power, and just a quick look may be enough to turn the witness into a deluded apostate.

Fear of the world: the witnesses are reminded again and again to strictly sequester themselves from unnecessary contact with "worldly people" (non witnesses.) Even a "worldly" relative should be viewed with caution. The watchtower says, implicitly and explicitly, that people in the world are selfish, self-centered, morally corrupt, and evil... they must be avoided. The only universally approved interactions between a jehovah's witness and worldly people are: work and school, where association with the worldly people is unavoidable... but the witness is to avoid forming close friendships with those workmates and classmates out of fear of contamination; and the other approved contact between a witness and worldly people is speaking to them in the ministry, where the ultimate goal is to convert them from their sinful state and convert them to jehovah's witnesses.

Fear of being disapproved and shunned by the group: shunning is one of the primary tools that the watchtower uses to keep members in, and to bring back members that get disfellowshipped. I have encountered many jehovah's witnesses who speak anonymously on the internet and say: "I want to leave the religion, I no longer believe that it's the truth... but I don't want to lose my family, and so I stay." Fear of being shunned is a very real fear. I personally am shunned by my own mother and stepdad, plus all of the friends I had throughout my life. I have no contact with them. They are forbidden from speaking to me or even acknowledging that I'm alive. Fear of that type of treatment is enough to keep many current jehovah's witnesses from leaving, even though they no longer believe that the watchtower is "the truth."

These are just a small sampling of what Steven Hassan talks about in his books. For anyone who is truly interested in researching cults, I encourage them to get either Combating Cult Mind Control or Releasing The Bonds.

Additionally, you can find much of this information discussed on websites like http://www.jwfacts.com or forums like http://www.jehovahswitnessrecovery.com/forum

Again, if you are a jehovah's witness and are cautious about reading books written by "apostate jw's"... relax. Hassan was NOT a jehovah's witness. He was a Moonie. But his observations on the nature of cults is going to strike a chord with any honest-hearted jehovah's witness.