I’m an ex-Jehovah’s Witness and I was asked to comment on this post by an anon.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are absolutely a white supremacist cult. There’s no denying that. Whatever you’ve heard, the reality is probably worse
That tiktok was posted onto tumblr by an ex-Jehovah’s Witness who escaped the cult. There are lots of ex-jw/ex-cult bloggers on here who frequently post guides on how to handle interactions with cult members, based on lived experience.
You are right about who is prone to be targeted, which is something I want to talk about because lots of people assume that only “stupid, naive” people join cults and so it could never happen to them. The reality is that they seek out and prey on anyone going through hardship, anyone isolated, anyone who feels alienated by the entire world. That’s why they leave pamphlets in hospitals, why they talk to people in graveyards, why they pull names from obituaries to write letters. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the most racially diverse religious group in the US and they have significantly more women than men as members and that’s not because those people are more gullible, it’s because being treated poorly and feeling disillusioned with the whole world makes you high-risk
There is a reason that every single ex-JW guide on how to deal with Witnesses tells you to be kind. It’s because practically no one is. Most long-term Witnesses have had a naked person flash them at the door at least once. In rural areas at least, gun threats are extremely common. Everyone has had rude people and doors slammed in their faces, there are people who’ve been assaulted and chased. Any group of Jehovah’s Witnesses or ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses will have tons of people in it who are terrified of big dogs. Most JWs have had the police called on them
You have to consider this in context. Like you said, cults isolate their members. JWs aren’t allowed to be friends with non-JWs. College is heavily discouraged and most kids are homeschooled. Even work outside of free labor for the cult is something to be wary of. Jehovah’s Witnesses tell their members that there is no love at all in “the world” (outside of the cult), that only JWs have love among themselves, and that they are the happiest people on Earth. Preaching is obnoxious, people hate it, and sending members out to face that hate reinforces what the cult has taught them. It actually fulfills a few of their doomsday prophecies. Jesus foretold that his people would be despised and hated, so seeing that means it really is the one true religion. The idea of “scaring” Witnesses away is super common. Most people seem to think it’s funny, and thats what was initially being addressed
Meeting someone who is polite when you preach to them is rare. Not nice, not friendly, but just civil about it. JWs are trained from birth that the whole world is exactly like what they experience while preaching— which ideally would be literally their only contact with the outside world. The cult may be terrible and miserable and controlling, yeah, but its members are convinced that the outside world is even worse and that at least the people here love you. They genuinely believe that all “worldly” people are irredeemably bad and evil, and most of them have never had ANY evidence to suggest otherwise
One thing that tiktok didn’t mention though is to never talk to them twice if you can help it, and to ask to be put on the DNC list. I’m not saying it was perfect, but being nice is one of the biggest essentials when dealing with cult members for a reason
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