By José Miguel Arráiz

In the previous installment we pointed out some of the characteristics of destructive sects, and among them we pointed out that of demanding total adherence to the group and forcing under psychological pressure to break all previous social ties with entry into the cult. We also pointed out how they seek to live in closed communities in total dependence on the group, controlling the information that reaches its members, manipulating it at their convenience. Jehovah’s Witnesses accomplish this in several ways:

1. Isolation of the adept and dependence on the group

To understand how Jehovah’s Witnesses achieve this, you have to know the doctrine of the organization, for which all other religions, including the rest of the Christian churches and denominations, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, are part of Babylon the Great, the Great Whore. Neither do the governments nor their institutions that are part of what they call this “system start of things”.

Ramera de BabiloniaIt is, in this context of polarization (good-sect versus bad-society) in which everything and everyone who does not belong to the sect is part of the initial system from which we must distance ourselves. They maintain a very different position from open religions such as the Catholic Church, where the Christian, without being of the world, but being in it, works to «ensure that the divine law is engraved in the earthly city» (GS 43) and «to establish temporal order in a way that conforms to the higher principles of Christian life» (AA 7). For the organization, however, the entire policy is “dirty”[1]Therefore Jehovah’s Witnesses are notmix” neither “they dirty” with her[2].

From the family and social sphere not linked to the organization, they gradually isolate themselves, since celebrating birthdays, holidays and even Christmas becomes a sin because of their origin.pagan”.

The same thing happens with friends, because they are taught not to have friends who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses, because For them, anyone who is not a member of the organization is “bad company.”, it doesn’t matter if you are friendly, or seem good, don’t smoke, don’t use obscene language, and don’t be immoral. Examples abound, so we will only limit ourselves to citing a few of his publications on the matter:

“Some worldly young people may seem good just because they do not smoke, use obscene language, or are not immoral.. However, if they do not pursue justice, their carnal ways of thinking and attitudes can easily influence you. Besides, how much you can have in common with unbelievers?”[3]

“As Pablo indicated, it is easy for us to get lost in the matter of the company we cultivate.Someone may seem friendly and nice to you. But if he doesn’t share your interest in Jehovah’s service or even believe in the Bible’s promises, he is bad company.. Because? Because your life is based on different principles.”.[4]

Once the individual has replaced his previous social circle with one composed almost exclusively of Jehovah’s Witnesses, sometimes including work and business relationships, dependence on the sect begins, because the departure of the follower from the organization means in practice his execration from the social circle, as he is considered an “apostate.”

2. Apostates

For the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, there are many reasons why someone may be considered an apostate. Among some of the characteristics that they themselves indicate to identify them are:

-Lack of faith 
-Lack of endurance in the face of persecution 
-Abandonment of correct moral standards 
-Pay attention to “feigned words” of false teachers and “inspired expressions that lead astray”
-Try to “be declared righteous by law.” 
-Consider house-to-house preaching of little importance
-Reject your representatives and your visible organization
-Reject any of the teachings and doctrines of the organization

Note that it doesn’t take much to be considered an apostate. For example, it is enough for a person not to want to do the usual house-to-house preaching to distribute WatchTower literature for there to be an indication of his apostasy. It may even be enough for the adept not to consider that he is living the last days, to be expelled.

“Even professing to have faith in the Word of God, Apostates may neglect their service to God, regarding the work of preaching as unimportant. and teach that He commissioned the followers of Jesus Christ.”[5]

In summary, we could say that they consider apostates anyone who was a Jehovah’s Witness and has stopped being one:

“Those who voluntarily abandon the Christian congregation become an integral part of the “antichrist.”. (1Jn 2:18, 19). As in the case of the apostate Israelites, destruction is also predicted for the apostates of the Christian congregation.[6]

The “apostate” as an evil being

Doctor Malito
In this way, once the person is considered an apostate, they are essentially identified with someone.”wicked“, a “pariah“, if “the very scum of society”[7], “unclean”, “liar”, “injurious”, which will often end as a “drunk”, “relaxed demeanor” and “fornicator”.

“After having given in to works of the flesh such as “enmities, strife, jealousy, wrath, altercations, divisions, sects,” Apostates often become victims of other works of the flesh such as “drunkenness,” “loose conduct,” and “fornication.” (Gal. 5:19-21) Peter warns us about those who “despise the lordship” by despising the theocratic order, who “speak insultingly” of those entrusted with responsibility within the Christian congregation and thus ‘abandon the right path.’ He says that “the final conditions have become worse for them than the first.”[8]

In their various publications they do not even allow the possibility of thinking that the person who abandons them is “wrong” in good faith, and they always assume either that they have bad intentions or that they are spiritually unclean:

“Apostates often appeal to selfishness, claiming that we have been deprived of our freedoms, including the freedom to interpret the Bible for ourselves. (Compare Genesis 3:1-5.) In reality, The only thing these people who want to contaminate us offer is a return to the disgusting teachings of “Babylon the Great.”… It is true that these flattering-speaking people may have an outward appearance of cleanliness, in a physical and moral sense. But Inside they are unclean people in a spiritual sense, because they have begun to think with arrogance and independence”[9]

The “apostate” as a being worthy of being hated

Notice how in the following text from the Atalaya magazine, they take a text from the Old Testament to imply that if David hated the wicked with complete hatred, they should have the same attitude toward the “apostates.”

“Let us hate false religion and apostasy.”

“The obligation to hate lawlessness also applies to all the activity of apostates.Our attitude toward apostates should be like that of David, who said: “Do I not hate those who hate you intensely, O Jehovah, and are I not disgusted by those who rebel against you? I truly hate them with complete hatred. They have become true enemies for me(Psalm 139:21, 22) The apostates of modern times have made common cause with “the man of lawlessness,” the clergy of Christendom. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) So, as loyal witnesses of Jehovah, we have nothing in common with them.”[10]

With texts like these, it is not surprising that they have been accused in different countries of promoting religious hatred. In the United Kingdom, for example, they began to be investigated in September of this year (2011) for this reason by identifying apostates as “mentally ill.” The news was spread by several media outlets, and you can read a summary of what happened on the Infocatólica news portal[11].

In France they have been recognized not only as a sect, but as one of the most dangerous in the country following the Gest-Guyard parliamentary report, as a result of which the French Ministry of Finance is demanding 303 million francs ($49 million) from the Jehovah’s Witnesses for unpaid taxes for years. The situation in Russia is also delicate for similar reasons.

Attitude towards the “apostate”

Once the organization has indoctrinated its members to consider that the one who has abandoned the group is an enemy who wants to pervert them, it has already prepared them to reject the expelled person so that he or she remains totally isolated. If someone out of pure compassion does not follow these guidelines, whether you greet them or talk to them, they also risk being expelled for being considered an accomplice:

“Say a simple Hello! to someone it can be the first step that leads to a conversation and maybe even a friendship. ¿We would like to take that first step regarding an expelled person?”[12]

“The fact that [Jehovah’s Witnesses] refusing to fellowship with the disfellowshipped person on any spiritual or social level reflects loyalty to God’s standards”[13]

“Attitude towards apostates

Christians must be hospitable, but not towards those who apostatize of true faith (1 Peter 4:9)…

Besides, If a dedicated servant of Jehovah welcomed such a deceitful teacher into his home, he would become an “accomplice” in the “bad actions.” of said person (Popular Version). Therefore, no loyal modern-day Jehovah’s Witness would greet a disfellowshipped or expelled apostate or allow such a person to use his or her Christian home as a place from which to spread doctrinal error. It would certainly be a grave responsibility before God for a believer to extend hospitality to an apostate. and this will result in the spiritual death of a fellow worshiper of Jehovah. (Compare Romans 16:17, 18; 2 Timothy 3:6, 7.)

Some who served as Jehovah’s Witnesses in the past have rejected various biblical views based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles. For example, they insist that we are not living in the “last days,” despite much evidence that we are (2 Timothy 3:1-5). These apostates ‘have come out from among us because they are not of our kind’ (1 John 2:18, 19). …such selfish heretics have no “participation” with the Father or the Son, regardless of how much they boast of having an intimate relationship with God and Christ. Rather, they are in spiritual darkness (1 John 1:3, 6). Lovers of light and truth must stand firm against these promoters of false teachings. Loyal Jehovah’s Witnesses do not want to be complicit in any way in the “evil actions” of these unfaithful people by in any way supporting their ungodly words and activities. Instead, ‘let us fight tenaciously for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.’ (Jude 3, 4, 19.)”[14]

Treatment for the “apostate” family member

Not even in the case of family members does the expelled person escape from being rejected. If the expelled person is a close relative (father, mother, child), they are taught not to have spiritual fellowship with him:

“Similarly, if a relative, such as a father, mother, son or daughter, has been expelled or has disassociated, blood and family ties remain in force. So, does that mean that when a family member is expelled, everything remains the same within the family circle? Definitely not. The expelled has been cut off from the congregation in a spiritual sense; Previous spiritual ties have been completely broken. This is true even with respect to the relatives of the expelled person, including those in his immediate or close family circle. Therefore, family members—although they recognize family ties— They no longer have spiritual fellowship with the expelled”[15]

If it is a relative who lives outside the family circle, they recommend eliminating all contact if possible:

“….if the expelled or disassociated person is a relative who lives outside the immediate family circle and home. It may be possible to eliminate almost all contact with such a relative. Even if there were certain family matters that required communication, this would certainly be kept to a minimum…”[16]

The psychological and emotional impact suffered by some individuals who have had a lifetime within the organization, and who have family and friends there, can in some cases be enormous. In this way they achieve two typical objectives of any sectarian organization:

-Isolate faithful members from the influence of those who are distant by demonizing them or fearing them to suffer the same fate as dissidents.

-Pressure the dissident to rejoin the group, adapting to the demands of the organization.

Isolation from any influence
not controlled by the organization

We had said that one of the characteristics of destructive sects to maintain tight control of the members was to control the information that reaches them, manipulating it at their convenience, at the same time they try to limit their freedom so that they do not receive influence outside of it.

Of course, the intention here is not to question the prudence that a Christian must have in distancing himself from influences that are harmful to his faith, but rather the sectarian nature that in this case goes to the extreme of prohibiting its members from even being curious about the objections made by those they describe as “apostates,” or even sharing with other Jehovah’s Witnesses through the Internet and creating groups for that purpose.

The fact that a Jehovah’s Witness does not even have the right to participate in Internet groups dedicated exclusively to Jehovah’s Witnesses is an example of the organization’s insecurity about losing the control it has over its members.

“Websites sponsored by “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. Take for example some Internet sites created by people who claim to be Jehovah’s Witnesses…. However, How certain is it that these contacts were not prepared by apostates??”[17]

In this way the fence is closed, prohibiting even thinking or being curious about points of view opposed to the organization.

“¿Why it is dangerous to be curious about the accusations of apostates?

As loyal servants of Jehovah, why would we even want to glance at the propaganda of those who have rejected Jehovah’s table and who now verbally beat down those who help us ingest “wholesome words”? …Let us never pay attention to what apostates say or do….”[18]

“How can we protect ourselves from the deceptions of apostates? By following this advice from the Word of God: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and occasions of stumbling contrary to the teaching you have learned, and [avoid them]” (Romans 16:17). We ‘avoid’ them by not listening to their reasoning, whether expressed in person or through print or the Internet.. Why do we adopt such a stance? First of all, because the Word of God commands it, and we know that Jehovah always wants the best for us (Isaiah 48:17, 18). Secondly, because we love the organization that has taught us the precious truths that so distinguish us from Babylon the Great.[19]

“Avoiding all contact with these opponents will protect us from their corrupt way of thinking.. Now, exposing oneself to apostate teachings through the different modern means of communication is as harmful as welcoming the apostate himself into the home. We should never allow curiosity to cause us to act in such a calamitous manner (Proverbs 22:3).”[20]

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6 – Conclusions

Grades

  1.  The man at the threshold, year 1975, page. 325-348. ↩
  2.  In this regard they write: “…the 138 members of the United Nations organization know that Jehovah’s Witnesses have not gotten mixed up and dirty in the dirty politics of this world and have not tried to ride on the symbolic scarlet “wild beast” that has seven heads and ten horns” ↩
  3.  The Watchtower April 15, 1994, p. 14-19 ↩
  4.  The Watchtower July 15, 1991, p. 23-26 ↩
  5.  Insight, volume I, 1991, p. 158-159 ↩
  6.  Ibid. ↩
  7.  The Watchtower, December 15, 1977, 747 ↩
  8.  The Watchtower, February 15, 2004, p. 15-20 ↩
  9.  The Watchtower, November 1, 1987, p. 15-20 ↩
  10.  The Watchtower, July 15, 1992, p. 8-13 ↩
  11.  They investigate in the United Kingdom whether Jehovah’s Witnesses incite religious hatred ↩
  12.  The Watchtower, November 15, 1981, page 19 ↩
  13.  The Watchtower, November 15, 1981, page 16 ↩
  14.  The Watchtower, October 1, 1983, p. 20-25 ↩
  15.  The Watchtower, April 15, 1988, p. 26-31 ↩
  16.  Ibid. ↩
  17.  Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1999, p. 3-6 ↩
  18.  The Watchtower , July 1, 1994, p. 8-13 ↩
  19.  The Watchtower, February 15, 2004, p. 15-20 ↩
  20.  The Watchtower , May 1, 2000, p. 8-12 ↩