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The Jehovah's Witnesses are not considered to be a cult today.

However almost all modern religions were considered, at one time, to be cults. The original Christian church began as a Jewish Cult and then expanded.

Answer: See the Reasoningf rom the Scriptures on the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses---cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual. Many cults follow a living human leader, and often their adherents live in groups apart from the rest of society. The standard for what is orthodox, however, should be God's Word, and Jehovah's Witnesses strictly adhere to The Bible. Their worship is a way of life, not a ritual devotion. They neither follow a human nor isolate themselves from the rest of society. They live and work in the midst of other people.

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7y ago
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11y ago
Answer to the negativeNo normally a cult is people who isolate themselves, they are not brain washed and all have different ways of thinking.

The definition of a "cult" is. Dictionary.com: "A religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a human charismatic leader usually conducted in secrecy."

Several "cults" in recent times can fall under this category. Jim Jones & The Guyana Tragedy. Charles Manson. David Koresh & Branch Davidian (Waco, Tx). Marshall Applewhite (Heavens Gate)

Jehovah Witnesses are like everyone else. They have normal problems-economic, physical, emotional. You may meet them at your work, store, or library. They make mistakes at times, for they are not perfect, inspired, or infallible. But they try to learn from their experiences and diligently study the Bible to make needed corrections.

They have made a dedication to God to do his will, and they apply themselves to fulfill this dedication. In all their activities they seek guidance from God's Word and his holy spirit. They are known primarily for their "door to door" preaching work. (this work is being conducted worldwide in 235 lands).

Meetings are held openly at Kingdom Halls. You can likely find a Kingdom Hall in your neighborhood which JW's warmly invite you. It is of vital importance to them that their beliefs be based on the Bible and not on mere human speculations or religious creeds.

Beliefs can be found at www.watchtower.org

Another JW response with quotes from non-Witnesses.

A government official of the city of St. Petersburg, Russia, explained: "Jehovah's Witnesses were presented to us as some kind of underground sect sitting in the darkness and slaughtering children and killing themselves. . . . Now I see normal, smiling people, even better than many people I know. They are peaceful and calm, and they love one another very much. . . . I really do not understand why people tell such lies about them."

Jehovah's Witnesses do not hold ritualistic meetings, nor is their worship cloaked in secrecy. Non-Witness author Julia Mitchell Corbett notes in her book Religion inAmerica: "Witnesses have earned the reputation of being honest, courteous, and industrious," Their conduct does not clash with what is accepted as normal social behavior. Many who are not Witnesses readily acknowledge that there is nothing freakish or bizarre about Jehovah's Witnesses.

The NewEncyclopædia Britannica accurately states that the Witnesses "insist upon a high moral code in personal conduct."

The director of news and special projects for a television station in the United States wrote to Jehovah's Witnesses in response to a biased report about the Witnesses on the TV news show 60 Minutes. He said: "If more people lived the way your faith does, this nation wouldn't be in the shape it is in. I am one newsman who knows that your organization is founded on love and a strong faith in the Creator. I want you to know that not all News people are as biased."

"I do not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses," wrote a newsman in the Czech Republic. Yet he added: "It is obvious that they [Jehovah's Witnesses] have tremendous moral strength. . . . They recognize governmental authorities but believe that only God's Kingdom is capable of solving all human problems. But watch it-they are not fanatics. They are people who are absorbed in humanity."

Even TheNew CatholicEncyclopedia mentions that Jehovah's Witnesses have a "current reputation as one of the best-behaved groups in the world," with "indefatigable zeal" in preaching, and their "conjugal [marriage] and sexual morality is quite rigid."

Regarding the trumped up accusations about 'suicide'; The NorthernNews (Zimbabwe Rhodesia). "From all accounts, those areas in which Jehovah's Witnesses are strongest among Africans are now areas more trouble-free than the average. Certainly they have been active against agitators, witchcraft, drunkenness and violence of any kind. A close study of theBible is encouraged."

The accusation that we do not associate with non-JWs is a long stretch at twisting the reality. We may not seek CLOSE social association with others; perhaps we don't enjoy being around dirty immoral jokes and stories; we don't enjoy being around swearing; -- but we are very social. We visit people at their homes. We go to ball parks. We attend plays. Our children work on school projects with others. We work side by side with our workmates. We make it a point to include and visit non-JW relatives. (the list goes on)

Answer to the affirmativeNo one likes to think of themselves to be part of a cult. But a cult is primarily designed to keep people part of it as very often their entire identity has been invested into it. So it really is no surprise that Jehovah's Witnesses would strongly object to being labelled with such a derogatory term that holds much stigma.

Although Jehovah's Witnesses are in general nice, friendly, sociable, peaceful people, the reason they are recognizes as a cult, by both the religious and secular worlds, is primarily because they are a high control organization. Whilst Jehovah's Witnesses may not barricade themselves away inside compounds, their isolation is one of mentality. Jehovah's Witnesses are strongly encouraged to only associate themselves leisurely with other JWs, the only times they should engage with non-JWs is at work/school, in important family matters, in the house-to-house ministry work, and in other everyday tasks such as shopping. Jehovah Witnesses are strongly looked down upon for associating with former members and even those who speak against their organisation, they can even face disciplinary action for doing so, unless their association is proven to be to encourage a former member back into the organization.

Once a person has been studying with Jehovah's Witnesses for a time and looking to become a JW themselves, they are strongly encouraged to sever any "bad association" a.k.a. anyone not associated with the organization. This makes it very difficult if that person, a few years down the line, ever wanted to leave the organization. And is the reason why a large number of former JWs (who have grown up in the organization and who's families are all JWs) commit suicide, as once they leave they are shunned by their former JW "friends" and even family and have literally no one to turn to.

Vastly integrated into the JW teaching is that their leaders and divinely directed by Jesus Christ himself, and they are God's only channel of communication in the world today. Therefore to question the organization's teachings is seen as 'independent thinking' and should be repented of; as to question the leadership is to question God himself.

They are also forbidden from looking into the Watchtower's past teachings, from reading anti-JW/apostate material, or from even studying the Bible without organizational literature.

This is only a very short and brief outline of why Jehovah's Witnesses are recognized as a cult or high control group.

Answer:All religions other than the Roman Catholic Church were considered, at one time, to be cults. The first was the Martin Luther's who dared to read the bible on their own. Out of that came all of the Protestant churches when the Bible was published. Those who "protested" against the Catholic church dogma that was not written in the Bible. Funny but many of those still have non Bible based dogma out of tradition.

Jehovah's Witnesses follow the Bible word for word and if it is not in the Bible then they don't believe it is true.

Not allowing anyone to interpret the bible is the very definition of what Jehovah's Witnesses are about. They are the most pragmatic bible readers and most of them know the Bible better than any member of most churches.

Are they perfect in their beliefs? I don't think anyone has the ability to judge that. However, they seem to be some of the nicest people I have ever met.

They have no paid clergy, so they are considered to be a threat to the large money making emotionally driven churches. Jehovah's Witnesses do not ask for money, but when they see what is in the Bible they will support it. The members of the Jehovah's Witnesses are the clergy... All equal, no high priests.

If you don't know anything about them, and you just follow the rumors, then you are not much of a seeker of truth. I strongly suggest that you attend one of their totally open meetings, or to have a Bible study with them, if you are interested. After all it is your life and your mind, if you have some fear that you are too weak to overcome some ideology then you should not belong to any church, because you are just weak.

The point is the rumors about JW's is just from other Christian Churches that are threatened by them. They are the fastest growing religion these days. If I was a paid Clergy from some church that is losing members, I would be concerned too.

The only threat they have is to the collection plates of the large emotionally driven churches who just repeat what brings money to the til.

I am not a Jehovah's Witness. I have no religion.

I find the JW's to have good understanding of the Bible.

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14y ago
  • No. A cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual. Many cults follow a living human leader, and often their adherents live in groups apart from the rest of society. The standard for what is orthodox, however, should be God's Word, and Jehovah's Witnesses strictly adhere to the Bible. Their worship is a way of life, not a ritual devotion. They neither follow a human nor isolate themselves from the rest of society. They live and work in the midst of other people.

Yes. Very much so. Cults can be defined as any religious organisation that:-

  1. is unorthodox (ie their beliefs are contrary to the established Christian practice)
  2. believes all other beliefs, except their own, are the works of the devil
  3. have or have had a charismatic, persuasive, human leader
  4. base their teachings on a skewed or warped scripture, or even their own 'scriptures' (eg the Book of Morman for the LDS movement)
  5. have rules and regulations that remove the members from the very society in which they are required to minister
  6. when a member wishes to leave, obstacles or even worse, are put in their place as to make leaving the cult impossible, or at the very least, difficult.

In all six areas JWs meet the criteria with flying colours. For example:

  1. Their beliefs are unorthodox. Thet believe in an Arian theology where Jesus is not divine but a "demigod" (whatever that means) contrary to the teaching of scripture and the Christian Church for nigh on 2000 years.
  2. They regard the doctrine of the Trinity and all who believe in it (-ie the whole of the Christian Church for the past 2000 years) as the works of Satan.
  3. They were founded by a charismatic, manipulative leader called Charles Taize Russell, who foistered his own Arian beliefs on a few people.
  4. Their teachings are categorically not based on the Bible. Because of the many discrepancies between the Bible and their beliefs, the Watchtower Society (ie the Jehovah's Witnesses) produced their own Bible (the New World Translation) where verses against their beliefs were rewritten so that their beliefs could then be 'backed up' by scripture.
  5. By not allowing members (or their children) to celebrate Christmas, birthdays, other celebrations and anniversaries or accept, for example, blood transfusions, they have alienated themselves from society. Whilst they may live and work in society, they cannot and wikll not minister as part of it.
  6. if a member wishes to leave he or she runs the risk of being 'disfellowshipped' - a rather posh word for being shunned by the other members. Anyone wanting to remain as a friend of the disfellowshipped member also runs the risk of being disfellowshipped.

Therefore, the beliefs of the Jehovah's Witness organisation fits the criteria for being little more than a cult. That is not to say that JWs are bad, but merely misguided. No jehovah's Witness will ever admit that they could ever be wrong, unless they meet real Christian love and care. In my 45+ years as a Christian, I have yet to meet any JW who has left the organisation to become a Christian in any church I have attended regret it - in fact, they invariably what a huge mistake they made in their lives, and are amazed in their new faith, just how wonderful real Christian love can be.

Our magazine The Watchtower answers this for us

WT 15/2/94 page 4 Cults-What Are They?

''..cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior......Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive. Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen....... Cult members often isolate themselves from friends, family, and even society in general. Is that the case with Jehovah's Witnesses?''

Answer to the above:

It seems the answer is Yes!!!

  • "..cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views"

Yes- the JW movement is a religious group that does not accept the divinity of Jesus Christ but instead adopted the discredited and radical Arian theology that was deemed heretical by those who were still around in Jesus' time and who knew otherwise.

  • " and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior......"

Yes again. JWs refuse any medical treatment that involves blood. They refuse to celebrate birthdays and prevent their children from doing so. The refuse to celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas and prevent their children from doing so... the list goes on.

  • "Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive. "

Yes again. They are devoted to the Watchtower and Bible society and all doctrine has to come from that society. Their founder Charles Taize Russell was a self-proclaimed pastor and Greek Bible scholar although he never had training nor could he even recite the Greek alphabet when under cross-examination in court and eventually admitted his guilt. JWs still unconditionally defend this self-confessed charlatan and womaniser as 'misunderstood'.

  • "Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen"

Yes again. These were the very words used by Russell when cornered about his fraudulent claims.

  • "Cult members often isolate themselves from friends, family, and even society in general."

Yes. By the fact that they refuse normal social functions (such as birthdays and Christmas). Marriage within the JW movement is encouraged because it 'causes problems' if they marry outside the movement. Straying from the JW movement means disfellowshipping - being shunned and isolated from their friends within the movement who turn their back on them. If a JW has another JW as, say, a boss, then this could have other social and employment issues too.

  • "Is that the case with Jehovah's Witnesses?''

Yes it emphatically seems so. Not my words...but the words of the quoted Watchtower publication (WT 15/2/94 page 4 Cults-What Are They?) itself.

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7y ago

Our magazine The Watchtower answers this for us

Watchtower 15/2/94 page 4 Cults-What Are They?

''..cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior......Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive. Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen....... Cult members often isolate themselves from friends, family, and even society in general. Is that the case with Jehovah's Witnesses?''

AnswerYes, very much so, and a dangerous one at that because it ensures that JW members do not learn the truth about Jesus Christ and God's love for all.

In the above answer the question was posed at the end. The answer is a resounding 'yes' based on the statement that was left by the previous answerer:

''..cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior......

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to accept Jesus as God incarnate and as Lord of all, and follow a discredited and heretical belief called Arianism that was dismissed by the Christian Church way back in the early Church while there were still many Church leaders who could remember the actual teachings of Jesus Christ first hand. Arians were regarded (and still are) as radical and heretical. Practices such as disfellowshipping and allowing their own children to die for want of a blood transfusion cannot be called normal social behaviour. Therefore. by their non-acceptance of Jesus as divine, reducing him to a 'god-like' human, they do not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ himself and therefore cannot be classed as 'Christian' in the correct, Biblical, sense.

"Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive..."

Their devotion to their founder Charles Taize Russell - a charismatic self-confessed charlatan - was unquestioned. Their devotion to the Watchtower Society - a society that still follows the teachings of Russell - is still taken as unquestioned. JWs are discouraged from seeking truth elsewhere than the Watchtower society, and are discouraged from gaining a higher education for fear of asking awkward questions, are discouraged from seeking friends outside the organisation and are not allowed, for fear of being disfellowhipped (shunned by their 'friends' within the cult) of questioning what they are told by the Watchtower organisation.

"Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen....... "

In the Watchtower society not only the leaders are 'divinely chosen' but every member of the JW movement. They believe that they alone are the ones who will be saved and all others are condemned to hell. They regard all Christians in the worldwide Christian Church who believe in the Trinitarian Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as in cahoots with the devil as they regard the Trinity as satanic.

"Cult members often isolate themselves from friends, family, and even society in general..."

Yes. By the admissions of the Watchtower Society themselves:

''We must also be on guard against extended association with worldly people. Perhaps it is a neighbor, a school friend, a workmate, or a business associate.''

(Watchtower 2nd February 1994)

'' We have been counseled to be cautious in our dealings with men of the nations, unbelievers, and ordinary persons. (See the November 15, 1988, issue of The Watchtower, pages 15-16.) Why should we have unnecessary social contact with people who still pursue worldly ways and who have not become worshipers of Jehovah?''

(Kingdom Ministry June 1989) to name just two out of many references.

"Is that the case with Jehovah's Witnesses?' (that the organsation is a cult)"

According to the JW response above, taken directly from its own publication, then the answer has to be a resounding 'Yes', very much so, and one which, when you become a member, is very difficult to leave.

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13y ago

yes, but different from most others ; To be a "Christian" means to be a follower of Christ.

Jehovah's Witesses believe Jesus to be the son of God and the only saviour for mankind. They believe he died for humanity and rose from the dead. Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus is now alive in the heavens and is the King of God's Kingdom. Jehovah's Witnesses accept the divinity of Christ as they believe that he is presently in godlike form.

They actively strive to imitate Jesus as their leader and obey his command including the command to preach the gospel and are baptised in the name of the Father, son and Holy spirit. (see Matthew 28: 19, 20)

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12y ago

A cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual. Many cults follow a living human leader, and often their adherents live in groups apart from the rest of society. The standard for what is orthodox, however, should be God's Word, and Jehovah's Witnesses strictly adhere to the Bible. Their worship is a way of life, not a ritual devotion. They neither follow a human nor isolate themselves from the rest of society. They live and work in the midst of other people.

Cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior. Usually they conduct their religious activities in secrecy. Many of these cultic groups actually isolate themselves in communes. Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive. Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen or even of being themselves divine in nature.

Cult members often isolate themselves from friends, family, and even society in general. Is that the case with Jehovah's Witnesses? Are the Witnesses using deceptive and unethical techniques to recruit members?

No, They believe that people can join and leave as they please they are not forced. They are not deceptive they tell you straight up what they are getting at. They go door to door to preach. They are not reclusive. If you with to apart of the religion it is up to you. They are not a cult

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12y ago

Jehovah's Witnesses are viewed by many as a cult for a number of different reasons. Although the word "cult" often sparks negativity, it is very important that this word is defined properly.

Traditional definitions of the word "cult" are defined:

  1. Followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.
  2. Followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
  3. A religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false.

A more modern definition of the word "cult" is:

  1. A high control group either religious or secular.

Jehovah's Witnesses are viewed as a cult in the traditional sense, because they hold to unorthodox teachings.

Jehovah's Witnesses are viewed as a religion cult in the modern sense, because they are a high control group that fits the cult descriptive acronym B.I.T.E.

  • Behavior Control
  • Information Control
  • Thought Control
  • Emotion Control
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12y ago

That would depend on how you defined those words. A sect means a group that has broken away from another established religion. Jehovah's Witnesses are not a offshoot of another church, instead people come from all kinds of religious backgrounds.

A cult is a religion that is said to emphasize devotion according to prescribed ritual. Cults normally follow a living human leader, and their groups live away from the rest of society. Jehovah's Witnesses don't do that. They follow the Bible, and they don't live away from the rest of society. They work in the same types of businesses as you. Hope this helped you.

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8y ago

When you look up the definition of cult, you could easily say that by definition, all religions are a cult. However, the term "cult" has come to have a darker and more sinister application due to the negative influences that certain individuals have had on small groups of people. In this case, no, Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult. They are a legitimate religion recognized by almost all the national governments that have religious freedom.

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8y ago

In virtually all Demographics they are considered a Christian religion. This is mainly because they believe Jesus was of divine nature, came to Earth willingly as a human to redeem mankind, and was resurrected back into heaven after his death. They also teach that a person needs to exercise faith in that ransom sacrifice in order to please God.

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