First, they do not have a choice. Adults have the choice, albeit based on biased and inaccurate information, to slam the door in the Witnesses’ faces or to shred up the literature instead of studying. But, children are not able to do this. If the parents are active JWs, they are expected by the Society to study with their children and raise them as Witnesses. This does not allow them freedom.”

1) They are expected to LEARN things, as in ask questions, demand answers, pray to Jehovah for guidance in understanding. People who can only express things by rote, who do not STUDY, who cannot express their own desire to be baptized and convince the brothers of the same, are not ALLOWED to be baptized.

As opposed to other religions wherein you are born, they throw water on your head or snip off a bit of your genitalia, or what have you, and you are in- regardless of what you think.

2) To further elaborate on that point, CHILDREN ARE NOT BAPTIZED without the same studying, etc. as adults are required to do. So, yes, you are right, the children do not have a choice. UNTIL THEY ARE OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE UP THEIR OWN MINDS they are not allowed to be baptized.

3) All good parents teach their children what they believe as to whom God is and what He expects; they also teach them their moral and social values outside of that. So, really, all you are doing here, is twisting things around and saying the children are treated badly because their parents love them, want what is best for them, and share life with them as a family. Think about it!

“Speaking of greed, when was the last time the WTS removed members for material greed (idolatry) or gluttony? You know these are the things mentioned in the Bible? That’s right, these things pale in comparison to their fanatic concern with those they label as an apostate, which really to them is anyone who disagrees with anything they mandate or state.”

4) The WTS doesn’t remove anyone, for any reason – it is a publishing company. That’s why, on the magazines, it says that it is a publishing company. They have even published Bibles and literature for other organizations, who had the same beliefs or at least the same truths in their translations of the Holy Scriptures.

5) People are counseled for, and sometimes disfellowshipped for, greed and gluttony, disdaining the gift of life that Jehovah gave them, and all those other things that are traditionally known as falling under the “seven deadly sins”. They are taught moderation, and I have seen people talked to, out of concern, when they were engaging in certain foods or activities to an unhealthy degree.

6)Apostate is not a word that Jehovah’s Witnesses made up.

7) An apostate is someone that teaches untruths purposefully. So, no, everyone that disagrees with Jehovah’s Witnesses are not apostates. If they have agreed with Jehovah’s Witnesses and then left that truth, for the sake of engaging in greed and gluttony instead, for instance, and then they started waffling about odd sites where people wrote bad papers that did not divulge the truth of Jehovah’s Witnesses and how they operate due to lousy research, and then then proceeded to lie and ridicule and belittle Jehovah’s Witnesses and started holding up that research, that they know is false as the truth – and they tried to turn people away from the truth because they are ashamed and angered over their own inadequacies to live a moral life, then they would be an apostate, however.

That is not the only path to get there, but, it certainly is one. It is a path that leads away from God, and cuts through and interrupts the paths of those who seek Him, and that is why it is apostasy.

God hates hypocrites, and apostates are the greatest hypocrites of them all.

“To the average person and high intellect is not required for this, you can easily discern that if a group or organization lives in absolute fear that someone challenges their viewpoint, then there is something wrong with it. After all, if it is the truth, why can’t it stand up & win against questioning or scrutinizing?”

8)Learn English, if this is the language in which you shall continue your debates, or whatever you call these twisted “truths” and insults.

9) So, that would be your group, then, would it? I mean, Jehovah’s Witnesses go around knocking on people’s doors, standing on street corners, stopping at bus stops, etc. even in countries where they are quite sure they are risking their life, to hand out informative magazines and flyers. They hold meetings and do not stop people from other religious groups from entering – not even their big district conventions, etc. are closed to the public. Those are not the actions of people who are living in fear of public scrutiny.

Yet, you say nothing of your organization, your beliefs – you invite no scrutiny, you invite no examination, and you attack those who do invite all of those things and more. So, that must be you and yours living in fear, and that means, by your own admission, there is something wrong in what you say and teach.

Have a nice life.

They did not earmark all those dates as the second-coming, nor were they proven wrong about when they said Jesus took his throne.

As to the nay sayers, it does stand up and win against questioning and scrutinizing – if, in fact, the questioners and scrutinizers are honest people who are really seeking information with an open mind and a good heart. People who do otherwise, who seek to tear down, will always find a way to twist the truth.

Like now, when some of you, at least, are thinking “Yes, but, you only believe that because you were brought up brain-washed by ..”

My parents were quasi-hippies, definitely white trash, not of any religion at all; and I am not now, nor have I ever been, baptized as being of any religion. I have openly studied most of them.

Scientifically speaking, if you believe there is a God, if you believe there is a Jesus (and that can be proven), and you believe there is a history of the world in the secular sense, then all the proof is there that is needed to show you that Jehovah’s Witnesses are teaching the truth. The problem is that you have to open your mind and be willing to study what THEY are teaching, not just what those opposed to them are saying that they are teaching.

I hope you all have a bright and brilliant future, filled with truth, knowledge, wisdom, and that you gain the strength of heart and will to fight to learn the truth of God.

First, they do not have a choice. Adults have the choice, albeit based on biased and inaccurate information, to slam the door in the Witnesses’ faces or to shred up the literature instead of studying. But, children are not able to do this. If the parents are active JWs, they are expected by the Society to study with their children and raise them as Witnesses. This does not allow them freedom.

Children raised as Witnesses are denied good experiences. They are dragged from door to door, and they have to forgo true vacations. While on vacation, they are dragged to the meetings and out in service at the destination instead of having any meaningful fun. The “stronger” the parents are, the less fun the children are going to have. And if they are weak enough to allow a meeting/service-free vacation, the “elders” will hound them to death about it. Play is restricted, and certainly not with worldly children. They are not allowed to celebrate holidays or birthdays, and they are not allowed to salute the flag or participate in extracurricular activities at school. Ostracism results. Even as they get older, those inevitable crushes are suppressed. All of their experiences then are tainted by that ever-present paranoia about fornication.

School work also suffers. Imagine having a third-grader who has a unit test on Friday (a favored time for these tests). On Thursday night there is a service meeting that doesn’t let out until after 10:00 PM. Or, the student has homework due the next day. Service eats up a lot of time that should be spent completing these assignments or studying for tests. If the parent makes the student stay home from the meeting or cuts service short to allow for school work, a visit from the hounders is going to follow. They will make sure the child will never again be able to skip a meeting for something as mundane as a unit test in peace. And the student is more likely to be sleep deprived. No wonder they are likely to flunk tests and do poorly in school.

Not that they care. Parents who genuinely want their children to become value producers in life are hounded in the congregations. “Why is your child spending so much time in science when (s)he should be out in service?” is a common message. Or, the career path that the child “should” be choosing (pioneering) is not being chosen: the student is trying to prepare for a worldly career that will allow for a comfortable living while creating value for society. Hounding calls are designed in these cases to force the child to rethink this decision and decide to pioneer instead. And college is frowned on. Any who choose college are usually hounded to forgo it so they can take advantage of the “short” time remaining to preach.

Then there is the outright abuse. Stress from the Society’s demands creates so much tension that a spanking (or beating) is going to happen for such items as normal childish behavior. Sex abuse is a major problem (Don’t just believe me. Go to http://www.silentlambs.com to see for yourself). And there is the constant demand for children to sit or stand still for hours at a time at meetings, and tag along in service. Little or no time is left for play, and they hadn’t better be running ahead or playing in the mud puddles while out in service because those suits are expensive to dry clean. I have seen many children, who had no choice but to be raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses, dragged out into the lobby at meetings for spankings that are usually repeated more than once per meeting. The infraction is usually talking out of turn, play fighting, wanting to get out of their seats and walk around, or some other normal behavior at that age. How long before people decide that enough is enough?

If you have children, you should definitely not under any circumstances drag them to the Kingdom Halls. Doing so is only going to create problems where none existed. This is no place for children. If they are thinking of getting baptized, remember the time you made a vow at age 10-14 and regret making it. Age 18 is plenty young enough for them to make a mature decision to get baptized. And they should have the chance to look at both sides of the story, including all the apostate sites, before making the final decision. The more sources they have access to, the better the chance that they are going to make the right decision. This should absolutely never be forced on children, nor should it ever take priority before a sound education. Going to school, even college, should have priority. Then they can make a good decision based on all the facts and fully integrated honesty, which will raise the likelihood of making a truly wise decision.

In fact, the official site has the most damaging articles on the whole Web. All one needs to do is intrgrate the articles on health, material things, and recreation. I see ways to make money go farther, and then there is another article about 2 weeks later stating that we are not giving enough for the Worldwide Work (please check http://www.silentlambs.org to see where a portion of this money goes–it will make you wonder if you should ever give them another penny again). Or they have an article about safety, only to have more accidents in service because of the high pace of the placements they expect. Articles about rest and sleep are followed, usually in a different publication, with articles stating that we need to do even more in service. If you ask me, I think the Watchtower Society is its own worst enemy. No wonder they forbid independent thinking.

I have found one resource that will help people to think more clearly for themselves. If you go to http://www.poweressence.com , there is a commercially available e-book for about $20 that will help break down some of the myths of this, or any, cult and help you to think independently. Then you will never get suckered into believing all the doublethink that the Watchtower Society has mastered. You need to think for yourself, so you will not be blinded into following other people’s stupid ideas.

These are such the icing on the cake. Like I asked my family, why would I get involved with an organization that works like this? Of course they can’t see these problems, after all if your head is stuck in the sand, ignorance is bliss is it not?
If many or even most JW’s are so versed in their religion & profess to know all it’s inner workings, perhaps you could name some or all of the Governing Body members without the need to research it? You know, those folks who are the so-called Faithful & Discreet Slave? Perhaps you didn’t know that this Group didn’t exist for ages, mainly because Rutherford wouldn’t let Russell’s will be done on his death bed, since Rutherford wanted the power to himself? You should read the WTS’ older publications (before revisions to cover their butt), it is laughable & extremely naive. They used to think that aluminium was bad for you, they made predictions that were utter lunacy, what is most troubling is how they have & still dogmatically shove their concepts down the throats of their members, never once apologizing when they were wrong & knew it. Countless JW’s left the organization over the years as they couldn’t sleep at night knowing that it was wrong, these people are fired out the door and are never given an apology once the WTS changes their tune. People can talk all day long about this if they like, however I still cannot find one Witness who can prove their doctrines using the facts, not guess work & conjecture that the WTS uses. Try using another Bible while you’re at it, as the New World Translation is one of the most biased versions around. They talk about it being taken right from the original manuscripts, yet they add the name Jehovah well over 100 times to the Greek Scriptures, when it wasn’t there to begin with?! They changed other areas to support their anti-Trinity doctrine, regardless of whether there is a 3-in-one or not, that doesn’t give them the right to do these things. Besides, who is the educated scholar(s) at the WTS? That’s right, they don’t have any! If they are filled with God’s spirit and are a prophet, thereby justifying their scholarly knowledge, then perhaps they could at least make one correct prophecy?
Mark my words on one thing. Here is a prediction for you. If the WTS were to start losing a lot of their members/fan base, you will see them lighten up the rules on how disfellowshipped ex-members are treated, as they will become less tyrannical & adopt a more loving approach. This will be sold to the members as a new understanding of God’s will, however the truth really is they need to up the member list & be sure to collect more funds from the rank & file. Trust me, true to all religions who have built any kind of empire, there will always be the need for greed. Besides, they did this before when they were losing members.
Speaking of greed, when was the last time the WTS removed members for material greed (idolatry) or gluttony? You know these are the things mentioned in the Bible? That’s right, these things pale in comparison to their fanatic concern with those they label as an apostate, which really to them is anyone who disagrees with anything they mandate or state. To the average person and high intellect is not required for this, you can easily discern that if a group or organization lives in absolute fear that someone challenges their viewpoint, then there is something wrong with it. After all, if it is the truth, why can’t it stand up & win against questioning or scrutinizing? That my friend is simply the crux right there. The WTS doesn’t speak the truth.