Are Jehovah’s Witnesses A Cult?

YES or NO?

As a former member of the Watchtower Society, I was fully aware that people considered my religion to be a cult. Yet I maintained that I was in “the truth.” That’s not surprising to hear from current members as they are regularly instructed never to view any material that holds the Watchtower up to scrutiny. The only explanation of what a cult is that members will ever read comes from the official website of The Watchtower Society who has answered the question for them.

No, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a cult. Rather, we are Christians who do our best to follow the example set by Jesus Christ and to live by his teachings. (Frequently Asked Questions at JW.org)

Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on your door because they want you to know “the truth.” They would agree that if a person were to examine the genuine article with that of a counterfeit, truth would be more discernible. So when it comes to raising a question as to whether a particular group is a cult or not, doesn’t it take more than a yes or no answer? We’d need to first examine some of the hallmarks of a cult before we can evaluate whether a group can be identified as a cult or not.

What Is A Cult?

There are many sociological aspects we can examine to determine if a group fits the criteria of a “cult,” but one of the easiest models to use in evaluating cult mind-control is given by Steven Hassan in his book Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves, published in 2000 by Freedom of Mind Press, Somerville MA. In chapter two, he gives four basic components of mind control, which form the acronym BITE. We will examine a brief summary of these elements, apply them to Jehovah’s Witnesses and contrast each cult control element with true Biblical teaching. Ask yourself, do Jehovah’s Witnesses implement cult mind-control on their followers? Some elements of mind-control will be more evident than others. The simple fact that one may find mind-control elements existing within a group does not necessarily mean that the group should categorically be labeled a “cult,” but when the majority of mind-control elements examined below are being exercised within the group, the label “cult” can honestly be applied.

B – Behavior Control
I – Information Control
T – Thought Control
E – Emotional Control

For the complete article on this see Are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons a Cult?

In the interest of respecting the B.I.T.E model provided above, we feel it only fair to let the public discern through their OWN research without such “information control” provided by a religious organization answering with an emphatic “yes” or “no.”

To start off with some general education on cults without naming any specifically, here is an informative video.

And if you’d like to raise awareness about your discoveries, we encourage you to share anything from our website that has been helpful to you!

Keep yourself in God’s love,
Julie