The Watchtower does not believe in everlasting torment. “Many have striven to be pious out of fear of hellfire,” it says, “but God does not want you to serve him because you are terrified of him.”[1]
However, many former members have related on online forums that as Jehovah’s Witnesses they were terrified by constant Watchtower teaching about Armageddon. Continue reading
“Bloodguilt” isn’t a concept most of us think about, but the Watchtower uses it as a powerful motivator to keep Jehovah’s Witnesses going door-to-door witnessing. Continue reading
It makes sense that the Watchtower would keep track of which homes have been visited in the door-to-door witnessing efforts, what the responses were, and the like.
But it also keeps detailed records on the number of hours individual Witnesses put in each month in the field service. They are expected to hand in written monthly reports.
Why? It’s a control mechanism. Continue reading
In Matthew 5:32, Jesus said, “I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Rather than teaching this scripture and then leaving the matter of divorce and remarriage to the consciences of the Witnesses involved, Watchtower elders follow a complex set of rules to determine whether a divorced Jehovah’s Witness is “scripturally free to remarry.” Continue reading
Not surprisingly, given the legalistic environment of the Watchtower, a Jehovah’s Witness who becomes aware of “serious wrongdoing” on the part of another Witness is supposed to make sure that the congregation elders are or become aware of it. Continue reading
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