“That faithful and discreet slave is represented today by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has as its publicity agent the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Most appropriately, that faithful and discreet slave has also been called God’s channel of communication.”
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=God’s+channel+of+communication&p=sen
Harms of Jehovah's Organization
Harms of Jehovah’s Organization
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The Polygamy Reference Trial identified a number of harms that were caused by polygamy.
One can see that all of those specified harms also exist within the Watch Tower Society / Jehovah’s Witness organizations:
- a controlling central figure – The Governing Body – Elders
- a lack of independent thinking and education – Independent Thinking
- isolation from mainstream society – Isolation
- reliance on violence – Reliance on Violence
- the natural unfolding of the minds and personalities is prevented –
- high levels of stress, conditioning, and trauma – Mental Health Issues
- lack of socialization in the outside world and deficits in coping skills – Isolation
- mental health issues – Mental Health Issues
- extreme secrecy when interacting with outsiders – A Parallel Society
- training of children for obedience and a general culture of subservience – Obedience
- devaluing of education – Education
- inequality of women – Watch Tower’s View of Women
- lower levels of self-esteem – Self-Esteem
In addition to all of the above harm, Jehovah’s Witness children are forced into a schedule that focuses their entire life around the religion. For a Jehovah’s Witness adult working a typical 40-hour week, or a Jehovah’s Witness child attending school, then when not sleeping, about half of the non-work, non-school time is expected to be spent in church activities. This is the minimum expected, which is necessary to be considered “exemplary,” a term used to denote status within the religion (https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=exemplary&p=par&r=occ ) .
Until 2009, there were different meetings held on three different days each week. (One of one hour in length, and the other two were 1.75 hours in length.) In January 2009, the Congregation Book Study meeting was merged so that there were now only two meeting days of 1.75 hours each week.
The religion acknowledged the time that is required even to simply attend the meetings:
In order to attend the Congregation Book Study, we needed time to dress, travel, and so forth. For many of us, attending this one-hour meeting took the better part of the evening.
Kingdom Ministry, January 2011, page 3
(In addition to attending a meeting, a minimum amount of the same length time as the meeting was expected to be spent pre-studying at home for that respective meeting.)
(Instead of freeing up some time from the religion for the members by merging this meeting, the religion recommended instead for the family to spend that now free evening in the religion’s activities at home:
“With the adjustment to our meeting schedule, we now have this evening to worship Jehovah as a family. Therefore, we need not limit our Family Worship evening to just one hour.”)
Children are FORCED to participate in this schedule.
As long as your adolescent lives under your roof, you have the right to require compliance with a spiritual routine.
February 1, 2012 Watchtower
Likewise, children are FORCED into accompanying their parents (or other adults) in “field service” – which is the term for the door-to-door, or other forms, of canvassing for the religion. Children are expected to become an “unbaptized publisher,” which is the introductory level of status in the religion, and the first stage of control by the religion in the life of the individual. – Exploitation of Children
October presents a fine opportunity to do this, since we will be offering one-year subscriptions for either Awake! or The Watchtower, or both, for $7.00 each.
At times, parents may wish to make the introduction at the door and then allow the child to read a scripture or simply to show the magazines and offer a subscription. If the subscription is refused, single issues can be offered for 35¢ each. Do not underestimate what children can do in the ministry!
October 1987 Kingdom Ministry (Canada edition)
After having been an unbaptized publisher for a length of time, the child is then pressured to become baptized. – Coercion to Be Baptized
Understandably, many former Jehovah’s Witnesses bemoan their childhood, or lack thereof.
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