Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized by adherents of mainstream Christianity, members of the medical community, former Jehovah's Witnesses, and commentators with regard to their beliefs and practices. The Jehovah's Witness movement's leaders have been accused of practicing doctrinal inconsistencies and making doctrinal reversals, making failed predictions, mistranslating the Bible, harshly treating former Jehovah's Witnesses, and leading the Jehovah's Witness movement in an authoritarian and coercive manner. Jehovah's Witnesses have also been criticized because they reject blood transfusions, even in life-threatening medical situations, and for failing to report cases of sexual abuse to the authorities. Many of the claims are denied by Jehovah's Witnesses and some have also been disputed by courts and religious scholars.
Social criticisms
Authoritarianism and denial of free speech Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body, and the denomination does not tolerate dissent over doctrines and practices."Loyal to Christ and His Faithful Slave", The Watchtower, April 1, 2007, p. 24, "When we loyally submit to the direction of the faithful slave and its Governing Body, we are submitting to Christ, the slave's Master." Members who continue to openly disagree with the movement's teachings after initial warnings may be expelled and shunned. Witness publications strongly discourage followers from questioning doctrine and counsel received from the Governing Body, reasoning that it is to be trusted as part of "God's organization"."Exposing the Devil's Subtle Designs" and "Armed for the Fight Against Wicked Spirits", The Watchtower, January 15, 1983"Serving Jehovah Shoulder to Shoulder", The Watchtower, August 15, 1981, p. 28."Jehovah's Theocratic Organization Today", The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pages 79–81. They also warn members to "avoid independent thinking", claiming such thinking "was introduced by Satan the Devil" and would "cause division". Those who openly disagree with official teachings are condemned as "apostates" who are "mentally diseased".See also Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, p. 358."Will You Heed Jehovah's Clear Warnings?", The Watchtower, July 15, 2011, p. 15, "apostates are 'mentally diseased', and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings. (1 Tim. 6:3, 4)."
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz accused the movement's Governing Body of resenting, deprecating and seeking to silence alternative viewpoints within the organization and demanding organizational conformity that overrides personal conscience.R. Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, chapter 6. He said the Watch Tower Society confirmed its position when, in a 1954 court case in Scotland, Watch Tower Society legal counsel Hayden C. Covington said of Jehovah's Witnesses: "We must have unity ... unity at all costs".Court transcript as cited by Heather & Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1984, pages 67–68, also at Pursuer's Proof: Lord Strachan vs. Douglas Walsh Transcript, Lord Strachan vs. Douglas Walsh, 1954. He also stated that Witnesses are subject to a disciplinary system that encourages informants.R. Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, chapter 11.
Franz and others have described Jehovah's Witnesses' meetings as "catechistical" question-and-answer sessions in which questions and answers are both provided by the organization, placing pressure on members to reiterate its opinions. Former Witnesses Heather and Gary Botting said Witnesses "are told what they should feel and think". Raymond Franz stated that members who do voice viewpoints different from those expressed in publications and at meetings are viewed with suspicion,R. Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, chapter 16. and that most Witnesses would be fearful to voice criticism of the organization for fear of being accused of disloyalty.
Authors have drawn attention to frequent Watch Tower warnings against the "dangers" and "infection" of "independent thinking", including questioning any of its published statements or teachings,"Exposing the Devil's Subtle Designs" and "Armed for the Fight Against Wicked Spirits", Watchtower, January 15, 1983, as cited by Heather and Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1984, p. 92."Serving Jehovah Shoulder to Shoulder", The Watchtower, August 15, 1981, p. 28, "Jehovah's Theocratic Organization Today", The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pages 79–81.According to Randall Watters, who in 1981 published a pamphlet, "What happened at the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses in the spring of 1980?", cited by Heather and Gary Botting, a former Governing Body member is said to have referred Brooklyn headquarters staff to an organizational handbook containing 1,177 policies and regulations, telling them: "If there are some who feel that they cannot subject themselves to the rules and regulations now in operation, such ones ought to be leaving and not be involved here." and instructions that members refrain from engaging in independent Bible research."Walk With Confidence in Jehovah's Leadership", The Watchtower, June 1, 1985, p. 20, "To turn away from Jehovah and his organization, to spurn the direction of 'the faithful and discreet slave', and to rely simply on personal Bible reading and interpretation is to become like a solitary tree in a parched land."Question box, Our Kingdom Ministry, September 2007. The Watch Tower Society also directs that members must not read criticism of the organization by "apostates""Do not be quickly shaken from your reason", Watchtower, March 15, 1986"At which table are you feeding?" Watchtower, July 1, 1994 or material published by other religious organizations.Watchtower, May 1, 1984, p. 31, as cited by R. Franz, "In Search of Christian Freedom", chapter 12"Firmly uphold godly teaching", Watchtower, May 1, 2000, p. 9. Heather and Gary Botting stated, "Jehovah's Witnesses will brook no criticism from within, as many concerned members who have attempted to voice alternative opinions regarding the basic doctrine or application of social pressure have discovered to their chagrin."Heather & Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, 1984, p. 143, 153.
The Bottings argue that the power of the Watch Tower Society to control members is gained through the acceptance of the Society "quite literally as the voice of Jehovah—God's 'mouthpiece. Franz also said the concept of loyalty to God's organization has no scriptural support and serves only to reinforce the movement's authority structure, with its strong emphasis on human authority., "Loyalty to the organization becomes the touchstone, the criterion, the "bottom line", when it comes to determining whether one is a faithful Christian or not ... to make any organizational loyalty the criterion for judging anyone's Christianity is, then, clearly a perversion of Scripture.... Read the whole of those Scriptures ... nowhere are we taught to put faith in men or in an earthly organization, unquestioningly following its lead ... the entire Bible record is a continual reminder of the danger inherent in that kind of trust." He said The Watchtower has repeatedly blurred discussions of both Jesus Christ's loyalty to God and the apostles' loyalty to Christ to promote the view that Witnesses should be loyal to the Watch Tower Society. Heather and Gary Botting said that challenging the views of members higher in the hierarchy is regarded as tantamount to challenging God himself.
The Watch Tower Society has described Jehovah's Witnesses' intolerance of dissident and divergent doctrinal views within its ranks as "strict", but claims its stance is based on the scriptural precedent of 2 Timothy 2:17, 18 in which the Apostle Paul condemns heretics Hymenaeus and Philetus who denied the resurrection of Jesus. It said: "Following such Scriptural patterns, if a Christian (who claims belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus) unrepentantly promotes false teachings, it may be necessary for him to be expelled from the congregation.... Hence, the true Christian congregation cannot rightly be accused of being harshly dogmatic."
Various associations of former members have been formed to highlight what they consider to be structural and institutionalized psychological abuses of Jehovah's Witness members and former members. Complaints include the control of adherents, marginalization, discrimination against women and sexual diversity, and attacks on other religious institutions. For example, the Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain states that ostracism of former or disaffected members can lead to extreme loneliness, which can lead to severe depression or even suicide. They also state that Jehovah's Witnesses' system of congregational discipline have been used to investigate criminal matters, hiding or hindering reports of child abuse and rape. Former members from other Spanish-speaking countries have also created similar associations.
Comments of sociologists Sociologist Rodney Stark says that Jehovah's Witness leaders are "not always very democratic" and members are expected to conform to "rather strict standards", but that enforcement tends to be informal, sustained by close bonds of friendship, and that Jehovah's Witnesses see themselves as "part of the power structure rather than subject to it". Sociologist James A. Beckford, however, states that the Watch Tower Society is intolerant of dissent or open discussion of doctrines and practices, and demands uniformity of beliefs from its members. He observed that the Society denies the legitimacy of all criticism of itself and that the habit of questioning official doctrine is "strenuously combated at all organizational levels". For similar reasons, Alan Rogerson describes the movement's leadership as totalitarian.Alan Rogerson, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Constable, 1969, p. 50.
Dr. George D. Chryssides and Dr. James A. Beverley reported that Witness publications teach that individuals' consciences are unreliable and need to be subordinated to scripture and to the Watch Tower Society.James A. Beverley, Crisis of Allegiance, Welch Publishing Company, Burlington, Ontario, 1986, , pages 25–26, 101, "For every passage in Society literature that urges members to be bold and courageous in critical pursuits, there are many others that warn about independent thinking and the peril of questioning the organization.... Fear of disobedience to the Governing Body keeps Jehovah's Witnesses from carefully checking into biblical doctrine or allegations concerning false prophecy, faulty scholarship, and injustice. Witnesses are told not to read books like this one." Beverley describes the belief that organizational loyalty is equal to divine loyalty"You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy", The Watchtower, February 15, 1976, p. 124, "Would not a failure to respond to direction from God through his organization really indicate a rejection of divine rulership?" as the "central myth" of Jehovah's Witnesses employed to ensure complete obedience.James A. Beverley, Crisis of Allegiance, Welch Publishing Company, Burlington, Ontario, 1986, , pages 25–26, 101. Andrew Holden also observed that Witnesses see no distinction between loyalty to Jehovah and to the movement itself, and said that Witnesses are "under official surveillance" within the congregation. He noted that members who cannot conscientiously agree with all the movement's teachings are expelled and shunned. He also said that Witnesses are taught their theology in a highly mechanistic fashion, learning almost by rote.
Description as a cult