I was raised in the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious cult. My work on religion, in large part, is informed by my experiences within this high control religious group. I have direct, first-hand experience of just how much harm religion can cause when it goes wrong. I have come to believe that any serious work on religion must take the idea of religious harm seriously, and so much of what passes as religious analysis just doesn’t do that. I do not dispute that there are positive aspects to religion. I simply insist that society has a plan for addressing religious harm.
In order to make sense of my perspective, it is important that I first address the elephant in the room: my use of the term ‘cult.’ Philosophers of religion would prefer that I not use the term ‘cult’ at all, preferring the term ‘high control religious group’ or ‘high demand group.’ This perspective has some merit, and to understand why I use the term ‘cult’ it is important that I address the perspective of those who use different terminology. ‘Cult,’ we are told, is verboten because of any or a combination of the following:
- It is a poorly defined term; ‘high control religious group’ is just more precise.
- It suggests that there is a chasm between the practices of more mainstream religions and that of the groups in question, whereas in reality the difference is more of degree than kind.
- The term ‘cult’ is pejorative and implies a value judgment.
- The term ‘cult’ suggests a religious group, whereas the practices of high control religious groups are not solely practiced by religious groups. So the phrase ‘high control religious group’ is inclusive of more groups.
- The term ‘cult’ is often used to denote a group that has non-mainstream beliefs, when what is really objected to is the group’s set of practices. As such, it allows groups with mainstream beliefs to get away with objectionable practices simply by having theology that is compliant with orthodoxy while simultaneously demonizing unorthodox groups (e.g. Wicca) whose practices are unproblematic.
It is fair to say that the main reason that I use the term ‘cult’ is primarily because of one of the reasons that many philosophers of religion prefer to avoid it: I intend to use the word as a pejorative and I definitely am making a value judgment when I use the word. ‘High control religious group’ simply lacks the bite (pun intended) that the word ‘cult’ wallops. If we take the idea of religious harm seriously then we ought to make a value judgment against the practices of such groups.
Most of the serious problems with the use of the term ‘cult’ can be dismissed simply by defining what we mean when we use the term. When I use the term ‘cult’ I am referring to a high control religious group that scores poorly on Steven Hassan’s BITE model of Authoritarian Control that scores groups on the amount of control that they exert over the member’s behavior, access to information, thought, and emotions. All of these aspects are taken from the Freedom of Mind Resource Center‘s Website.
Behavior Control
- Regulate individual’s physical reality
- Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates
- When, how and with whom the member has sex
- Control types of clothing and hairstyles
- Regulate diet – food and drink, hunger and/or fasting
- Manipulation and deprivation of sleep
- Financial exploitation, manipulation or dependence
- Restrict leisure, entertainment, vacation time
- Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self indoctrination including the Internet
- Permission required for major decisions
- Rewards and punishments used to modify behaviors, both positive and negative
- Discourage individualism, encourage group-think
- Impose rigid rules and regulations
- Punish disobedience by beating, torture, burning, cutting, rape, or tattooing/branding
- Threaten harm to family and friends
- Force individual to rape or be raped
- Encourage and engage in corporal punishment
- Instill dependency and obedience
- Kidnapping
- Beating
- Torture
- Rape
- Separation of Families
- Imprisonment
- Murder
I have bolded those that apply to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, so they score a 16/25 in Behavior Control.
Information Control
- Deception:
a. Deliberately withhold information [nonbelievers who are receiving indoctrination [“Bible studies] are fed information in a specific order. The more unpalatable aspects of their theology are presented to the individual only after they have accepted the more palatable aspects, as a kind of ‘bait and switch’ that Jehovah’s Witnesses are given training in. The elder book – which describes their practices at the congregational level – is confidential and not accessible to the rank and file. Their list of sex offenders is also confidential and not accessible by the rank and file or by authorities for that matter.]
b. Distort information to make it more acceptable [It is incredibly easy to find videos of prominent leaders and spokesmen for the Watchtower lying to the public about the Witnesses practice of disfellowshipping, for example].
c. Systematically lie to the cult member [I would add that the Jehovah’s Witnesses practice a strategy known as “theocratic warfare” that permits them to rationalize lying to nonbelievers.] - Minimize or discourage access to non-cult sources of information, including:
a. Internet, TV, radio, books, articles, newspapers, magazines, media
b. Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate
e. Control through cell phone with texting, calls, internet tracking [this is not done, so far as I know, although I left the cult a long time ago.] - Compartmentalize information into Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Ensure that information is not freely accessible
b. Control information at different levels and missions within group
c. Allow only leadership to decide who needs to know what and when - Encourage spying on other members
a. Impose a buddy system to monitor and control member [there’s no such formal system, though individuals are encouraged to report the “sins” of others to the elders.]
b. Report deviant thoughts, feelings and actions to leadership
c. Ensure that individual behavior is monitored by group - Extensive use of cult-generated information and propaganda, including:
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audiotapes, videotapes, YouTube, movies and other media
b. Misquoting statements or using them out of context from non-cult sources - Unethical use of confession
a. Information about sins used to disrupt and/or dissolve identity boundaries
b. Withholding forgiveness or absolution
c. Manipulation of memory, possible false memories
Once again, I have bolded the ones that are applicable to the Witnesses, and they score 14/19
Thought Control
- Require members to internalize the group’s doctrine as truth
a. Adopting the group’s ‘map of reality’ as reality
b. Instill black and white thinking
c. Decide between good vs. evil
d. Organize people into us vs. them (insiders vs. outsiders) - Change person’s name and identity
- Use of loaded language and clichés which constrict knowledge, stop critical thoughts and reduce complexities into platitudinous buzz words
- Encourage only ‘good and proper’ thoughts
- Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member
- Memories are manipulated and false memories are created
- Teaching thought-stopping techniques which shut down reality testing by stopping negative thoughts and allowing only positive thoughts, including:
a. Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
b. Chanting
c. Meditating
d. Praying
e. Speaking in tongues
f. Singing or humming - Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism
- Forbid critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy allowed
- Labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate, evil, or not useful
- Instill new “map of reality”
Once again, I’ve bolded the ones that are applicable to the Witnesses, and they score 15/19
Emotional Control
- Manipulate and narrow the range of feelings – some emotions and/or needs are deemed as evil, wrong or selfish
- Teach emotion-stopping techniques to block feelings of homesickness, anger, doubt
- Make the person feel that problems are always their own fault, never the leader’s or the group’s fault
- Promote feelings of guilt or unworthiness, such as:
a. Identity guilt
b. You are not living up to your potential
c. Your family is deficient
d. Your past is suspect
e. Your affiliations are unwise
f. Your thoughts, feelings, actions are irrelevant or selfish
g. Social guilt
f. Historical guilt - Instill fear, such as fear of:
a. Thinking independently
b. The outside world
c. Enemies
d. Losing one’s salvation
e. Leaving or being shunned by the group
f. Other’s disapproval
f. Historical guilt - Extremes of emotional highs and lows – love bombing and praise one moment and then declaring you are horrible sinner
- Ritualistic and sometimes public confession of sins
- Phobia indoctrination: inculcating irrational fears about leaving the group or questioning the leader’s authority
a. No happiness or fulfillment possible outside of the group
b. Terrible consequences if you leave: hell, demon possession, incurable diseases, accidents, suicide, insanity, 10,000 reincarnations, etc.
c. Shunning of those who leave; fear of being rejected by friends and family
d. Never a legitimate reason to leave; those who leave are weak, undisciplined, unspiritual, worldly, brainwashed by family or counselor, or seduced by money, sex, or rock and roll
e. Threats of harm to ex-member and family
Once again, I’ve bolded the ones that are applicable to the Witnesses, and they score 21/25
So, in total, the Jehovah’s Witnesses score on the Bite model is 66/88, which makes them a high control religious group, i.e. cult.
If I could make some practical recommendations for how the Jehovah’s Witnesses could reform themselves to align their practices to a more healthy model, I would emphasize the following as being most important.
- An unequivocal end to the practice of disfellowshipping. Disfellowshipping is their practice of shunning those who “sin” or who leave the group. Technically, those who leave formally are said to have “disassociated themselves” and they are not technically disfellowshipped, but the treatment towards “disassociated” people and people who are disfellowshipped is identical. In both cases, they are shunned, including by their own family members (parents, siblings, grandparents, adult children, etc.)
- Encourage “higher education.” Develop your membership so they are prepared to actually do real theology. As it is, college is “frowned upon” in the group, and is considered a mark of disloyalty.
- Take sex abuse seriously, and report sex abuse to the authorities.
- Encourage members to read vociferously outside of Watchtower publications.
- I normally focus on practices, not doctrine, but there’s no question that in many cases the doctrine is spiritually abusive, particularly their teachings about Armageddon and the anticipated murder of 99% of humanity by their God in the very near future. This way of treating God as a psychopathic murderer isn’t healthy.
- Immediately cease teaching LGBTQ children that their identities are repugnant to God and cease all persecution of LGBTQ folks.
