For many, many years, Jehovah’s Witnesses had an onerous duty that very few of them could escape: evangelism. In fact, their Dear Leaders considered this duty so important to the growth of this very culty Christian group that they demanded their sheep submit regular timesheets of the hours they spent at this task.
But recently, they relaxed this requirement for laypeople (archive), offering a reason that rings very hollow. A far more logical one occurs to me, one that fits the data we already know about this group and explains what we’re seeing far more effectively. Let’s explore the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ offered explanation—then check out one that fits the evidence far better.
The old way of witnessing for Jehovah’s Witnesses
Back in the good ol’ days, Jehovah’s Witnesses had to spend a lot of time, well, witnessing. That’s Christianese for trying to recruit people to their religion through hard-sales techniques and emotional manipulation. Their leaders didn’t set a formal quota, but they expected the flocks to at least meet the national average.
Laypeople in the religion submitted their witnessing timesheets to their church leaders and everything. If they didn’t do enough witnessing or submit reports at all that month, then their standing in the church suffered dramatically.
Most of the leaders had to do even more of this stuff, and their rise through church ranks depended mightily on their timesheets.
As a result, most people have experienced a visit from Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s no surprise to me that just a few months after WikiHow published an article about how to become a Jehovah’s Witness, someone else published an article about how to get them to go away. As Americans’ lives became busier and busier, Jehovah’s Witnesses even discovered the grand and glorious opportunity presented to them in the form of apartment complexes—which all too many of them visited in violation of no-solicitation policies to get their all-important witnessing time in. (<– Ask me how I know about that one.)
But that was the old light.
Now, Jehovah’s Witnesses have a new light.
Old and new light for Jehovah’s Witnesses
Here, we get into very specific Christianese. For the most part, you’ll really only see these terms in this particular flavor of the religion. It’s not like remnant, which has a general-but-important evangelical meaning and a very specific Jehovah’s Witnesses meaning.
(For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the remnant are the 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses who get to go to Heaven to rule over all the other Christians who must slum it eternally on Earth (archive) after Armageddon. They’re also the only people who actually get to partake of communion. Of particular and hilarious note, as of 2011 the organization revealed that it doesn’t keep track of the number of people (archive) claiming to be part of that 144k.)
The change we’re discussing involves what they call new light.
“Light” refers to the understanding of Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders. The concept apparently comes from Proverbs 4:18:
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
When these leaders realize that the denomination needs to change course, they call their old understanding “old light” and the new one “new light.” The implication here is that Jehovah, their god, provided this new light to them. It’s not that they were wrong before, of course. They can’t ever be wrong, because they’re always getting their marching orders from a perfect and infallible god. No, they were just operating under old light.
Out here in the regular outside world, normies might simply call this situation doing the best you can with what you know. Now that they’ve gotten new light, though, their understanding of their god’s desires has improved.
Interestingly, most online discussion of old/new light seems to occur among apostates and evangelicals, none of whom appear to think highly of the concepts. The concept appears to be so entrenched in the culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses that it doesn’t require much discussion there.
How ‘New Light’ changes even essential beliefs without pushback
Pope ‘Darth Cuddlebug’ Francis might do well to look to Jehovah’s Witnesses for tips on getting his rowdy American flocks to go along with the changes he needs to make to his ailing organization.
Jehovah’s Witnesses laypeople have been well-trained by now to leap onto whatever their Dear Leaders call “new light.” This stuff has been around almost from the very beginning of their group, which was founded in 1870. An 1880 Watchtower article describes the concepts. It also tells its readers:
We believe it is our duty and privilege to bring from the treasure house things both new and old.
Matt. 13:52. And the new truth must always be in harmony with the old truths.
Contrary to what that 1880 source tells us, though, often “new light” completely contradicts the old , as a 1994 Ministry Magazine reveals (archive):
Another instance in which JW [Jehovah’s Witnesses] leaders found new light that contradicted older teaching relates to the pyramids of Egypt. For about 40 years JWs taught that “the Great Pyramid [of Gizeh, Egypt]. .. commends itself to us as a work of God” and “God . . . placed the Great Pyramid” in Egypt. But soon after 1927 this stone “Witness” was dumped by the very leaders who had been endorsing it. They decreed that “those who have relied upon the pyramid . . . have been led away from God and from His service. … It is certain that the pyramid of Gizeh was not built by Jehovah God; nor was it built at His command. . . . It is more reasonable to conclude that the great pyramid . . . [was] built by the rulers of Egypt and under the direction of Satan .. . and . . . may be called Satan’s Bible, and not God’s stone witness . . . , [for] the Devil himself superintended the building of the pyramid.
New light happens frequently, though the flocks might not be fully aware of just how often till they start to question their faith. Here’s one ex-Jehovah’s Witness describing just how often it happens:
I was born in 1968. Baptized in 1984. Didn’t wake up until fall of 2011.
How many frickin doctrinal changes did I actually suffer through, constantly having reality redefined.
With each one, it’s a “sorry you were fooled into believing that old shit from us, here’s the new TRUTH on this matter.” Like: “blood fractions aren’t so bad now” Ugh
OVER and OVER and OVER. This is the real long term JW experience.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me … like 300 times … shame on me. That’s how I summarize my 43 years in this cult” reddit/exJW
In some cases, new light completely changes essential beliefs and practices. Apparently, their Dear Leaders recently decided that yes, actually, it’ll be possible for heathens to repent and convert right up until the very ending of Armageddon. Now there’s no reason to convert any time soon, unless one simply wishes to avoid the rush.
The new light about witnessing just dropped
In today’s case, new light has changed the essential nature of being a Jehovah’s Witness.
For many, many years, evangelism was a requirement in this religion. Once laypeople got baptized, they became publishers. For the most part, publishers are the ones who bother normies at their homes.
Again, while publishers didn’t have formal quotas, they were expected to at least meet the national average doing this. Since nobody in leadership offered a hard-and-fast, black-and-white set of expectations, the flocks must have been constantly dancing on edge wondering how much was enough. Modesty standards work the same way in evangelicalism.
(See also: Modest is nottest.)
Meanwhile, the mother ship maintained strict rules about how publishers had to count their time spent on evangelism. They even had rules for those who were too sick or infirm to do the job. Evangelism, for Jehovah’s Witnesses, was literally a job—just one that didn’t pay them anything and never set concrete expectations of them.
Yes, some of them could certainly have faked their timesheets, but I’m sure the penalties were enormous to those caught doing it. Among other things, their much-lower consumption of religious books and tracts would have likely raised suspicion.
Well, that was the old light.
The new light has dawned.
Their requirements had been shrinking steadily over the years as it is, as comments to this February 2023 Reddit post reveal. But now, laypeople have no tracking requirements at all! According to AP News, their Dear Leaders have released the flocks from submitting tracking reports for witnessing.
Come meet the new light; it’s the same as the old light
This past October at one of their big meetings, the Governing Body (GB) of the religion announced the change. Now, instead of having human beings observing their tracking sheets, Jehovah’s Witnesses should be accountable only to Jehovah himself. They should still do the same stuff, just without formal tracking.
It sounds like a seriously good change for a super-authoritarian religious group, right?
Except not really.
The flocks will still have leaders watching over their reported progress. Those leaders just won’t have access to hard numbers in the form of those formerly-required timesheets. As one of the GB said at that big meeting:
“You will have to know the flock well,” [Samuel Herd] said. “Evaluating a congregation’s spiritual health or a brother’s qualifications to serve (in leadership positions such) as an elder or ministerial servant will not simply be a matter of computing averages, time spent in the ministry, literature placements and so forth.”
And later in the AP story, too, we find this note:
Removal of the hours requirement applies to “publishers,” or rank-and-file adherents involved in active ministry. They will now only need to file monthly reports saying whether they’ve conducted any evangelistic activity and Bible studies, without specifying hours.
Publishers still must submit monthly evangelism reports, too. It just won’t force them to write down exact time spent evangelizing. Instead, from now on they’ll just check a box on the report that indicates whether they spent any time on evangelism that month. If they conducted Bible studies at all that month, they will indicate how many in another box on the form.
All of these changes apply only to the laypeople, so for missionaries and other ministers—along with their wives in many cases—they’ll still be submitting timesheets with more exact information.
It sounds a lot like business as usual to me. Authoritarians aren’t thrilled with loosening their control over their followers. In this case, the GB isn’t really pursuing a whole new course. They’re just making it harder to quantify what their laypeople are doing in the field.
And that brings us to the main problem with this news: The traits of authoritarianism itself.
Authoritarians don’t ever loosen the reins of power for no reason
This change wasn’t made because Jehovah totally told the GB to do it. For that, there’d have to be a real Jehovah telling anybody anything. Instead, let’s draw on what we know about this religious group to arrive at a more reality-based answer.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a very authoritarian group. Leaders hold absolute power over followers, with the hierarchy of power strictly observed. Followers have next to no power within the group, except for anything they manage to cobble together on an informal or sub-group basis. Not only that, but we know this is a typically dysfunctional authoritarian group: Its formal goals have been subverted, and now the group functions almost entirely as a conduit of power for its leaders.
We can know this because their ex-members frequently refer to the BITE model (Behavior, Information, Thought, Emotion) in describing their former groups and leaders. (Five years ago, Steven Hassan, who created this model, even showed up for a question-and-answer session on the subreddit run by ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses.) The BITE model precisely describes the dysfunctional authoritarianism that marks cults.
As a result of that group structure, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also have the same exact scandals going on in their group as any other dysfunctional authoritarian group has. Their guidelines for ministers apparently even include processes for reinstating ex-members who had been kicked out for sexually abusing children. Let’s hope their ministers ignore those guidelines and refuse readmission to such people, just as they seem to ignore the guidelines requiring sensitivity and tact when questioning laypeople caught having unapproved sex.
(See also: Why Jerry Falwell Jr CAN’T ‘be a good boy‘; A safe guess about Anona United Methodist Church.)
We know what didn’t cause this change of heart
When leaders in this kind of authoritarian group loosen their hold over their followers in any way, one of two things has occurred behind the scenes:
- Some external force greater than themselves (the law, usually) compelled them to do it.
- They’re proactively protecting their own self-interest.
Dysfunctional authoritarian leaders—especially in religious settings—never loosen control just out of the goodness of their hearts, because they have almost none of that. Instead of goodness, we find only narcissism and self-interest in such people. Thus, relinquishing any amount of power represents an admission of weakness for them. As such, any such shift draws opportunistic attacks from all sides.
So something major must have happened with the Jehovah’s Witnesses to cause such a change.
Knowing all of this, we must ask what the real reason might be for this shift in reporting hours spent witnessing.
We know what it’s not. Now let’s ask what it is.
How evangelism timesheets get used in the culture of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
In past years, the leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses used their evangelism numbers to impress the flocks. These hours functioned much like the SBC’s ratio of baptisms per existing members (their baptism ratio). In each case, their metrics indicate the effectiveness of each respective denomination’s evangelism efforts.
Dysfunctional authoritarian leaders are focused almost entirely on gaining and protecting their personal power. Thus, it’s to their advantage to hold as much information as they can close to their vests. Flocks who don’t know information, especially information they need to correctly perform their roles in the group, are people who will lean more heavily on their leaders for any crumbs of feedback and coaching/mentoring they can get.
So when such leaders release information voluntarily, it’s done for the purpose of strengthening their own positions in the group. For instance, one “undercover elder” uploaded an announcement he photographed. Its writer used evangelism hours as part of a glowing evaluation of 2022’s metrics:
We are pleased to share encouraging highlights from the 2022 service year report of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide. Over the past service year, “Jehovah has done great things for us, and we are overjoyed”! (Ps. 126:3) For example, 1,501,797,703 hours were dedicated to the harvest work. This is a 5.5 percent increase from the previous service year. An average of 8,514,983 publishers shared in this vital work each month, which is an increase of 0.4 percent. An average of 1,465,202 expended themselves as regular pioneers each month – an 8.5 percent increase. Additionally, we are happy to report that 145,552 were baptized – an average of over 2,750 each week!
“ANNOUNCEMENT, February 9, 2023” (image archive)
We see a similar use of statistics regarding Beach Reach, a hilariously bad annual evangelism effort from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It never provided much in the way of a return on investments. But its statistics weren’t too hideously bad at first, so the SBC happily included them in their Annual Reports.
How detailed timesheets might be backfiring right now for the GB
The leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have claimed slight but steady growth for years. However, ex-members and other observers dispute that claim.
Lester Somrah, writing for AvoidJW.org, analyzes the denomination’s annual report, just as I do with those from the SBC. This year, he noticed a trend that the GB (archive) isn’t talking about much: Since 2017, their publishers have reported fewer and fewer evangelism hours!
In 2017, all evangelists reported 20.68 hours per month on average. That number was their peak. Almost immediately, it began falling. And it’s still falling. The pandemic, of course, only accelerated that decline. As of last year, it stood at 14.70 hours. Alas, the report doesn’t reveal how many of those evangelists were professionals, so to speak, and how many were laypeople publishers. Given that the timekeeping requirement still exists for the professionals, the drop in laypeople’s evangelism hours is likely really big.
Another statistic really puts this decline into perspective: The number of new publishers joining the denomination’s layperson evangelism brigade. That’s been declining steadily for over ten years. Around 2010-2011, that number hit its peak of 188,379. By this past year, it’d fallen to a shocking 14,658.
Attendance at meeting halls, or churches, also seems to be suffering since the pandemic. One ex-member estimates that about 60% of the flocks attend in person, 20% attends online and in person, and 20% are only attending through Zoom. Other ex-members share anecdotes of dramatically smaller crowds at both weekly meetings and big shindigs:
All I know is….Our District Conventions in the 90’s used to be held in 75 thousand seat US football stadiums. Now they are held at the local ASSembly Hall. Do with that information what you will. [u/dunkedinjonuts]
In my big citi in europe conventions were held about ten years ago in a stadium for 25000 people. 1/3 empty seats regulary. So about 16000 JW attended. Last time the convention was held in a small stadium for 10000 people. It was full with 9000 JWs. This packed small stadium is a proof of increase in participation. [Bazzilator; a similar post contains even more dramatic signs of decline]
“Overheard a conversation and have to share it with you. (self.exjw)”
So whatever those evangelism hours look like, they must be absolutely awful. Photos of half-empty meeting halls can be hand-waved away, but actual numbers are harder to ignore. Similarly, Beach Reach’s results have been bad enough in recent years to get them omitted from the SBC’s Annual Reports.
Here, though, laypeople’s evangelism hours must be so mind-bogglingly bad this year that the GB doesn’t even want to know what they are anymore.
Jehovah’s Witnesses want to be on the winning team
If hiding a source of certain abject humiliation was the motivation for changing course on timesheets, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. It’s very clear that a big part of the image the Jehovah’s Witnesses wish to project is that of constant success in recruitment. Evangelicals get like that too, and I bet both groups like that image because it conveys implicit approval and blessings from their god.
Dysfunctional authoritarian followers might not have much access to power within their groups. But they do crave protection and an opportunity to climb the ranks of power under their Dear Leaders. A powerful leader is a magnetic draw for such followers. Such a leader must be in charge of a winning team, not a losing one!
(See also: Seeking the winning team’s banner.)
Nobody in a dysfunctional authoritarian group wants to be part of a losing team. Losing teams can’t protect themselves against interlopers and critics. They can’t win their fights. Their god doesn’t like them enough to coddle them anymore. Their power ebbs away with every new humiliation and loss of privilege.
And their enemies perk up at the scent of blood in the water.
Know this, though: Whatever criticism and mockery they’ve gotten—and will continue to get, no doubt—for making this timesheet recording change, it’s likely still far less than they’d have gotten had they continued gathering and releasing those numbers each year. None of the options available to them must look particularly good right now, so they’ve gone with the least awful one, that’s all.
23 Comments
Rick O'Sheikh · 12/04/2023 at 12:46 PM
About 20 years ago I received a handwritten letter in French from some group of JW’s. I just threw it away. After moving to another place, a few years later a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked at my door. Nothing surprising, right? Except, they immediately started speaking to me in French. How did they know I could speak French? How did they know my address and how did they know I had moved to a new address??? French is not even my native language, anyway, but I did speak it before English as I come from a former French colony. But how did they get that information? I do not belong to any kind of club or organization of French-speakers or any other kind for that matter. So how did they know?
The question did not occur to me when they knocked at my door, though. I just politely told them I was a convinced atheist since I was a teenager and pointed to the No Soliciting sticker on my door, asking them to please never come back. They never did. I have seen some JW’s in my neighborhood, but they never knocked at my door since that day, so obviously they must now have me on some list that says not to bother wasting their time with me.
Artor · 12/04/2023 at 4:26 PM
It must have been a miracle! The Gift of Tongues! /s
Rick O'Sheikh · 12/04/2023 at 6:25 PM
Heeey, I didn’t think about that !!… Sure, that could be it… Ah, but wait…isn’t speaking in tongues supposed to be a gibberish no one can understand?
Mistchild · 12/07/2023 at 8:16 PM
As it’s practiced currently, speaking in tounges is gibberish. But, from what I recall from my mis-spent Christian days, originally it was a being able to speak an strange language (or foreign tongue) to preach at someone.
BensNewLogIn · 12/05/2023 at 1:31 PM
They haven’t come by here in years, ever since they pushed an eight-year-old boy in front of them to tell me about who is the king of the universe. I got down on my knee, looked at him directly in the eye, and said, “who told you that Jesus is the king of the universe? Why should I believe you? How do you know ?” he didn’t seem to have an answer, because of course he didn’t.
I got back up and told the adults that really, they should stop bothering us.
Artor · 12/04/2023 at 4:25 PM
That announcement claiming JWs are “overjoyed,” simply is not believable. Whenever I see them parked in front of City Hall, manning their rack of Watchtower leaflets, they look like the most miserable sad sacks I’ve encountered in months. I see homeless junkies camped on the streets who seem more joyful than the average JW.
Rick O'Sheikh · 12/05/2023 at 5:24 PM
I would say they are overly lugubrious.
Captain Cassidy · 12/06/2023 at 12:37 AM
There’s a good reason why evangelical leaders tell the flocks to act happy even when they’re super sad. They’re happiness hucksters – because it works to make sales.
Traveller · 12/10/2023 at 4:50 AM
Seemingly the ones I see such way too. They’re always in the same places, no matter if it’s raining or not and I have rarely seen people talking with them.
Some months ago, a couple of JWs came attempting to convert me, the day I had a bad headache. I showed them the statues of the Celtic deities I honor, told them what is going on here, and closed them the door in the face telling it was better than their BS.
Somehow I doubt they’ll return and I’m quite sure I’m now a goat in their slang.
WisdomJusticeLove · 12/04/2023 at 5:31 PM
A rose by any other name…
Monotheism (by any other name) struggles to convince people.
Imagine:
You are a fan of a football team (let’s say the Chicago Beers). Before a game, you express hope/joy/belief/optimism that your team will win and beat their rival/opponent (let’s say the Green Bay Pickers). As the game progresses, the events/data/evidence/facts from the game, unavailable to anyone prior to the game, indicate the Beers will not win. Fast forward to now: there is 1:13 left in the 4th quarter/entire game and the score is Beers:14, Pickers:37. It should be obvious to anyone willing to examine the data/evidence, AND is familiar with the rules of football, that it is unlikely/improbable the Beers will win. And this evidence is available/observable to Beers fans, Pickers fans, and anyone willing to observe the data. The (Loyal & Obedient) Beers fan is (desperately) trying to convince you they STILL believe the Beers will win, IN SPITE of the evidence that is available that wasn’t available at the time of forming the opinion before the game. The Beers fan will tell you they don’t NEED (to observe any data with) sight to determine what they believe; Faith -the belief in things lacking Evidence- is all they need to be “convinced”. And they have ZERO doubt the Beers will lose.
JWs are likely experiencing the same: we’ve been believing this for thousands of years. EVERYONE that has believed this in the past has turned out to be Wrong. We have no new evidence/data to support our claim. The evidence that is available ( such as the past behavior of our group) contradicts our claims. If you express skepticism in or disbelief of our claim, we will claim you are our Enemy and you’re attacking Us. In the analogy, it’s impossible to be indifferent to football: you are either cheering for the Beers OR actively cheering against the Beers. You don’t have to be a Pickers fan to cheer against the Beers.
Follow these steps:
1. Have a theist define “delusion”.
2. Have the theist explain how believing things In.Spite.Of the evidence isn’t delusional.
Captain Cassidy · 12/06/2023 at 12:37 AM
Loved this. Also your team names made me laugh 🙂
Zaqqum · 12/04/2023 at 7:56 PM
“New Light” sounds like the dreaded process theology, so be-hated by conservative religous folks of all monotheistic stripes. But when we have a denom like the JWs and their constant failures to get the date of the End Times right (anyone remember their claim about 1914? 1975? Or hell, 1874?), process theology/New Light/Bud Light can be very useful, as long as the “process” is under the control of the Right Sort. Which brings me to–
“Pope ‘Darth Cuddlebug’ Francis might do well to look to Jehovah’s Witnesses for tips on getting his rowdy American flocks to go along with the changes he needs to make to his ailing organization.”
They’ve got this All Figured Out already; it’s called synodality and it’s even better that Catholicism Wow! was in the hope that Catholicism will be cool and relevant again, sans the Inquisition and associated bonfires. That and putting a certain couple of USian bishops in their places might stem the rowdiness in ‘Murica somewhat. Or not. Who cares, bring on the popcorn! I’m sure we’ll all meet at Mass someday. Right?
As for the pyramidiocy-once upon a time (ie. the 19th century), it was believed that not only were the pyramids the creations of biblical characters, but that somehow they preserved a record of sacred history that would confirm the truth of revealed scripture. Noted proponents of this theory included the British astronomer Charles Piazi Smyth. Some still believe in pyrimidiocy; here’s a recent site that promotes this, complete with architectural diagrams and anti-papist conspiracy theories, yay!
https://churchages.net/en/study/pyramid-in-giza-is-gospel-in-granite/
I figure the JWs “new light” on the pyramids was perfectly timed by Jehovah to coincide with the latest archaeological discoveries coming out of Egypt in the ’20s. What a helpful god, and the JWs are lucky to have him!
Or at least they’re welcome to him.
BensNewLogIn · 12/05/2023 at 1:22 PM
Funny you should post this. Every year, we get a hand-written note in the mail from one of our “neighbors” a mile or two away, urging us to see JW.org and consider all of those biblical truths. This is what I wrote back. BTW, we haven’t seen an actual JW coming around in years, but we do get these handwritten notes.
Hello,
Over the years, I have received several of these letters. I’m pretty sure it was you, but I didn’t keep the letters. The last time, I asked you not to send me such a letter again, but here you are— again.
I didn’t ask you then a question I wanted to ask you, because I didn’t want to be rude concerning a clearly well-intentioned note. But I’m going to ask you now:
Whom exactly are you writing this letter for, and why? Are you writing it for me, so that I could see the blessings of your religious beliefs? I don’t think that religion is necessarily a blessing. As a Jew, as a gay man, I have been the object of weaponized religion since I was a little boy, more than 65 years ago. I have religious friends, but they are good people, and would be good people regardless of whether they were religious or not.
Or are you writing it for yourself, so that you can feel holy, so that you can feel you have done something important?
This is how I see what you were doing. I’m going to make an assumption, and probably a good one. You have written at least 100 of these letters, and double that if you wrote the last one as well. I suspect each and every letter requires about 10 minutes to write, plus the cost of paper, envelope, and postage. That means you spent some 16 hours of your time to write these letters, and at least $100 cash. What if you actually used that time, energy, and money to do something useful for your neighbors: feeding a hungry family, helping a low-income stressed mother with childcare, volunteering at a food bank?
But you didn’t. With all good intentions, I’m sure, you chose to write a letter that 99% of the people that get it are going to throw away. It is extremely unlikely that anyone in this country has not heard of Jesus or Christianity, so what was the point?
Here’s the point from my perspective. You– and by you, I mean Christians in general– say that God cannot lie, but then you cite Revelations. Genesis says that God promised not to destroy the world again. Revelation says that he will. So which is it? Jesus said that he would come back within the lifetime of the people he was speaking to. He did not. Lots of excuses have been made for his failure to return, but the fact remains: he did not return. Did he lie? Did God lie?Jesus said that not one jot or tittle of the law would change until he returned. But still, we eat bacon and shrimp cocktails, which are at least a jot or a tittle, and forbidden by the law. So, which is it?
My point? The Bible says all kinds of things, many of which you ignore. What I have just revealed to you is not going to change what you think. I don’t expect it to. So, why would you try the same thing with me?
It has been my experience with super duper Christians that they are very happy to pray for people, rather than do anything substantial for them. Prayer is what they do when they don’t want to do much of anything, but don’t want to get called out for it.
Is that you? I have no idea.
Please do something for your neighbors that THEY might value, not just you.
Rick O'Sheikh · 12/05/2023 at 2:22 PM
You almost make me feel sorry for those poor JW slobs. Almost. I imagine they must spend days or weeks of tying before they get a single person to let them say what they want to say, let alone someone interested enough to join their cult. What a waste of one’s time and energy !
BensNewLogIn · 12/05/2023 at 4:41 PM
Well, that was somewhat the point of the letter. They don’t actually have to do anything, they just have to pretend that they’re doing something. And now, they don’t even need to pretend that they’re pretending.
All of the God, all of the self-righteous back patting, but none of the effort
shammaarb5 · 12/07/2023 at 12:10 AM
Hi, I’m a baptised Jehovah’s Witness and I’m writing this to hopefully shed some light on some of the points you raised.
I’ve quoted some of your points not to argue them – just to help organise my response.
“We haven’t seen an actual JW coming around in years”
Door-to-door work is the “main form” of preaching for Jehovah’s Witnesses, but since the Covid pandemic we have found a lot of success in other methods of preaching such as cart/trolley work, phone calls, letter writing, etc. There are also many people who request bible studies through our website. The person who answers the front door usually speaks for the whole household. Our website has enabled us to get in touch with members of the household who didn’t open the door, such as in student or shared accommodation. Some people are more willing to converse about world events and religion via letter than in person. Perhaps because they can respond in their own time rather than at their doorstep. Some people are used to sharing things in written form (such as by text) and may find a verbal conversation daunting.
“Whom exactly are you writing this letter for, and why?”
If you get a few seconds, do a Google search for “most translated website”. Ahead of Apple, Facebook, Wikipedia and Google…is JW.org. Our website is translated into over 1,000 languages. Wikipedia is in second place with over 300 translations. A company like Apple will only translate a website into languages where the native speakers are buying Macbooks.
Jehovah’s Witnesses translate into languages that most people have never heard of. Languages that are spoken by just a few hundred or a few thousand people living in very remote locations where they have next-to-no material possessions of value. We also have a motive. To perform the work Jesus assigned to his followers to teach as many people about Jehovah and spread the good news concerning his promises.
All of it is free. Our bibles, bible studies, publications, kingdom hall attendance and everything else…free. No hidden charges at any stage. We don’t ask for donations, offer paid subscriptions, or even pass around collection/tithing plates. This is in line with what the bible says at 2 Corinthians 9: 7.
“What if you actually used that time, energy, and money to do something useful for your neighbors”
We do. More than you realise.
When we do good things for others we keep Matthew 6 in mind. As Christians, we aim to follow Jesus example in showing love for our neighbours in more ways than preaching. However in John 6: 27 (well really the whole chapter is a very powerful one if you have the time), Jesus emphasised which type of food people need the most and what the priority of his followers should be.
“You chose to write a letter that 99% of the people that get it are going to throw away.”
Considering what Jesus said about the state of the world, who the ruler of it is, and how his (Jesus’) followers and their message would be recieved, it would be concerning if our message was popular. We fully understand and respect that some people won’t be interested. We are focused on finding those who are. That means we have to cast our net wide.
None of the supposed contradictions you stated are actually contradictions or falsehoods. Would you like an explanation, or are you saying that it won’t change your mind regardless?
“It has been my experience with super duper Christians that they are very happy to pray for people, rather than do anything substantial for them.”
That has also been my experience with Christians. But not with Jehovah’s Witnesses. You are certainly not wrong in saying that much of mainstream Christianity is about keeping up appearances and traditions. Again, Jesus specifically said this would be the case – that they would talk the talk but not walk the walk. Their speech would be empty. I don’t disagree with you.
Brian Shanahan · 12/26/2023 at 6:39 AM
Stop bullshitting us with your nonsense. Your particular brand of god bothering is especially notorious for it’s lack of humane responses to those in need.
ron.pimo · 12/05/2023 at 3:56 PM
This is how you write about the Jehovah’s Witnesses! Excellent article!
Backed up with loads of references. Appreciate you sharing sources for “old light” that Watchtower tries to hide as well.
Calling out the leadership for what they are. Slow clap for you!
Captain Cassidy · 12/06/2023 at 12:39 AM
Thank you so much!
Astrin Ymris · 12/06/2023 at 1:34 AM
There’s also the harsh reality that the Governing Body has had to recognize: They can’t really force JWs to proselytize. Yes, they could threaten disfellowship, but they’d be losing lots of the tithing members if they carried through. Is that really worth going medieval on their members for not doing something that everyone knows is completely ineffective? In the end, they need their adherents much more than the faithful need the GB… and the laity has begun to realize this.
So to disguise their weakening power, they revoke a rule that they can’t enforce. It’s their only possible face-saving move.
Robert C · 12/09/2023 at 3:38 PM
The Christian malaise has spread as widely as COVID-19. More here:
deadbelief.com
donaldfincher · 01/23/2024 at 7:48 PM
“Now there’s no reason to convert any time soon, unless one simply wishes to avoid the rush.”
Comedy gold right there.
Authoritarianism: The common thread in Christian sex abuse crises - Roll to Disbelieve · 09/26/2025 at 1:01 AM
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