READ THIS FIRST

Sections

  • Disclaimers
  • Explanations
  • Commenting
  • Contact Form

Disclaimers

Neither “Approved” Nor Disallowed

No website outside the official website, JW.org, can be considered “approved” by the organization in any way. But neither are members disallowed from having one, nor is having one a disciplinary offense, but is a matter of conscience. There is nothing on this site that contradicts officially accepted doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is not for defending the organization to the world, but for helping members, inactive ones and Bible students get past the lies about us, countering apostate poison without ever quoting apostates. However we are happy to take requests, comments and questions from those who have never been associated.

Not Spiritual Food

This blog conforms to the guidelines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, countering opposition, lies and false reasoning. This site must not be considered parallel to any Jehovah’s Witnesses literature. JW publications are considered the repository of our understanding of the Scriptures. For spiritual enlightenment, or spiritual "food at the proper time" seek out a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses or go to JW.org. This blog is for countering the lies of our apostates and religious opposers so as to immunize and cure some from apostate and religious poison.

Completely Anonymous

Though concluded independently, we share the same standards as our organization’s publications. Our contributors have agreed to post anonymously so that no one personality may be elevated, allowing all glory to go to Jehovah.

An Off-hours Project

Jehovah’s Witnesses perform a ministry in which we track how much time we spend in our personal ministries so that it may be tallied worldwide and shared with our members for encouragement and identifying areas to troubleshoot that may need adjustments. We do not use impersonal public posts like those on this blog, to count field service time.

Explanations

Translations

Unless otherwise stated, all Bible quotes are from the 2013 Revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Older articles may still have quotes from the 1984 Reference Edition of the New World Translation.

Where the word “Gehenna” appears in the original manuscript, it is here changed to “Trash Heap” for clear expression.

In some places in the Bible text where a word in the original language indicates a plural pronoun or verb, it may be replaced by or include the words “you all” or some variant of it for clarity of plural address evident by original language indicators and context.

Commenting

We welcome all to visit and comment on this site peacefully. However, we do have standards for what content we allow and we would like to share those standards with you so that you may have a better chance of having your comments accepted. Off-topic posts will be deleted.

Posts are Subject to Deletion Or Editing

This blog is not a democracy. The Bible does not teach democracy. This blog is not subject to the rule of any democracy. Democracy is not an international or cyberspace law. If we deem a post or its contents to be inappropriate by our own judgment, it may be edited or deleted as we see fit. In some cases we may simply remind the commenter of our standards. Whatever course is taken or not is our prerogative and is not subject to question. Do not post if you are not willing to have your comment edited or rejected.

The reason we edit is to give your comments a chance to be seen without being deleted. We appreciate your non-confrontational comments and sincere questions.

SPAM-like Comments

If you do not want your comment rejected, please give specifics related to the post or this site. If your comment looks generic, it will be rejected as spam.

Disgruntled Former Members and Disfellowshipped Ones Will Be Ignored

First and foremost, comments will be rejected that we believe are posted by a former member or by a technically current member of Jehovah's Witnesses who has put themself in opposition to Jehovah’s Witnesses, attempt to draw away members after themselves, or otherwise undermine the spirituality of other members. They have no respect for us, our beliefs or our autonomy. They will not be tolerated here. We wish to maintain a positive and respectful atmosphere on this site, which they do not permit.

A former member who was “disfellowshipped” is one who has been cast off from the organization for unrepentant wrong-doing. It is for their benefit, and for the cleanness of the Christian congregation around the world, that we do not knowingly interact with such ones. If we find out that a person is disfellowshipped or has left the way, we will immediately reject and delete all comments by them. There are thousands of websites of disgruntled former members they can go to for voicing their lies and grievances or they can create their own.

We Wish to Keep It Civil

Occasionally someone will attempt to post a comment that is less than kind. The comments of those that state false information, harass, launch attacks or state disparaging or inflammatory comments, whether toward us or others on this site or off, will be rejected or edited. We want this site to be a place where Jehovah’s Witnesses and the public can come to be respected and perhaps receive encouragement so long as they are respectful themselves.

It is okay to state what you believe in a conversational tone, if different than our belief, but not in a way that seeks to challenge us. If you make a harassing comment but say something positive, we will cut out the negative and keep the positive.

We seek to promote a welcoming atmosphere to people of all beliefs even if an article is critical of a particular belief. It is the belief and not the believer, the mindset and not the mind, that is the subject of criticism. (John 5:22; Mt 7:1) Our hope is to help people to see how thinking can go wrong.


Unless We’re Actually Friends, We’re Not “Friends”

God’s word states, “friendship with the world is enmity with God.” (James 4:4) Thus, paying some insincere lip-service to us by calling us “friends” or “brothers” when you are not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and especially when you are harassing us, you will be ignored. Anyone, including Satan, can call us “friend”, but that does not make it so. Friends do not seek to upset their friends. Keep the insincere flattery and manufactured friendliness to yourself. Artificial people stand out like a sore thumb. Do not be fake and we might allow your comment. Fakers are liars and thus cannot be trusted. If you call us “friend” in that way, consider self-evaluation.

Again, God’s word states, “A true friend shows love at all times, and is a brother who is born for times of distress.” (Proverbs 17:17) But it also says, “There are companions ready to crush one another, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18: 24) This does not mean someone who obsessively harasses us and calls us “friend” as if trying to “help” us. We don’t need such help, we already have the path to salvation.

The Psalmist David, who knew all about betrayal by those he thought were friends, said, “The one who is walking faultlessly, practicing what is right and speaking the truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, he does nothing bad to his neighbor, and he does not defame his friends. He rejects anyone who is contemptible, but he honors those fearing Jehovah. He does not go back on his promise, even when it is bad for him.” (Ps 15;2-4) But if you want to protect us when we’re under persecution, then you will receive a reward from Jehovah.

We Reject Debates of Any Kind

The reason that most Jehovah’s Witnesses do not engage in debate, whether in chat rooms or professionally, is that debates are a source of contention. We, however, seek to maintain peace in our lives. We do not have need to debate if we are secure in our beliefs. If we do not need to debate our sitting down or rising up, or whether the sun rises and sets, then we do not need to debate our beliefs.

Only those among us who are weak in faith will give in to bait. So instead of arguing with you, we will teach you something about our beliefs and why we believe them if you simply ask us to tell you. We are also open to hearing your beliefs as long as it is not your goal to convert us to your way of thinking or harass us. All of this allows for a peaceful exchange of ideas without expecting anything out of the other.

Here is how not to debate: Simply state what you believe and why, not what you think we should or should not believe.

We Reject Foolish Questions

This is not to say that we reject questions in general, as there are many ways to ask fine questions. However, questions clearly designed to undermine faith in our beliefs or in those taking the lead among us will be rejected. What we accept and encourage are questions geared toward one’s own edification in honesty and sincerity and questions used to express a line of reasoning.

Intellectualism and Sophism is Discouraged

We realize that some are quite accustomed to a complex intellectual vocabulary and grammatical structure and even sophism, but when it gets to be a bit thick, we are likely to ask you to reword your responses. Christians do not need to put on such airs because we recognize that Jehovah rejects the wisdom of the wise and intellectual ones while he is merciful to the humble and the meek. The good news is simple and should be presented simply and humbly, not with exotic words, extravagant speech and florid delivery. We want to attract people to the truth, not overwhelm them to the point of their eyes glossing over. Use of Latin and French phrases is also discouraged. Keep it real and you should be fine.

Speculation is Strongly Discouraged

Christians do not need to speculate over uncertainties. If we are uncertain, we exercise patience until we discover the facts. Speculation can give rise to debates, dissension and even apostasy. Many times speculation in comments is removed or the comment rejected. Only if the speculation would prove harmless might it be allowed to remain.

Only Anonymous Indirect References to Sites Run By Disgruntled Former Members Permitted

If you wish to make an anonymous reference to a website run by disgruntled former members, you may do so without indicating your personally having visited the website, the name of the website or individuals that visit or operate the site. We do not allow members to indicate their personal viewing of such material. Such activity is not allowed to be discussed and such viewing should not be promoted by its mention.

We Strongly Discourage Addressing Accusations in Person

This site is for helping individuals who have been bitten by the poison of disgruntled former members to come and review information on a matter themselves. It is not for helping ones address accusations with anyone person-to-person. The best thing you can do is to ignore accusations altogether and think for yourself. Accusations are about trying to cloud your thinking with emotional claims. The truth, however, is in the context of Scriptures and proof against any accusation made against Jehovah’s Witnesses can be found in the actual context of official JW publications and websites and in what you personally know to be true about Jehovah’s Witnesses and those taking the lead among them.

Linking Discouraged

We accept links to JW.org and to non-religious, non-apostate websites not persecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses that are related to the material under discussion. Most external apologist websites will be rejected except those that meet our high standards. All other links are subject to removal or rejection.

Say it in One Post

Some of us have a tendency to edit our comments by reposting them, and that is absolutely okay. But it is very annoying to receive many replies in a string that could have been said in a single post. If you have a lot to say, please write it in a document and then post in a single comment, if possible. If it goes beyond the comment’s word limit, then it is certainly natural to post a second or even third comment, but only because they’re past the word limit. There is no penalty for failing to do this, but the admins would appreciate not having their inboxes blow up with separate comments.

Spelling and Grammatical Corrections

Comments containing corrections might not be approved unless the whole comment is reposted with the corrections; then the original post will be deleted in favor of the corrected one. We may edit a comment ourselves to provide grammatical or spelling corrections if its errors prove distracting. We will put the edit in brackets only if the edit may possibly provide a change of meaning.

Proposed Corrections to Posts

We welcome corrections to information in posts, but please send them via the Contact Us contact form on the sidebar with the name of the post in question. This will allow us to interact and get more details if we need them.

Please Feel Welcome

We hope that your understanding our standards will encourage you to post because we want to hear from you. If you find it difficult to post within these guidelines, please let us know about the difficulty you are having via the Contact Us contact form on the sidebar.

Not a Personal Assistance Service

We appreciate our viewers’ enthusiasm for the information we provide and their thirst for understanding the Bible, but our time is limited, so we would appreciate it if you restrict your questions to those of great significance that you do not feel comfortable asking someone in person, and particularly of a personal nature.

We would appreciate not being bombarded with Bible questions. Our time is limited, so we do not have the time to field every Bible question by all those who contact us. Our website is available to the entire world, we get contacted by people frequently. If we started fielding Bible questions, we would end up doing nothing else.

Additionally, the organization has asked that everyone do their own research where possible and pass hard Bible questions directly to them. Having other people do your research undermines your own ability to retain the information. If you have a Bible subject for which you can find nothing in the organization’s publications, you can ask an elder or contact the address in the Watchtower.

Dismythed does not provide services of personal assistance such as with study projects. Each person is responsible for their own spiritual progress. Please ask for assistance from those in your congregation so that you may strengthen your association with a brothers or sisters.

We apologize, but we cannot budge on this matter. We ask that on each of our companion sites that you restrict your questions to subjects directly related to the very purpose of the site you are submitting your question to. Please respect our boundaries and obedience to the brotherhood in Christian love.

It is vitally important that you learn to do your own research using the Scripture Index in the Publications Index at wol.jw.org. Scroll down to find the book, click the link and then scroll down to the chapter and verse to look up links to our publications.

Our site is only for addressing lies about God, the Bible, the creation and Jehovah’s Witnesses that stumble some.

Comments

Unknown said…
I appreciate the information contained here very much! Thank you.
Dismythed said…
To Anonymous of Feb 9, 2023, 12:53 AM:

If you are going to make claims about what JW literature does not allow, please quote the exact place it is written with citations so that they can be clearly understood on both sides.

Also, we do not engage with apostate literature on this blog or any other. There are no quotes or citations or any apostate names mentioned. We also discourage reading apostate literature. But the GB does not attempt to control the private activities of members. It is only the public discussion of apostate literature that is prohibited. Reading it is strongly discouraged. But the GB has given us tools for defeating exposure to apostate literature because they know people are curious.

I suggest reading JW literature with an eye toward understanding the freedom we have and not as an enforcer of law. Enforcers of law tend to see laws where there are none. If you say there are sanctions in regard to something, quote the specific offense in the literature with the stated sanction.