Witnesses Are Not "Victims" of the Governing Body

Often, apostates from Jehovah's Witnesses vent frustration over the fact that such a large number of Witnesses remain loyal to the organization and refuse to listen to the lies that are spread about them. This frustration stems from the fact that the governing body is active in protecting members under its care. These faithful men are doing exactly what Jesus said they would. (Matthew 24:45) However, instead of acknowledging that the governing body is doing what any loving group would, they instead claim that Witnesses are "victims" of the organization. Is there any basis to this claim?

A Program that Supports Informed Choice

The word "victim" in this context, is a person who is deceived or brainwashed. However, before a person becomes one of Jehovah's Witness, there are steps each potential member must take. These steps are designed to champion informed choice, and makes it virtually impossible for anyone to claim they were made a victim by the organization's leadership for having no access to information.

Bible Study Program  

When a Witness first contacts individuals, at some point they are offered a Bible study. If accepted, this study is conducted using the study aid What Does the Bible Really Teach. It covers basic Bible teachings and basic Witness beliefs. There is no set timetable for when a student should be completed with this study, but it is expected that the study is progressive. Questions are included at the end of each paragraph so to gauge how well the student grasps the material. If the student does not grasp a teaching, its discussed until he does. Also, the student is told that he must study and prepare each lesson on his own before each study session. What extemporaneous material the student chooses to study on the subjects in addition to our publications is up to him or her.

Meeting Attendance

Progressive Bible students typically begin attending meetings before long. It is at these meetings that a student becomes intimately familiar with Jehovah's Witnesses and our beliefs as well as being exposed to a larger number of Witnesses and an opportunity to observe our unity. We encourage meeting attendance for this very reason; so that individuals learn about us and the Bible. No Bible student is allowed to become a baptized Jehovah's Witness if he does not regularly attend meetings.

Unbaptized Publisher

If a student shows good progress and a desire to become a Jehovah's Witness, he can then qualify as an unbaptized publisher and can now share in the field ministry. In most cases I've seen, about 6 months or so has gone by before a new student gets to this point. Those who are not raised in the truth generally spend the next 3 to six months in the ministry before getting baptized. Though there are examples of some who get baptized fairly quickly, and others who take a year or more. Really, how long are they expected to study and minister before baptism?

Organizational Book

When a person becomes an unbaptized publisher, he is given a copy of the book Organized To Do Jehovah's Will. This book outlines how our organization is structured and operates, covers disciplinary procedures, and contains questions that are designed to gauge whether the student is ready for baptism. The student is not expected to remember any answers by rote, but is expected only to demonstrate a passable working knowledge of the organization, discipline and key doctrines. In other words, the student is informed of all those things before they ever become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. This is, in fact, highly unusual in a world where people can often change religions with a handshake or a simple declaration of their belief in Jesus, or by simply getting baptized.

Baptism

When a student has shown good progress and has at least a basic understanding of the Bible and our beliefs and demonstrates their desire to be one of Jehovah's Witness, then he or she can qualify for baptism. This process often takes a year or more. Of course, a student can delay baptism until he is ready. He may want to do more research, gain more knowledge, or further cultivate his relationship with God. It is entirely up to them. It is a well-informed choice that they make without deception or coercion. At that point, they are usually more knowledgeable about us than researchers that have studied us impartially for twenty years.

Personal Study and Bible Reading Encouraged

During the process of becoming one of Jehovah's Witness, students are routinely encouraged to do personal Bible reading, prayer, and study. They are also given the tools to do this. Students who regularly attend meetings are given a copy of the Watchtower Library DVD, which is an exhaustive electronic library of publications dating back to 1950. Also, they have the brains of individual Witnesses to pick. There is virtually an endless supply of information available to students before they ever get baptized.

Clearly, members and potential members alike have every opportunity to question. They have information literally at their fingertips. If some are indeed "victims", it is due to their own lack of effort. And who is responsible for approving this program of information sharing and encouraging study? None other than the governing body.

Volunteering Disproves "Victimhood"

We are a volunteer organization. When a person is baptized, he can later volunteer to serve as a pioneer, ministerial servant, elder, or serve at Bethel, or not serve at all. If he volunteers to serve, he is telling the congregation that he has studied, understands, and accepts the Bible and the beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses. No one is ever forced or coerced into becoming a Witness, or to serve in any capacity.

Many apostates telling lies about their so-called victimhood were at one time these type of volunteers who demonstrated that they fully understood and accepted our beliefs. They taught our beliefs to others. They defended our beliefs against opposers. Some raised Witness families themselves. Clearly they were not "victims". They were not deceived, battered or coerced into baptism. (With the exception of rare examples of Jehovah's Witness parents who would have been disciplined or disfellowshipped had anyone found out about their behavior. The children of such ones that become apostate often try to claim that such behavior is systemic when it is, on the contrary, very rare.)

Verdict: Not Guilty

The governing body has spared no expense in making sure Jehovah's Witnesses and potential members are well-educated about our beliefs from the Bible. Among the abundance of digital material freely available to all members and non-members, they have also provided and support public websites used for both research and education.

The question remains, why do former members make these clearly false claims? One religious professor sheds interesting light on this. Lonnie D. Kliever, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University wrote:

"There is no denying that these dedicated and diehard opponents of the new religions present a distorted view of the new religions to the public, the academy, and the courts by virtue of their ready availability and eagerness to testify against their former religious associations and activities. Such apostates always act out of a scenario that vindicates themselves by shifting responsibility for their actions to the religious."- Emphasis ours.

In other words, these apostates were at one time faithful Witnesses. Since they no longer believe and need a justification for their apostasy, they claim the organization and its governing body "dupes" Jehovah's Witnesses, which by extension, means they themselves were duped. As is typical of complainers, they would rather be seen as feeble-minded than to admit something is their own responsibility. It is obvious that they refuse to accept responsibility for their many choices that led first to their becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses by being convinced and then for choosing not to be because they no longer wanted to expend the effort or that they think too much of their own ideas. (Jude 9)

Ask Jehovah's Witnesses

No one is in a better position to explain why Jehovah's Witnesses believe than Witnesses themselves. If you are not a Witness reading this blog, why not ask us why we believe what we do when you see us? If you are a Witness, ask yourself why you are a Witness and the efforts you went through before ever choosing to become one. Do a regular self-examination. (2 Corinthians 13:5) Have a regular personal Bible study schedule. (Psalm 119:32) Most of all, pray to Jehovah for faith and guidance! (1 Thessalonians 5:17)