I had withheld writing about this because I thought it was obvious what our unchanging stand has been on this subject, but some have been negatively affected by false and misleading claims so much that it is listed among the major claims against us by sociologists. (Perhaps, as psychologists, they take the accusation personally.) Disgruntled former members claim that Jehovah's Witnesses used to prohibit consulting a psychiatrist. This claim originated with a former member, a psychiatrist who used to treat Jehovah's Witnesses. After leaving the way, he claimed that we had a higher number of those with mental disorders than the general populace. (I addressed this claim in another post .) Obviously the claim was bogus. Being a JW at the time while treating JW's, of course he had a larger number of JW clients than non-JW clients because they trusted him to do their treatment over anyone from the world. (A trust which he ultimately betrayed.) Thus he got taken by data bias. He c...

Being required to believe something in order to be a member of the organization and speaking in agreement so as not to cause contention are two different, but related things. ("Two sides of the same coin.") The faithful and discreet slave (FDS) has laid out that anyone who wants to be a member of Jehovah's organization must believe in the salvation message we preach, which includes rejecting the Trinity, hellfire, the immortality of the soul and eternal security ("Once saved, always saved"), and they must live morally clean lives. (Any viewpoint that promotes a different understanding will be immediately flagged as apostate as there can be no doubt that we have the correct salvation message.) When a person is baptized, they are declaring their faith in the salvation we preach in line with the Scriptures. If, at some point, they change their view of salvation, then their view ceases to be compatible with membership in the organization, regardless of whether they...

Originally posted:  February 5, 2017 Updated: October 29, 2019 For many years, our opposers have claimed we are declining and they want you to believe that our decline or prosperity is inextricably linked to the number of individuals active in any one country as Jehovah's Witnesses and how much money we earn from any given property. Does that mean, then, that we are prospering when we baptize one additional person or purchase an additional property? Not according to opposers. Their inconsistency means that they are cherry picking information to suit their own agenda. To know if the claims of our opposers are true, it is important to understand how God views decline and prosperity. Those looking for truth will examine it in light of the Bible and disregard the liars who try to contradict it. Let the Evidence Speak Firstly, we do not view high membership numbers or financial success as the  primary evidence of p...