Updated Monday, April 25, 2022 at 10:02 PM. If you are leaving something you have known for a long time, the effect on your psyche can be profound. You do not need to have been "brainwashed" or "mind controlled" for it to affect you severely. That is why people who leave loved ones or move to a new city or change long time careers, or get divorced, often need counseling, someone to talk to, to deal with the change. This is normal. A simple part of life. Humans don't like big changes, and a change or abandonment of religious belief is certainly difficult. Religion is a large commitment, an investment of time, energy, thought, money and emotion. When you leave all that behind without something to replace it, it can seem like it was all wasted and you can suddenly feel taxed. For those joining a religion, on the other hand, it is easier because they believe they are trading up and they find joy in doing so. They don't view the past as a waste of time, but as ...

Just before he finally passed away, Jesus asked a potent question: "Eʹli, Eʹli, laʹma sa·bach·thaʹni?" This translates as "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" or "My God, my God, why have you left me?" This was a profound question. One could even see it as the question a vengeful opposition member might ask to cause others to abandon God. That former member could pose the question as an accusation, then say, "It is because you did not care about me! You pretended to care! But inside, you were just using me and you used me up! And at the moment I needed you most, you turned your back on me. You should be ashamed of yourself! No one listen to God! He is deceiving you for selfish reasons! He doesn't care about you!" But, of course, anyone who believes Jesus is the Son of God and knows the Scriptures, knows that this is not the kind of question Jesus was asking. Jesus' question was a quote from a Scripture that gives us a way of ha...

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 o...

Note: This post is not meant to discuss the child retention rate of Jehovah’s Witnesses itself. It is a short rebuttal of what is said this retention rate represents. According to a 2014 Religious Landscape Study conducted by the Pew Research Center, Jehovah’s Witnesses have the lowest child retention rate when compared to other ‘religious traditions’ at 34 percent. This simply means that 34 percent of individuals raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses identify as such as adults. But Jehovah’s Witnesses need not be discouraged by this number. Many times, opposers will cite this retention rate as evidence that our beliefs and practices are wrong, or unscriptural. Their argument goes something like this: “If you have the true religion, then more people would stay” or “...they would not leave at all”. The argument that our beliefs are wrong because only 34 percent of people raised in the faith believe it as adults is the same as saying that the Earth is flat because only 34 percent of people...