THINKING WITNESSES
ABOUT US
The purpose of this blog/website – Thinking Witnesses (TW) – is to encourage Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) to view their religion with circumspection. The idea is to take a good and unbiased look at the organisation, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WBTS). This website aims to foster critical thinking. In saying ‘critical’, what is meant is, not criticism in the derogatory fashion, but analytical evaluation that takes cognisance of both the organisation’s narrative of itself and the narrative held by others, namely, dissenters (‘apostates’). The evaluation is an objective one which encourages the individual to apply his mind to the facts without prejudice. It also fosters transparency and accountability. The ultimate aim is to empower the individual to make an informed decision without fear of reprisal.
The average Jehovah’s Witness is a wonderful and sincere human being that wants nothing but the best for his fellowman. As a direct consequence of this, Jehovah’s Witnesses arduously devote themselves to their ministry, spending a magnificent amount of their time and personal resources promoting the bible through the direction of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (‘the organisation’) which is headed by their spiritual leaders, a group of men, the Governing Body (GB) of Jehovah’s Witnesses (a.k.a. the ‘Faithful and Discreet Slave’) who are currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.[1] More recently, the organisation has supplemented their trademark house-to-house ministry with literature displays (‘cart’, ‘trolley’, ‘metropolitan’ witnessing), their website (jw.org) and their very new television station ‘JW Broadcasting’ (JWB).
The point is, there are both good and bad elements in the organisation. A great deal amount of time and effort is spent highlighting the good, to the point of one-sidedness. The aim of this website is to encourage due diligence on the part of those contemplating the baptism peculiar to Jehovah’s Witnesses and, also, to encourage thinking Witnesses to both acknowledge and confront the whole truth, which includes, realistically, the bad. The idea is to paint an accurate picture, not a fiction. The authors of this website feel that it is a mistake for the organisation (the Governing Body, really) to adopt an essentially monolithic and narrow outlook to the effect that anyone who says anything critical of the organisation is essentially an agent of the devil – whether belonging to the branch of ‘worldly’ person or ‘apostate’. We need a more adult approach to this.
To that end, much information will be provided on this website; it is our hope that the reader, whether an active Jehovah’s Witness or not, may apply their mind to the facts and reach an informed conclusion, free from any duress. This website does not seek to ‘poach’ any one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, it seeks simply to inform; and if, after reading the material provided herein, an active Jehovah’s Witness is nonetheless satisfied that they are indeed in the truth, then, by all means. If you disagree with anything written by the authors of this site, take comfort in knowing that you won’t be disfellowshipped for exercising your discretion – as a all thinking Witnesses should.
#ThinkingWitnesses
[1] Plans are currently under way for the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses to relocate to their new facilities in Warwick, 1 Kings Drive.
