Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 67
Among the unique Watchtower doctrines is a prohibition against blood transfusions and a
teaching called theocratic war strategy that justifies ―lying‖ in court and elsewhere. Only
three religions could be located that openly teach this doctrine. One is the Aryan
Brotherhood, a white supremacist group that teaches it is appropriate to lie in order to
further its interests (W. Caughey, personal interview, Feb. 3, 1991). Another is the
Unification Church, which critics claim practices a similar doctrine they call Heavenly
Deception (Levine, 1980 Elkins, 1980). Boettcher claims that
One of the central tenets of the [Unificationists] faith is the Doctrine of
Heavenly Deception. Good must deceive evil. The non-Moon world is evil. It
must be lied to so it can help Moon take over. Then it can become good under
Moon‘s control. In the Bible, Jacob lied to Isaac. God rewarded Jacob by
making him the father of the nation of Israel. (Boettcher, 1980, pp. 343-344)
The third is the Watchtower Theocratic War doctrine, which teaches that it is appropriate to
withhold the truth from ―people who are not entitled to it‖ if it will further the Watchtower‘s
interests (Reed, 1992 Reed, 1997, p. 129 see also Franz, 1971, pp. 1060-1061, and
Raines, 1996c). In the Watchtower‘s words, Witnesses are required to ―use Theocratic War
Strategy‖ against any and all persons who have a ―wolf-like disposition,‖ defined as anyone
who does not accept the Watchtower as God‘s organization and the head of God‘s people.
All other religions are defined as evil and of Satan (Franz 1991 Watchtower May 1,1957, pp.
285-286 and p. 288 — this latter article was censored in new Watchtower reprints).
Reed defines Theocratic War Strategy as ―hiding truth from persons not entitled to it—i.e.,
lying to outsiders when deemed necessary‖ (Reed, 1995, p. 40). He adds the Watchtower
defines lying as ―. ..deceiving outsiders to advance the organization‘s interests.
Falsehoods presented to God‘s enemies are not considered lies, due to the state of war
existing between God‘s forces (the JWs) and Satan‘s (the rest of the world).‖ In the words
of Kotwall (1997, pp. 1-2) the Watchtower‘s teaching ―to lie and deceive in the interest of
their religion is Scripturally approved. They call such lying theocratic war strategy.‖ Wilson
says:
although a basic belief of Jehovah‘s Witnesses is that liars will receive eternal
death with no hope of a resurrection, exception is made when it comes to
lying or pretending to be someone one is not if the purpose is for the good of
the organization. An example of this sort of deception that I had personally
experienced was the time a Witness friend invited me and several other
Witnesses to her house when a Witness missionary was visiting her, as he was
to give a slide presentation about his work in Israel … To protect the facility
and the other Witnesses who were to live there, the Society instructed this
missionary to pose as an eccentric millionaire who has a fetish about being
clean, and to inform any inquirers that this was his own house that was being
built. This story was fabricated to cover up the real purpose of the building—
that of being a Watchtower factory having bedrooms with sinks in them to
house the factory workers. This incident was another example of theocratic
war strategy (Wilson, 2002, p. 249).
Jehovah‘s Witnesses do not always lie outright, but they often lie according to the court‘s
definition—not telling ―the whole truth and nothing but the truth,‖ which means the court
requires the whole story, not half-truths or deception. The Watchtower claims to condemn
lying, but only lying as they define it, namely ―saying something false to a person who is
entitled to know the truth and doing so with the intent to deceive or to injure him or
another person‖ (Franz, Vol. 2, 1988, p. 244, emphasis mine). The purpose of the oath is
to discourage evading the truth by being truthful only in a narrow way. In a popular
Among the unique Watchtower doctrines is a prohibition against blood transfusions and a
teaching called theocratic war strategy that justifies ―lying‖ in court and elsewhere. Only
three religions could be located that openly teach this doctrine. One is the Aryan
Brotherhood, a white supremacist group that teaches it is appropriate to lie in order to
further its interests (W. Caughey, personal interview, Feb. 3, 1991). Another is the
Unification Church, which critics claim practices a similar doctrine they call Heavenly
Deception (Levine, 1980 Elkins, 1980). Boettcher claims that
One of the central tenets of the [Unificationists] faith is the Doctrine of
Heavenly Deception. Good must deceive evil. The non-Moon world is evil. It
must be lied to so it can help Moon take over. Then it can become good under
Moon‘s control. In the Bible, Jacob lied to Isaac. God rewarded Jacob by
making him the father of the nation of Israel. (Boettcher, 1980, pp. 343-344)
The third is the Watchtower Theocratic War doctrine, which teaches that it is appropriate to
withhold the truth from ―people who are not entitled to it‖ if it will further the Watchtower‘s
interests (Reed, 1992 Reed, 1997, p. 129 see also Franz, 1971, pp. 1060-1061, and
Raines, 1996c). In the Watchtower‘s words, Witnesses are required to ―use Theocratic War
Strategy‖ against any and all persons who have a ―wolf-like disposition,‖ defined as anyone
who does not accept the Watchtower as God‘s organization and the head of God‘s people.
All other religions are defined as evil and of Satan (Franz 1991 Watchtower May 1,1957, pp.
285-286 and p. 288 — this latter article was censored in new Watchtower reprints).
Reed defines Theocratic War Strategy as ―hiding truth from persons not entitled to it—i.e.,
lying to outsiders when deemed necessary‖ (Reed, 1995, p. 40). He adds the Watchtower
defines lying as ―. ..deceiving outsiders to advance the organization‘s interests.
Falsehoods presented to God‘s enemies are not considered lies, due to the state of war
existing between God‘s forces (the JWs) and Satan‘s (the rest of the world).‖ In the words
of Kotwall (1997, pp. 1-2) the Watchtower‘s teaching ―to lie and deceive in the interest of
their religion is Scripturally approved. They call such lying theocratic war strategy.‖ Wilson
says:
although a basic belief of Jehovah‘s Witnesses is that liars will receive eternal
death with no hope of a resurrection, exception is made when it comes to
lying or pretending to be someone one is not if the purpose is for the good of
the organization. An example of this sort of deception that I had personally
experienced was the time a Witness friend invited me and several other
Witnesses to her house when a Witness missionary was visiting her, as he was
to give a slide presentation about his work in Israel … To protect the facility
and the other Witnesses who were to live there, the Society instructed this
missionary to pose as an eccentric millionaire who has a fetish about being
clean, and to inform any inquirers that this was his own house that was being
built. This story was fabricated to cover up the real purpose of the building—
that of being a Watchtower factory having bedrooms with sinks in them to
house the factory workers. This incident was another example of theocratic
war strategy (Wilson, 2002, p. 249).
Jehovah‘s Witnesses do not always lie outright, but they often lie according to the court‘s
definition—not telling ―the whole truth and nothing but the truth,‖ which means the court
requires the whole story, not half-truths or deception. The Watchtower claims to condemn
lying, but only lying as they define it, namely ―saying something false to a person who is
entitled to know the truth and doing so with the intent to deceive or to injure him or
another person‖ (Franz, Vol. 2, 1988, p. 244, emphasis mine). The purpose of the oath is
to discourage evading the truth by being truthful only in a narrow way. In a popular
