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According to this definition, WTS qualifies as a high-control group on a number of levels.
Members‟ lives are bound by explicit and implicit rules governing their behavior in public as
well as in private. Rules range from the insignificant, such as dress code, to the life
threatening, such as the prohibition on blood transfusions. Association with outsiders
(“worldly people”) is discouraged, except to conduct necessary business or try to convert
them. Throughout its history, WTS has encouraged its members to dedicate themselves to
preaching work over other activities, “as the end is very near.” For this reason, preaching
work is paramount in a member‟s life, often to the exclusion of higher education,
professional careers, and pursuit of personal interests, at times, even marriage and
parenthood.
Members experience negative consequences for questioning doctrine or expressing doubts
and can be severely punished if they continue to have questions after being “corrected” by
the Elders. Access to information that could be construed as critical of the group is severely
restricted, and members are told to “loath” ex-members who publish and speak out about
why they left (“Search Through Me,” 1993). In addition, members who leave are almost
always subject to “disfellowshipping” or are “disassociated” (supposedly a less harsh
judgment, but with essentially the same results), which involves a ban being placed on the
disfellowshipped person that requires members to shun and avoid contact with that person
for the rest of his or her life, or until the ex-member submits to a process of
“reinstatement.”
Legalism in Daily Life
For Jehovah‟s Witnesses, life is constricted by innumerable spoken and unspoken rules and
regulations, that is, the locus of control for an individual‟s life lies almost entirely with the
organization. Members are not permitted or are highly discouraged from a number of
activities, including celebrating birthdays or holidays, attending other churches, working for
the government, smoking cigarettes, listening to many kinds of modern music, joining the
army, wearing beards, dating non-Witnesses, joining 4-H, and voting, to name just a few.
Some of these “sins” result in censure or “marking” and loss of status within the group
others can lead to the cruel shunning treatment of disfellowshipping. Recently, for example,
an elderly woman was disfellowshipped because she began smoking cigarettes. Instead of
being helped by the congregation with this issue, she was cut off from the community and
left on her own, depressed and suicidal at the age of 68 because of her “sin” (personal
communication, 1992). Franz (1991), a former member of the WTS governing body (now
disfellowshipped himself), cites an instance of a member who made a living installing
burglar and fire alarm systems and who was disfellowshipped for providing monitoring
services for a system he had installed in a local church (pp. 351-352). Doing work for a
church is seen as “supporting the work of the devil” who, in the eyes of WTS, is at the head
of all other religions. Franz also discusses the case of a 91-year-old man who, after 56 years
of active membership, was disfellowshipped for talking about the Bible to a disfellowshipped
friend (pp. 353-356). Since 1975, it is estimated that more than 40% of those who were
involved with WTS have left or were forced out, and that between 1975 and 1985 alone,
more than 880,000 people exited the group (Bergman, 1992, p. 308). This makes it entirely
possible that there are as many or more former Jehovah‟s Witnesses in the world as there
are current members.
The Watchtower Society puts forth innumerable “suggestions” as to what members should
wear, whom they should date and marry, what medical procedures they may not have, how
they should wear their hair, what kinds of jobs they should perform, how many hours a
month they should preach, how many meetings they must attend, what kind of people they
should spend their time with, how much and what kind of education is acceptable, what
material to read and not to read, and so on. Many of these edicts are put in the form of
suggestion, yet are actually disguised rules. For an example of how this is accomplished,

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997, page 70
note how Awake! magazine (one of WTS‟s two primary publications, along with The
Watchtower magazine) basically bans the computer game Doom in the following
statements: “Many computer games are thinly disguised violence, bloody massacres, or
even blatant pornography”. Is this type of game appropriate for peace-loving Christians?
Parents, have you checked the home computer games your children use lately? Need we
say more?” (“Is This the Game,” 1995, p. 25).
Some statements can be very influential without actually prohibiting an activity, such as
“The latest movie, video or disc may look appealing”. How might it affect you to expose
yourself to such entertainment?” (“Young People Ask: How Can I Get,” 1994, p. 17). A well-
trained Jehovah‟s Witness knows the answer without having to ponder the question further.
Another example of how WTS sets rules for the membership is found in an Awake! article in
which “heavy metal” music is defined as a satanically-inspired activity: “Heavy metal is to
heavy drug use as lotteries are to compulsive gamblers--a youngster becomes easy prey to
Satan‟s influence when sanity is flushed from his brain and thoughts of perversion and
violence take its place” (“Satanism‟s Handmaidens,” 1994, p. 8). This article goes on to link
heavy metal music to murder, gang rape, mayhem, and drug use. Another article reminds
members that “music is one of the means Satan uses to mislead young people” and
intimates that the devil “is trying to poison your outlook and attitude” with modern music
(“Alternative Rock,” 1996, pp. 22, 23).
Another example of “rules by suggestion” is found in The Watchtower‟s condemnation of the
celebration of birthdays, explaining that “the only two birthdays the Bible does mention
were for rulers who were enemies of God...[and] included an execution” (“Birthday
Celebrations,” 1994, p. 25). As former Jehovah‟s Witness Randall Watters (1994) states:
These guidelines are never phrased in terms of rules, but rather in terminology
such as “would it be wise to wear a beard ...” or some other phrase that pretends
to show the “choice” one has in a moral matter, whereas in reality the phrase
indicates a new unspoken rule for Witnesses to follow. Fear of punishment by God
and/or the organization is used to enforce these unspoken rules. (p. 1)
While marriage is not forbidden, remaining single is encouraged because single people can
devote more time to preaching, the staple activity of the Jehovah‟s Witness. The
Watchtower states this reason for preferring singleness to marriage:
Single Christians can focus on Jehovah‟s service with greater concentration.
Compared with those who are married, single Christians are in a better position to
be in “constant attendance upon the Lord” without distraction. (“Singleness,” 1995,
p. 29)
You may be in a better position than you would be if you were married and
responsible to provide for children. The difficulties you face now are temporary
they will be done away with in God‟s new system. (p. 30)
In this way a strong influence is exerted on members to forfeit fulfillment in their present
lives in order to serve Jehovah and therefore earn their way into “God‟s new system” and
paradise.
Relationships with Outsiders Frowned Upon
WTS is generally suspicious of outsiders, referring to them as “worldly people.” Jehovah‟s
Witnesses tend to avoid associating with nonmembers except as necessity demands, or to
try to convert them. A popular and common WTS saying is “Bad associations spoil useful
habits.” Witness children are warned not to develop friendships with “worldly” children and
are not allowed to participate in many clubs, activities, or celebrations (birthday and
holiday) that would bring them into contact with non-Witnesses. Adults are encouraged to