The Real Jehovahs Witnesses

Who Are Jehovah's Witnesses?

The Governing Body

The leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses—known as the Governing Body—consists mainly of middle-class, American, white men. They claim to be guided directly by the Holy Spirit, yet their "understanding" of Scripture shifts constantly. Failed prophecies, doctrinal reversals, and reinterpreted commands are explained away with the phrase "the light is getting brighter." In practice, this slogan functions as a theological "get out of jail free" card: every mistake, no matter how damaging, is rebranded as a fresh revelation.

Thus, the "truth" is always proclaimed with certainty—until it isn't. The generation that was supposed to live to see 1914, the shifting policies on blood transfusions, the controversial "two-witness rule" in abuse cases—all once taught as divine truth, all later discarded or reframed. Yet, each reversal is presented not as a failure, but as a step forward.

A Selective Perfection

At congregational level, discipline is handled by judicial committees, which consist of three elders acting as judge and jury, supposedly guided by the Spirit through prayer and Scripture. If their verdict proves flawed, it is dismissed as the error of "imperfect men." Yet if that ruling is appealed, a second committee is convened—again claiming the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yet, if imperfect men misinterpreted the guidance of the Holy Spirit during the first hearing, how confident can anyone be of the second decision?

Family Matters

Jehovah's Witnesses present themselves as champions of family unity. In reality, that unity lasts only as long as every member remains inside the faith. Those who leave—whether by choice or circumstance—are immediately branded as disloyal and shunned, even by parents, siblings, and children. Many of those disfellowshipped were born into Witness families and never given a genuine choice. They were simply spoon-fed Witness doctrines from infancy, assimilated into the sect and then punished if they decided to remove themselves from the organisation.

Another dark reality is the religion's handling of child sexual abuse. Thousands of cases have surfaced worldwide, many mishandled because elders were instructed to treat abuse as a sin rather than a crime. Rather than involving trained authorities, unqualified men were tasked with investigating, leaving children vulnerable and perpetrators shielded. Instead of acknowledging wrongdoing, leaders encourage members to view victims and whistleblowers as pawns of Satan. 

Survivors who refuse to "leave it in Jehovah's hands" are often ostracised by the very families who should protect them.

The organisation that once loudly condemned the Catholic Church for shielding abusive clergy has grown conspicuously silent about its own failures.

When a Law Isn't a Law—But a Principle

Elders often claim that no Witness is disfellowshipped for sinning, only for refusing to repent. Take smoking: the Bible never mentions it, yet Witnesses classify it as a disfellowshipping offence under the principle of honouring one's body. But consider gluttony, which is directly condemned in Scripture. Congregations are filled with obese members, yet in my experience, gluttony is never prosecuted beyond a private reproof. The inconsistency reveals how selectively rules are enforced—principles are elevated when convenient, while explicit laws are ignored when inconvenient.

If You Were Once a Witness

When elders arrive at your door with polished shoes and gentle words, insisting that you are loved and missed, remember what lies beneath the performance. This is not a neutral pastoral visit; it is an extension of an institution with clear priorities: growth, money, and control.

Their divine claims crumble under scrutiny. The thousands of fractured homes belie their insistence that they promote family unity. Their rhetoric about Satanic attacks serves to deflect responsibility for the grievous mishandling of abuse. Their selective enforcement of Scripture undermines their claim to uphold the Bible in its entirety.

Strip away the polished language and faux love, and what remains is a system that exerts power by demanding loyalty, wealth by soliciting donations through guilt trips, and control by suppressing independent thought via accusations of disloyalty.