... (...)... »Men som mange kirker og præster forvalter deres rolle, føler jeg mig ofte sært tilpas i folkekirken. Jeg elsker en god prædiken, men alt for ofte oplever jeg, at præsten træder over mine grænser og dikterer, hvordan min tro skal være. Kun Gud kan diktere min tro. Jeg føler, at religionen let bliver et redskab til at få magt over mennesker, til at udstikke regler for, hvad der er godt, og hvad der er ondt, hvad vi må tro, og hvordan vi må praktisere vores tro. Det gør efter min mening religion til et superfarligt fænomen og ødelægger følelsen af fællesskab. For mig at se er den vigtigste faktor i en prædiken, at der er nærvær og kærlighed. At ordet går fra hjerte til hjerte. Det var det, Jesus kunne, men det er ikke alle præster, der forstår at gøre ham det efter. At være kristen må betyde, at man handler for sin tro. At man bestræber sig på at gøre som Jesus. Ordet alene er ikke budbringende. Der må være kærlighed, hvor der er tro.«...(...)... ~ Lotte Arnsbjerg - Berlingske
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Dennis Christensen in court in the town of Oryol earlier this year. Photo: Mladen Antonov / AFP / Ritzau Scanpix |
A Russian court on Thursday upheld a six-year jail sentence for "extremism" for a Danish Jehovah's Witness in a case that has drawn international condemnation.
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JWVICTIMS.ORG | ~ Beware the Cult-Like Control and Abuse of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses a cult?
Really, what difference does it make?
That’s not a flippant question, as being able to label Jehovah’s Witnesses a cult or not doesn’t really change or affect anything. If you can absolutely determine that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult, so what? Cults are legal in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Having them escape the label of cult also doesn’t give them special rights in areas of the world where their religion is restricted. “Hey, we’re not technically a cult, so you have to let us in, Russia.” I don’t think that’s going to work, but try it on Putin and let me know how it goes.
The label or word itself may not be important, but the level of cult-like, abusive control the religion has over its members should be of concern to anyone inside the religion and to those studying the bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Steve Hassan, a writer on cults, uses what he calls the BITE model to determine if a religion or other group can be considered a cult or abusive. This refers to the amount of control the group has over its members’ Behavior, Information, Thoughts, and Emotions.
To help people better understand how abusive and cult-like the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is, I’m going to post Hassan’s entire BITE model below, with short paragraphs about how the JW beliefs or thinking fit into many of those aspects of this model.