What can you say when Jehovah's Witnesses comes to your door? How do you avoid arguments over the Bible? How do you help your relatives and friends? How to get to the heart of the issue. It is rare to find a Jehovah's Witness who has not seen or heard information exposing the dishonesty of the Watchtower Society. Why, then, do they not see a problem? Evidently, something else has prevented them from objectively analyzing factual information. Their minds are trained to stop short of doubting the organization - a wall has been erected which says, in effect, "This far you may go, and no further." But first, how to understand the problem.
Understanding Mind Control Among Jehovah's Witnesses
Much has been written on the biblical approach. A few books have been written which document the Watchtower's false prophecies and changes as well, such as Thus Saith Jehovah's Witnesses. However, very little has yet been written clarifying their particular technique of mind control. I believe many will benefit from a new approach in talking to friends and relatives who are caught up in the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Brainwashing has become almost a household word in the last two decades or so. In 1961, Robert J. Lifton wrote the definitive book on the subject, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, after studying the effects of mind control on American prisoners of war under the Communist Chinese. Lifton outlines eight major factors that can be used to identify whether a group is a destructive cult or not. Any authoritarian religion should be held up to the light in order to determine just how destructive their influence is on their members. Judge for yourselves. Try reading Understanding Mind Control Among Jehovah's Witnesses.
Milieu Control
"Milieu" is a French word meaning "surroundings; environment." Cults are able to control the environment around their recruits in a number of ways, but almost always using a form of isolation. Recruits can be physically separated from society, or they can be warned under threat of punishment to stay away from the world's educational media, especially when it might provoke critical thinking. Any books, movies or testimonies of ex-members of the group, or even anyone critical of the group in any way are to be avoided.
Information is carefully kept on each recruit by the mother organization. All are watched, lest they fall behind or get too far ahead of the thinking of the organization. Because it appears that the organization knows so much about everything and everyone, they appear omniscient in the eyes of the recruits.
Taking the mystery out of why one chooses to become a Jehovah's Witness is important. Much can be gained from the fields of social psychology and sociology as to how this occurs. It should be noted then that unique, individual motivating factors predicting and accompanying a person to favorably select the JW position will not herein be considered, rather factors at large and how people respond to the factors will be the author's spotlight. It should also be stated that the focus of this article is on persons not "born into" the Watchtower Society organization.
A research report submitted to Tabor College, Adelaide, by NATHAN CHARLES BEEL as the Directed Study Project component for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Christian Counselling--- November, 1997. Summary of Study
The Watchtower Society utilises manipulative techniques and environment to recruit and maintain their membership. According to Robert Lifton (1961), a psychologist who examined American soldiers subjected to mind control techniques by the Communist Chinese, there are eight criteria that are used evaluate if the environment that people have been subject to has been a mind control totalist environment. The Watchtower was found to utilise each of his criteria to varying degrees in their indoctrination process. The cult identifying criteria set out by exit-counsellor Steven Hassan (1990) also proved conclusively that the Watchtower (now abbreviated to ‘WT’) exerted behaviour, information, thought and emotional control to maintain their membership. The study then proceeded to identify the persuasive techniques of the propagandists in selecting their messages to have maximum effect on their audiences. Various pieces of WT literature were analysed and found to utilise similar techniques and thus could be appropriately classed as propaganda.
¿Porqué tendría yo que temer que alguien me amenazara con no hablarme a menos que me comportara yo de cierta manera? ¿Porqué tomarme yo mismo la molestia de castigar a alguien no hablándole? ¿Porqué tratar y tratar de ganarte la aceptación de un grupo de gente que te ve y no te habla, y ni siquiera reconoce que estés enfrente cuando te los encuentras de casualidad? ¿Qué puede ganar alguien que rechace o evite a otro? ¿Y qué puede ganar el rechazado o evitado?
Como testigo de Jehová que fui, yo rechacé de este modo a otras personas, y a mi vez me ví rechazado. Creo que muchas, sino a la mayoría de las personas que sufren este tipo de rechazo sienten que no les atrae recibirlo ni practicarlo. Siempre que intento explicarle a quienes no conocen a los testigos de Jehová la práctica de expulsar a otros, la gente me ve fijamente y no me cree.
Jesus gave us a loving pattern to follow in regards to talking to our brother or sister and confronting them with either (1) problems in our relationships, or (2) with regards to unconfessed sin on their part. In Matthew 18:15-18, Jesus outlines three steps to take in talking to your brother, in attempting to settle difficulties or to right the wrong. If the three steps prove unfruitful, he says, "Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer." Math. 18:17b
BLPD affects Jehovahs Witnesses too. Read this true life story submitted to Randy in September 2005. The story is touching but not at all uncommon with high control groups such as the Watchtower.
As a few may recall, Watchtower Policy has changed when circumstances serves the interest of the Governing Body in getting rid of someone they want to railroad. An example that has been offered involves Peter Gregerson. Peter was a personal friend to Ray Franz. In 1980 Peter wrote a letter to the Society, saying he wanted no further association with the organization. At that time a disassociation letter with no wrongdoing was handled with no shunning but simply as a person who walked away. When Gregerson left, the Governing Body created a new policy that stated all persons who disassociated would now be treated the same as disfellowshipped in a 1981 Watchtower.
Though the word "cult" may have several dictionary meanings, it is largely used to describe a religious organization that centers around a man or a group of men who claim to be God's exclusive channel of truth to the world. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have seen an abundance of such groups, each with similar roots yet divergent paths.
People who have struggled with phobias understand how immune such phobias can be to logical analysis. Like the recurrent nightmare of fleeing a hideous monster, it never seems to sink in that monsters don't exist. The irrational fears continue to plague the victim.
While nightmares are transitory and often forgotten in the morning, other fears, some just as potent, lie in the consciousness of people even during their waking hours. Fear of heights, dogs, being closed in a room, etc. regularly traumatize people, affecting their lifestyle.
Relatively little attention is given to religious fears, however. It is apparent that manipulative minds can readily distort the scriptures in order to produce feelings of fear, guilt, remorse and even hysteria. The followers of Jim Jones and Ayatollah Khomeini can attest to that. What is surprising is that often the victims are aware of their paranoia and know it to be destructive, but feel powerless to overcome it.
In recent weeks Greg Stafford, author of Jehovah's Witnesses Defended, has been posting on the message board H2O and was told by his elders not to be discussing doctrine on a board with known "apostates." Below is Greg's post, followed by my response, then followed by Greg's response to me. Here are three significant posts, one by Greg and two to follow:
_______________________________________
GREG Posted by Greg Stafford [GregStafford] on November 03, 1999 at 10:04:32
No one thought much of the book when it was first published in 1949, nor, in fact, did it stir much attention for a number of years thereafter. In the last two decades, however, the book 1984 by George Orwell has drawn a much greater reading audience. Orwell portrays a Society brainwashed by political ideologies to the point where they are intolerant of any other mindset. Ironically, though the chances are slim today that any political organization could ever have such absolute control over people's lives, religious cults have taken up the slack.
A NOTE regarding the book. The book is being revised and updated and will get a new title; Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships (previously titled Captive Hearts, Captive Minds and this is the title I am working with) by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias"
"You can take a man's belongings away from him and he will recover, but if you take away his faith, you have surely killed him."
That phrase expresses a truth of which all who work with victims of cults should be aware.
There are many reasons why people join cults: loneliness, power, an escape from reality, etc. Sometimes people are just curious and quickly end up under the control of others, like victims of hypnosis. Most of these victims can be taught to find what they are looking for through other, more constructive outlets. They can learn how to find real friends and how to keep them, how to channel their energies in new directions, and how to face reality.
HOLY SPIRIT--The Force Behind the Coming New Order! was the title of a Watchtower publication released in 1976. After tracing the work of the "holy spirit"1 from Pentecost on through the book of Acts, the book attempts to prove that this "holy spirit" energized the eight ruling members of the Watchtower organization who were in jail in 1919, to begin a work of preaching "the good news of God's established kingdom." The book states:
"It was for such worldwide Kingdom preaching that `spirit of life from God' had entered into the suppressed witnesses in 1919 C.E." p. 146.
Leaving the Watchtower Society can be a very difficult and stressful experience, as most ex-Jehovah's Witnesses will attest. The effect of losing one's faith, social group, friends, sense of purpose, and often one's family, often lingers for years after leaving. Some ex-JWs turn to behaviors that they would never before imagine themselves doing, and often fail to understand: excessive drinking, severe marital problems, gambling, etc. Others come out of the experience of leaving the WT with less severe problems, but nevertheless experience anxiety, self-doubt, low self-esteem, lack of direction, feelings of alienation, confused belief system, and difficulty adjusting to an entirely new lifestyle.
The stories of the wrecked lives of former Witnesses should be ample evidence what the illusion of absolute belief produces when the illusion itself is shattered by reality
In Physics class the Professor gathers his students together on the first day of school in the gymnasium for a stunning demonstration in what he terms "absolute certainty."
The class is naturally intrigued, curious and eager to observe.
From the metal joist supports in the gym ceiling a cable is hanging all the way to eye-level in the center of the space; like a fireman's pole. But, at the end of this cable is a 100lb metal wrecking ball! What is this all about?
Married life within a cult can impact on former cult members’ post-cult experiences. Among the factors that may influence the nature and severity of problems that may arise are: the behavior of the cult leader, transference, and defense mechanisms of projection and projective identification. Although these processes are common to most marriages, they take on a particular hue in cult situations. A case example is presented to illustrate these processes.
This paper will address married life within the cult and the impact the couple’s cult experiences have on their post-cult difficulties and reactions to one another.
A web site operated by a Jehovah's Witness (evidently one in good standing, but in violation of the Watchtower Society's explicit policy against Witnesses setting up web sites) includes a defamatory and potential libelous section about me. I have responded to their charges below. The web site, in part, attempts to respond to my research and critiques of the Watchtower. Evidently, the author cannot respond to the substance of my critiques so, instead, resorts to attacking me personally. The author, I am told, is a lawyer lacking a sense of humor (and is nasty not only to me, but to others who beg to differ with certain Watchtower practices). The paragraph in its entirety is as follows:
Since our common era began, every turn of the century has seen its share of apocalyptic prophets announcing the end of the world or "Armageddon." They claim to have special knowledge revealed to them alone. The term apocalypse is from the Greek and means "revealed" or "unveiled."
Any study of the cult phenomena should have a chapter on understanding human nature, especially with regards to the family unit. If one can understand the dynamics of power and control in the family, one is much better equipped to help dissolve a family member's allegiance to a destructive cult. This is particularly the case where one's husband or wife is involved in a cult.
United in Christ? A brief excerpt from Daniel Taylor's The Myth of Certainty. Do you resent the smugness of closed-minded skepticism on the one hand but feel equally uncomfortable with the smugness of closed-minded Christianity on the other?
My core beliefs were the result of phobia indoctrination by the Watchtower, reinforced by my parents and the collective efforts of the local members of the group, including most of my relatives.
My father's parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. He was baptized in 1935. When I was seven, the Watchtower organization became the primary focus in my parents life. I tried to simply "walk away" from the Watchtower's control in 1974. I knew I had left the JWs, but had no idea that their teachings had not left me, but were in fact were still the core beliefs that I was using to run my life.
This essay is based on a slide-show presentation I delivered in November, 1995, at the joint annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion / Religious Research Association, in St. Louis, MO. This is work-in-progress, and I would love to hear your responses to this essay.
Introduction
Call attention to the pictures and illustrations that serve to impress the thoughts of the text on the mind of the student. Many of the pictures portray the international scope of Jehovah's organization and the unity that exists among God's people, without regard for race, social background, or nationality. Only such an organization [as the Watchtower Society] can truly fulfill the commission Jesus gave to preach the good news worldwide.-Matt. 24:14
"Directing Interest to the Organization," Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1987, p. 3
In the classic novel 1984, George Orwell portrays a Society brainwashed by political ideals to the point where they are intolerant of any other mindset. For an absolute system to really work, Orwell argues, all of its subjects must not only believe in it, but be enthusiastic about it. Yet even in Communist Russia, which once almost paralleled Orwell's world, it was impossible to win all the people over to their mindset. True thought control, however, has been achieved in some modern religious circles in a way that would make a dictator envious.
The news media coverage of the Watchtower's policies regarding pedophiles has had a profound effect on their policy regarding communication with former members. As quite a few whistleblowers such as Bill Bowen and Barbara Anderson came forward in mid- 2001 and early 2002, the Watchtower's Service Dept. made the decision that the only way to silence these persons was to disfellowship them for "causing division" in the congregations, and then reinforcing their policy on "no communication with disfellowshipped persons" outside of the immediate household. Thus, Witnesses would be violating their religious tenets by listening to any news broadcast or news article or communication from such whistleblowers. Notice how their answer to the question, "Do you shun former members?" was changed on their official website in July 2002 to reflect this. Emphasis ours in bold type:
If your child has been recruited by the Jehovah's Witnesses, my advice would be to act quickly and--most of all--cautiously. Right away at the beginning of the bible lessons, the Witnesses teach new recruits to expect opposition from "the devil's" forces. So if you oppose the Witnesses' influence over your child, he is likely to consider even his own parents agents of the devil. Their recruitment techniques are thorough.
I came into Jehovah's Witnesses through the womb and left through the back door. I had to overcome denial, the invincible delusion, and admit to my innermost self that something had happened to me, that I had not gone looking for it, and that I did not ask for it nor did I deserve it. Something had happened to me, but what? By whom? Why me? Why anyone?
I first had to understand what happened. Then I had to understand who did it. Then I had to understand why it was done, Then I had to understand how it was done and finally I had to search out the solution. I had to write down exactly what had happened, by whom, how, and why. Then with that done, I wrote down my plan for the future. I wrote down my new beliefs and the reasons why they were my beliefs. I had made a study of the problem, and I needed to do that, but I continued to study the problem long after I understood it, with the expected result. That is, I understood the problem better.
The Watchtower (henceforth designated as WT) teaches that it is appropriate to withhold the truth from "people who are not entitled to it" if it will further their ends (Reed, 1992, also Franz, 1971, p. 1060-1061) Witnesses (henceforth designated as JWs) do not always lie outright, but they often lie as per the court's definition, not telling "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" which means they must relate the whole story. The following exchange occurred between WT attorney Carolyn Wah and Duane Magnani, who was being disposed in the case of Marvin Reyes. Case 6936-C (Abilene, Texas) stated:
If I had never gone to Bethel I would never have known how arrogant and controlling some of the powers that be are that are there. It only takes a few in key positions. I am not saying that even most of them are that way (many of my elder friends at Bethel were exceptional people), but the ones who want the power seem to find their way to the top in such systems, as with many organizations religious or otherwise.
edited by Barbara Anderson - Harsh shunning practices are part of many religions. For instance, for thousands of years,the people of India were separated into four main hereditary classes or castes into which Hindu society was divided. The lowest of these castes were the "Untouchables" and were viewed as a contaminating influence and thus members of the higher castes would not associate with them. The mere touch, even of the shadow of one of these Untouchables was considered polluting. The Untouchables had to be avoided at all costs. Although India banned treatment of persons as Untouchables since the 1950s, human rights abuse of these people continues in some areas.
Abusive treatment as well as shunning occurred in a political system in South Africa known as Apartheid which generated international concern because one group of humans were segregated and treated as if they were sub-humans.
If members of Jehovah's Witnesses decide to officially leave their faith, they are subjected to ex-communication, or using a Witness term, "disfellowshipping," and are cut off by all members of the faith. This includes family and close friends who view them as if they were dead, or at least as "Untouchables."
The point of this exercise is to illustrate how subtle but powerful techniques of persuasion are used in Watchtower literature, techniques that suck the reader in before he's aware of it. These are pure propaganda techniques, and the WTS is a master of them.
When members of an exclusive, mind controlling group are forced out of the group as believers, or walk away as believers, something happens to them that affects everyone around them. Since my own personal experience was with the group known as Jehovah's Witnesses, this will be my reference point for this article.
I have had the experience of noting that when some people are active Jehovah's Witnesses, they "hate" everybody and everything that is not a Jehovah's Witnesses, just as they are told to do by the group leaders. (I have much evidence to support this statement.) Then something happens at the local Kingdom Hall and the person who hated everybody and everything that was not a Jehovah's Witnesses, now is also angry with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They become more or less angry /all the time/. Any seeming normal behavior is forced, and the next explosion is uneasily waiting just below the surface, like a well-camouflaged land mine, waiting for someone to trip the trigger.
For the agents of the Watch Tower Corporation to have any influence over us, we would have had to accept the terms of the contract they offered to us and publicly agree to work for them and be subject to their rules by submitting to the ritual of baptism.
They courted us. We were bargained with and offered a product. We accepted the offer and entered into a contract with a Corporation. The Corporation omitted certain material facts, made false promises, and failed to deliver on it’s own promises. It made a substantial and willful misrepresentation by failing to disclose certain material facts to us before we entered into a contract with them. That is the definition of fraud and if the Jehovah’s Witnesses had sold us a car or a house under those conditions and circumstances, they would be dealt with under consumer protection federal and state laws and would be facing criminal prosecution. We would have grounds for civil action to seek compensation.
Some six years past when my daughter Louise was 14, her mother Jane and I separated and subsequently divorced. The divorce was reasonably amiable. Some years later, Jane and I remarried different partners, we all get on very well. One of my sons chose to live with me, my other son and Louise chose to live to with their mother Jane. To begin with, even though are children lived apart, we all enjoyed a very good relationship and regularly saw one another. This is still the case with our sons.
When Louise had just turned 16, she met a new boyfriend John, who I understood to be 18. Some months later when I discovered that John was really 26, I spoke to Louise about it and told her that I objected. Given that she was only 16, I felt the age difference was too great. Unfortunately, we fell out over it and for the best part of 18 months, we had an uneasy relationship. I have to accept some responsibility for that.
From a comment posted by Burgess on Linda's life story My Life As A Jehovah's Witness, we liked this so much we made an article for it.
1. Joining us is a one-way street. We will pretend to intensely love you while you walk in. We will openly despise you if and when you choose to walk out.
2. We love to say only we are from God. We love to point out that everyone and everything else is from Satan.
3. Flattery is one of the tools we use to win you over. We like to make you feel special, so that you continue to ‘feel good’ about studying the Bible with us.
If you have time to prepare, read the following books in this order:
1. Steven Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control (teaches you the proper WAY of approaching someone in a cult. Not WHAT to say so much as HOW to say it, with body language, friendship, words to use and not use, and preparing friends and family who might be involved. It is NOT RECOMMENDED to skip this step!)
2. Read Thus Saith Jehovah's Witnesses and possibly get the Document Pack for the same book, if you are going to be using photocopies to prove your point (don't show them the book). This will demonstrate their dishonesty and false prophecies, changes, and techniques to control people they have used for the last 126 years. It is to be read from page one straight to the back in an hour or so. If you want to get the Document Pack for showing them what you have found, they are loose sheet photocopies without commentary (the Thus Saith book has commentary). Don't get the Document Pack only, as you won't know how to use it unless you are already good at this, which you wouldn't be if you are reading this.
Who would possibly disagree with the following statements?
Only a mind control cult would absolutely require its members to comply with false teachings simply to establish and maintain UNITY.
Only a mind control cult would encourage scriptures be read ONLY to confirm its doctrine and never to call them into question.
Only a mind control cult would punish members if they questioned beliefs later publicly denounced as rejected by the cult itself.
Certainly any description of integrity and righteousness would place Truth above mere unity in a religious movement which is compelled to admit in Court it is fallible, uninspired and frequently error prone. Consider the following example of a court case which calls in to question the above points in identifying Jehovah's Witnesses as victims of this abuse.
First-Time Educational DVDs for Professionals and Families of Cult Members!
Listen to Steve talk about the evolution of the Strategic Interaction Approach he uses on YouTube (2/19/07)
A special class taught by Steven Hassan was held on March 23-25, 1990 in Manhattan Beach, CA for those who desired a greater foundation in reaching out to those caught up in the cults. The emphasis was placed on learning how to do an intervention (exit-counseling), the modern alternative to deprogramming. Steven Hassan is one of the experts in this field, having performed hundreds of successful interventions in the last ten years.
This three-day class was limited to family members of those in cults and professionals who already work in the area of counseling and mind control groups. Special emphasis was placed on Bible-based cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses, The Way International, Boston Church of Christ, etc.
In the Fall, I will be starting my next Former Cult-Member Support Group. This group is for those who have been in a cult, or cult-like group. Family and friends of those in cults are welcome, as well.
I am a therapist who has worked for the last 20 years with people affected by cults, both in Los Angeles and in New York. I have helped those who have left a wide variety of cultic situations.
This support group is intended to:
Help you develop a greater understanding of manipulation, control, undue influence, and fear-inducement,
Help you address, in a safe environment, the confusion, hurt, loss, sadness, anger, or worry you may be feeling because of your experiences,
Help you connect with others who understand.
The Details: The group will be 90 minutes long, and the cost for each session is just $40. It will meet on Wednesday evenings, once a month, from 7:00~8:30. We can also decide as a group if the number of meetings should increase from once to twice per month. If many people have conflicts on Wednesday nights, then the group can meet on Saturdays instead.
The first group is scheduled for Wednesday evening, September 29th. Please let me know if you will be attending. Feel free to pass my phone/email along to others who you feel would benefit from this resource, and I'll be happy to speak with them about it.
You are sitting in a hotel room, thinking that you would like to be anywhere else in the world but where you are. Sitting next to you is your mother, the strain of the last three days evident by the lines in her face. Your 27 year-old brother is here, not by choice, but as part of a three-day session designed (as far as he sees it) to challenge his faith in the Watchtower organization.
John F. Kennedy said: "A child miseducated is a child lost." If that is true, hundreds of thousands of children born into Jehovah's Witness families are lost. Not only are Witnesses the least educated of major religious groups, they are also the poorest of the poor. A recent study revealed that Jehovah's Witnesses rank dead last in aggregate social status. This finding is as understandable as it is deplorable, given the Watchtower Society's long-standing hostility toward education. Their aversion to education means that Witnesses have suffered significant economic disadvantages.
On November 18, 1978, 913 men, women, and children --followers of cult leader Jim Jones -- died during a mass suicide and murder in Jonestown, Guyana. In the months preceding the tragedy, Jim Jones and his People’s Temple followers recorded their thoughts, their problems and their aspirations.
When an organization is employing the use of mind control techniques, it is said that it has a hidden agenda and is known as a cult. The book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism—A Study of Brainwashing in China, authored by Robert Jay Lifton, has been used over thirty years to analyze organizations and groups to see if mind control is employed.
In chapter 22 of Lifton’s book, he lists eight psychological techniques used in a thought reform environment to control members. In this paper, I will discuss how the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society uses all eight techniques and the devastating effects on its members.
Brainwashing implies the unwilling indoctrination of alien principles or beliefs, which are enforced through overt as well as subtle control mechanisms (typical of Communist Chinese and Soviet military techniques used during WWII). Once removed from this environment, one returns to a default set of beliefs, though not completely due to confusion and disillusionment. Yet this is a form of mind control rarely used in cults today.
"Why can't you just walk away from that religion and never go back? They don't have any hold on you!"
Have you ever said that to a person struggling with leaving a cult or manipulative church? If so, you were no doubt unawares of the degree of emotional and psychological control that cults have over their members. Why is it so hard for them to leave, even when they know that something is seriously wrong with the religion? And, once they leave, why is it so hard to be "normal" and go to church like anyone else? WATCH RELATED VIDEO
In the area of psychology, John Bechtel's narration of his personal odyssey through the Jehovah's Witnesses, including ten years at the top of that sect evidently fascinated his audience. "[It's] a story I will not forget," wrote Jennifer Baker, "both because it was told very well and because the speaker must have been very brave to leave such an organization."
Reaching that same conclusion, many audience members asked for more: future lectures explaining in detail how a person thinks his way out of a cult.
John Bechtel gave his first public talks for the Jehovah's Witnesses at the age of five. By age nine, he was addressing audiences numbering up to 3,000. At 27, Bechtel reached a crisis of faith and resigned from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Now a passionate advocate of "life, rationality, and your own happiness," Bechtel has a unique insider's view on the seductions of cults.
Jehovah's Witnesses have a reputation for cult-like behaviour in the way they treat former members of the group. Is this reputation deserved and if so, how do they justify their disfellowshipping and extreme shunning of members who decide to leave? Do Jehovah's Witnesses actively promote family breakdown?
One characteristic of many high control groups is to strictly enforce a shunning policy requiring members to avoid and ignore anyone who leaves or gets expelled. Recent American esoteric movements that claim to have a special channel with God granting them exclusive “truth", such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Moonies and Scientologists are particularly prevalent in their use of this practice. Members are required to completely sever association with or ‘shun’ ex-members, even their own immediate family and relatives, perhaps even their own minor children. Failing to comply is in itself a shunning offense. The consequences of this policy are far-reaching - shattering family relationships and leaving the victims emotionally, spiritually and sometimes materially devastated. Suicides or attempted suicides are not uncommon.
How do these groups justify carrying out this policy? If they are nominally a Christian group, do they have Scriptural support?
Terminology note: Today Mind control or brainwashing in academia is commonly referred to as coercive persuasion, coercive psychological systems or coercive influence. The short description below comes from Dr. Margaret Singer professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley the acknowledged leading authority in the world on mind control and cults.
You've seen the story play out over and over. So and so was "disfellowshipped" and no one from the Kingdom Hall will speak with him or her. Or maybe you're that someone who was shunned by your Jehovah’s Witness friends and family when you walked away on your own or were disfellowshipped. It's as if the Jehovah's Witnesses are afraid they're going to faint if you walk by. What words can express the pain of shunning? How does one get over the loss of one's family? Your identity has been yanked from you and there is no where else to turn. After all, you've been told that the "apostates" are led by Satan and are full of lies and deceit. Surely you're not going to turn there for support, are you?
As people in the counter-cult movement monitoring the ongoing activities of cults, we are more aware than the general public about the importance of asking questions about how groups operate. We understand that a group, a community, or church may appear benign, but in fact have a hidden agenda. The authors of this article understand acutely as cult survivors the importance of preparing people in our society not only to become savvy "material consumers," but also savvy "spiritual consumers."
In the modern world there is a great deal of nonsense about. Pseudo-science abounds in myriad different forms, and there is an endless supply of con-games and schemes to entrap the unwary. Still, not everyone falls for the various schemes to defraud us of money or convince us of untruth. What specific skills can you arm yourself with to become more skeptical? How can you become more critical and harder to fool?
In general, you need a specific skill set to distinguish fact from unsubstantiated claim, whether the claims come in written or verbal form on any media, or even in person from a sales pitch or a cultic recruiter.
What do Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, The Way International, the Boston Church of Christ and the Moonies all have in common? What do these organizations offer new converts that even the best of the churches cannot offer? Furthermore, what makes it so hard to leave these organizations and to start going to a Christian Church? The key is UNITY.
No, I am not talking about the type of unity spoken of by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
"Now I exhort you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and the same judgment."
"Once you accept that someone else is speaking for God, to doubt that source is the same as doubting God," .(Sherry Veitenheimer, The Spokane Spokesman, Spokane, WA, Oct. 5th 1996, "Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Tackle Custody Issue" By Kelly McBride, p. B1 & B4)
Once a potential recruit comes to actually believe that the Watchtower (Jehovah's Witnesses) does indeed speak for God and is actually his "only" earthly channel of communication with all the people on the planet, as they boldly claim, and that to please God, they have to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses, go door to door recruiting new group members and raising funds for the group leaders, they have become loyal members of the group and will stay such until they are treated so badly that they leave, or until they commit some infraction of one of the many written and unwritten rules and are "kicked out of the kingdom" by the local elders.
"Simon says" is a game normally played by children; a kind of follow the leader. Sometimes, however, it is played by adults, with serious consequences. This article is about such consequences, as observed among Jehovah's Witnesses. There are some days I cannot hold back the tears when I read these letters and see the pain and suffering that so many are experiencing upon leaving the Watchtower.
To find the truth, you have to be able to distinguish between reliable information and misleading disinformation. This skill is especially important when seeking information about destructive cults, because one way a cult defends itself is by spreading lies and blurring the line between fact and fiction. By the late 1970s, the question of cult mind control was intertwined in the public eye with the issue of forcible deprogramming. This was partly due to a multi-million dollar public relations campaign financed by the major cults in an attempt to smear critics and divert the debate from the cults themselves. This was also due to the fact that deprogrammers were, in many cases, acting like vigilantes. In the propaganda campaign, cults have labeled deprogramming ³the greatest threat to religious liberty. In cult lectures, booklets, and pamphlets, and on cult Web sites, deprogrammers are portrayed as money-hungry thugs who tie their victims to chairs, beating and raping them until they recant their religious beliefs.
When members of an exclusive, mind controlling group are forced out of the group as believers, or walk away as believers, something happens to them that affects everyone around them. Since my own personal experience was with the group known as Jehovah's Witnesses, this will be my reference point for this article.
I have had the experience of noting that when some people are active Jehovah's Witnesses, they "hate" everybody and everything that is not a Jehovah's Witnesses, just as they are told to do by the group leaders. (I have much evidence to support this statement.) Then something happens at the local Kingdom Hall and the person who hated everybody and everything that was not a Jehovah's Witnesses, now is also angry with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They become more or less angry all the time. Any seeming normal behavior is forced, and the next explosion is uneasily waiting just below the surface, like a well-camouflaged land mine, waiting for someone to trip the trigger.
When individuals leave the organization for conscience reasons, it is evidence that God is shepherding and protecting the flock by doing a sifting work. When people leave another Christian religion it is evidence that the religion is morally corrupt and unable or unwilling to provide spiritually for their members.
The Pew Survey of Religion and Life Association researches the intersection of religion and public life to better understand the role of religion as a whole in public life in America today. The 2008 survey reveals a great deal of information about religion in society as well as about the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) religion. The national representative sample used for the survey, which was called "massive," was 35,000 Americans over 18 years old. Witnesses are only 0.7 percent of the population, or in this study 245 persons, which was considered statistically reliable by the researchers.
As we enter the 21st century, more and more religious groups rise up and claim to be the recipients of divine protection from the end of the world. The late Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God and former editor-in-chief of the Good News of the World Tomorrow, believed he was God's chosen spokesman for the last days. Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, believed himself to be the 'faithful and wise servant,' chosen to be the sole interpreter of the Bible for the last days.
Q. What do you feel is the most common barrier a person faces in communicating with Jehovah's Witnesses?
A. Understanding the whole cult phenomena. The main problem is not that they are brainwashed. They don't have demons. Generally speaking, they have, in effect, joined an exclusive club that has, as part of its initiation, the adoption of a peculiar world view, a set of glasses through which they look at life. In order to be a part of that club, they are forced to abandon any previous model of reality they may have entertained.
Q. Can you give an example?
A. A woman notices her new neighbor leaving the house all dressed up and her kids obediently going with her. It's Sunday and they're going somewhere, presumably to church. She later talks to this new Jehovah's Witness neighbor, begins a friendship and finds out that Jehovah's Witnesses appear to be the friendliest people she has ever met. She has recently gone through a divorce and its subsequent loneliness, has two kids of her own and she has no direction to turn to. She feels helpless and vulnerable. She contrasts her life with that of her new neighbor who is confident about the future, has many pleasant friends, well-behaved children and seemingly all the answers to life's problems. Who wouldn't find it an appealing contrast, finding themselves in a similar situation?
Why are Jehovah's Witnesses afraid to examine the record of their organization once they have become convinced it is "God's organization"? There are many reasons why people become Witnesses, and there is no one personality type or situation in a person's life that drives him to become a JW. Yet, there is a common thread.
The following essay is an early chapter in a book I am writing about my experience leaving Jehovah's Witnesses...
"THE UNTOUCHABLES"
For thousands of years the people of India were separated into five Castes. The lowest of these castes were despised by the higher castes, and were forced to do the undesirable labor of society. The people belonging to this lowest caste were known as “Untouchables”. In Indian society, the “untouchables” were viewed as a contaminating influence, and thus members of the higher castes would not associate with them. The mere touch, even of the shadow, of one of the untouchables was considered polluting. The untouchables had to be avoided at all costs. 1
Perhaps you, like myself, were lucky enough to be raised in a home where punishment was not the dominant attitude of your parents. Many of us weren't so lucky, however. Our parents made sure we knew that we would be disciplined for every infraction of their protocol, either physically or through a popular "punishment vibe" that includes the following:
stern, stare down looks that make you wish you were in Kansas (or somewhere else you could hide)
accompanying penalties such as limited communication with the offended party and a lowering of atmospheric temperature by 10 degrees (local only)
several ways you can redeem yourself, though not ABSOLVING your guilt, rather, making it somewhat bearable
You are visually reduced in size to 40% of your original height (through the warden's eyes, though you often begin to see yourself as the warden does immature, untrustworthy, "give'em an inch and they'll take a mile" attitude). This was not good for you, in case you did not realize that. Hello?
(the following were responses to the above question as asked by a member of the H2O message board)
Since I have been out of the organization, I have not been able to replace the brotherly love I experienced while on the inside. Sure there were some unloving ones but the vast majority of "rank and file brothers and sisters were loving and trustworthy. I have not been able to find anything like it "in the world" and I wonder if any of you have. I would like to hear how you have dealt with this common experience, or if you have found a similar group of people without the mind games.
What would the Watchtower have to do to change into "just another religion"?
In my opinion, the only practice the Watchtower would have to change to almost overnight move into, "just another religion" category, is the practice of shunning. The rest of the teachings are no farther out than many other groups I have looked at. The test for a controlling group is this: Do they use forced compliance? Forced compliance can be identified by one of three conditions being met. Do they use (1) rewards, (2) punishments, or (3) rewards combined with punishments? If any one of these are present, I view the group as using forced compliance, i.e. enforced unity.
The Problem of Watchtower Honesty - My Second Response to Jehovah's Witnesses United.
In response to my first critique of Jehovah's Witness United the owner, who I am told is a Mr. James Long (webmaster Erik Galloway), and claims not to be an attorney, has revised his article about me, which is reprinted below in its entirety:
Many societies establish rules or norms for inclusion in their membership. Adherence to the established norms permits full membership in the group. However, failure to follow those norms, or deviance from those norms, results in sanctions, discipline or expulsion from the group. In some religious groups an extreme form of sanction is the act of excommunication, a type of social death for the deviant member. One religious group that practices this form of expulsion is the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Witness practice of disfellowshipping errant members is a form of social death to the member who is disfellowshipped as well as to family and friends of that person.
Why do absurd beliefs flourish in the United States? Sixty percent of Americans, for instance, "absolutely believe" that Jesus's mother never had sex before giving birth to him, according to a 2003 Scripps-Howard poll. Theorists such as Daniel C. Dennett speculate that religion is a side effect of evolution and that brain developments that made our ancestors more fit also gave rise to a hunger to believe.
The way the central nervous system handles pain is consistent with this theory. Our internal pain system is highly responsive to expectations. Belief may be attractive because of its power to reduce sensitivity to pain.
The Watchtower Society sometimes encourages people to exercise their thinking abilities when considering issues related to religion. However, the Society does not want Jehovah's Witnesses to apply those abilities to their own religion. This article draws heavily from Watchtower literature to compare and contrast the double standard employed to keep Jehovah's Witnesses from investigating their own faith.
I am impressed by the perception and clarity and detail revealed by writers who write about the effects high control groups can have on certain members. The approach almost always appears to be an objective detached account of the effects and aftereffects of high control group involvement.
The favorite analysis of the high control group member by these writers seems to be a microscopic view of a model that lived a healthy life in middle class Western culture, had no overwhelming life events to run from, is educated beyond the norm, was deceived somehow into joining the high control group, was re-educated with group ideals, then adopted the look as well as the thought pattern of the group leader(s). When they leave their groups they have this struggle returning to the life they once had. A struggle that, in my opinion, occurs mostly in the mind of the writer.
A popular book, Cults in our Midst, By Margaret Thaler Singer (with Janja Lalich), Chapter 12, p. 302: Recovery; Coming out of the Pseudopersonality, contains these two sentences:
As I was growing up as a JW, I often saw WTS literature which would ask this question: "How can we be pleasing to God?" Of course, in that religion nothing we could ever do would totally please God, so the question begged an impossible standard. That being so, we were stuck upon a lifelong treadmill and no matter how fast we ran, it was never fast enough. But was "how can we please God" the right question to ask? For it to be the right question, it would have to presuppose that not only is it our obligation to try to please God, but also it is very important to God that we please God, so much so that our eternal salvation depends upon it. If there is no obligation to please God and if it isn't very important to God that we please him or not, then it is definitely not the right question. If God has no NEED to be pleased, then the question is irrelevant.
A Jehovah's Witness family comes to your door, and having always been impressed with the courage, commitment, and downright sincerity of these individuals, you refrain from closing your door this time. You sympathetically turn your attention to them. To your surprise, the well dressed family is very articulate and validates their "doorstep sermon" by showing passages from the Bible.
from the Bethel Ministries Newsletter May/June 1990 (now the Free Minds Journal)
Few aspects of the Jehovah's Witness movement are more fascinating to the outside observer than their predictions of the end of the world. Yet the predictions themselves are just the surface ripples of a much deeper current in the lives of the movement's adherents. How the prophecies affect the members, how their belief in the prophecy gets stronger, and how they cope with disillusionment and finally regroup with greater strength is far more fascinating food for thought.
There have been plenty of end-times scenarios that could be studied since the time of Christ. As early as the second century, the charismatic leader Montanus gained a following around the belief that the second coming of the Lord was at hand, and that this would occur at a specific location according to his "New Prophecy". Harold O.J. Brown says,
“Millions Now Living Will Never Die” (1920). My Auntie Margo trusted that false prophecy with all of her heart. She was born in 1922, so she was one of those millions who would never die. In the 1950s when life insurance salesmen went from door to door, she would always invite them in and explain to them that she was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She wouldn’t need any life insurance because she was never going to die. Just recently, my uncle sent me the handout from her memorial service: Margo, born 1922—died 2007.
Topic: How do lives of social prohibition, such as those lived by Jehovah’s Witness children, affects their identities as they grow up, and are there any latent functions or dysfunctions that manifest themselves in adulthood?
(citation index at the end)
“Look at all those tall, pretty flowers and high mountains. Isn’t it beautiful here? See how the deer is eating out of the little boy’s hand. And look at the lions and the horses standing over there in the meadow. Wouldn’t you like to live in a house in a place like this? God wants you to live forever on earth in a paradise.”…”Jesus will see to it that this wonderful change takes place. Do you know when? Yes, after he cleans the earth of all badness and bad people.”…”Just think how wonderful it will be in the new paradise on earth!” states, My Book of Bible Stories published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 2004. While many religions of the world today believe in an afterlife in an unearthly dimension, Jehovah’s Witnesses hope for a different life right here on earth. This hyper-reality of trying to solve the puzzles of the past while predicting the happenings of the future creates a tug-of-war between religions in the present.
Claire Bowes is an undergraduate student at Anglia Ruskin University, England UK. Claire is writing a dissertation focusing on the the psychological and sociological factors and the impact on the individual when leaving the Jehovah's Witness religion. The title of this research project is ‘A Psychosocial Investigation Into the ‘crisis of self’ When Losing My Religion: The Case of Jehovah’s Witnesses’.
There is a significant lack of research grade information available about former Jehovah's Witnesses and the impact of leaving. The time is now to address this and you can play a part.
The results of this questionnaire will be reviewed by the researcher solely. The information collected from you will be stored safely and all information will be destroyed at the end of the research project. Confidentiality will be maintained by safe storage of information and the researcher will identify your information in a numerical way when writing up the research, e.g. participant 1. This research project has been undertaken utilising the British Sociological Association ethical guidelines.
April 14th 2010 - The opportunity to take part is now closed - Claire has asked freeminds.org to express her sincere thanks to all who took the time to take part. We look forward to keeping you updated as the results and analysis become available.
June 21st 2010 - Back in April I asked for participants for an academic research project concerning the reasons and impact on leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses. 100 wonderful participants answered my call. I thank each and every one of you wholeheartedly. You were mentioned in my acknowledgements:-
“Finally I would like to thank the one hundred participants of this research. Without them this research would not have been possible.”
Moments of self doubt and the concern over not wanting to let any of the participants down led to me holding on to my findings. Today I found out, thanks to my participants, I had received a first/A grade in the dissertation. This project has been recognised academically! :D
So my findings :-
Many of these you will know already, however now the academics who graded my work have acknowledged them.
Reasons for leaving that were discerned:-
· ‘Doctrinal dissatisfaction’ where participants expressed changing doctrines and beliefs as factor in the cessation of the religion.
· ‘Congregational dissatisfaction’ was defined as hypocrisy, maltreatment, or a ‘lack of love’ demonstrated by ‘rank and file’ individuals or cliques within the congregation.
· ‘Hierarchical dissatisfaction’ was established as a theme where participants disclosed dissatisfaction with the Elders or the Governing Body.
· Control or restriction, where the individual perceived the religion was too controlling or restrictive.
· Abuse, either domestic or sexual.
· Sexuality, where the participants own sexuality or the opinion that the Jehovah’s Witness belief that homosexuality was immoral was incorrect.
· Dating and love outside of the religion was identified as a theme.
· Health problems caused by the religion.
· Finally, other factors different to the ones above.
The impact of leaving :-
Holden (2002) notes that the fear of ‘Armageddon’ and other indoctrinations that an individual has been socialised into may additionally cause insecurity.
The fear of shunning from members of the religion and the subsequent isolation from the social group (Holden, 2002) featured prominently in the participants narratives.
The majority of participants, 85%, affirmed that they had lost friends upon the cessation of the religion.
The majority of participants, 82%, stated that there was a massive impact on their lives however there was a disparity in the reaction to the impact. Many participants acknowledged the process as difficult and painful and some expressed continual difficulty in their lives.
More than half of the participants, 52%, stated that they required counselling or rehabilitation upon leaving, which may reflect the difficulty in adjusting to non Jehovah’s Witness life.
Many participants in retrospect viewed the cessation of the religion as a positive experience in their current lives, with not one participant expressing regrets for leaving.
This dissertation consumed me and I hope I have done justice for all my participants and the rest of ex-JW’s out there. I now plan to try and get further funding to undertake more research and get people’s narratives acknowledged by academia.
If anyone would like to read the dissertation, please e-mail me at claire.m.bowes@googlemail.com so I can keep a record of who has read it!
How Extremist Sects Teach Their Children to Hate People of Other Religions
Most Muslims are peaceful, good-natured people, just like Christians. But some are vulnerable to their religious leaders. In the next few days we will see examples from several different religions and political movements on brainwashing. Note the emphasis on violence inherent in leaders seeking absolute control. Jehovah's Witnesses subtly do it with pictures in their children's books.
2003 Watchtower pub. "Learn from the Great Teacher" p. 243
1982 Watchtower pub. "Enjoy Life On Earth Forever" p. 28
Steven Alan Hassan, cult counselor and mind control expert is a Nationally Certified Counselor and licensed Mental Health Counselor and has developed a breakthrough approach to help loved ones rescue cult mind control victims. He is a former member of the Moon cult. Ex-cult members and others seek him out for specialized counseling to help them recover from symptoms other mental health professionals are not trained to address. Hassan has been at the forefront of cult awareness activism since 1976 and is the author of two critically acclaimed books – Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best-selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults (1988) and Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (2000). Hassan has 30 years of frontline activism exposing destructive cults, providing counseling and training, and appearing in major media including 60 Minutes, Nightline, Dateline, Larry King Live, and The O’Reilly Factor.
Proposes the theory: The first full-length documentary film to present the complete picture of the series of events outside Waco, Texas during 1993 that resulted in the shooting of 4 federal agents and the deaths of 86 men, women, and children of the Branch Davidian religious sect. A highly detailed examination of the interaction between David Koresh, his members, and Federal Law Enforcement. It shows how the FBI misled the public and American political leaders in order to focus overwhelming force on a group whose diversity of race, national origin, and apocalyptic religious beliefs made its members easy targets for lethal abuse of civil and human rights. Gripping and deeply thought provoking, the film provides America with something it truly needs - an opportunity to review the historical record of events at Waco. The findings raise doubts about the FBI's version of the story and their larger role in similar instances of law enforcement.
What can you say when Jehovah's Witnesses comes to your door? How do you avoid arguments over the Bible? How do you help your relatives and friends? How to get to the heart of the issue. It is rare to find a Jehovah's Witness who has not seen or heard information exposing the dishonesty of the Watchtower Society. Why, then, do they not see a problem? Evidently, something else has prevented them from objectively analyzing factual information. Their minds are trained to stop short of doubting the organization - a wall has been erected which says, in effect, "This far you may go, and no further." But first, how to understand the problem.
As a few may recall, Watchtower Policy has changed when circumstances serves the interest of the 
HOLY SPIRIT--The Force Behind the Coming New Order! was the title of a Watchtower publication released in 1976. After tracing the work of the "holy spirit"1 from Pentecost on through the book of Acts, the book attempts to prove that this "holy spirit" energized the eight ruling members of the Watchtower organization who were in jail in 1919, to begin a work of preaching "the good news of God's established kingdom." The book states:
A Brief Response to Jehovah's Witness United
edited by Barbara Anderson - Harsh shunning practices are part of many religions. For instance, for thousands of years, the people of India were separated into four main hereditary classes or castes into which Hindu society was divided. The lowest of these castes were the "Untouchables" and were viewed as a contaminating influence and thus members of the higher castes would not associate with them. The mere touch, even of the shadow of one of these Untouchables was considered polluting. The Untouchables had to be avoided at all costs. Although India banned treatment of persons as Untouchables since the 1950s, human rights abuse of these people continues in some areas.
In the area of psychology, John Bechtel's narration of his personal odyssey through the Jehovah's Witnesses, including ten years at the top of that sect evidently fascinated his audience. "[It's] a story I will not forget," wrote Jennifer Baker, "both because it was told very well and because the speaker must have been very brave to leave such an organization."
You've seen the story play out over and over. So and so was "disfellowshipped" and no one from the Kingdom Hall will speak with him or her. Or maybe you're that someone who was shunned by your Jehovah’s Witness friends and family when you walked away on your own or were disfellowshipped. It's as if the Jehovah's Witnesses are afraid they're going to faint if you walk by. What words can express the pain of shunning? How does one get over the loss of one's family? Your identity has been yanked from you and there is no where else to turn. After all, you've been told that the "apostates" are led by Satan and are full of lies and deceit. Surely you're not going to turn there for support, are you?
Portion from Steven 
When individuals leave the organization for conscience reasons, it is evidence that God is shepherding and protecting the flock by doing a sifting work. When people leave another Christian religion it is evidence that the religion is morally corrupt and unable or unwilling to provide spiritually for their members.
The following essay is an early chapter in a book I am writing about my experience leaving Jehovah's Witnesses...
Many societies establish rules or norms for inclusion in their membership. Adherence to the established norms permits full membership in the group. However, failure to follow those norms, or deviance from those norms, results in sanctions, discipline or expulsion from the group. In some religious groups an extreme form of sanction is the act of excommunication, a type of social death for the deviant member. One religious group that practices this form of expulsion is the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Witness practice of disfellowshipping errant members is a form of social death to the member who is disfellowshipped as well as to family and friends of that person.
As I was growing up as a JW, I often saw WTS literature which would ask this question: "How can we be pleasing to God?" Of course, in that religion nothing we could ever do would totally please God, so the question begged an impossible standard. That being so, we were stuck upon a lifelong treadmill and no matter how fast we ran, it was never fast enough. But was "how can we please God" the right question to ask? For it to be the right question, it would have to presuppose that not only is it our obligation to try to please God, but also it is very important to God that we please God, so much so that our eternal salvation depends upon it. If there is no obligation to please God and if it isn't very important to God that we please him or not, then it is definitely not the right question. If God has no NEED to be pleased, then the question is irrelevant.
“Millions Now Living Will Never Die” (1920). My Auntie Margo trusted that false prophecy with all of her heart. She was born in 1922, so she was one of those millions who would never die. In the 1950s when life insurance salesmen went from door to door, she would always invite them in and explain to them that she was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She wouldn’t need any life insurance because she was never going to die. Just recently, my uncle sent me the handout from her memorial service: Margo, born 1922—died 2007.
