Jehovah's Witnesses and Their Two Versions of the Watchtower

When Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door and offer you the Watchtower magazine, you should be aware that this is the public version of their Watchtower. It is not the same magazine that they use in their Watchtower studies (usually as part of a Sunday meeting). This is an important distinction if you are trying to learn about their religion by reading their magazines. This is a recent and troubling development.

The public edition Watchtower can now serve as a better advertisement for their religion, without having to discuss troubling details that would cause most people to avoid further contact with them. The private study edition can now use stronger language and include more terms that only Jehovah's Witnesses understand or that have a special meaning among Jehovah's Witnesses.

Consider the Jehovah's Witness teaching that God will soon destroy everyone except Jehovah's Witnesses at Armageddon. They can now present this teaching in two different ways. In the private study edition, they can warn their followers that they have be active Witnesses and follow the directions of their Governing Body to have any hope of surviving Armageddon. (Jehovah's Witnesses always have some uncertainty about whether their works will be sufficient to ensure their survival.) The public edition can gloss over this and say that God will only destroy the wicked at Armageddon. They don't say that they believe that anybody who refuses to take a stand with Jehovah's Witnesses is wicked.

This is just another reason to be wary of Jehovah's Witnesses. They are skillful in avoiding their more controversial beliefs until they have you hooked on their sales pitch. Many people become members without fully understanding the kind of discipline they might receive if they don't follow all the rules or even disagree with a particular teaching. Jehovah's Witnesses are also good at misleading themselves. They are forbidden from reading information that is critical of their religion, so they can't present their beliefs in an unbiased way.

Asking to be put on their do not call list is a good option for many people. If someone wants to have discussions or debates with them, I suggest evaluating their claims by researching a variety of sources.

I am pleased that there is now an excellent video series that discusses the articles in these private study editions of the Watchtower. The videos reveal what they are saying and provide critical commentary. Click on this label link to see the videos that are now available.

Note: I have nothing to do with the production of those Watchtower Comments videos. This hasn't stopped me from receiving legal threats about their content. Click here for an explanation.

The Pedophile at Your Door

There are good reasons to be concerned when Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door. Jehovah's Witnesses ask all their members to go from door to door. This includes known pedophiles. This policy is irresponsible and insulting to the public. It indicates either an ignorance or callous disregard for the fact that pedophiles often repeat their crimes if they are given an opportunity.

This is just one reason why many people ask to be put on the Jehovah's Witnesses' do not call list. They don't want pedophiles leering at their children or are concerned that there children might be in the yard or answer the door when the Witnesses make their rounds.

This page at Silent Lambs contains a more complete description of this problem. See also this article. It can be printed and handed to Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to your door.

A Message to Jehovah's Witnesses

| View | Upload your own

If you agree with this slideshow, please share it or spread the message.

Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses Have a Do Not Call List

It's a little known fact that Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a "do not call" list. They don't want people to know about this, but they need to have one to avoid problems with people who sincerely don't want the Jehovah's Witnesses to come to their door. It's easy to get on this list. Just say in a firm voice, "Put me on your do not call list." It's best to use exactly those words so they know that you know what you are talking about. It's important they know you are making a firm and serious request, but there is no need to be angry or impolite.

This should dramatically reduce the amount of visits you receive. They may visit you by mistake and a few my choose to ignore your request, (This is a violation of their own rules.) but you have a right to remind them that they shouldn't be coming to your house. You might even want to say something like, "I respect your rights, please respect mine." If you feel they are harassing you, you can even consider calling the police. Be sure to mention that you requested to be placed on their do not call list.

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. Please exercise caution about revealing personal information when posting comments.

We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads on this site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services that are relevant to you. Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to this site's users based on their visit to this blog and other websites on the Internet. If you would like more information about this practice or would like to opt out of the use of the DART cookie, please visit the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

If this privacy policy changes, we will post the updates here. This policy was updated on 3/30/09.