Language with a Built-In Agenda
People unfamiliar with the unique language
spoken by Jehovah’s Witnesses can be helped to understand it more easily if it
is broken down into its distinct elements.
Some of these categories overlap to one extent or another, but the JW
vocabulary can be separated into these general divisions or word groupings:
expressions taken from the Watchtower Society’s New World Translation
of the Bible. JWs speak of Christ being
nailed to the torture stake rather than the cross.
distinctives: activities or things that are peculiar to JWs.
For example, just as Hindus look up to their swami and worry
about their karma, so JWs have their circuit overseer and worry
about going out in service enough.
words: new names assigned to things
JWs share in common with other people.
To drive a wedge between Jehovah’s Witnesses and their non-Witness
relatives and neighbors, Watchtower leaders assign new names to things held in
common, thus eliminating potential common ground for friendly
communication. So, while others go to church
JWs go to Kingdom
Redefined words: common words
that take on totally different meanings in Witness usage. Examples include spirit—defined as an
inanimate force like electricity—and goat—a person who rejects the
Cloaking expressions: obscure
words used to conceal information from outsiders unfamiliar with the sect. Witnesses resort to such devices when
organizational instructions require them to violate tax laws, refuse military
conscription, evade child welfare laws, and so
on. Falsifications on these matters are
not considered lies, but theocratic war strategy.
Euphemisms, pejoratives, and other slanted expressions—the key
linguistic element of mind control. These expressions serve the purpose of
shaping members’ thoughts by controlling the words they use to express
them. For example, the expression evil
slave class automatic passes judgment on certain members who quit the sect.
Since each of these elements of the language
functions somewhat differently and serves a somewhat different purpose, it will
be helpful to discuss each element separately in some detail.
One of the first goals a Jehovah’s Witness works
toward with a prospective convert is to replace the individual’s Bible with the
Watchtower Society’s New World Translation of
the Holy Scriptures. The practice is
often justified by pointing out that the new student will understand this
modern translation more readily than the archaic Seventeenth Century language
found in the King James or Douay
versions. However, JWs are actually just
as eager to replace the New King James, the New International
Version, and other contemporary translations. Why? Because hundreds of verses have been changed in the New World
Translation to agree with Watchtower teachings.
These retranslated verses remove a number of
common words from the everyday vocabulary of Jehovah’s Witnesses and add a
number of new “J.W.ese” words to replace them.
Thus JWs speak of Christ’s torture stake or stake instead
of his cross. They refer to him as being
impaled rather than crucified.
The crucifixion becomes the impalement. The Holy Spirit is transformed into a holy spirit or active force. Just as there is no hell in Watchtower
theology, the word has also been removed from their Bible and from the active
vocabulary of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In
its place they use transliterations of Hebrew and Greek terms—sheol, gehenna, and hades—with
special sectarian definitions attached.
Even Christ becomes a god instead of God, and the name Jehovah
is inserted into the New Testament in hundreds of places where Greek
manuscripts of the Bible actually have the word for Lord (kuriov).
Perhaps the least sinister aspect of “J.W.ese”
is the use of unique words for things and activities peculiar to Jehovah’s
Witnesses. Members of mainline Christian
churches don’t speak of territory maps because they don’t cut their community’s
street map into small pieces to guide small groups in canvassing door-to-door,
and they don’t speak of counting their time because they don’t have to
tally and report hours spent in religious activity. Jehovah’s Witnesses do both of those things,
and so it is only natural that they have come up with nouns and verbs to
describe their unique paraphernalia and routines.
A jargon or specialized vocabulary of some sort
is employed by many professions, sects, or groups of people united by a common
interest or activity. Pipe fitters and
insulation installers toss around terms such as short- and long-radius elbows,
sweeps, bends, and victaulic
couplings—terms foreign to other people’s ears. Stamp collectors have words to distinguish
the varieties of printing, perforating, and preservation methods associated
with postage stamps. Astronomers
classify as white dwarfs, red giants, binaries, and so on the tiny twinkling
points of light the rest of us are content to refer to simply as stars.
So, it should neither surprise nor offend us
that Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own words associated with various aspects
of selling religious literature from house to house. Outsiders would normally not need to know
such words or their meanings, but they are found as entries in our Dictionary
section to aid those who do desire that knowledge. The real cause for concern—and the reason for
putting this volume together—is the sect’s manipulation of other words as an
instrument of thought reform, mind control or brainwashing. Such abuse (or misuse) of words becomes more
apparent as the remaining elements of the “J.W.ese” language are examined.
To drive a wedge between Jehovah’s Witnesses and
outsiders, Watchtower leaders assign new names to things held in common. The resulting different vocabulary helps to
distance JWs from their non-Witness relatives and neighbors. If there are four men living on a small
street, for example, the Baptist, the Lutheran, and the Methodist may feel some
kinship because they all go to church, they all serve as deacons in their
respective churches, and they all take Communion. The fourth man, a Jehovah’s Witness, feels
set apart from his neighbors because he “does not go to church, does not serve
as a deacon, and does not take Communion.”
In reality, though, he does every one of those things but simply calls
it by another name: he goes to Kingdom
Hall, he serves as a ministerial servant, and he partakes at Memorial.
The use of different terminology to describe
things JWs share in common with believers of other religions serves the purpose
of dividing Witnesses from their neighbors and hence keeps them more securely
under the Watchtower Society’s influence.
Like members of other churches, Jehovah’s Witnesses attend services but
they insist on calling them meetings, they sing hymns but they insist on
calling them songs. In such
areas that would otherwise be common ground, the artificially created
differences of vocabulary serve as a barrier keeping JWs apart from non-Witness
relatives and neighbors.
The use of special words also serves another
function for Jehovah’s Witnesses: these words act as passwords or verbal I.D.
badges immediately identifying genuine Witnesses and alerting them to outsiders
in their midst. A stranger walking into
Kingdom Hall who speaks the language is readily accepted as a visiting brother
or sister. A stranger, on the
other hand, who misuses words, thus immediately reveals himself to be an
Suppose, for example, that a local Witness
greets a stranger standing in front of the corkboard at the back of the
auditorium before the Sunday morning meeting.
If the visitor says, “Hi! I was just looking at the bulletin board to
find the topic of this morning’s sermon,” the Witness knows right away that
this is either a newly interested person or a hostile infiltrator. A JW would have phrased the same thought this
way: “Hi! I was just looking at the information
board to find the topic of this morning’s talk.” The term bulletin board was stricken
from JW vocabulary decades ago due to its supposedly unsavory etymology. (They trace its derivation to the papal bull,
and certainly no loyal Witness would want to refer to the Kingdom Hall
corkboard as a place for displaying documents issued by the Catholic
pope.) Sermon, on the other hand,
refers to a prepared message presented on the doorstep during house-to-house
work, whereas the 45-minute public address given on Sunday morning at Kingdom
Hall is a talk in JW terminology.
This invisible linguistic barrier fulfills much
the same function as physical isolation.
It confines members mentally in the same way that the dense jungles of Guyana
physically confined the inhabitants of Jonestown. If the latter had been able to discuss with
Catholic and Lutheran neighbors the well-rehearsed and orchestrated mass
suicide Rev. Jim Jones was preparing them for, they would no doubt have heard
enough cautionary admonitions to escape following that madman to their
death. The liberating effect of outside
communication was well understood by Soviet dictators who used sophisticated
radio-jamming devices to silence Western broadcasts—and by the free world
countries that invested in Radio Free Europe to penetrate that informational
blockade. It is also well understood by
Watchtower leaders who encircle their followers with mental barbed wire to cut
them off from their neighbors of other faiths.
This is where the language Jehovah’s Witnesses
speak becomes confusing. Outsiders
assume that familiar words have the familiar meanings normally attached to
them. Instead they find many surprises
when listening to JWs speak:
A publisher is not a company producing
books, but rather an individual—perhaps even a child—approved to go out
knocking on doors. A territory is
a tiny map section that may be carried in one’s pocket. A pioneer is not someone exploring a
new frontier, but rather a JW out knocking on doors full-time. A young man may talk about being in the service
and doing k.p. for his c.o.—without
any of the standard military meanings.
(See definitions.) New light
appears, not at dawn, but when a book is opened. A man in charge is called a servant,
and a little girl may introduce herself as a minister.
Add to this the fact that words such as Christ
and worship have new meanings assigned to them, and it becomes clear
that a special dictionary is needed to interpret JW language.
Even with such help available it may not always
be immediately clear when a JW is using a given word with its standard English definition or with its unique Watchtower
meaning. Both the context and the
audience must be considered. If speaking
to another JW (and not for the benefit of eavesdropping outsiders) the
“J.W.ese” definition is most likely meant.
If talking to an outsider involved with the Witness in a Bible study on
the subject in question, the JW will likely be speaking “J.W.ese,” but if
speaking at the door to a new contact, the standard
English usage would be employed.
The use of obscure expressions to conceal
information is not unique to religious cults.
Two groups well known for using professional jargon to hide what they
are talking about are doctors and lawyers.
Attorneys who go on to become legislators then see to it that laws are
set forth in language beyond the comprehension of ordinary citizens, thus
requiring common folk to hire the services of attorneys whenever these laws
must be consulted. Lawyers often employ
Latin expressions such as habeas corpus and amicus curiae to make
themselves indispensable interpreters.
Physicians likewise use Latin terminology to conceal the tricks of their
trade. When a patient tells a doctor he
has a skin inflammation, and the doctor diagnoses it as dermatitis, he
has simply translated “skin inflammation” into another language—for a fee of
$50.00 or more. Money is the obvious
motive when physicians and attorneys use cloaking expressions to conceal their
trade secrets, but with Jehovah’s Witnesses there are other factors involved.
JWs use the word neutrality as a code
word for their teaching that young men must refuse the draft in violation of
military conscription laws—and must even refuse “alternative service” work in
civilian hospitals. To avoid possible
legal problems as a consequence of advising young men to violate the law,
Watchtower publications use obscure language meaningful only to Witnesses
themselves. Similarly, if a young man
complies with the law for conscientious objectors by accepting his draft board’s
assignment to work in a hospital, and the local JW elders punish him with
expulsion from the sect, they announce instead that he has disassociate himself—to hide the fact that he has
actually been put on trial and expelled.
There is even a “J.W.ese” expression for the use
of such lying or deception to advance the organization’s interests. It is euphemistically called theocratic
When a Witness knocks at a door, gives a brief
sales pitch, and sells a small book for a dollar, local laws may require him to
collect sales tax. (A
credit report on the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.,
revealed $1.25 billion corporate sales figures for 1991, up from just over $1
billion in 1990.) To evade this
obligation the organization instructs the JW to say he did not sell the book;
rather, he placed it. He did not
receive the dollar in payment; rather, the money was received coincidentally as
an unrelated donation.
Another illegal activity covered by cloaking
expressions relates to violating child welfare laws and ignoring court orders
regarding medical treatment. When taking
such drastic steps to prevent blood transfusions for sick or injured children
JWs commonly refer to their actions as keeping integrity or putting
Euphemisms or slanted expressions serve the
purpose of shaping members’ thoughts by controlling the words they use to
express them. This technique did not
originate with Jehovah’s Witnesses, of course.
The world of commerce uses it widely in advertising hype and even in
naming products: Wonder Bread creates
great expectations, and Super Glue is naturally assumed to be better than
ordinary glue. Corporate management can
make a floor-sweeper’s job opening more attractive without paying out more in
wages by changing the job title to Sanitation Engineer.
A similar propagandistic end is accomplished
when an aggressive nation bent on foreign conquest names its military arm the
“Department of Defense.” Loyal citizens who employ this terminology in their
conversations tend to view their military actions as defensive, whether they
actually are or not, since the name “Defense” is officially attached to these
actions. Similarly, when a totalitarian
dictatorship takes on the name “People’s Democratic Republic of… ,” the name helps
shape the thinking of susceptible individuals and pushes them toward viewing
the government as democratic. Free
citizens, of course, are in a position to subject such political propaganda to
open discussion and criticism.
Consumers, likewise, learn to take advertising hype with a grain of
salt. Manipulative language becomes much
more controlling, however, in a totalitarian society or a religious cult where
free discussion and criticism are not allowed.
(“Do you refuse to listen to bitter criticism of Jehovah’s
organization? You should refuse.”—The
Watchtower May 15, 1984,
The Watchtower Society makes effective use of
manipulative expressions from the very beginning of its training program for
new converts. JW recruiters offer a Bible
study to people encountered at the doors, but those who accept the offer
find themselves actually studying a Watchtower textbook while opening the Bible
itself only occasionally. Yet, because
it is called a Bible study, impressionable people are led to think that
they are studying the Bible.
Instead of saying, “I’ve been a member of the
organization for ten years,” a Witness is taught to say, “I’ve been in the
Truth for ten years.” Thus, the
Truth becomes synonymous with the organization in the JW’s mind. This helps prevent members from questioning
whether the sect’s teachings are true or not.
After all, how could the Truth be false? Anyone who questions or disagrees with the
Truth automatically identifies himself with lies. Other religions opposed to the Truth
are automatically false.
JWs are constantly encouraged to move ahead
with Jehovah’s organization by accepting doctrinal changes as soon as these are
introduced. This attaches to doctrinal
changes the positive connotation of progress, even when indecisive leadership
actually flip-flops back and forth, as it has on a number of issues. The Bible at Ephesians 4:14 speaks of people
misled so as to be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine,” but when Watchtower doctrine wavers to and fro, JWs must immediately
endorse each change, since failure to move ahead gives the appearance of
foolishly resisting progress. Such
doctrinal changes are also introduced as new light, implying that
failure to accept the new teachings leaves one in darkness.
Combined with other aspects of the Watchtower
mind control program not detailed in this book—indoctrination, social
isolation, repetitive meeting programs, rewards and punishments, judicial committee
enforcement, and so on—communicating constantly in the “J.W.ese” language helps
mold the thinking of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Longtime members are ready to accept any new doctrine, to reject any old
pattern of thinking, to refuse a needed blood transfusion, and even to cut off
dear friends and loved ones, on command from headquarters.