The Jehovah's Witnesses: The Inside Story

Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What, besides the smiling faces and polite demeaner of these door-to-door evangelists, do we really know about the low-profile religious community? This 52-minute documentary offers insights into the daily lives, primary beliefs, and practices of the faithful, via the firsthand accounts of former cult members and interviews with experts on the inner-workings of a religious organization regularly accused of sectarian aberrations.

The Jehovah’s Witness doctrine is rooted in the belief that the world will end in Armageddon – very soon – and that all non-Witnesses will suffer a horrific death. Hence, the primary mission of members of the denomination: mandatory door-to-door evangelism to warn as many people as possible about the approaching Armageddon, taught through formal training sessions and role-playing exercises. But in the name of salvation, Witnesses are willing to adhere to the group’s rules regarding medical treatment, including the refusal of blood transfusions, even if the lives of loved ones, and even their own children, are at stake.

And that is not all. Cult members are also used as volunteer laborers on construction sites, the real estate investments of the powerful and highly regulated denomination being a highly profitable business. Additionally, members are incited to immerse themselves in the community entirely and are strongly discouraged to interact with the rest of society. To the point of refusing to acknowledge relatives who choose to leave the faith… The cult’s communitarian conduct has led to other practices, as well, including the non-reporting of child abuse crimes, which in turn has led pedophiles to join the group.

The film tells the shocking story of a controversial cult whose inflexible and oppressive doctrines, advocated in the name of the Bible and so-called non-violent tenets, has torn apart families and destroyed lives – the Jehovah’s Witnesses.