About the Website

Purpose

Above all it is my hope that this site can serve as a catalyst for change. I want to get you the reader/visitor to think.  It is my hope that you will continue your exploration and research and go deeper than what is presented here.  For that reason, I very often have deliberately not provided "sources," or cited scriptures, or given you the references to support what is presented here.  This is poor academic practice I know but my objective is not to show you what I know or what I have learned and it is certainly not to "prove" anything to you or to "persuade" you to believe anything.  Again, my reason for doing this is that I am hoping that you will see something here and be spurred to "go looking for yourself" whether that may mean to consult the Bible, the Society's publications, the library, the Internet or even to talk with others. This website is really about YOU and FOR YOU and not about me.

Moderate Viewpoint: A "Fair and Balanced" Approach

It may be true that you wouldn't ask a plumber to tell you what an electrician does.  But if you wanted to know the real "secrets" and "hidden fees" that an electrician might charge you, a "retired" electrician would be the perfect one to ask.  Similarly, if you wanted to know whether you should join a corporation, you probably do want to speak to the "ex-employees" if it is possible.  Especially, if joining involves a contract for life with strict provisions that you will be expected to uphold and which calls for unquestioning loyalty to the corporation after joining.  Certainly the current bosses and the current employees are not going to give you the full-truth and will often "white-wash" any problems at the company because they want you to join and also because they may fear reprisals for whistle-blowing or finding fault with the management.  An ex-employee is more likely to tell you the truth, especially in a situation where there is "wrong-doing" going on at the company or a climate of fear that has been created by the management.

So is it possible to ever find a truly "objective" source of information about Jehovah's Witnesses?  Probably not.  "Pro-Jehovah's Witness" and official Jehovah's Witness sources are just that.  "Anti-Jehovah's Witness" or non-Jehovah's Witness sources are likely to be unintentionally biased or are deliberately biased against Jehovah's Witnesses and just as skewed in their viewpoint.  There is no such thing as a truly objective source on this matter.

This website is not objective and I don't pretend to be completely without any bias or subjectivity.  It is impossible for me to divorce myself of my own internal filters and my own rich experience as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  The most that I can do (to borrow the slogan of one media outlet) is to be as "fair and balanced" as I can be.  Thus to a large extent I believe that this website, unlike most others about Jehovah's Witnesses that can be encountered on the Internet/Web presents a moderate viewpoint of Jehovah's Witnesses.

This in large part stems from my own personal beliefs and viewpoint of Jehovah's Witnesses. I believe there is much good in the Jehovah's Witness religion and in the Worldwide Association and I also believe in giving credit to the good things that the Organization and its members have accomplished.  On the other hand, I believe there are several problems with the Organization, including with the religion and with the culture of Jehovah's Witnesses, and the focus of this website is to address these openly and honestly while presenting an overall view of the richness of Jehovah's Witnesses and while simply providing in one resource a wealth of information.

See Announcements from the Platform for more info on specific site developments.

A Note on Commercialism

There are no commercial sponsors or affiliates of this website. Likewise there are no religious or non-JW organizations sponsoring or affiliated with this website.  This website is privately owned by me, Eduardo Leaton Jr., Esq., as a personal project and it is my own small way of contributing to the greater understanding about Jehovah's Witnesses and hopefully as a way of promoting some positive discussion and change within the Organization.

Any links or references to any commercial product or service on this website is made without any warranty from me and without any kind of financial incentive made to me.  IF I RECOMMEND something it is because I think it may be useful and that is all.  If I merely LINK to something (some product or service) without any further endorsement it is probably because someone just asked me to and I am happy to do so. Notice to Vendors: If you really think you have something that the visitors to this site would find useful to buy then you can let me know and I may choose to refer them to it in the "Sell" section of the Money Matters page. Ask and you shall receive (or not).

Beyond this above, I have no intention of offering advertising or affiliating with any third-party entity, vendor, service or product so don't ask. 

Of course I welcome any donations or purchasing of anything that I may have to sell.  Keeping this website relevant and paying the hosting fees costs a little bit of my personal time and money out of my own pocket and time away from my primary business.  So If you feel like you would like to support this website I have made it easy and convenient for you to do so, just visit this page: $$$  All such support is highly appreciated.

A Note on Trademark, Copyright and Linking

All original work and compilations presented on this website are my copyright and I reserve all rights.  PLEASE LINK TO THE SITE. You may link freely to this website or excerpt any portion, within reason, but please do not "frame link" so that it looks like anything here is your work.  Also if you do excerpt something for use elsewhere I would appreciate an acknowledgment or better yet, a direct link to the context from where you took it.

With regard to copyrighted material owned by others, including the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and all of its various corporate entities, there is nothing contained on this site that is a violation of either copyright or trademark law. 

Some limited use is made of other's copyrighted material, including the Society's, under the Doctrine of Fair Use which provides for the allowance of such use when one is commenting upon, editorializing, critiquing, criticizing, evaluating, or making creative use of such material.

Is this Site Really Necessary?  Aren't There A Ton of JW-Related Sites Out There Already?

There sure are!

And thank God for it.  Just think, it wasn't too long ago that there were not any websites about Jehovah's Witnesses (the WWW not being developed yet of course) nor was information about them widely available to everyone on the Internet. What info was out there was extremely limited and mostly to those very early adopters of the technology.

It is true that Jehovah's Witnesses are a tiny fraction of the Global population and of religious persons on the planet.  Yet, for Witnesses and those close to them and those who care of course, the subject of Jehovah's Witnesses is an important one.  So from that viewpoint, the more the merrier.  Personally I think there is room for many different perspectives because the subject of Jehovah's Witnesses is complex.

Still, I am conscious of what the Congregator says at Ecclesiastes 12:12 - "to the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion [to them] is wearisome to the flesh." (NWT).  This useful insight could be updated by substitution of "website" for "books" in the scripture. 

Thus, it is not without some trepidation that I venture into this endeavour. But as I allude to more fully in the pages about me, I have undertaken this project because I want to do my part to make the religion that I grew up loving better and I think that this is a good way to do that.

Can one person or can one website have an impact on something as large as a religion? I believe so. As Matthew Arnold says, "Masses make movements, individuals explode them."

That is not to say that I shall have any special prominence in this Revolution or that I am trying to become a leader.  No.  But I do think that I have a unique, or at least my own, perspective about this topic.  I also have some ideas and this is just my way of sharing them with others. 

Additionally, it does seem that the vast majority of Jehovah's Witness related websites are either completely skewed in favour of Jehovah's Witnesses, sometimes blindly so, while the other end of the spectrum are anti-JW websites that refuse to acknowledge anything positive at all about Jehovah's Witnesses.  So in the sense that this site seeks to present a more realistic picture of Jehovah's Witnesses, a more complete and balanced one, I do believe that it will have value to some.  But as always that is something that you must decide for yourself.

What? Do You Think This Site Will Get Popular?

Actually, I would be shocked if it did - but I am hoping that it will find its audience.

The fact is that a significant number of (fundamental) Jehovah's Witnesses will never regularly visit a site like this due in large part to the counsel from the Society which they are following and which says in essence to turn away from anything at all that is, even in the least bit, critical of the "God's Organization."  For the Society, there is no such thing as a "Fair and Balanced" review of the Organization or of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Opposers of Jehovah's Witnesses on the other hand, might be curious about this site, but they will have to put up with a lot of praise of Jehovah's Witnesses and my frank acknowledgement of both the good in the Organization and what I believe to be accurate bible knowledge of the Witness theology and teaching.  This will no doubt turn-off a significant amount of "anti-JWs" who blindly see only the bad in Jehovah's Witnesses or who reject the religion entirely due to their own bias, fundamentalism or beliefs.

So whether this site ever gets popular, in large part depends on how much of a "middle ground" there really is out there. I suspect, but thus far don't have quantifiable proof, that there is a sizable "silent majority" of baptized active Jehovah's Witnesses who love the religion but who are as concerned about it as I am. These ones may be willing to acknowledge the faults and even desire change.  I hope too that there are some, who although they may consider themselves opposers to Jehovah's Witnesses, are willing to give them some kudos and take a fair look at the Organization and the religion.

Right now I am just building the site.  Whether "they will come" is not my main consideration.  If you are a visitor and you like the site or don't like the site, please feel free to spread the word about its existence since I do not intend to do any advertising or marketing of it.  Likewise, if you have a webpage please feel free to link to the site. Thanks.

Shouldn't I Take All of This With a Grain of Salt?

Absolutely. In fact that is probably good advice for most information that you encounter in life. As I state above, I will strive to be as fair and balanced as possible with everything on this website. I believe that sometimes the simple approach is the best and I recommend it in this case.  If you want to know about Jehovah's Witnesses then you have to go to BOTH sides.  Talk with ex-members and read literature and information that is polemical and critical of the Organization and Jehovah's Witnesses. BUT, if you only do that then you are only getting half the picture.

In order for you to get the whole picture you should talk to Jehovah's Witnesses, read their literature, or at least literature and information that speaks favorably (or objectively) of them and if possible visit them at the Kingdom Halls or attend an assembly.

Only by getting both sides of the picture, each with their own bias, will you be able to see the BIG PICTURE.

A Note on Style

From time-to-time on this website, you might find a lot of "high-falutin" words sprinkled around.  I am not trying to show-off believe me.  I realize that some say that the average reading level is about the 8th grade level (or less).  And if I try and when it is called for I can write to such level, however, I find this to be quite unnatural for me and consequently very difficult.  To be very frank, I would prefer to sacrifice clarity and general reach in exchange for expressing myself honestly and from the heart.

Further, while any complex matter can be made simple (our Lord Jesus taught us that by his use of parables), I find that the issues and topics to be discussed in this website are not for "babes" but rather they are for "spiritually mature" persons.

Thus if occassionally there are high-sounding words, complex sentences, arcane references, etc. please pardon me in advance for such.  As anyone who knows me will tell you, this is actually reflective of my own daily vocabulary and not the putting on of airs. And besides, I expect the audience of this website to be very intelligent, sophisticated and literate.  No doubt you easily read at the 10th grade level at least. :-)

Design & Layout

Although I have Dreamweaver, Adobe Creative Suite, Macromedia Flash, etc. I am using a simple WYSIWYG web design program called SiteSpinner to do this website. I am working at first on writing the content and then I will be adding in graphics and other items of visual interest later. I've chosen to design the site very simply, with an emphasis on functionality. I am using a pallette that reflects "Shades of Gray" which I think is very appropriate with the occassional dash of red to indicate a linked or important bit of information.

This website is not affiliated with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. To visit the approved website of Jehovah's Witnesses please visit HERE.