Start with materials JWs will trust

What printed materials will a Jehovah's Witness trust and put confidence in? Only those published by the Watchtower Society. So, that is where you must start.

You must show the JW abundant evidence of teachings in Watchtower publications that are wrong.

But how can you prove that these teachings are wrong, when Witnesses will accept only Watchtower publications as authoritative? You must show them Watchtower publications that prove other Watchtower publications wrong.

These may take the form of doctrinal reversals, back-and-forth flip-flops, failed prophecies, or outright dishonesty. Faced with two or more of the organization's books or magazines making contradictory statements, the JW is forced to think critically about the reliability of the statements and about the organization publishing such contradictions.

In the case of doctrinal reversals, for example, the organization's new teaching contradicts the former teaching, and in some cases the Society's publications actually condemn the former teaching.

This becomes even more interesting in back-and-forth doctrinal flip-flops, because the Society condemns the original teaching when replacing it with a 'new truth,' but then later returns to the original teaching which it has already condemned in print.

Or, in the case of failed prophecies, the false prophetic utterance stands as evidence against itself after the predicted time period has expired. And, in the case of outright dishonesty in Watchtower publications, this can often be documented by comparison with other publications of the Society which state the truth on the matter in question.

Outwardly, JWs tend to react to such documentation by defending the Watchtower Society. They do this automatically, as a reflex, regardless of whether they actually believe the defense they are making, or not -- very much like a college debating team required to respond with a rebuttal to every challenge from the opposing team.

But in their private thoughts -- especially when they lay their head down on their pillow at the end of the day -- they may admit to themselves that they have no valid defense. And as such damning evidence accumulates in their memory banks, it may eventually begin to outweigh the positive propaganda instilled by the Society.