We speak of “rescue” when someone is trapped in a burning building, adrift at sea, or held captive by kidnappers, but we usually do not speak of “rescuing” someone from a religion. So, although anyone who has a family member, relative or friend in the Watchtower organization will immediately understand why we use this term in our title, it should be explained for the benefit of others.

Those trapped in a place that they can not get out of by themselves may need rescue. The Watchtower is such a place, because members of the sect are not free to leave. If a member decides to walk away from the group, he is summoned before a judicial committee made up of three or more elders from his local congregation. They ask him to give them a “letter of disassociation”—a signed confession to the crime of leaving the organization—and, if he will not do so, the elders on the committee meet together and weigh the evidence before reaching the verdict that he has committed that crime. In either case at the next congregation meeting a public announcement is made to the effect that “so-and-so has disassociated himself from Jehovah’s organization and is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The remaining members are then called on to punish the offender by avoiding any contact with him. They are not even to say hello if they encounter him on the street. Fear of receiving this treatment acts as a deterrent to JWs who might otherwise leave the sect.

A Jehovah’s Witness who contemplates leaving the organization knows that he risks losing his JW wife, his children, his parents, and any other relatives or close friends in the faith. Family members living in the same household are required to cut off “spiritual fellowship” with the former Witness, while those living outside the home are advised to “have almost no contact with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum  … ” (The Watchtower, 4/15/88, p. 28). I am in regular personal contact with a number of men who very much want to leave the organization, but who do not take this action for fear of losing their wives and children. I know a grandmother who wants to speak out against the sect, but who fears this will mean an end to her visits with the grandchildren. From these individuals’ point of view, their religious organization is in effect holding their relatives hostage. Rescue is definitely in order.

Real-life drama grips the nation when news media report an injured child trapped at the bottom of a well or miners cut off by a cave-in. Police and fire departments have rescue teams trained to scale walls, if necessary, to bring life-saving medical help to those in need. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses there is an invisible wall preventing them from receiving blood transfusions, even when their lives or the lives of their children depend on it. True, the “wall” exists in their own minds and in an organizational structure that will put them on trial if they accept a needed transfusion, but they need rescue just as much as if trapped behind walls of wood or concrete.

In the case of people held hostage by armed terrorists or trapped by fire or fallen rock, rescue attempts are often risky. The very effort to reach them might easily trigger further harm with perhaps fatal consequences. And in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses there is a similar risk involved. The would-be rescuer, hitherto viewed simply as an outsider to the sect, could suddenly be seen as an “opposer” who must be avoided as “bad association.” The relationship that had been deteriorating due to the sect’s influence might now be severed entirely in response to a command from the local elders. So the rescue attempt is something that is not to be viewed lightly nor to be undertaken carelessly or without regard to the inherent risks. Preparation should be made carefully and prayerfully before assaulting the Watchtower fortress.