"..  His  mind slid away into the labyrinthine world  of  doublethink.  To  know  and not to know, to be  conscious  of  complete truthfulness  while telling carefully constructed lies.. to  forget,  whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw  it  back into  memory  again at the moment when it was  needed,  and  then promptly  to  forget it again, and above all, to apply  the  same process to the process itself -- that was the ultimate  subtlety: consciously  to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again,  to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even  to  understand the word "doublethink" involved the  use  of doublethink." (1984, George Orwell, p. 32,33)

In  an  effort to make the Watchtower appear more benign  to  the public  (especially in countries where the local  government  are unfamiliar  with the carefully- chosen language of authoritarian religions),  the Watchtower's Legal Department as well  as  their rule-enforcing  Service Department are promoting a new  strategy. The  degree of "doublespeak" we have seen in the last few  months gives us a glimpse at this simple ruse. One is reminded of Communism, where government is supposedly "by the people," and all are accorded  a "fair trial," yet in the end the outcome can be  predicted  with almost 100% certainty. Any dissenter is  kicked  out and shunned.

An example scenario would be: Brother Jones, who works along with other elders in making sure Witnesses receive proper treatment at hospitals (known as members of the Watchtower's Hospital  Liaison Committees)  reports to Brooklyn that Sister Smith was in  a  car accident  and lost a lot of blood. Her husband, also a  Jehovah's Witness,  makes the decision for her to accept blood, as  she  is unconscious and is about to die. She receives a blood transfusion and  lives  through the operation. Two weeks later  she  and  her husband  are  called before a committee of elders  at  the  local Kingdom  Hall  and asked why she was allowed to be  given  blood. Select  scriptures are read, and the Bible and  Watchtower  logic are appealed to, citing the ban on receiving blood for Jehovah's people.  Sister  Smith anguishes over the  possibility  of  being disfellowshipped for breaking God's law on blood, and the committee decides not to disfellowship her, as she has a truly  repentant attitude, and also she was not the one who made the decision. Brother Smith, on the other hand, knew that she had to have blood or die, and makes his case before the elders. After the  meeting, Brother Smith is told he will be disfellowshipped for will  fully breaking God's law.

In  such a scenario, the Watch Tower Society can say that no  one is  automatically disfellowshipped, which looks good to those  on the  outside world. Yet in reality receiving a blood  transfusion is  STILL A BIG SIN TO THE WATCHTOWER, and anyone not  fully  expressing hatred and loathing for this act of sin WILL be disfellowshipped.  So  nothing has really changed.  The  Watchtower  is CORRECT  in saying that their doctrines regarding the Bible  have not  changed.  They  are also correct in saying that  no  one  is automatically disfellowshipped. Some may have accidentally broken the  rules of the organization, and if they cry and  show  enough remorse,  they will simply be watched and given  a  warning,  or perhaps  be  stripped of certain responsibilities.  Yet  if  they broke  the rules of the organization WILLFULLY or even if it  was an accident and they do not grovel before the local elders,  they WILL  be disfellowshipped with virtually no exception. Does  this sound like free "choice"?

Actually,  the  bottom line in this system is  obedience  to  the leadership, the "faithful and discreet slave." Note contents of a letter  to all circuit and district overseers of  Jehovah's  Witnesses as reproduced in the book Crisis of Conscience by  Raymond Franz:
Keep  in mind that to be disfellowshipped, an apostate  does  not have  to be a promoter of apostate views. As mentioned  in  paragraph  two, page 17 of the August 1, 1980, Watchtower, "The  word 'apostasy'  comes from a Greek term that means `a  standing  away from,'  `a  falling away, defection,'  `rebellion,  abandonment.' Therefore,  if  a baptized Christian abandons  the  teachings  of Jehovah,  as  presented by the faithful and discreet  slave,  and persists in believing other doctrine despite Scriptural  reproof, then  he is apostatizing. Extended, kindly efforts should be  put forth to readjust his thinking. However, if, after such  extended efforts have been put forth to readjust his thinking, he  continues  to believe the apostate ideas and rejects what he  has  been provided through the `slave class,' then the appropriate judicial action should be taken. (-quote from Crisis of Conscience,  Second Edition, pp 293).

Conformity of thought is the ultimate guideline. Yet much effort goes  into  convincing  the rank-and-file that  they  are  really operating under a system free of authoritarian mind  control. (The Free Minds Journal, Fall 1998, p. 10)