I came home and had an amazing evening with my boyfriend , and prepared some cranberry sauce for tomorrow ' s family dinner his family . How is all of this perceived as bad by JW ' s ? All cults view family connections as threatening to their control over their victims . That is the real reason the JWs and the Scientologists , to a certain extent the Mormons , definitely the Moonies , many other destructive cults discourage any sort of independent celebrations that strengthen family ties . Hell , for that matter even Jesus himself discouraged having family ties that were stronger than his followers ' ties to him yet another indicator that Christianity definitely started out as a destructive cult . Took some digging to find this why isn ' t this subject covered in greater depth ? , but o v e r v i ewofcultsinsocietyHalfway down the pageInside the cult families are separated also Families pose a threat to the leaders because they represent attachments and loyalties that challenge the leaders supremacy . That ' s the crux of the matter , right there . The Watchtower with its typical doublebind communication methods of manipulation claims to support a healthy family life , claims that its dogma is the only true source of real family unity while doing everything it can to degrade and erode family ties amongst its members by denying holiday celebrations which generally strengthen family ties , the horrific practice of shunning especially the emphasis one sees them placing on it , lately .