Who are they?

Jehovah's Witnesses are an international Christian based religion that started around the 19th century Bible Student movement. The name was adopted around 1931 under Joseph Franklin Rutherford.

Bible study is an important part of the faith as is bible service. A witness must attend 5 services called meetings. These are the public meeting, Watchtower study, area book study, Theocratic school and service meeting. Worship starts and ends with prayer, and most services include singing. Services are led by elders or by assistants, who are known as ministerial servants.

Public Meeting and Watchtower Study are often held on Sundays. The first is a 45-minute Bible-based lecture. The second is a one-hour question-and-answer coverage of a recent article from their main religious journal, The Watchtower.

Book Study, Witnesses meet in small groups of about 10 to 15, usually in the private homes of members, to discuss a single Bible. One of the books or brochures published by Jehovah's Witnesses is used to direct the question-and-answer Bible discussion.

Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting are held on a weekday evening. The 45-minute Theocratic Ministry School is designed to help Witnesses improve their public reading and speaking. Students receive assignments on a rotating basis. At each meeting, six students give brief speeches on pre selected Bible topics, and an instructor comments on the speech and offers suggestions for improvement. The Service Meeting focuses on helping Witnesses improve their ability to teach the Bible to others.

In addition to these services, Jehovah's Witnesses are also encouraged to read the Bible daily and to study the Bible at home with their families.

Twice a year they hold regional meetings called assemblies. Circuit assemblies are two-day meetings of about 20 congregations. District conventions are three- or four-day meetings of about 200 congregations. District conventions are usually held in rented stadiums or coliseums. International conventions are held about once every five years in major cities around the world. These conventions include Bible lectures, interviews, skits, prayer, and singing.

The head complex for the organization is based in Brooklyn N. Y. There is commonly a head complex in each country the Witnesses are active. The location for Canada is Georgetown Ontario.

What do they believe?

They believe they are the one "true" faith and are urged to distance themselves from all "wordly" things. They are also discouraged from contact with those who have rejected the faith, even if these are members of their own family.

The Witnesses do not follow traditional Christian doctrines like hell, the Trinity or the immortality of the soul. They do believe the end of the world, Armageddon, is at hand despite the fact that various dates of this have come and gone. They are discouraged from seeking higher education, this is considered as wasteful since their time should be better dedicated to God.

There are sites that give far more detail into the doctrine of the organization but when reading please bear in mind there are 2 very distinct sides to this group, the doctrine does not dictate much of their behavior the Governing Body (a body of elders who oversee all the activities of the denomination.) The Governing Body has always consisted of men (men are the head of the religion and therefore women have far less rights) and it's current number is 6.

More on the Governing Body
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_Body_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses#Current_.28years_of_assignment.29

This is a commonly debated question. Within the faith they of course see themselves as a legitimate religion and take offense at being referred to as a cult. But let's look at it from a purely scholarly view.

The definition of a cult according to http://www.religio.de/cudef.html:

Using this as a guideline Jehovah's Witnesses certainly fall into the category of cult. I invite you to view the site in full as it has a great deal of information. I'm going to share another section of the site below. Those with past experience of the fait will be able to relate with every abuse listed. I feel this article itself answers the question of weather the Witnesses are a cult or not.

How these abuses manifest in the organization.

ABUSE OF INDIVIDUALITY
Members are urged to distance themselves from everyone and everything "worldly" (worldly is all things not associated with the Witnesses). They are forbidden from questioning the materials provided, they may only study. Those questioning may be punished in some way.

ABUSE OF INTIMACY
If a member leaves or is dismissed from the group friends and family are instructed to act as if that person is dead and cease contact, this includes children. Members are also urged to "report" on each other for infractions.

ABUSE OF FINANCES
This is 2 fold in the organization. First members are urged to give frequently through making "donations" into the donation box at every meeting. Second they are discouraged from obtaining higher education and often take lower level jobs thus limiting their career options and income levels.

"US VERSUS THEM" MENTALITY
Similar to above, isolation from the community is especially felt with any form of punishment this can be as little as removing theocratic privileges (not being able to comment in meetings, or go door-to-door) to the extreme of disfellowshipping. ALL things outside of the sect are viewed as something members have to "guard" against. Although not viewed in hostility as enemies they are viewed in fear as enemies

ABUSE OF TIME AND ENERGY
As pointed out in "Who are they?" the organization has several required activities set for members. They must attend 2 weekly meetings consisting of about 2 hours each and a bible study consisting of an hour in addition to Saturday service (door-to-door preaching) from about 9 am until noon. If a member is pioneering they must make a required amount of hours per month or week in service.

ABUSE OF FREE WILL
In addition to the heavy use of guilt, the group is also programmed to report on each other making the individual feel like they are constantly under surveillance. Peer pressure is heavily employed to ensure all members adhere to the guidelines for behavior set by the Governing Body.

(Source http://www.religio.de/cudef.html)