Jehovah's Witnesses marriage questions

[GoLatin]

I have a couple of questions about Jehovah’s Witnesses marriages.

1. What is a Jehovah’s Witness wedding ceremony like?
2. Are Jehovah’s Witness couples reprimanded if they have “too many” children?

Thanks.

 

[catsrus]

1. A quiet kingdom hall “ceremony”.
2. They have no problem with birth control and, in fact, encourarge it because, after all, the world is due to end any day now… Witnesses are encouraged constantly to refrain from tying themselves down with children (or education) when there is so much “kingdom work” to do. I haven’t know one who was called before the elders for having “too many” children. Not to say it’s never happened though. I just knew them to feel so guilty about child bearing that the ones I knew who were all of child bearing age were using ABC.

 

[yessisan]

They just had a Watchtower magazine on this…

**1. **The couple can choose to have a JP perform the wedding with or w/o a Kingdom Hall (KH from now on) ceremony. They can do it in front of the JP or in the KH in front of an elder.

If they do it w/a JP, the couple has to decide whether or not they want a “ceremony” or speech done at the KH, but the ceremony has to be held w/in a few days of the civil marriage, preferably w/in 1-2 days.

Just remember one thing, if one is not a JW, then they cannot have a KH ceremony. Also, if they have had premarital sex, they cannot have a KH ceremony. If one is disfellowshipped, they cannot have a KH ceremony.

Since at least one would be a JW, then they cannot marry through any church. The JW is only allowed to have a civil marriage. But they always discourage you from marrying anyone outside of the faith.

http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2002/2/8/article_02.htm

**2. **They are not reprimanded if they have too many children, however, they do encourage you have the least that you can. They enocurage contraception so the couple won’t have “too many” children. They say just have as many as you can afford to support. They rather have you spend your time going door to door to “spread the good news”.

They also get procedures done after they’ve had as the children they wanted to have.

Oh, and the contaception form has to be like a hormone based one, not one that induces abortion.

 

[GoLatin]

A few more questions:

1. Are there very many JW couples in the present time who choose to have no children at all? If so, what is the approximate percantage?
2. For those JW couples that have children, is there a typical number that they have?
3. Are JWs allowed to use any kind of fertility treatment?

Thanks.

 

[yessisan]

1. Are there very many JW couples in the present time who choose to have no children at all? If so, what is the approximate percantage?

Not sure of the percentage, but most of the JWs I know do have at least one child.

1. For those JW couples that have children, is there a typical number that they have?

Most that I know have 2 children

1. Are JWs allowed to use any kind of fertility treatment?

I believe they are

http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2004/9/22/article_01.htm

 

[dawgfan]

I have a couple of questions about Jehovah’s Witnesses marriages.

1. What is a Jehovah’s Witness wedding ceremony like?
2. Are Jehovah’s Witness couples reprimanded if they have “too many” children?

Thanks.

1. If referring to as done in a kingdom hall, its usually presided by an elder. Most of the typical stuff is said. You could occassionally get some type of indoctrination babble said depending upon the elder doing it. --side note, although all “baptised” JWs are considered “ministers”, only certain elders are allowed to perform marriage or death ceremonies.
2. No. I’d say there is a whole undercurrent of implied encouragement to either not have children or have few children. Its the whole “why bring another life into this world to have to live through armageddon” thing.

A few more questions:

1. Are there very many JW couples in the present time who choose to have no children at all? If so, what is the approximate percantage?
2. For those JW couples that have children, is there a typical number that they have?
3. Are JWs allowed to use any kind of fertility treatment?

Thanks.

1. The higher up in rank a JW goes, there’s a lesser chance of children or fewer children. Percentage? I wouldn’t have a clue.
2. I’m no JW census taker so would only be a guess. I’d say 2 is the norm I’ve seen but varies and also probably varies by culture.
3. Fertility meaning contraception? Yes. Fertility meaning treatments to have children? I’ve never really thought about it.

 

[Nan_S]

Oh, and the contaception form has to be like a hormone based one, not one that induces abortion.

Hormone-based contraception does induce abortion. It make the lining of the womb hostile, so that a fragile fertilized egg can not successfully implant or grow. The morning-after pill available today is simply a mega-dose of ordinary BC hormones.

Perhaps you are talking about barrier methods? Those methods do not induce abortions.

 

[jschwehm]

When I left the Headquarters back in the late 1980’s to get married, the Watchtower Society encouraged me to become a full-time door to door evangelizer and gave me a packet of information on different types of birth control.

They have a history of discouraging couples from having children. If you have a copy of Rutherford’s book entitled Children which was published in the early 1940’s I believe it discouraged couples from having children very strongly.

In the summer of 1987, there was a talk given at the JWs’ Summer Convention entitled something like “Child-Rearing In the Time of the End”. The talk discouraged couples from having large families and said it was preferable if they had no children at all so they could concentrate on going from door to door. I remember this talk for two reasons:

1. Because I was serving at the JW Headquarters at the time.
2. Because a bunch of single JW males that I knew were basically saying well ‘Banning having kids is one thing, but if they ever ban one from having sex, I am outta here.’

As far as fertility procedures are concerned, the JWs would object to a woman having an embryo that was conceived with someone other than her husband implanted into her. They would view that as the equivalent of adultery and it is grounds for disfellowshipping and shunning. They would also object to the deliberate destruction of any embryos conceived during a fertility procedure as well.

Jeff S.
www.catholicxjw.com

 

[yessisan]

Hormone-based contraception does induce abortion. It make the lining of the womb hostile, so that a fragile fertilized egg can not successfully implant or grow. The morning-after pill available today is simply a mega-dose of ordinary BC hormones.

Perhaps you are talking about barrier methods? Those methods do not induce abortions.

By inducing abortion I meant like a IUD, or the morning-after pill… I guess I should’ve gone into detail. They do allow the use of diaphragm, the pill, nuvaring, depo-provera (the shot), condoms, the sponge, spermicides, the patch, norplant, etc…

Things they do not allow are those that actually are more invasive like the IUD, RU-468 (wherever it’s legal), the emergency pill, and the actual abortion…

Sad to say but these people are not strangers at Planned Parenthood… my sisters-in-law go there very often