What is your take on "Jehovah's Witnesses" sect?

[DelsonJacobs]

It is all based upon their peculiar interpretation of Revelation chapter 20, and the teaching goes like this:

1. Christ death saves only 144,000 people. Only these people’s sins are forgiven and only these people are in the New Covenant with Christ. Only the 144,000 will go to heaven upon death.* The Bible is a special written revelation encoded in such a way to be understood properly only by the 144,000. All members of the Governing Body are automatically members of the 144,000.
2. Those not of the 144,000 can only hope to live in a restored earth after they prove worthy by being tested over a period of 1000 years. After Armageddon, those not of the 144,000 will have to learn to be perfect people by following a new written revelation. Since the Bible is written to, can only be understood by, and centers upon the salvation of the 144,000, the Witnesses believe that “new scrolls” will be “opened,” a new set of written revelations to follow. Like the Bible of today, the “new scrolls” will be the guide for true religion and right conduct.Those who do not live up to these new standards will be eliminated, some before the 1000 years are up.
3. Some who perished before Armageddon may be resurrected on earth to be tested with the non-144,000. After establishing new types of “Watchtower” or “Jehovah’s Witness” Kingdom centers to welcome them, some people that God deems deserving of another chance will be resurrected to life on earth (some may have been too evil in their previous earthly life and won’t get a second chance however). These newly resurrected ones, including faithful JWs who died before Armageddon, will also have to obey the “new scrolls.”
4. A final test in addition to the “new scrolls” must be passed to gain eternal life. That is right! Just because you proved faithful to the “new scrolls” for 1000 years does not guarantee you life like the 144,000. The Devil, who during this 1000 year period was kept in a spiritual jail or coma-like state, will be released, allowed by God to test everyone for one last time. Anyone is subject to fall, and Witnesses believe this could be many, even ones who have been very faithful to the “new scrolls.”
5. A second Armageddon-like judgment will wipe away Satan and all who side with him in this final test. Afterwards paradise on earth really begins, at least in Jehovah’s Witness terms. Those left who prove faithful after this last test will finally be given eternal life.

Christ’s blood, which saves the 144,000, only “shades” the others with an earthly hope from God’s judgment, making them “friends” of God, not “children of God.” The earthly-hope-JWs can only remain in this “shade” by obeying everything the Governing Body says. If they fail to do so and Armagedom strikes (which can, in their minds, literally be at any second now), they will die without hope of a future resurrection on earth. This “failure” can be as little as watching the wrong programing, laughing at a bad joke, choosing an unapproved person as a friend, saying a bad word, even having a momentary thought of doubt about anything the Governing Body teaches.

*–Because of their lack of Greek scholars, you will often hear them say that the 144,000 get “resurrected to heavenly life,” unaware that the Greek word for “resurrection” can only be used for the rising of a corporeal body. The Greek word anastasis means that a dead body “stands up,” or more exactly it means “rise up again,” the “again” being that the body “stands up” in life. It is incorrect to apply it to receiving eternal life in heaven. As the Creed states, which practically every Catholic knows by heart, we “believe in the resurrection of the body,” or more literally “the standing up again of the body.”

 

[seanman611]

It is all based upon their peculiar interpretation of Revelation chapter 20, and the teaching goes like this:

1. Christ death saves only 144,000 people. Only these people’s sins are forgiven and only these people are in the New Covenant with Christ. Only the 144,000 will go to heaven upon death.* The Bible is a special written revelation encoded in such a way to be understood properly only by the 144,000. All members of the Governing Body are automatically members of the 144,000.
2. Those not of the 144,000 can only hope to live in a restored earth after they prove worthy by being tested over a period of 1000 years. After Armageddon, those not of the 144,000 will have to learn to be perfect people by following a new written revelation. Since the Bible is written to, can only be understood by, and centers upon the salvation of the 144,000, the Witnesses believe that “new scrolls” will be “opened,” a new set of written revelations to follow. Like the Bible of today, the “new scrolls” will be the guide for true religion and right conduct.Those who do not live up to these new standards will be eliminated, some before the 1000 years are up.
3. Some who perished before Armageddon may be resurrected on earth to be tested with the non-144,000. After establishing new types of “Watchtower” or “Jehovah’s Witness” Kingdom centers to welcome them, some people that God deems deserving of another chance will be resurrected to life on earth (some may have been too evil in their previous earthly life and won’t get a second chance however). These newly resurrected ones, including faithful JWs who died before Armageddon, will also have to obey the “new scrolls.”
4. A final test in addition to the “new scrolls” must be passed to gain eternal life. That is right! Just because you proved faithful to the “new scrolls” for 1000 years does not guarantee you life like the 144,000. The Devil, who during this 1000 year period was kept in a spiritual jail or coma-like state, will be released, allowed by God to test everyone for one last time. Anyone is subject to fall, and Witnesses believe this could be many, even ones who have been very faithful to the “new scrolls.”
5. A second Armageddon-like judgment will wipe away Satan and all who side with him in this final test. Afterwards paradise on earth really begins, at least in Jehovah’s Witness terms. Those left who prove faithful after this last test will finally be given eternal life.

Christ’s blood, which saves the 144,000, only “shades” the others with an earthly hope from God’s judgment, making them “friends” of God, not “children of God.” The earthly-hope-JWs can only remain in this “shade” by obeying everything the Governing Body says. If they fail to do so and Armagedom strikes (which can, in their minds, literally be at any second now), they will die without hope of a future resurrection on earth. This “failure” can be as little as watching the wrong programing, laughing at a bad joke, choosing an unapproved person as a friend, saying a bad word, even having a momentary thought of doubt about anything the Governing Body teaches.

*–Because of their lack of Greek scholars, you will often hear them say that the 144,000 get “resurrected to heavenly life,” unaware that the Greek word for “resurrection” can only be used for the rising of a corporeal body. The Greek word anastasis means that a dead body “stands up,” or more exactly it means “rise up again,” the “again” being that the body “stands up” in life. It is incorrect to apply it to receiving eternal life in heaven. As the Creed states, which practically every Catholic knows by heart, we “believe in the resurrection of the body,” or more literally “the standing up again of the body.”

My grandma was the first to become a JW in my family, when my mother was still a child. According to Grandma, a loving God couldn’t send people to eternal torment in hell. However, considering the points you correctly make, how in the world could anybody conclude that the JW God is a loving one? Not only do you have to make it through the end of this system, you then have to be tested for a thousand years, at the end of which, you are tested again by Satan for a period of time. It boggles the mind how anybody could see love in this…

 

[Waynec]

Post 118, 119, 120 leave me speechless and that is not easy to do. My JW friend has tried to explain this to me but the above 3 post have done an excellent job.

One can only feel sorry for these people and pray for them for their eyes to be opened to the loving truth of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And all of the above they get from reading the Bible?

Certainly not the Bible that I am reading. They have plenty of commentary from their governing body to come up with their strange teaching.

God Help them.

 

[po18guy]

Post 118, 119, 120 leave me speechless and that is not easy to do. My JW friend has tried to explain this to me but the above 3 post have done an excellent job.

One can only feel sorry for these people and pray for them for their eyes to be opened to the loving truth of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And all of the above they get from reading the Bible?

Certainly not the Bible that I am reading. They have plenty of commentary from their governing body to come up with their strange teaching.

God Help them.

For this very reason, well did Peter write:

2 Peter 1:20
20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation

2 Peter 3:15-17
15 And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this[a] as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability.

John admonishes us to “test the spirits” to see if they are from God (1 John 1:1-4). There is zero evidence that Charles Taze Russell, or any of his successors, have done any such thing. In fact, the litany of (100%) failed JW “prophesies” testifies that they are actually following the liar and father of lies.

 

[DebbieS]

Not quite twenty years ago, my brother in law joined the JW. Less than a year later he was killed falling from one of their meeting places because they did not have common safety measures usually present on a construction project.

At the funeral, we were treated like animals in a zoo…things to stare and point at…small children ran away in fear because they were told we were not Witnesses. I heard “ladies” gossiping and mocking us while I was in a ladies room stall. At the gathering after the funeral, we were promptly told we must accept the TRUTH or be doomed. HIs mother and her other son had joined them because Troy would not speak to them. In his room, we found letters and poems written to lifelong friends telling them he would no longer have anything to do with them, they were going to be destroyed, God didn’t love them, etc. We found a handbook of sorts that was the training manual for their door to door efforts. It was full of ways to argue down anyone who didn’t drink their koolaid. My father in law, a Baptist deacon, read their “bible” and was horrified by their interpretation.

In the interest of Christian charity, I will say something nice…they paid for the funeral and did get him off drugs…by scaring the hell out of him. He got clean out of fear. I guess whatever works.

when I was diagnosed with leukemia, before it was clear if I would survive or not, there was a JW woman in my office. She asked if she and her mother could visit to “pray with me”. I said sure and they came over. I made it plain that I was becoming Catholic and was not interested in their…church…she never spoke with me again other than what was strictly necessary for our work. She frequently snubbed and mocked others, specifically those she knew were Catholic. I feel bad for them, I think they are some of the most lost sheep. I wonder, as he was falling off that roof, what Troy thought of? did he think he was about to see Jesus as he was raised to believe? Or was their poison in him too deep?

 

[DelsonJacobs]

Not quite twenty years ago, my brother in law joined the JW. Less than a year later he was killed falling from one of their meeting places because they did not have common safety measures usually present on a construction project.

At the funeral, we were treated like animals in a zoo…things to stare and point at…small children ran away in fear because they were told we were not Witnesses. I heard “ladies” gossiping and mocking us while I was in a ladies room stall. At the gathering after the funeral, we were promptly told we must accept the TRUTH or be doomed. HIs mother and her other son had joined them because Troy would not speak to them. In his room, we found letters and poems written to lifelong friends telling them he would no longer have anything to do with them, they were going to be destroyed, God didn’t love them, etc. We found a handbook of sorts that was the training manual for their door to door efforts. It was full of ways to argue down anyone who didn’t drink their koolaid. My father in law, a Baptist deacon, read their “bible” and was horrified by their interpretation.

In the interest of Christian charity, I will say something nice…they paid for the funeral and did get him off drugs…by scaring the hell out of him. He got clean out of fear. I guess whatever works.

when I was diagnosed with leukemia, before it was clear if I would survive or not, there was a JW woman in my office. She asked if she and her mother could visit to “pray with me”. I said sure and they came over. I made it plain that I was becoming Catholic and was not interested in their…church…she never spoke with me again other than what was strictly necessary for our work. She frequently snubbed and mocked others, specifically those she knew were Catholic. I feel bad for them, I think they are some of the most lost sheep. I wonder, as he was falling off that roof, what Troy thought of? did he think he was about to see Jesus as he was raised to believe? Or was their poison in him too deep?

My condolences on your loss.

I can also sadly attest to what you are saying about how you were treated, as I have heard others speaking about non-Witness family members in this manner. It is a horrible testimony to these people, and I’ve seen and witnessed even worse.

Strangely enough, I can also attest to the fact that I wasn’t of the same cloth. While I believe I could have done more, because I had some degree of oversight I often pulled others aside–sometimes having to counsel others in front of the entire group–because of the lack of tolerance many JWs had. I paid a heavy price for doing so, but too many times to count I personally witnessed and counseled other JWs for their unkind treatment of those outside the Watchtower world.

There were a few others like me back then, as I am sure there are today, who didn’t “drink the Kool-Aid” as much as others. But like I was, they squelch these voices whenever and however they can, feeling justified under the guise of what they call “caring for Kingdom interests.”

The JWs had to make major changes on the volunteer building projects. They used to boast how they could raise a Kingdom Hall in weekend, but as you mentioned above these types of projects endangered so many that they had to curb their way of doing things.

Prayer for them is what we should do, prayer that God open their eyes and hearts and that we do not treat them in the manner they treat us.

 

[DelsonJacobs]

Many have shared comments and asked me additional questions via private messages and emails expressing appreciation for the information I have been able to share regarding my previous time as a Jehovah’s Witness. I appreciate this greatly. I also hope I can be of more help to anyone in the future.

Several are greatly worried regarding family members and friends who have become or are preparing to join the Witnesses and wonder how easy or difficult it is to leave. Many have asked if there is anything they can do in practical terms.

While we don’t want to stop a person from exercising their freedom of conscience in religion, we should also balance this with reassurance to the new JW that we will love and be with them regardless of the choices they make. We will not shun them because they become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

But we also want them to know that the Jehovah’s Witnesses will not feel this way about them if they ever choose to leave them.

The Witnesses will only love them as long as they are official members* in good standing* with their congregation.

If you leave and then share your experiences with the outside world, publicly or privately, and even if your speech is never critical of the Watchtower once you exit, you WILL be regarded the way they regard me today:

• I am a distributor of “poison,” and an instrument of the Devil.–The Watchtower, March 15, 1986, p 20, par. 18.
• Witnesses have an “obligation to hate” me because my actions prove I am a ‘hater of Jehovah.’–The Watchtower, July 15, 1992, pp 12-13, par. 19.
• I present only “distortions, half-truths, and outright falsehoods.”–The Watchtower, January 15, 2003, p 23.

You who are becoming JWs, know that there is no graceful way to leave. No matter what the reason, if you choose to part ways with them you will be branded with the most foul descriptions they can think of. I’ve heard elders label people as “stupid” for trying to be faithful JWs, and even worse for leaving. They will shun you and make you the subject of lies.

JWs who have contacted me since I left have told me the following falsehoods the JWs were saying about me:

• I was sleeping around with women and left because I didn’t want to get caught.
• I was overcome with the desire of being important, but the “spotlight” in the Watchtower wasn’t bright enough for me, so I left.
• I was a reprobate who was hoping to scam the Witness for money but left when I learned they operated no charity ministries.
• I was sleeping around with men and left because I wanted to live the gay lifestyle.

I promise you, if you join today and you choose to leave tomorrow, they will make up stories about you.

People who claim to be “lovers of truth” would never do that, would they?

 

[wcknight]

It must be nice to be one of the 144,000 governing body !!! your salvation is already assured AND you get to tell everyone else what to do…

I have never really encountered a JW, although a former HS classmate became one, and I heard a niece is learning to become one. Sounds like folks who are being brainwashed and regimented to follow the whims of the 144,000 yahoos…

The thing is, with folks like the JWs and the mormons going door to door, where does that leave us Catholics and other Christians, as far as evangelization goes ? We pretty much live in our own parishes/churches and very little is done about spreading the Gospel… we may IF we are lucky convince our kids to follow our faith, but that usually is about the outer limits of where our faith extends. Maybe we can learn a thing or two about how to spread our faith like they do… not that I see myself going door to door, maybe there is some middle ground between what they do and what we should be doing.

 

[po18guy]

I promise you, if you join today and you choose to leave tomorrow, they will make up stories about you.

People who claim to be “lovers of truth” would never do that, would they?

I see this in relatives who are Seventh-Day Adventists. Not all of the SDA are like this, but they incessantly repeat blatant lies and untruths about the Catholic Church. It is not enough to simply exist apart from the Church - they must malign her constantly. It is no coincidence that both sects, the JW and SDA, share some beliefs - although the Adventists are true Christians. But again, would a lover of truth not seek the truth against their own interest?

In actuality, these are two houses divided against themselves, claiming to love God while hating His truth.

 

[PaulDupre1]

I see this in relatives who are Seventh-Day Adventists. Not all of the SDA are like this, but they incessantly repeat blatant lies and untruths about the Catholic Church. It is not enough to simply exist apart from the Church - they must malign her constantly. It is no coincidence that both sects, the JW and SDA, share some beliefs - although the Adventists are true Christians. But again, would a lover of truth not seek the truth against their own interest?

In actuality, these are two houses divided against themselves, claiming to love God while hating His truth.

Same with the Mormons - hatred and lies toward the Catholic faith, vicious lies about those who leave Mormonism. But then Mormons, SDAs and JWs all arose from the same 19th century Stone-Campbell Restorationist movement. No surprise that they would all practice the same cruel and hateful behaviors.

 

[po18guy]

Same with the Mormons - hatred and lies toward the Catholic faith, vicious lies about those who leave Mormonism. But then Mormons, SDAs and JWs all arose from the same 19th century Stone-Campbell Restorationist movement. No surprise that they would all practice the same cruel and hateful behaviors.

As is clear to me, a certain spirit drove all three groups to divide, from fellow protestants and even from each other. This spirit of division is not from heaven.

 

[ShanPO]

It is all based upon their peculiar interpretation of Revelation chapter 20, and the teaching goes like this:

1. Christ death saves only 144,000 people. Only these people’s sins are forgiven and only these people are in the New Covenant with Christ. Only the 144,000 will go to heaven upon death.* The Bible is a special written revelation encoded in such a way to be understood properly only by the 144,000. All members of the Governing Body are automatically members of the 144,000.
2. Those not of the 144,000 can only hope to live in a restored earth after they prove worthy by being tested over a period of 1000 years. After Armageddon, those not of the 144,000 will have to learn to be perfect people by following a new written revelation. Since the Bible is written to, can only be understood by, and centers upon the salvation of the 144,000, the Witnesses believe that “new scrolls” will be “opened,” a new set of written revelations to follow. Like the Bible of today, the “new scrolls” will be the guide for true religion and right conduct.Those who do not live up to these new standards will be eliminated, some before the 1000 years are up.
3. Some who perished before Armageddon may be resurrected on earth to be tested with the non-144,000. After establishing new types of “Watchtower” or “Jehovah’s Witness” Kingdom centers to welcome them, some people that God deems deserving of another chance will be resurrected to life on earth (some may have been too evil in their previous earthly life and won’t get a second chance however). These newly resurrected ones, including faithful JWs who died before Armageddon, will also have to obey the “new scrolls.”
4. A final test in addition to the “new scrolls” must be passed to gain eternal life. That is right! Just because you proved faithful to the “new scrolls” for 1000 years does not guarantee you life like the 144,000. The Devil, who during this 1000 year period was kept in a spiritual jail or coma-like state, will be released, allowed by God to test everyone for one last time. Anyone is subject to fall, and Witnesses believe this could be many, even ones who have been very faithful to the “new scrolls.”
5. A second Armageddon-like judgment will wipe away Satan and all who side with him in this final test. Afterwards paradise on earth really begins, at least in Jehovah’s Witness terms. Those left who prove faithful after this last test will finally be given eternal life.

Christ’s blood, which saves the 144,000, only “shades” the others with an earthly hope from God’s judgment, making them “friends” of God, not “children of God.” The earthly-hope-JWs can only remain in this “shade” by obeying everything the Governing Body says. If they fail to do so and Armagedom strikes (which can, in their minds, literally be at any second now), they will die without hope of a future resurrection on earth. This “failure” can be as little as watching the wrong programing, laughing at a bad joke, choosing an unapproved person as a friend, saying a bad word, even having a momentary thought of doubt about anything the Governing Body teaches.

*–Because of their lack of Greek scholars, you will often hear them say that the 144,000 get “resurrected to heavenly life,” unaware that the Greek word for “resurrection” can only be used for the rising of a corporeal body. The Greek word anastasis means that a dead body “stands up,” or more exactly it means “rise up again,” the “again” being that the body “stands up” in life. It is incorrect to apply it to receiving eternal life in heaven. As the Creed states, which practically every Catholic knows by heart, we “believe in the resurrection of the body,” or more literally “the standing up again of the body.”

So during this 1000 year grace period, are folks going to procreate and work and do things as they usually do? I’m not a huge fan of work, but whether I like it or not, someone is still going to have to cut the grass and take out the garbage. Will there be electricity? Who will work the power plants or is that something God is going to just provide, like Zeus and his lightening bolts or soemthing? Have they even thought out all the details or is their answer just “We don’t know what that’ll be like” which is awfully convenient because they seem to have an answer for everything else.

 

[DelsonJacobs]

The thing is, with folks like the JWs and the mormons going door to door, where does that leave us Catholics and other Christians, as far as evangelization goes ? … Maybe we can learn a thing or two about how to spread our faith like they do… not that I see myself going door to door, maybe there is some middle ground between what they do and what we should be doing.

While I cannot speak for the LDS, I can expose something about the JW way of public preaching that most in the public don’t know: It is a form of picking off the weak ones in the herd, just like in the wild–and they do it for many bad reasons.

They will avoid you if you know your religion and your Bible better than they expect you to. Except for a few instances that I know of, Witnesses will avoid “wasting their time” on those “blinded by Satan,” i.e., content with their religion and unable to be phased by their witnessing work. They are even instructed to do so, congregation elders sometimes counseling JWs who refuse to give up those “return visits” that offer an opportunity for “counting time spent” in their monthly report but otherwise will not budge from their faith. They look for people who are as uneducated about other faiths and the Bible like they are while steering clear of those who know their faith well. Like several JWs I’ve spoken with here on CAF, once they realize you are not a “weak animal” that they can steal from the herd, they move on as instructed.

They go door-to-door because God will kill them if they don’t. That’s right. They believe that public preaching* in the manner that they do it* is a requisite to gaining eternal life in God’s Kingdom. If one does not do it, one cannot expect to be saved. And if one is found not doing as much as they can or should be when Armageddon breaks out, they might lose their life when God comes to slaughter everyone else!

Public preaching moves them up their religion’s organizational ladder and keeps them from being placed among the “questionable ones.” Yep. It’s a status thing. If you keep your hours “up,” you will be assigned “privileges” and gain status as a result. If your monthly hours in the public preaching work go down, expect to get your “privileges” taken away. JWs will prefer you as a friend if you regularly report good hours and likewise you will lose favor with these same “friends” if your hours in the work go down.

It’s a way for congregation elders and the Governing Body to keep tabs on the rank and file. Since each member has monthly reports to fill out, and since different types of preaching requires it own special type of report, having all this information on the people is used by the elders and Governing Body to keep a close eye on what you are doing with your time. Many who leave the Watchtower will often describe being a JW like living in George Orwell’s* 1984,* constantly being monitored by Big Brother. Public preaching is demanded by “Big Brother” because that is where most of his “monitoring” of you takes place.

Preach or be gone! If you do not engage in public preaching you can be excommunicated (disfellowshipped). If you don’t “witness,” you can’t expect them to allow you to stay a Jehovah’s Witness for long. While they are publicly preaching what some refer to as a “turn or burn” doctrine, they are privately taught by their Governing Body to “do it or die!”

Most JWs would NOT do the work if it were not required of them. For most people public speaking is the most horrifying thing to do. I have seen JWs forced to go through emotional turmoil attempting to speak to others in public because the Governing Body tells them God will not approve them and strike them dead at Armageddon if they don’t. Most that I knew would cut as many corners as they could or “did just enough” to get by. It’s sad.

While I believe there is always room for improvement, I also know we don’t have to be like the JWs in any manner to be preachers of the Gospel. For all the millions of hours they have preaches, all the tons of paper they have printed their message on, not one of their claims about the future have ever come to pass–and neither has their preaching work made them any more humble to admit how wrong they have been. It does nothing to erase their pride, it’s done out of fear, and it’s done because they have to do it.

They claim it’s done out of love, but ask them not to report the time they spend talking to you, or if your are return visit of theirs, to subtract past time with you from their future reports, and we’ll see how far that “love” really goes.

 

[DelsonJacobs]

So during this 1000 year grace period, are folks going to procreate and work and do things as they usually do? I’m not a huge fan of work, but whether I like it or not, someone is still going to have to cut the grass and take out the garbage. Will there be electricity? Who will work the power plants or is that something God is going to just provide, like Zeus and his lightening bolts or soemthing? Have they even thought out all the details or is their answer just “We don’t know what that’ll be like” which is awfully convenient because they seem to have an answer for everything else.

Those alive to see Armageddon and survive into the “new world” will be able to reproduce, but those resurrected to earthly life will not. By the end of the 1000 years all reproductive powers will cease.

All will work together to “cut the grass,” as you put it. They see themselves making “Kingdom Centers” and a great “Kingdom Society,” prefigured by their many Kingdom Halls of today as a network that will enable them to turn the new earth into a paradise.

Will there be electricity or what? No one knows. But it is fun to watch the JWs debate about these details among themselves while out in their door-to-door work. These debates can get very heated too.

Except for what you see in their illustrations, they have much more of a picture of the details to offer. Yep, they seem to have an answer for “everything else” but this.

 

[po18guy]

While I cannot speak for the LDS, I can expose something about the JW way of public preaching that most in the public don’t know: It is a form of picking off the weak ones in the herd, just like in the wild–and they do it for many bad reasons.

A Marine reserve co-worker went off to serve in Desert Storm. When he returned, the JWs had gotten to his wife and snared her. This is absolutely the lowest of the evil one’s tricks.

 

[marywarfield]

Personally, I find JW a rather evil thing. Here is
why. I come from an historically long
and prominent family in America. I’m the last descendant
of the “direct line”. After my father died we moved
to an area where we were overjoyed to meet
his only remaining first cousin. Of course the family
(second cousins) who do all the Ellis Island records for
the family had to research him to make sure who
he was for sure etc etc. as he had cut himself off
from the family years ago due to his being JW while
the rest of us were Catholic. The only reason I wondered
if we were related is my daughter who was twelve at
the time we moved to this small town, very close to her grandpa and still hurting
terribly over his passing, dcreaned “mama look! It’s grandpa!”
I looked and sure enough there was my dad walking
down the street. So I went over, introduced my self
and started talking with him and sure enough yep my
Dads first cousin. Well my family was overjoyed
as well as his family. His wife, coincidentally named
Mary too, was probably the most thrilled. She had
never heard of her husbands family or met any
of them and she was all over me. She wanted to see
all the family pictures of her father in law mother in law
her husbands brothers and sisters etc. so I dug
them out for her. He wouldn’t allow the pictures
in his house. His terms for a relationship were we
convert. He used to come to the business we owned
pour himself some coffee and start reading JW tracts to
me. He knew we were Catholic but I really didn’t
want to alienate him as I could see his wife was incredibly
lonely.
One thing led to another and he began bringing hundreds
Of watchtower print outs to our church and leaving them
in the pews during the day. This is a very tiny town
and soon everyone knew this was my cousin doing this.
In his mind my presence indicated to him that he was
to convert my family and my church. Lol. When I found him
discussing watchtower articles with my daughter
and discouraging my son from being a paramedic
because of transfusions and such I had to confront
him and tell him to stop. He decided to never speak
to any of us again which just doubled my daughters
grief. And his last act was to begin leaving Jack
Chick comics all over our Church. For months.
A few years later his daughter accidentally smothered
her own child, totally an accident, when she visited
her parents from out of town and because she had left
the JWs he made them sleep in the garage on an old sofa.
This was such a horrifying event for Mary, the daughter
I really wanted to spend time with them. Our police
chaplain knew we were related and asked me to sit
with grandma and daughter as they were concerned about
the mental health and reaction of mom and grandma. My cousin would
not allow it at all. Said the baby’s death was a judgement
on the mom for leaving JW.

A tragic, horrible religion. Just a screaming tragedy.
Now we still see him everyday going up and down
the street but don’t speak. Our house is one house
his Kingdom Hall avoids when going door to door.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I don’t like them at all. Everything about their beliefs is messed up and I don’t like how they try to force their way upon you. :nope: They are truly a cult, not just another denomination. Their beliefs are crazy. They don’t celebrate any holidays not even birthdays, they don’t believe in education, they shun their own people for breaking their rules, I don’t understand how they believe only 144,000 people will make it to heaven. As many people that have lived since Adam & Eve and they think only 144,000 will go to heaven??? That number was already passed before their great grandparents to the 10th power was even conceived! :doh2:

If these are their beliefs:

What is your take on “Jehovah’s Witnesses” sect other than not considering JESUS as GOD?

Because I personally admire their ethics compared to some other Christian sects:

• Homosexual activity/same-sex marriages are forbidden.
• Abortion is considered a murder.
• Modesty in dress and grooming is frequently emphasized.
• Gambling, drunkenness, illegal drugs, and tobacco use are forbidden.
• Drinking of alcoholic beverages is permitted in moderation.

My only take on them that they emphasis on the name of GOD to be “Jehovah”, which I believe it should not, because GOD is universal, every nation could call Him by their native language!

…how crazy does that sound?

 

[ShanPO]

Those alive to see Armageddon and survive into the “new world” will be able to reproduce, but those resurrected to earthly life will not. By the end of the 1000 years all reproductive powers will cease.

All will work together to “cut the grass,” as you put it. They see themselves making “Kingdom Centers” and a great “Kingdom Society,” prefigured by their many Kingdom Halls of today as a network that will enable them to turn the new earth into a paradise.

Will there be electricity or what? No one knows. But it is fun to watch the JWs debate about these details among themselves while out in their door-to-door work. These debates can get very heated too.

Except for what you see in their illustrations, they have much more of a picture of the details to offer. Yep, they seem to have an answer for “everything else” but this.

I’m really trying to follow the logic here, if there is any, so just bear with me. Let’s say Armaggedon happens tomorrow, and I’m a good JW. I then have to do JW stuff for another 1000 years to secure my place on the very Earth I’m currently standing on? I don’t understand how there’s going to be a difference between Earth now and Earth v2.0. Other than having a lot less people, it seems that one will still have the opportunity to sin, and one will have to do those mundane things that we all have to do, I don’t see the draw. Not like what we have. We offer eternal life WITH GOD, provided one follows the rules. They offer life on Earth, cutting each other’s grass and hoping they don’t have a bad day for 1000 years.

Here’s another question along those lines, are only “good” JW’s going to make it post Armageddon? Delson, since you were a JW at one time, and have since come to your senses, I can assume you’re toast, (according to them, I happen to think you’re a swell guy) but what about someone like my FIL, who isn’t a full fledged JW yet, but working towards it, or maybe someone who might have missed a few Sundays here and there and tends to be rather lax in his service? Will those be granted the opportunity to live past Armaggedon to prove themselves for 1000 years? Will forgiveness be possible during this 1000 year period? And speaking of…

Do the JW’s have a system of forgiveness in place? What exactly is their teaching on sin? Is sin to them not following the Watchtower’s edicts? If you’ve already answered these questions, just let me know, but point me in the right direction. As always, thanks for this, it’s been very helpful.

 

[andrewstx]

Same with the Mormons - hatred and lies toward the Catholic faith, vicious lies about those who leave Mormonism. But then Mormons, SDAs and JWs all arose from the same 19th century Stone-Campbell Restorationist movement. No surprise that they would all practice the same cruel and hateful behaviors.

I think that about %100 of the Disciples of Christ “Christian church” would object very strongly to being lumped in with Mormons, SDAs, and JWs. And who could blame them?

The Christian Churches Disciples of Christ is after all a main line denomination, orthodox in belief.

 

[po18guy]

I think that about %100 of the Disciples of Christ “Christian church” would object very strongly to being lumped in with Mormons, SDAs, and JWs. And who could blame them?

The Christian Churches Disciples of Christ is after all a main line denomination, orthodox in belief.

Indeed. But, once you reject the Apostolic Churches, you fall in with strange bedfellows.