The World’s Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

Let's Talk JW, kids

Okay, I got a few corrections from viewers on my blog, Releasing Religion, about my lack of knowledge on Jehovah's Witness. Here is the most recent comment I got:

"You are completely missing the point. You say you are well read but its quite obvious that you are speaking from complete ignorance. JW's DO NOT believe anyone is going to Hell. They believe that anyone excersising faith in God and his son has a chance for eternal life here on earth in perfect conditions like that was described in Genesis before Adam and Eve gave in to there own desire for power. Maybe if you took a little longer then a few seconds to actually read the pamphlet before throwing it in the recycling bin then you wouldnt look so foolish as you do now. Furthermore I agree with you in one thing. Anyone who believes that God would step into save one child and "will" others to die is just as foolish as your blog makes you look. You will never find a True JW ever saying that it was Gods will for any calamity that befalls any of us. Do me a favor the next time you see the publication "Why does God permit suffering?" take a second to read it. You still might not agree with it, and that is your God given right to do so, but at least your next blog will have a little shred of credibility." - Phillip

Fair enough. So who are these JW's and what are they all about? Have any of you ever talked to one that came to your house?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Regina M on January 25, 2011 at 1:21pm

One of my good friends in school (I think they moved into the area when I was in 5th grade) was a JW. I felt sorry for her because they didn't get presents for xmas OR bdays! How sad was that? Her parents must not have been too strict, since all their kids went to public school (which is part of govt, which is evil). If I remember correctly she left the cult/church in her 20's. Other than her, I haven't talked to anyone who belongs to the group. Or I should say, I've never had one come to my door that I've spoken with. I did show up at home a couple times with a Watchtower stuck in my door.

rickross.com has an excellent list of articles about JW. From one of those (http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw283.html), I got this list:

"A Witness will tell you that:

Christ died on an upright stake (pole), not a cross
Christ was raised from the dead as an immortal spirit person
The earth will never be destroyed or depopulated
Prayers are to be directed only to Jehovah through Christ
Only Israel was meant to observe the Sabbath
Satan is the invisible ruler of the world
Heaven is limited only to 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses
There is no Hell
Salvation is by good works
You cannot be sure of salvation
All pastors are the Antichrist
All churches and governments are of satan
You cannot take a blood transfusion
You cannot be a police officer or serve in the military
You cannot salute the flag, stand for the national anthem, or own a flag
Jesus’ second coming occurred in 1914
You cannot run for political office or vote
You are discouraged from giving to charity (except Watchtower causes)
You cannot accept Christmas gifts
Only Jehovah’s Witnesses can understand the Bible
Angels direct the Watchtower organisation"

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maia Rodriguez on January 25, 2011 at 2:07pm

Thank you for this!!! very helpful. I had no idea they didn't believe in Hell. I thought all Christians believed in Hell.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by C on February 3, 2011 at 10:19am

Hi Maia,

My uncle is a JW, and the only religious person in my family I can have rational conversations with. Besides the fact that he keeps asking me when am I gonna go to a meeting, which I just respond with "not sure" or something, he is far less threatening than christians can be. Once, we agreed on the fact that, given there were a god, ascribing a gender or color to it doesn't make sense. He may have just been pretending to agree with me to get me to go to a meeting though.

One thing I do like about JWs is the fact that they educate their followers (at least my Uncle's sect does) about some common misconceptions in the bible. For instance, going back to the hell issue, christians think of hell as a physical place, whereas JWs seem to interpret it as a state of mind.