Does anyone know anything about Jehovahs Witness and their beliefs?

[geonagual]

I actually know quite a bit about the relegion. I was never babtized but I did study with my father in law quite a bit. He is an elder. Interesting religion. What do you know about it? Does anyone have a family member or friend that it and how do they act?

[BobBong]

Interesting.. and touchy subject for myself.. I grew up as one.. until i was 14, things went sour with my parents especially my father who was an elder and major figure in the congregation when i told them i didn't want really anything to do with the religion.. Years of many many cold and confusing days I've spent contemplating life and what it means beyond what is force fed you.

Why.. what did you have in mind?

[geonagual]

Interesting.. and touchy subject for myself.. I grew up as one.. until i was 14, things went sour with my parents especially my father who was an elder and major figure in the congregation when i told them i didn't want really anything to do with the religion.. Years of many many cold and confusing days I've spent contemplating life and what it means beyond what is force fed you.

Why.. what did you have in mind?


So, have you switched to a different religion or do you not have faith that their is a god. It has been hard for me to listen to other religions too much since I starting learning about the truth. It has been a few years since I really studied. I like alot of what the religion is all about. I just could never commit so much of my time. Plus, I would have to make some changes about me that I dont want to change.

[BobBong]

I've seen aspects of it that few people have ever or will ever see.. I used to have elder's meetings in my living room, where all the issues of the congregation were brought up..
There were just to many unanswered questions for me.. i went through the questions for baptism, but they actually turned me down.. which i think was the catalyst for my change in direction...


I'm glad i decided what i did though.. once i made my decision it became very.. painfully apparent as to what was more important.. a religion.. or family.

when it comes down to it... i don't know what to believe. I believe what i can see, hear, taste.. touch. i believe the things that are real to me. Love.pain,anger.. emotion. I do not believe I am a mear sheep though.. waiting to be hearded, waiting for death. what life is than? they talk of a new world.. a paradise on earth.. well.. my paradise IS on earth.. and it's right in my bloody living room.. because that's where I'm happy.

I believe you only live once.. that life is what you make it. You Are happy because you WANT to be happy...be happy with what is around you, as i'm sure it could be a lot worse. You don't need a religion to tell you that... and all it does is hog all of your time, you do what you know will make you happy.. not what somebody else tells you will make you happy.

[geonagual]

Your right, dreaming of a paradise earth is a hard sell no matter how much "proof" you can show in the bible. I honestly think that we do just have this one life. Do your best, be content and happy with who you are and what your about. When I die I want to have no regrets and I believe it will be the same way you were before you where born.....nothing.

I always have and still do have a problem with faith and that is huge.

[BobBong]

I always have and still do have a problem with faith and that is huge.

You need to seriously ask yourself then, Is Religion really for you?

[Euphoric]

Interesting.. and touchy subject for myself.. I grew up as one.. until i was 14, things went sour with my parents especially my father who was an elder and major figure in the congregation when i told them i didn't want really anything to do with the religion.. Years of many many cold and confusing days I've spent contemplating life and what it means beyond what is force fed you.

Why.. what did you have in mind?

Me too, I was indoctrinated and alienated early on (from the ages of 2 - 13)
Jehovah's Witnesses are hardcore conservatives, like catholics except catholics get windows and holidays

It is a hypocritical religon, created to take the mind numbing effects of christianity one step further. Like a virus that kills it's host so effectively that it has a difficult time reproducing

[the image reaper]

Jehovas Witnesses is a CULT ... it does not adhere to the basic tenents of Christianity, and has contrary teachings to the Bible, although they profess belief in it (they evidently don't read so well) ... they are also going to be quite surprised to find out, too late, that they are not one of the 144,000 'saved' people .. (the 144,000 believers mentioned in the Bible are the 12 Tribes of Israel, NOT Jeh. Witnesses) ... it is unfortunate, as I am sure most JW are sincere, well-meaning people ... the Bottom Line: you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, knowing He is the Son of the Living God to receive His gift of Salvation ... don't believe that? ... no problem, I just pray the Holy Spirit opens your heart before it's too late ... :)

[GHoSToKeR]

Interesting.. and touchy subject for myself.. I grew up as one.. until i was 14, things went sour with my parents especially my father who was an elder and major figure in the congregation when i told them i didn't want really anything to do with the religion.. Years of many many cold and confusing days I've spent contemplating life and what it means beyond what is force fed you.

Why.. what did you have in mind?

Hey Bob, I think we've had this discussion before.. My family have been Jehovahs Witnesses for as long as I can remember, I was never one myself except for before I was about 10, but I guess then I was too young to decide that kind of stuff for myself.

I always find JW's to be one of the strangest sects of christianity, and it's hard living with a mom who still is one, especially being a devout atheist. lol

[PureEvil760]

I beleive they are evil as far as good/evil is concerned. God does not want religeon in the first place, second they are evalangistic..or whatever.. so they are shoving it in ppls faces. I got one so pissed off he just kept yelling at me about how "good" his religeon is..its like uh you wanna talk about the happiness in ur life? JEHOVA YEAHHH!!!

[BobBong]

I beleive they are evil as far as good/evil is concerned. God does not want religeon in the first place, second they are evalangistic..or whatever.. so they are shoving it in ppls faces. I got one so pissed off he just kept yelling at me about how "good" his religeon is..its like uh you wanna talk about the happiness in ur life? JEHOVA YEAHHH!!!
You don't need to be ignorant about it man... it's really no different from catholicism or christianity in terms of promotion. That's the entire point of a religion, to promote its beliefs. A Jehovah's witness promotes their religion just as much as any other religion. Getting in their face because they're convinced that their religion is the best thing since creamed cheese is just as pig headed and ignorant as religion itself.

[thepope]

Yep, i was raised JW(by my mom and gradparents) untill about 12, my dad was never religious and i started staying home because he didnt go. I have no religion as of yet, just living life trying to find my niche.

Hehe, dont mind the screen name

[Breukelen advocaat]

The Jehovah's Witnesses have a HUGE Watchtower Kingdom Hall in Brooklyn (which I think may still be their world headquarters), and other smaller facilities.

I don't really care what they believe, but I got fed up with them waking me up on the weekends by ringing my door buzzer. Some years ago, I had a small sign made up that said "NO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES", with the word "AWAKE" (the name of one of their publications) in the middle, encircled in red and crossed out with a line across the word. I don't have time right now, but I'll scan it soon and post it.

They are not allowed to have blood transfusions - and this is very dangerous. Some of them hold off on necessary treatment for themselves and/or their children.
http://www.watchman.org/jw/jwtransfusions2000.htm

[thepope]

The Jehovah's Witnesses have a HUGE Watchtower Kingdom Hall in Brooklyn (which I think may still be their world headquarters), and other smaller facilities.

I don't really care what they believe, but I got fed up with them waking me up on the weekends by ringing my door buzzer. I had a small sign made up that said "NO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES", with the word "AWAKE" (the name of one other their publications) in the middle, encircled in red and crossed out with a line across the word. I don't have time right now, but I'll scan it soon and post it.

They are not allowed to have blood transfusions - and this is very dangerous. Some of them hold off on necessary treatment for themselves and/or their children.
http://www.watchman.org/jw/jwtransfusions2000.htm


Actually, just recently, theyve said you can(semantics/loopholes/technology). It even talks about it in that link.

[BobBong]

The Jehovah's Witnesses have a HUGE Watchtower Kingdom Hall in Brooklyn (which I think may still be their world headquarters), and other smaller facilities.

I don't really care what they believe, but I got fed up with them waking me up on the weekends by ringing my door buzzer. Some years ago, I had a small sign made up that said "NO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES", with the word "AWAKE" (the name of one of their publications) in the middle, encircled in red and crossed out with a line across the word. I don't have time right now, but I'll scan it soon and post it.

They are not allowed to have blood transfusions - and this is very dangerous. Some of them hold off on necessary treatment for themselves and/or their children.
http://www.watchman.org/jw/jwtransfusions2000.htm

Yea.. i can personally vouche for waking and pissing a few people up and off early saturday mornings...it's no wonder i got some of the reactions i did...
The blood transfusion thing is also a touchy subject.. yes.. there's been situations in the past that have allowed for people to suffer because of not doing a blood transfusion...this is simply what they believe.. and quite honestly.. it's not really a bad idea to decline extra blood as almost all major surgeries can be done without the use of extra blood.. it's safer, and the recovery time is a lot less.. because there's less chance for that additional blood to be rejected by the body.

It comes down to personal choice with blood transfusions.. i've even met non witnesses that completely agree with not using blood transfusions if it can be avoided.. and in most cases now, it can be avoided.

[andyandy]

my opinion on JW.....

religion should be a personal experience....not something you believe because you've been forcefed its dogma as a child....
religious beliefs are as much to do with geography as they are with rational opinion. if ur born in palestine then ur likely to be a muslim, in japan ur likely to be buddhist, US christian, Indian Hindu....it no different to supporting the same football (or soccer for u guys) team as your dad....
as a result i find the moral highground that JW take in trying to convert "non-believers" pretty ignorant.....although no more so than evangelicalism or Catholicism......

Believe what you want, but believe it because you think it to be true....not because of what you've been told....
:)

[BobBong]

Believe what you want, but believe it because you think it to be true....not because of what you've been told....
:)

That's right. Believe it because you actually DO believe it. Never direct your life in a direction that you KNOW you won't be comfortable with. You set yourself up for ultimate unhappiness... Religion should be a choice. It rarely is a choice in every country across this planet because that's simply how religion works. The unfortunate thing about life is not everyone experiences the same things in the same setting, or mindset as the next person. So learning..."life lessons" is very slow for most people. Some don't learn them at all.

I don't regret what the religion gave me.. a respect for life,death,love even a respect for anger. I don't steal from people, i don't kill the dude two floors below me for the shit he's put me through and i certainly know how to control my emotions. So yea.. some good has come from it. Unfortunately.. decisions get made and opinions change. Feelings develope and ideas are planted.

Life changes. It always will...that is, until you die.:dance: Enjoy it while it lasts. There's no sense in being unhappy in your life.. even the poorest of people manage to live out their lives with a smile on their face.

[FieldofHerb22]

All I know is they wake you up early in the morning "spreading the word."

[BobBong]

All I know is they wake you up early in the morning "spreading the word."

To bad that word isn't "Legs" :D :thumbsup:

[Euphoric]

Occurring within all religions, the phenomenon called "conversion" is actually nothing more than mind-control, programming, or brainwashing-- frightening a repentant, submissive person or group into a state of terror and subsequent release. Counterfeit "conversion" experiences were, for example, widely experienced in nineteenth century America, especially in what were called "revivals." Even today, "revivals" of one form or another are used by all so-called Christian faiths in manipulating obedient followers.

"Conversion" is an artificial, deleterious state induced in a submissive person by a self-serving religious leader. As the basis of his 1914 book entitled The Psychology of Religion, Dr. Edwin D. Starbuck examined a significant number of persons who had undergone the "conversion" experience. He found that


"conversion does not occur with the same frequency at all periods in life. It belongs almost exclusively to the years between 10 and 25. The number of instances outside that range appear few and scattered. That is, conversion is a distinctively adolescent phenomenon."

Eight Marks of a Mind-Control Cult

Brainwashing has become almost a household word in the last two decades or so. In 1961, Robert J. Lifton wrote the definitive book on the subject, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, after studying the effects of mind control on American prisoners of war under the Communist Chinese. Lifton outlines eight major factors that can be used to identify whether a group is a destructive cult or not. Any authoritarian religion should be held up to the light in order to determine just how destructive their influence is on their members. Judge for yourselves.

Milieu Control
"Milieu" is a French word meaning "surroundings; environment." Cults are able to control the environment around their recruits in a number of ways, but almost always using a form of isolation. Recruits can be physically separated from society, or they can be warned under threat of punishment to stay away from the world's educational media, especially when it might provoke critical thinking. Any books, movies or testimonies of ex-members of the group, or even anyone critical of the group in any way are to be avoided.

Information is carefully kept on each recruit by the mother organization. All are watched, lest they fall behind or get too far ahead of the thinking of the organization. Because it appears that the organization knows so much about everything and everyone, they appear omniscient in the eyes of the recruits.

Mystical Manipulation
In religious cults, God is ever-present in the workings of the organization. If a person leaves for any reason, accidents or ill-will that may befall them are always attributed to God's punishment on them. For the faithful, the angels are always said to be working, and stories circulate about how God is truly doing marvelous things among them, because they are "the truth." The organization is therefore given a certain "mystique" that is quite alluring to the new recruit.

Demand for Purity
The world is depicted as black and white, with little room for making personal decisions based on a trained conscience. One's conduct is modeled after the ideology of the group, as taught in its literature. People and organizations are pictured as either good or evil, depending on their relationship to the cult.

Universal tendencies of guilt and shame are used to control individuals, even after they leave. There is great difficulty in understanding the complexities of human morality, since everything is polarized and oversimplified. All things classified as evil are to be avoided, and purity is attainable through immersion into the cult's ideology.

The Cult of Confession
Serious sins (as defined by the organization) are to be confessed immediately. The members are to be reported if found walking contrary to the rules.

There is often a tendency to derive pleasure from self-degradation through confession. This occurs when all must confess their sins before each other regularly, creating an intense kind of "oneness" within the group. It also allows leaders from within to exercise authority over the weaker ones, using their "sins" as a whip to lead them on.

The "Sacred Science"
The cult's ideology becomes the ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence. The ideology is too "sacred" to call into question, and a reverence is demanded for the leadership. The cult's ideology makes an exaggerated claim for possessing airtight logic, making it appear as absolute truth with no contradictions. Such an attractive system offers security.

Loading the Language
Lifton explains the prolific use of "thought-terminating cliches," expressions or words that are designed to end the conversation or controversy. We are all familiar with the use of the cliches "capitalist" and "imperialist," as used by antiwar demonstrators in the 60's. Such cliches are easily memorized and readily expressed. They are called the "language of non-thought," since the discussion is terminated, not allowing further consideration.

In the Watchtower, for instance, expressions such as "the truth", the "mother organization", the "new system", "apostates" and "worldly" carry with them a judgment on outsiders, leaving them unworthy of further consideration.

Doctrine Over Person
Human experience is subordinated to doctrine, no matter how profound or contradictory such experiences seem. The history of the cult is altered to fit their doctrinal logic. The person is only valuable insomuch as they conform to the role models of the cult. Commonsense perceptions are disregarded if they are hostile to the cult's ideology.

Dispensing of Existence
The cult decides who has the "right" to exist and who does not. They decide who will perish in the final battle of good over evil. The leaders decide which history books are accurate and which are biased. Families can be cut off and outsiders can be deceived, for they are not fit to exist!

http://www.hermes-press.com/Perennial_Tradition/altstates.htm
http://www.freeminds.org/psych/psych.htm

[andyandy]

interesting post - that definition applies quite aptly to all the monothestic religions :)

[Twoshots]

Interesting..

http://www.cephasministry.com/jw_facts.html

[MoonStarer420]

I stalked a few when they came around my 'hood

[alex32]

My jehovahs witness turned mentally insane. We havnt seen her since.

[Krogith]

I stalked a few when they came around my 'hood arnt mormens the ones with backpacks and bikes? :smokin:

[MoonStarer420]

I can't tell, they all look the same to me :p

[Breukelen advocaat]

I stalked a few when they came around my 'hood

Those guys in the pictures you posted don't look like Jehovah's Witnesses - they look like Mormons. The pocket protectors are a dead giveaway! :dance:
MormonsLatterDaySaintsChurch (http://www.lds.org)

[krustythfreakinclown]

Here's the reason I think why bible thumpers make their kids go door-to-door proselytizing:

It's not so much as to gain converts to their religion, but rather to strengthen the resolve of the kids who are going door-to-door. I mean, if you can go through 3 years of people slamming doors in your face and telling you to fuck off, and you make it through, chances are you're gonna be a member of that church for life.

I think people that have done that see it as a badge of honor and by remaining memebrs of that church, they are surrounded by others who have had the same experience. this generates comraderie and is used to further strengthen the member's committment to their church.

In any event, hard-core religious types are fucking crazy. Just spend 5 minutes talking to one of them about God and why their religion is better than others. Wow.

[Krogith]

All other religion that claim to Follow the Bible but don;t ......
Jehovah is god's name if you look in any bible.....
READ YOUR BIBLE AND LOOK AROUND YOU THATS ALL I CAN SAY....
when your country tells you that you have to serve god there way and is not following the Bible and is World Wide and trying to World Enforce it there way you need to stand STRONG, Keep Your Eyes Wide Open, Trust In God for if he Forgets you, your really DEAD

[Euphoric]

your really DEAD


Wow, i read this then looked down..my shirt says DEAD in huge letters (thnk u ebay).
Cool. I guess u were right :cool:

[hempomatic]

Jehovas Witnesses is a CULT ... it does not adhere to the basic tenents of Christianity, and has contrary teachings to the Bible, although they profess belief in it (they evidently don't read so well) ... they are also going to be quite surprised to find out, too late, that they are not one of the 144,000 'saved' people .. (the 144,000 believers mentioned in the Bible are the 12 Tribes of Israel, NOT Jeh. Witnesses) ... it is unfortunate, as I am sure most JW are sincere, well-meaning people ... the Bottom Line: you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, knowing He is the Son of the Living God to receive His gift of Salvation ... don't believe that? ... no problem, I just pray the Holy Spirit opens your heart before it's too late ... :)

well i have to disagree since i am a JW they are not a cult there are 144,000 people that go to heavean , and then the rest will live forever on earth.

jesusChrist=son of god
GOD=JEhovah the creator of life and universe. and marijuana

[alonepsycho]

Yeah those look like Mormons.

[harmonicminor]

to answer the question of this thread
Jehovas witnesses did not witness Jehova themselves thats a false claim lol
and they belive in Jehova :-)

[Euphoric]

:D
well i have to disagree since i am a JW they are not a cult there are 144,000 people that go to heavean , and then the rest will live forever on earth.

jesusChrist=son of god
GOD=JEhovah the creator of life and universe. and marijuana

You're a pothead jw? Isnt that a contradiction in terms!? Vry confusing concept for me, help me understand the logic behind violating key elements that would lead directly to excommunication within your own religon? :confused:

[willystylle]

My dad told me this joke when I was a youngling, asking about Jehovah's Witnesses.

Me: Dad, what's a Jehovah's Witness?
Dad: A door-to-door bible salesman.

[Krogith]

When goverment takes your right to read your bible away and says serve god there way, are you going to go with it or be strong enouf to say there serveing god wrong? READ THE BIBLE get to understand that this life is all but satan's system to prove him wrong! Satan's web of lies is the world you live in today... Look deep inside yourself you know this is all crap! Mans trust in Man to bring peace, this will distroy thoses men. It's all around you KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN, it just might save you if you stay away from it!

[geonagual]

well i have to disagree since i am a JW they are not a cult there are 144,000 people that go to heavean , and then the rest will live forever on earth.

jesusChrist=son of god
GOD=JEhovah the creator of life and universe. and marijuana




You are no Jehovah's Witness if you smoke marijuana