Jehovah's Witnesses

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I was raised in a Jehovah's Witness household. My mother was also raised in such household, but my father became a Jehovah's Witness after high school. My parents are also Christian fanatics. My brothers accept that religious group, but I do not. They believe that it is a religion, but I believe that it is a cult of Christianity. Are Jehovah's Witnesses a religion or cult?

I blame Jehovah's Witnesses for my controversial viewpoints, as described in the "My Viewpoints" thread. Jehovah's Witnesses promote strict Christian upbringing. They hold their beliefs as truth (hence the word "tenet"). They do not celebrate any holidays or birthdays, but they do celebrate wedding anniversaries and commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. They are nontrinitarian. They do not vote, salute flags, or run for political office. They believe that Jesus did not die on a cross. They skew statistics in favor of their beliefs.

I believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are an overly restrictive Bible-based cult. They do not teach historical or Biblical Christianity in any way.

About four years ago, I gave up Jehovah's Witnesses because their stance on electronic games was too restrictive. Therefore, I gave up religion for Final Fantasy. I also coined term for such gamer, which is "apostate gamer." An "apostate gamer" is defined as a electronic gamer player who has given up the religion of one's parents because the religion disapprove of that person's gaming interests.

Here is the cult checklist:
  • 1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead, or whether he is a human or God) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
    2. ‪Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
    3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
    4. ‪The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
    5. ‪The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
    6. ‪The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
    7. ‪The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
    8. ‪The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
    9. ‪The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
    10. ‪Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
    11. ‪The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
    12. ‪The group is preoccupied with making money.
    13. ‪Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
    14. ‪Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
    15. ‪The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
Of the checklist above, all except nos. 7 and 12 are characteristic of Jehovah's Witnesses.

I strongly denounce Jehovah's Witnesses as a Bible-based cult because:

1. The religious group's stance on video games, motion pictures, elevision programs, et cetera is too restrictive.
2. The religious group's stance on video games, motion pictures, television programs, et cetera is based on laboratory research and ignores long-term research.
3. The religious group teaches that everyone is impressionable and ignores the social context of media use.
4. The religious group has unorthodox and contradictory beliefs.
5. Some things that the religious group denounces as harmful are actually beneficial.
6. The religious group has subtly promoted prejudice against the opposite sex.
7. The religious group has a strong, negative attitude toward other religions.
8. The religious group has refused to participate in any interfaith relations.
9. The religious group has taught unfufilled predictions.
10. The religious group has a Bible translation that was altered solely to conform to its doctrine. The committee that made the New World Translation wished to remain anonymous even after death with the intent to ensure that glory belongs to God and not to mankind.
 
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Well they are a Religion but some of there beleives go out side of what the bible says. Christianity started about 2000 years ago in Judea (present-day Israel) with Jesus Christ and His group of disciples. And Jehovah started 1840-1850 because some guy said he saw a angle of the lord, But i could say the same thing and started my own religion. The reason it grew from 100,000 to millions is because they told people that if they didnt do EXACTLY what they say they would for sure go to hell
 
Jehovah's Witnesses have tenets that are characteristic of a cult. They do not teach or represent historical or Biblical Christianity in any way. A cult uses deceptive proselytizing by saying that if they do not do exactly what they say, they will positively die. I have posted a cult checklist in the original post of this thread. A cult has a negative attitude towards mainstream religions. A cult believes that if any entertainment medium contains a reference to another religion, it considers that entertainment medium as an evil influence and must be avoided.

The reason it grew from 100,000 to millions is because they told people that if they didnt do EXACTLY what they say they would for sure go to hell

The cult checklist entries referring to that are: #5 and #15

5. ‪The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

15. The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Jehovah started 1840-1850 because some guy said he saw a angle of the lord, But i could say the same thing and started my own religion.
That man was Charles Taze Russell.
 
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I just hate that they come bangiing on your door trying to convert you. I generally just give them a wide berth, the last one's that we're knocking on my door I just told them I wasn't religious in the slightest, I enjoy being a sinner and to go away
 
they are so annoying.

OT:
branch davidians=cult
jim jones=cult
jehovas witnesses arent.

<HR style="COLOR: #000000" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->
I was raised in a Jehovah's Witness household. My mother was also raised in such household, but my father became a Jehovah's Witness after high school. My parents are also Christian fanatics. My brothers accept that religious group, but I do not. They believe that it is a religion, but I believe that it is a cult of Christianity. Are Jehovah's Witnesses a religion or cult?

I blame Jehovah's Witnesses for my controversial viewpoints, as described in the "My Viewpoints" thread. Jehovah's Witnesses promote strict Christian upbringing. They hold their beliefs as truth (hence the word "tenet"). They do not celebrate any holidays or birthdays, but they do celebrate wedding anniversaries and commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. They are nontrinitarian. They do not vote, salute flags, or run for political office. They believe that Jesus did not die on a cross. They skew statistics in favor of their beliefs.

I believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are an overly restrictive Bible-based cult. They do not teach historical or Biblical Christianity in any way.

About four years ago, I gave up Jehovah's Witnesses because their stance on electronic games was too restrictive. Therefore,I gave up religion for Final Fantasy. I also coined term for such gamer, which is "apostate gamer." An "apostate gamer" is defined as a electronic gamer player who has given up the religion of one's parents because the religion disapprove of that person's gaming interests

that last part has no relevance to anything what so ever.

you are just blaming religion for your own short comings, take ownership man, its not your parent's fault your a bigot, its your's.
jehovas witnesses are annoying but they aint a cult
 
It is not my fault that I have a problem with women. It is my parents' religions' fault. I had to give up that religion, for if I continue to practice it, my views toward women will get progressively worse. Theologically, Jehovah's Witnesses are a cultlike religious group, because they forbidden to read any kind of religious material that is not published or approved by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society or consume entertainment media that has references to any other religion, and cults do not tolerate dissent or consume media with dissenting content. They are not allowed to listen to gospel music or participate in interfaith relations. They have a strong, negative attitude towards other religions. Many of their beliefs are outside the mainstream of Christianity, and they have beliefs that contradict with the central doctrines of Christianity. Of most of the cult checklists I have seen, many of them have mostly entries that are characteristic of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses distance themselves and their children away from people who do not share their beliefs, and they try do the same with us. No religious group calls itself a cult anyway. There are spiritually abusive religious groups that are cultlike but are not really cults.
 
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When my dad won custody of me as a child, he used the ideology that my mother's religion (Jehovah's Witnesses) was a cult union. My mom was only a Jehovah's Witness for about a year (to look good I think). But I also think she chose the wrong religion to mark her as a good-doer.

The churches that I was forced to go to didn't have all of the absurd practices that you mentioned. But the followers were very persistent that their beliefs were the only truthfulness behind religion.

I hated the fact because during the whole JW fling that my mom had, I wasn't allowed to play games or watch the Simpsons...when I stayed at her house, all I was allowed to do was play in my room. We didn't have tvs (only my mom had one). And I used to wear a gold cross on my neck with Jesus on it (a regular old crucifix) that my dad gave me. (Even though I was too young to have chosen my own religion, I still wore the cross because I thought it was pretty.)
Anyway, my mom ripped it off of my neck and threw it in the trash...

And I'm not sure about everyone else's experience with the physical church...but the churches that I went to had no windows in the prayer hall...and there was a one way glass mirror right beside the prayer hall in which the "church people" sat and observed the sermons.



And I totally agree with The End...you can't blame others for your own shortcomings. I'm a woman; but...I don't see how my gender (which I have absolutely no jurist diction over) should be a cause for you to have obscured views of me...
 
From my experience with Jehovah's Witnesses, based on the Kingdom Halls and District Conventions I attended, I have witnessed the absurd practices that I mentioned. I was forced to attend the District Conventions until last year (i.e. 2007). Some of the sermons and study articles presented at the meetings I attended had references to the video game controversy and the absurd practices I have mentioned. The game series moniker "Final Fantasy" was not uttered in the sermons or study articles, but on rare occasions did it mention the characteristics of that game series. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that we take in through our eyes directly programs our hearts and shape the person immediately. If that were true, then the world would be far worse than it is now. They believe that violent and occultic electronic games and motion pictures and television programs directly instigate violence, illicit sexuality, or access to the occult or demonism. Their stance on entertainment medium is far stricter than even the mainstream religious and political stances on them are.

On a side note, I have even added the clause "I hate Jehovah's Witnesses" on my signature.
 
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You were forced to go to district conventions? I was forced to go to a JW convention when I was 7 years old...but...that's because I was a little kid and I had no say in the matter.

Your age says that you're 28...is this right? Did they physically force you? Or did you walk in with your own two legs?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that we take in through our eyes directly programs our hearts and shape the person immediately.

Is that why you have a skewered opinion about women? Because you were programmed to?
 
It is not my fault that I have a problem with women.
Yes it is. While you may have been indoctrinated as a child, you seem to be well aware that the ideology that you were taught is not what you want to practice and, as such, if you still feel as you do towards women, it's purely because you genuinely feel like this. If you can step away from the religion of Jehova's Witnesses, then surely you can step away from the ideas forced upon you as a child?

It is my parents' religions' fault. I had to give up that religion, for if I continue to practice it, my views toward women will get progressively worse.
Frankly, I doubt that your views, from what we've seen both on this forum and what I pasted from your own, can really get any worse. Any negative progression is really just going to spiral into a ridiculous campaign.

I'm not entirely sure what a Jehova's Witness actually practices but I do tend to disagree with their opposition to blood transfusions and the blatant proselytizing at your front door. In that sense, I can see why you might describe it as a cult ... but it is a religion.
 
Our experiences with the JW

Our family were Jehovah's Witnesses for a few years when we were younger and for the most part we were pretty happy with the way the approached various matters.

We decided to leave the faith, however, for a few reasons which we felt were pretty important.

We were told that Jehovah (God) only contacts the spiritually advanced elders in some place in America and they pass this on to the rest of the faith. We didn't see why such a loving God wouldn't contact us all, why would they be favoured over the everyday man? That's certainly not the kind of behaviour we see in the stories of Jesus.

Another problem we had with them was the dress code. You had to be dressed up to the nine's when in public and pressured to if you didn't. Again looking at Jesus he didn't exactly go walking around in the best of the best clothes, he wore a simple robe type garment and "Jesus Sandals".

Nowdays we don't actually belong to any religion, while I wouldn't call the Jehovah's Witnesses a cult myself, I wouldn't rejoin the faith either. At the end of the day, I'm happy enough to fulfill my own spiritual growth at home without the briefcases, suit and tie deal of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the 10% tithe deal of orthodox Christianity.
 
I just hate that they come bangiing on your door trying to convert you. I generally just give them a wide berth, the last one's that we're knocking on my door I just told them I wasn't religious in the slightest, I enjoy being a sinner and to go away

Amen.

I got "infracted" for starting a thread of this nature on an alternative forum.

I had one of these characters literally prevent me from closing the door when I said I wasn't interested in listening to their words. I was perfectly polite. He placed his foot in the door frame and urged me to "reconsider." I basically slammed the door on him after that. What a jerk, trying to weasel his way into houses so he can try to sell his religion.

I dislike having beliefs pushed on me...especially by some creepy dude with a bicycle helmet (they travel by bike for some reason) and a briefcase.
 
A useful hint for some of us less assertive: People on your property have every RIGHT to get off of your property if you own it and you want them off. If you make that known, and they still don't get off, and you can't make them go away, no matter what you do, you can probably call the cops to make them go away.
 
I'd like to watch the law take care of those stinkers. It'd be great if they resisted arrest.

Smack 'em up with a night stick. Give 'em a nice taste of Mr. Taser. Maybe they could convert a few criminals back at the station.
 
I have nothing against Jehovah's Witnesses. I have respect for people who hold strongly to their beliefs.

During the Holocaust, the Jehovah's Witnesses were the only persecuted people that were given the choice, even at the door to the gas chamber, to be saved. All they had to do was denounce their God, and they'd be saved from death. They didn't do it, and chose to die along with the others.

That, and a good friend of mine at school is a Jehovah's Witness, and she's the funniest, most outlandish person I know. I was shocked when she told me her religion. She acts no different than any other classmate of mine.

Besides. Those door-knocking-bible-pushers DO leave when you politely tell them to. I get so sick of pricks who think excessive force is the only way to teach someone a lesson. [And this is coming from someone who is attending classes for Police Academy.]

Let people do what they want, and preach what they want. They leave you alone when you ask them to.
 
hhmmmm. i know lots of ppl that are jehovahs witness. half of my family are. and although for some of them are fine and will actually come round for dinner etc. some of my aunts, uncles and family friends wot evn TALK to my dad or my other uncle becuase they were disfellowshiped! because of a stupid little thing that they did many years ago when they were young, their own brothers and sisters wont even say hello! and i know another guy that wasnt even allowed to go to his own daughters wedding!!! its ridiculous!!! what has that even got to do with religion??!!

i have also heard many stories of elders covering up stories so that shame wasnt broght uon their religion. the most shocking one i heard though was that there was this guy (JW obviously) that had been molesting his two daughters for months maybe years and his wife must of found out and went to the elders for guidance and they did nothing!!!!! and told her to keep her mouth shut!!! wtf is that? just so they didnt look bad.

im not saying that their religion is wrong, i just think that some of the practices they have and the things they do are not ethical.

as for the door thing. that is their work. they are working for god, they believe. spreading his message. it doesnt do any harm, appart from annoyance. and i know quite a few ppl whos lives have changed for the better after a JW coming to their door.
I actually asked this younger JW girl i know who had just been baptised and her life plan was to leave soonas soon as she could and go out on the 'work'.:huh: that, i thought wasnt too good. shouldnt the elders or her parents be encoraging her to get a career or something??

ne way i could ramble all day on jehovahs witnesses. thats my thoughts!

peace out!!!:D
 
The old WatchTower freebies make for good reading, perhaps that could be considered somewhat of a compensation for the door-knocking.

Also it's important to remember that it's not only the JW's that come door knocking. We got hounded by the Mormans, of all people, and we gave them a fair chance as well, but turned them away when we heard a bit more about the finer details.

I just don't see how you need a suit and tie to be an upstanding person. The Kingdom Hall we went to was highly posh and fancy. We always felt a bit out of place there, being one of the very few "middle class" families there.

I think at the end of the day getting closer to God, becoming more spiritual, is a personal thing. If you're interested you'll make the effort and it need not be through an organised set of beliefs and values.

Everybody knows the difference between right and wrong but we are also individually unique, hence I prefer to do it more personally rather take that one-size-fits-all approach.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to have JW seminars in which people who were interested could opt to go, rather than being put on the spot while in the middle of making dinner.
 
Well, since Jehovah's Witnesses, and heck, even all of Christianity is all around us because almost everyone believes in it, and it's nearly impossible to drive by every few blocks without seeing a church, one would think that it's not really necessary to "spread the word" anymore--those in need of saving will probably strive to see it (and ain't that hard?) and find it, and those who don't need to be saved because they believe otherwise would wish to be left alone, and out of common courtesy, I believe that is their right. What people need to realize is that if they ask for it, they will probably come to you.

But of course, there will always be those, Jehovah's Witnesses or not, that will disrespectingly go door to door, annoy the heck out of several people, and continually insist, and force others to believe in things they find ridiculous--these are the only people I'd consider worth calling the cops for, but I am well aware that not every Christian is like that. These people just make religion go from bad to worse.
 
netdrone said:
Lol, I can just picture that

"Umm hi there constable, I need another JW removal, cheers. See you in a few"

You'd be surprised how many times I wish I could do that. But no, the Jehovah's Witnesses have every right to go and advertise their religion. I have nothing against advertising, but they proselytise. My new religion teacher, one of her friends is Jehovah's Witness. Every time she comes over to our teacher's house, our teacher makes her swear on oath to Jehovah to not proselytise. It's funny as hell.

rainbows-and-kisses said:
hhmmmm. i know lots of ppl that are jehovahs witness. half of my family are. and although for some of them are fine and will actually come round for dinner etc. some of my aunts, uncles and family friends wot evn TALK to my dad or my other uncle becuase they were disfellowshiped! because of a stupid little thing that they did many years ago when they were young, their own brothers and sisters wont even say hello! and i know another guy that wasnt even allowed to go to his own daughters wedding!!! its ridiculous!!! what has that even got to do with religion??!!

That's bullshit is what it is. Not what you said, but what they did. But, that's how far religion can go for people. However, to use their own arguments against them, that is being lustful of religion. And, as we all know, Lust is the most common and most deadly of the Seven Deadly Sins. They care more for their religion (yes, there is a great deal of lust after their religion, for those of you who have never set foot inside a JW's house) than for their family. Total bullshit. I'm not going to tell you JW's to stop that, it's not my place to do that, but I will tell you that you are missing out on a whole lot of things.

...If I get any more worked up over this, I'm going to give myself an ulcer...I'll leave it to you guys for now...
 
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