Sister Joining Jehova's Witnesses-Should I be Worried?

[agooga]

My sister is 43 years old, lives in a very small town about 1,000 miles away in our home town. We have relatives in the town as well. She has a 4 year old son (no father) and has fallen for a man there who is a JW.

They are seriously talking of marriage and she seems to be well on the road to adopting his religion.

We were raised Catholic, but she hasn't set foot in a church in years, as far as I know.

I know little to nothing of JW, other than the usual bad rap it gets as a "cult," etc.

I WILL BE DOING MY OWN RESEARCH (for all the FReepers out there who complain that people actually ask other people's advice/opinion rather than Doing Their Own Research). But I often find that I get some interesting POV's by soliciting here.

And, don't let my tagline scare you off-- I am not anti-religion in the least. I think religion in general has been a huge positive net gain for mankind.

[AmeriBrit]

The JW's come around our neighbourhood every Saturday like clockwork, but they or other religious groups haven't darkened my doorstep in years since I made up and laminated the following notice for my front door.

"WE ARE A CATHOLIC FAMILY,
Propaganda of other religion's is not welcome,
Please do not disturb,
Thankyou!"

Many of my neighbours and friends have followed my example and now they aren't disturbed either.

[Toby06]

I thought there was only 3. And we were just missing the pizza.

I gotta have cigarettes, too.

[pissant]

Copenhagen. I forgot.

[WhiteGuy]

Sister Joining Jehova's Witnesses-Should I be Worried?

of course not, it's a free country.


On the other hand the JW's for the most part are way past the acceptable point on the annoyance scale.

My advice - any time you invite her over, trow back several Woodie's prior to her arrival.

[ladyinred]

I know little about them other than they actually do think there is no real Heaven, and no hell either or something. The only one I knew was very nice, but my friends daughter married one and has now pulled away from her family.

[uglybiker]

You cover 2 of the 4 food groups right there.

Blonde + brunette + redhead + beer = 4 food groups

[John Will]

You left out asians and latinas.

[uglybiker]

Asians would normally fall in the 'brunette' category.

Latinas.... whatever bottle of hair color is on sale that week. ;-)

[Clemenza]

Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY!

PJ knows some Latina JWs in the biblical sense, I believe.

[NRA2BFree]

It's a cult. My aunt left Christianity to become a JW, and I can tell you first hand, they DON'T use the Bible as the Word of God. They've got their own book/teachings, and they are filled with errors. The Bible warns ANYONE who takes away from or adds to the words in the Bible, that the plagues spoken of in the Bible will be added unto them, so ANY religion who has their "own" book of preference is a false religion. I tried to tell my Aunt, because I have read the Bible from cover to cover many times, but it never did any good to tell her about Scripture because she has never read the Bible. Biblical truth so went against the JW teachings that she quit her job working for me, and we didn't even discuss it in the office. Members of the JWs told her she had to quit working for me, because I was a Christian and "knew enough to be OK", and that she could do more good working on other people, and she quit working for me. LOL! They pit family members against each other unless they are JWs too. She's totally brain washed now. I don't think there's much hope of her Salvation now, unless it comes from a 'Divine Awakening,' which of course, could happen, but her heart is already hardened, so I really doubt it. It kinda reminds me of Islam. How pathetic is that?

Your sister's soul is in grave danger if she joins that cult. That's NOT all. She's going to be very unhappy when she discovers that she can no longer celebrate Christmas, birthdays and many other holidays with her child, the way they have been used to. It's pretty hard to tell a 4 year old child who is used to Christmas trees, gift exchange and Santa why all the other kids he knows can have Christmas and he can't. I celebrate Christmas for the real meaning behind it, but I did believe in Santa as a child. When I was old enough then I was told about Santa.

I hope she's a tough woman because she's going to have many doors slammed in her face when she HAS to go do witnessing (every other Saturday) and tries to peddle the famous "Watchtower" to people. THAT in itself, is forbidden in the Bible. You CANNOT take ANYTHING of monetary value for preaching the "Good News", but of course, they don't believe in Salvation. The GIFT of Salvation is FREE. Jesus Christ paid for it on the Cross at Calvary with His shed blood. Trust me, if you can get her away from it NOW, you should, because you will never get her away once she's indoctrinated. God gave us an "owners manual" (Bible), that has directions on how to get through this life and into Eternal Life with Him, but people want to 'do life their way', and so they perish. Knowledge of the Word of God is power, and it not only gets you in right standing with God, it helps you in many ways as you struggle from this life to the next. The difference in the results of that struggle is where you are going to go after this life. That may be more than you wanted, but you asked. LOL

[PJ-Comix]

Nope. I stay away from JWs. I knew Latina Pentacostals. Different deal.

[HOTTIEBOY]

You mean like this one.

Just add beer and you got it.
I guess someone needs to bring chips and salsa too.....
And I got a whole sleeve of Cope in the freezer.....

[pissant]

How did that only get 50 posts?

[The_Victor]

Most of the Jehovah's Wittnesses I know pretty regular folks. They have about the same amount of goofiness as any other religion, no more, no less.

It's largely dependent upon the preacher/priest (as is th case with most churches). I've met some very normal Christians who were JW, and I've met some really whacked out ones. But they didn't go to the same church.

[The_Victor]

I'm such a geek. I really should find out why I've been pinged to a thread before I start replying. And I should know after being pinged by HOTTIEBOY that the reason wasn't to discuss the nature of the JWs in Christianity.

Thread successfully hijacked

[HOTTIEBOY]

LOL

You can thank Pissant for that...


Soooo, the B&B Thursday thread is a go?

I wonder who can set the record for most deleted coments.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

4. Dont expect to be able to get ahold of her on Saturday. She will be out on Service. This is the door-to-door propagandizing that makes the Mormon's look lazy.

That is too funny. We have both in our area. They both hit our housing plan on a regular basis. A late model, nondescript American made sedan pulls to the curb...if the modestly dressed (though incredibly well ironed) occupants are under 25 and male...they are Morman; middle aged and female...JW. Sometimes both in one day!!! I have joked that I will don a burka (save on sunblock) to do yard work in so as not be interrupted by the 'faithful.' I figure if they saw me in that get up they would just consider me a lost cause...

[PennsylvaniaMom]

My pat answer when they come to the door (few do now) is to say sorry can't talk right now my coven is meeting here in ten minutes and I got to finish preparing the blood sacrifice. I usually say such in a sort of detached manner while I stare intently at a space just above their heads.

I may have to try that one :)

[AbsoluteGrace]

Should you be worried? Absolutely. I can tell you your sister will never ever be the same.

My experience JW child:

A stepfather who drank heavily, and was sexually abusive. Friends and family knew of the abuse and approached the elders. They questioned my stepfather and he denied it. After several months they offered him a position within the congregation. My experience was not a rare occurance: http://www.silentlambs.org/ (There was also a large write up on in the New York Times.)

I spent Thanksgiving knocking on doors, I hid behind doors on Halloween, my birthday was just another day, I was laughed at for not saluting the flag, no pride in country, no Easter baskets or dresses, I didn't even vote in mock elections at school, no Valentine's cards from classmates, I spent Christmas, Halloween and Valentine's parties at the school library, no prom, no Senior trip, no graduation parties, and certainly - no higher education.

As an adult:
Upon telling my step-dad that I no longer wanted to be a JW, he threw me out. Immediately. I walked the streets in one of America's largest cities with my suitcase at midnight.

My stepfather passed away, and at the funeral they said what a wonderful husband, brother, son, and uncle he was. Notice what was missing? I was told it was an "oversight."

My mother pulled me in and out of her life as she needed me after his death. It was so frustrating to be so close - yet so far away.

My mother warned me that she could not go close to my daughter because "we were going to be destroyed at Armageddon."

When I joined another religion my grandparents began to refer to me as the "Antichrist" and my aunt sent me a scathing letter telling me I was disowned, a disgrace to Jehovah and my children were in danger.

My mother almost died from a bloodless organ transplant. Several years later she went into chronic rejection. (Another story in itself!) She died when her red blood cells could no longer be increased with medication. She was told only a transplant would save her life. She chose not to have it.

I did not attend my mother's funeral. I could not subject my children to the cruelty they would see. We instead remembered her in our own way.

I now speak in churches and tell of my experience. I encourage people to watch for signs of sexual abuse.

If your sister does join - and decides to leave at a later point - I'm thankful that she will have you to support her.

Stay as close to her as you can, and remind her you love her. Do not attack the religion as she has been trained to embrace it tighter when you do.

[bmwcyle]

Rewriting the Bible is not allowed by the scripture. This is how it came to be a phony religion.