Posted on 04/23/2009 10:05:32 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
AUGUSTA, GA - I grew up thinking the Jehovah’s Witnesses were a cult. In eighth grade, at the Christian school I attended, I took a world religions class. I thought it would open a window and shed light into the unknown. Turns out, the class was just closed-minded and dogmatic indoctrination.
As a result, I spent the next 10 years wary of anyone who knocked on my front door, as though they would lure me with winning smiles only to brainwash me into believing bizarre, unholy practices.
Luckily, life experience changes superstitious prejudices. A couple of Jehovah’s Witness friends in the military and at school completely changed that opinion. So when a nice older couple came to my house last week and invited me to the 12:30 Sunday service, I gladly accepted.
Having never actually attended a Jehovah’s Witness church, I had absolutely no preconceptions as to how the service would unfold. I thought it would be the run of mill, typical service. It wasn’t.
Many churches have a sort of festive social atmosphere. As I walked in, I noticed people didn’t mill about chatting but sat expectantly and quietly. There was an air of sobriety akin to that of more liturgical services, like Catholic or Episcopal.
I noticed the congregation was roughly equal parts black and white, an interesting characteristic given that most local churches are decidedly one ethnicity.
I sat next to a young girl. A man announced we’d sing a song on page 154. I looked for a hymn book but didn’t see one. There were no programs or hand-outs either.
The girl noticed my confusion.
“I’ll sit next to you and share my songbook with you so you won’t feel lonely,” she smiled.
Then a speaker spoke about evolution. He read the creation story in Genesis 1, methodically analyzing each verse against current scientific claims about the Earth’s creation. It felt like a seminar lecture and, afterward, when he sat down, the congregation applauded.
There is no pastor, just a group of elders who share weekly pastorly duties. Each member is expected to make sense of the teaching themselves. It’s a very Quaker meeting.
Then everyone opened their “Watchtower” study guides. “Watchtower” is a publication put out by the Jehovah’s Witnesses that contains guided Biblical readings or daily devotions.
This was my favorite part of the service. For the next hour and a half, we read through four pages of various devotional lessons and Bible verses. The first was on forgiveness, the next on sexual purity and guarding one’s mind from sinning, the third on forgiveness and humbleness, and so on.
An elder on the stage asked prodding questions as two ushers scurried up and down the aisles giving the microphone to whoever answered. It felt more like a Sunday school class than a formal service. And I kept silently humming Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” Still, I was impressed by their enthusiasm.
During the visit, I felt I crossed a sort of threshold. There will always be people who have superstitious beliefs about things they don’t truly understand. So to respond to a recent Whine Line asking why Jehovah’s Witnesses buildings don’t have windows: I can at least tell ya it ain’t because they have something to hide. It’s as transparent as glass.
It is an interesting view of what goes on. I have always believed JWs to be very nice people. Unfortunately, they deny the deity of Christ, so it’s a no go.
“I grew up thinking the Jehovah’s Witnesses were a cult.”
And you weren’t wrong.
Why no windows?
That's what I'll be asking unless someone here can tell me.
Freedom of religion is just that. I don’t agree with Russell and Rutherford, but I have an uncle who is confined to a rest home and can’t leave his bed. He lives on the other side of the country, suffering from muscular dystrophy.
The witnesses come and fellowship with him every week and of course, study with him. No one else does. God bless the witnesses for that.
I was hoping he(she?) was going to go bang on their door and demand that the people inside drop everything they were doing so he could try to convert them.
The one down the street from my house has windows. Lots of them.
Kind of a pessimistic way to go through life...
I attended a few JW Sunday Services but their Wednesday meetings were more interesting. Part of those meetings are for practicing their door to door skills.
They are a very studious group and the reason many Christians are scared of them is that most Christians don’t study their Bibles 1/2 as much as JW’s study their doctrines. So the “JW is a cult” mantra is more out of fear than fact.
Like them or not, they will not behead you for failing to agree with them.
That was my first thought, too. Didn't anyone ever teach him manners? "We're not interested, thanks, but you have an nice day!" *click*
The thing to ask a Jehovah’s Witness is: “When did Jehovah God die?” -
The JWs believe that upon death, we go to the grave and lie in the ground awaiting the final judgment. I'm not sure if they believe we have a soul or not but they sure believe that upon death, it's all over until who knows when. No afterlife, no judgment, no heaven or hell, nothing. Just a kind of dormancy or suspended animation.
So you take them to the passage where Jesus is dying on the cross and the Good Thief has just asked Jesus to be merciful and Jesus says to him "I tell you truly, today you will be with me in paradise".
Well JW, Jesus says that this man will be with Him in paradise today. That pretty much sinks your idea, doesn't it?
Oh no, says the JW smiling, you've got the comma in the wrong position. It should be " I tell you truly today, you will be with me in paradise". The comma comes after "today", not before. IOW, Jesus is telling the thief today (as opposed to yesterday or last week) that he will be with him in paradise at some future date as yet unknown.
True story.
JW-ism was invented to lure the confused, easily deceived and downright ignorant.
I used to have a SIL who was JW I learned enough about it from her and know they have their won issues. When she told me that the Pope was the anti Christ I knew it was not for me.
won=own
(As if Muslims in the West would do that -- or Turkey -- or...talk about promulgating fear)
I have to call BS on that. JW are conscientious objectors and do not serve in the military or take part in what they believe are worldly governments.
Maybe. Or perhaps a more likely explanation might be that these friends were either lapsed or disfellowshipped JWs. [JWs are probably one of the most active cults which disfellowships some of its members. Often, all communication between active JWs and the disfellowshipped JW is suppose to cease]
There are JW's in the military? I thought that was against their beliefs.
I've always had a soft spot for the JW's. Aside from having had some JW relatives at one time in the past I admire them for being so decidedly un-liberal that they'll have nothing to do with anyone else (no ecumenism here!). And their "Theocratic anarchism" used to appeal to me back when I didn't want G-d implicated in the world as it exists today. They refuse to participate in any human government because they believe human government is a plot of Satan and G-d is a sort of "once and future king" Who is going to fix things one day if we'll ever humble ourselves enough to admit we can't do it and stop trying. In fact, their "the governments are all run by Satan" actually was an influence on me joining the conspiracist John Birch Society. It turns out there's no connection whatsoever between JW Theocratic anarchism and JBS conspiracism (the latter believe that human government is splendid idea that was sabotaged only relatively recently). Of course this whole thing is based on a false dualism that turns Satan into a "gxd," which he isn't.
The JW's are also the only thoroughly integrated Fundamentalists and they deserve a kind word just for this.
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