Is this true about Jehovas Witness?

Question

If you join in this religion and try to back out they will make your lives hell for months?

Answer 1

No.

What is true is that Jehovah's Witnesses practice the Scriptural practice of disfellowshipping for unrepentance of such serious sins as fornication, drug abuse, stealing, and apostasy. Baptized Witnesses who join the military or publicly engage in worship with another religion are considered to have disassociated themselves from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Contrary to the misinformation of anti-Witnesses, it is quite possible to become inactive in the JW religion without becoming disfellowshipped. As long as one's lifestyle does not bring reproach upon the congregation, and as long as one does not advocate one's disagreements with the religion, the congregation has no interest in "investigating", exposing, and disfellowshipping an inactive former Jehovah's Witness.

Former Witnesses who are disfellowshipped or disassociated are typically treated in accord with the Scriptural pattern explained in these Scriptures:

(1 Corinthians 5:11-13) Quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. ...Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

(Titus 3:10) As for a man that promotes a sect, reject him after a first and a second admonition

(2 Thessalonians 3:14) But if anyone is not obedient to our word through this letter, keep this one marked, stop associating with him, that he may become ashamed.

Becoming baptized as a Jehovah's Witnesses is not a trivial step. At a minimum, a student must demonstrate months of regular meeting attendance and public ministry, then must himself express the desire to be baptized. The candidate then spends hours answering hundreds of bible questions wherein he expresses both a clear understanding and personal conviction regarding Jehovah's Witness teachings in at least three separate interviews with three different elders. The candidate must vocally agree to be baptized in front of hundreds or thousands of eyewitnesses, and must be publicly immersed in water. This is not a momentary emotional decision by an unreasoning child. Dedication as a Witness required hard work and determination at the time.

Learn more:
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/1988/4/15/article_01.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/1997/1/1/article_01.htm

Answer 2

I'm not sure but I do know that the WatchTower organization has a history of making statements about the end of the world. If an organization produces a prophecy that doesn't come true where their followers and current leaders do not talk about or admit - don't you think they might be off about alot of what they are preaching? I mean I have Jehovah's witnesses who visit my neighborhood on a weekly basis and they are nice people from what I can tell - some of what they say I can agree with but alot of it doesn't jive with the true historical facts about things. I don't know what happens when someone leaves it, but I'd be really careful before getting too involved in it. It's generally not the people - but it's the Watchtower organization that I have an issue with. I mean some of the people who knock on my door are so sweet and kind that I just want to invite them in for coffee to chat. But as with most false teaching - the people under it don't really have a mind of their own - so when someone does leave they are told to think of them a certain way - it's the old wolf in sheep's clothing. Most false religions are like that. If someone wants to deceive you - they are going to at first appear to be like an angel of kindness and light - only to turn on you and tear you to pieces eventually. Getting involved in a religion won't change a person's heart and I'm not better than anybody else if I go or don't go - for me it's something way way deeper than that.

Answer 3

Yes. I lost all my friends, had virtually no relationship with my family and was guilt tripped by all the people I'd grown up with. It messes with your head, gives you nightmares and generally screws you up for quite a while. The scary thing is that you don't see how suffocating it is until you leave. It does have it's highlights- you have heaps of friends and they're genuinely nice people- but it doesn't make up for the fact that if you decide you don't want to be a part of it anymore, you may as well cease to exist. I've dealt with it now, but I don't envy anyone who's making the decision whether to stay in the religion because they know the consequences, or leaving because it's not what they believe in. Not fun times..

Answer 4

It's not so much that they make your lives hell for months... in fact once they have given up on trying to keep you in, they won't even actually talk to you anymore.

What happens is this:

When a person gets involved with the Watchtower, it takes up a LOT of their time... the meetings, the book studies, 'going out in service' (aka door to door), etc.
They are also encouraged to spend time with other witnesses and to avoid spending time with anyone else. They are also discouraged from involvement in non-religious activities... for instance Witness children are discouraged from joining school clubs, sports, etc.

So eventually what happens is you don't have any friends other than the people in the congregation... and chances are you have also alienated most of your family (except for the ones who you converted). So now if you come to your senses and decide to leave, you have no friends.. leaving a huge 'hole' in your life. If you leave the Watchtower, all of your friends and family who are involved are instructed to 'shun' you (very Christ-like, huh?) This can make for a very lonely life indeed until you get back into real life and make some new friends. In fact, you can find many a personal anecdote online from witnesses who would like to leave the Watchtower but are unwilling to uproot themselves fro everything they know.

Answer 5

Yes, but more so if you have been a member for years. You are pretty much brainwashed as time goes by and they count on this to intimidate you. Another thing is that over time a member may have lost close contact with old friends and their families and are fearing isolation without the Church , so that is a good time to sweet talk, then badger them to come back to the fold.
I have known some who were terrified when they left because they had been convinced there would be harsh retribution.

Answer 6

Why are you addressing this question to non-Jehovah's Witnesses? If you want to know something about them, then ask the JW's themselves. Otherwise, don't you know you're going to get biased negative answers? That's obvious.

I've actually never heard such a load of rubbish in all my life. Everyone has free-will and choice that is God-given. Seeing as Jehovah's Witnesses follow the Bible, then they respect that. Whatever choice you make (whether to join or not) is up to you. Only you can make that choice -no one can make it for you. God wants those who's heart is toward Him not those who are pressurized. Jehovah's Winesses do not pressure anybody. The choice is left up to you.

Ignore the biased comments on this page & if you need to know anything more about JW's, do yourself a favour & ask them.

Answer 7

They are very tight nit society. While they reject the idea of being called a cult due to trying to follow in Jesus's steps doing what he did the preaching and teaching...
I have found that yes they do make the lives of those who wish to leave miserable. They tell you not to judge yet they judge everyone and when you aren't receptive to their message then they say that God is judging you not to be worthy and that is why you didn't accept their message.
They preach that they practice what they preach but in reality they treat many of their own fold with contempt. They are clicks within clicks within clicks and though they claim not to be secretive and never to demand that their members do or abstain from certain activities they imbed in your minds a deep sense of guilt and a hightened sensitivity to what most would simply ignore. If you are speaking with them now and are interested in learning from them that is your choice but if you mention that you were here on the net asking this question , they will immediately discourage you and warn you that those that speak against them are of Satan's world and we are the devil trying to discourage you from finding out the truth.
Many of them would say they would never take blood or give blood and treat their brothers and sisters with such loyalty as to give their lives but....Try asking them to help someone financially. They have a 100 scriptures to say why they shouldn't and advise you to seek assistance from the same relatives they told you were satan's tools used to test and discourage you.
It's a bunch of B.S.

Answer 8

What the elders do is try to get you to come back. They don't make your life hell and because they don't believe in hell fire they are not trying to save you from it. They love you and are trying to help you understand that it is a mistake to fall away. They even discourage other members to "hang out" with them because they are afraid that someone would stumble in their faith trying to help. It is left with the elders to help, I believe. You do know that they are Christians as well and the GOD that they believe in is the same one that most other Christians believe in. It is just a different denomination of Christianity. It is not a cult. I think that the majority of Jehovah Witnesses are very good people. I am not a Jehovah Witness but I respect them.

Answer 9

I have heard this too.
Children of GOD do this too.
In the Army of the Lord, when a Fellow Child falls back into sin, some of his,her Bro.'s and Sis.'s in Christ want to shoot the Injured Soldier, instead of Helping them back out of that sin. Some get Kicked out (church) too.

Answer 10

If you want to know the truth about Jehovah, would you ask Satan? Of course not. Instead of forming a prejudice based on unsubstantiated testimony, why not approach one of Jehovah's Witnesses and ask him/her anything you want. That is the ONLY way you are going to get a reliable answer.