Is everything JWs teach wrong? Many answers about JWs simply say they’re a cult and all their?

Question

teachings are false. Does that include teachings like:

OBEY LAWS, even inconvenient ones, like speed limits when late for work;
PAYING TAXES, rather than claiming religious exemption;
KEEPING THEIR WORD, like to the IRS on not promoting politics in church;
TEACHING YOUTH to wait until marriage instead of having sex for fun and just using protection;
TREATING YOUTH with respect, and not just a "do what you're told!" attitude;
TEACHING YOUTHS the whole Bible, and not just Bible stories, right along side parents;
NOT LETTING INDIVIDUALS get lost in the crowd of an oversize church;
EVERYONE is taught the same, making it easier to start a new congregation, with a set of elders;
MAKING sure every member is evacuated in a natural disaster, such as in Katrina, and not mostly the good contributors;
THAT KINGDOM HALLS compliment neighborhoods, lacking large and expensive decorative features;
HONESTY FIRST. Ask 1000 movie stars theiremployee's religion and see what they say the most

I purposely made this question neutral to make people think about it and not take a pre-conconceive idea of my intent. But, something of interest happened in the process.

Yahoo wouldn't accept the question with the words Jehovah's Witnesses in it. I had to use JW instead. Every time I tried to use the spelled out name, I got an error message from Yahoo. I even rebooted my computer, if for some reason the error was being caused by my equipment. Perhaps too many questions have been asked recently about JWs.

Answer 1

It seems as though Yahoo restricts the name "Jehovah" only from the part of a question which may appear in the bold title. It would seem they do so at the insistence of anti-YHWH activists.

The name "Jehovah" is an English translation of the Hebrew name pronounced as or similar to "Yahweh" or "Yehowah"; the exact original pronunciation is unknown. The four Hebrew characters corresponding to the letters "YHWH" are well-recognized as the biblical personal name of Almighty God, and are universally designated as "the Tetragrammaton" or "the Tetragram".

For centuries, most Jews have superstitiously refrained from pronouncing aloud any form of the divine Name. They base that superstition on the third of the Ten Commandments given to Moses:
(Exodus 20:7) You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way
http://watchtower.org/e/bible/ex/chapter_020.htm?bk=Ex;chp=20;vs=7;citation#bk7

Over the centuries, that Jewish superstition has expanded to also forbid writing or engraving any form of "YHWH", even when simply copying from one of the nearly 7000 occurences in the Hebrew Scriptures. In recent centuries, some superstitious Jews have even forbade unabbreviated EUPHEMISMS for "YHWH"; capitalized terms such as "Tetragrammaton" and (amazingly) even "the Name" are forbidden by such superstitions.

More recently, the Jewish superstition has ballooned out of all reasonableness by also forbidding respectful impersonal TERMS referring to the Almighty; thus many Jews insist upon writing "G-d" or "G~d" rather than "God". They may even refrain from capitalizing impersonal terms such as "Creator" and "Almighty".

Naturally, the religious and superstitious practices of a person are between him and his Creator. However, in recent decades these superstitious Jews have worked to impose their superstitious sensibilities beyond their religious communities, and onto the entire populace. Thus, although "YHWH' is unanimously recognized as the personal name of God, few today use any form of it in their writings and conversation.

Interestingly, Christendom has largely joined with superstitious Jews in suppressing the use of "Yahweh" and "Jehovah". However, it seems that Christendom's anti-YHWH bias largely devolves from their hatred of Jehovah's Witnesses, the religion almost single-handedly responsible for the growing public recognition that the Almighty God of Judaism and Christianity actually does a personal name.

It seems that too many are more interested in coddling superstition than in allowing intellectual honesty and respect for the Almighty.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/na/
http://watchtower.org/e/20040122/

Answer 2

I'm not sure whether you are FOR the J.W's or AGAINST them.
They DO obey the laws, even at some personal sacrifice of convenience, money etc.
Because thjey are NOT a profit driven organisation, they DO legally claim religious exemption from taxes. however, individual members who are employed or self employed, DO pay taxes.
They DO keep their word and are NEVER involved in politics.
They DO teach their youth high moral standards.
Their youths ARE taught the complete Bible, including 'The song of Solomon' , with its instructions on proper sexual relations. And while they are with their parents.
Individuals are not ' lost in the crowd' and as soon as a suburban group reaches about 150 members, another congregation is formed, even if it involves up to four congregations using the same Kingdom Hall.
Each and every Brother has the opportunity to qualify as an elder. And it is not necessary to be an older person.
Disaster plans are in place.
Kingdom Halls are well designed, simple and display NO icons. Regular working bees maintain the building and grounds. And J.W's have a reputation for constructing these quality built halls in a single three day period, called a "quickbuild". But only after the finance side is fully organised.
And, Yes, they are very honest. There would not be a single person who could claim that something is missing from their property after a visit from a pair of J.W's.

And every staement made is supported by a scripture. Some may disagree and bring in words and theories that do not appear in the Bible, but this is expected.

Answer 3

No they are not a cult u have the freedom to do as u want to do. I myself am a former JW. The problem is people think they're a cult because when someone is doing wrong they are disfellowshipped. People see this as being banned from the rest of the congregation which is wrong. U are still allowed into the kingdom halls to hear the message that they are giving. U are just not allowed to associate with the rest. U are also allowed to repent to god and come back, which is called reinstatement. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. If people who were not obeying rules were allowed to continue associating freely with the others they would soon corrupt the others. The person above stated he was disfellowshipped for having outside friends, no one is ever disfellowshipped for having friends outside of the religion, but when u allow those friends to corrupt u and u began breaking rules that u know are wrong and dont feel sorry for what u have done, then u r disfellowshipped. They are great and honest people. I am no longer one because I couldn't keep up with the strict standards but honestly my life was much happier when i was a part of them

Answer 4

This is in response to 'liquidjesus23's assertions ...

The term Holy Spirit is in the NWT as many times as it occurs in the original manuscripts. Just looking in the NWT index gives a listing of 15 occurences -- yes, in the NWT of Jehovah's Witnesses. An on-line article regarding the Holy Spirit is:

The Holy Spirit---God's Active Force http://www.watchtower.org/library/ti/article_07.htm

The term 'Lord' is also used in the NWT, wherever it was used in the original manuscripts. The NWT index alone shows 17 listings. One article about it being used in many Bibles to replace God's name is:

The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever :
"The LORD"---Equivalent of "Jehovah" [God's name]?
http://www.watchtower.org/library/na/diagram_04.htm

The Scripture references in each article are links to some of the verses in the NWT where the respective terms ARE found.

'liquidjesus' either doesn't know what he's talking about --and is careless in his assertions-- or, is Purposely making a subtle attempt to discredit Jehovah's Witnesses. It can be just as damaging either way to readers! There is much more to being a Christian than 'simply believing in Christ', as he claims to do.

Is There Any Hope of Salvation?
Jesus Saves--How?
- Mankind Faces a Difficult Problem
- God Provides a Perfect Solution
- Jesus' Death Has Great Value
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/11/15/article_01.htm

(NOTE : This ^ URL will likely be modified soon. After that, the title can be entered in the Advanced Search engine at : http://watchtower.org/search/search_e.htm , which will give you a link with the new URL.)

Answer 5

No not at all, if anything JW's teach truth from the Bible not their opinions, they not only teach truth but live it,as a person who left after learning the truth from the Bible because I felt that I couldn't measure up, and feeling that I was missing out in life by being a Witness, I had nothing more to do with Witnesses for over 7 years and got involved in all sorts of sins I had found out that by leaving I was actually mising out on wholesome and the very things that bring happines in life, and my life was lacking very much and the things that I thought earlier that I was missing out on were really only refuse nothing worthwhile was there to be had out in the worldIt can truly be said that all that glitters is not Gold, I had actually left the Gold behind and gone to refuse, which is what the things in the world were even back in those days, the late 70's, so I returned to the truth and I have never looked back I was missing nothingI was just blinded temporarily by wrong thinking believing I was missing out, it was the worst decision that I ever made, but I was young, and inexperienced, obviously I had to learn the hard way and through many pains, now the pains are gone and I'm happy even through hard times, but I am happy to have made it back in time to still not miss out on the real life!
I had lost so much and much time by leaving the real truth. There is nothing in comparison out in the big wide world nothing but Falseities and illusions of good things, but that are not good things at all!

Answer 6

I consider myself a Christian. One who simply beleives in Christ. There are so many denominations of churches, that it can be overwhelming trying to figure out who does this, or who does that. I have a copy of the New World Translation. That is the scripture that J.W.'s publicate. The big difference you will find is that the words, lord and holy spirit are not present. "Lord" is replaced with the "name" of God, "Jehovah", translated from the Tetragrammaton (YHWH). Since they don't beleive in spiritism, Holy Spirit is taken out. Does it make it bad? Depends on your beliefs I guess. Me? I don't think so. When we become Christians, the ultimate goal is to be more Christ-like. I really believe that denominations are just barriers that can seperate Christians from one another, and ultimately, the most important part of being a Christian. Sharing the bible. Actually caring about someone you don't know. Fellowship. Being a friend. Sharing your testimony. You know, J.W.'s spend alot of time just going to people's houses. Trying to share a piece of scripture. That's good right? I really think that the more we quit worrying about which denomination is doing what, and the more we try to get together as Christians, we can quit worrying about what we want. Then we can focus on really making a difference doing what God wants.

Answer 7

As a former JW I can answer this.. Their teachings are very strict but moral...They have a high standard of living that I was not able to cope with. They are the most honest people you will ever meet... But I couldnt deal with their standards....you have to marry someone that is a JW...and they try to set up marriages...I could not deal with that. They have good intentions, but I was disfellowshipped for having friends out of the religion....I am glad I am not a part of them anymore

Answer 8

"Cult" is a relative term. Technically, all religions are cults, if you go by the strict definition of the word. Anyhow, I'm not a JW, but I respect their zeal for their religion.

Answer 9

I would not use the term cult, I think more appropriate fanatics
i do think in there hearts they believe they are right, I do not subscribe to there belief system,I think that they are fine people
as Jesus once said "If they are not against us, they are with us"

Answer 10

If you want to learn about any religion, you should go on Sunday (or Saturday) and check it our for yourself. Don't listen to what ANYBODY else says. More than likely they are wrong. Most people don't know why they believe what they believe so don't you make the same mistake.