Jehovah's Witnesses have the true religion. They are Christian (of course), but they are unique for their rejection of paganisms, use of God's personal name, and global preaching by every active adherent. No other religious organization can claim such purity of worship.
These facts about Jehovah's Witnesses are perhaps relevant to this question. The more one compares this Christian religion with others, the more remarkable it is shown to be.
1. Jehovah's Witnesses have no paid clergy. Yet they remain tightly organized with more than 6.5 million active Jehovah's Witness preachers (about 16 million associate themselves with the religion). Even fulltime preachers and workers at their branch offices are unpaid volunteers.
2. There is no elite class among Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the few 'anointed' among them enjoy no special privileges in their congregations on earth. An anointed person (one of those relative few with a heavenly hope) is not elevated above his fellow congregants in any way, and he may not even qualify for appointment as a simple 'deacon' or elder. There are no titles; EVERYONE is addressed as 'brother' or 'sister'.
3. No person benefits economically from the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the 8 to 20 men who serve on their Governing Body receive simply room, board, medical care, and reimbursement for certain personal expenses according to the exact same provision as every other branch volunteer.
4. About a hundred men have served on Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body committee during the past 125 years or so. The vast majority of them have spent the vast majority of their adult lives volunteering for their organization's purposes, and the vast majority have died faithfully and near-pennilessly while still under their legal 'vow of poverty'.
5. Amazingly, Jehovah's Witnesses did not splinter as a sect from some other religion. Instead, a truly tiny but sincere group of bible students studied only the Scriptures to determine the will of God. Thus their religion remains absolutely independent of and not carrying the sins of Christendom's history, yet carries the authority of Christ's teachings.
6. Despite the distortions of anti-Witnesses, throughout their modern history Jehovah's Witnesses have refused to claim divine inspiration or infallibility for their teachings. They have pointed to the bible (and not any particular translation) as the only inspired infallible means of knowing God's thoughts. For over 125 years, their teachings have been presented as merely the results of sincere bible research by imperfect but godly humans.
Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/article_07.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20040601/article_02.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/who.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/statistics.htm
2006-12-22 01:35:57
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answer #1
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answered by achtung_heiss 7
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Well, before I became one....I never really knew who they were. No one had spoken to me about the truths found in the bible. I use to have so many questions about who was God, where did he come from, why are we here?, but none of my questions got answered. Even my mother told me to ask the priest, but no one knew the answers. It wasn't until I was about 19 yrs old that I decided to make a serious search of answers to my questions. I saw this book called "You Can Live Forever In Paradise On Earth". It was published by the Jehovah's Witnesses. As soon as the book said that God's name is Jehovah, I believed I found the "truth"!!! I was soooooooo estatic, I even realized why the JW's were called JW's! (They were witnesses of God - Jehovah). I read that entire book through right away and was so happy to have answers to all my questions! But it wasn't until a few years later that I realized it wasn't only knowledge that was acceptable to God, you had to act on what you learned. So I did.
I finally read the entire bible through! I was so proud of that, it took me many years to try, but I recieved a wonderful Bible Schedule of how to read it in a year and I was able to do that. I received a free bible study from the JW's, many free publications to help me progress spiritually and then I became baptized to show my dedication to Jehovah God - not to the organization, but to God. So now I am recognized as an official Jehovah's Witness and I'm proud to be one. Of course, I meet many obstacles along the way, of being a JW, but because of Jehovah, I am able to cope with it.
To answer your question: I think JW's are loving, caring people who really take a personal interest in people's lives.
Thank you for asking this question and may you too come to find the "accurate truth" in the Bible. Also, if you would like the Bible Schedule to Read in a year, let me know, I still have it.
2006-12-22 02:51:37
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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Disfellowshipped JW
1982 Corning, CA Congregation
For cause, but not the ones some ex-JWs who want to put themselves on a pedestal, want you to believe, and know you will without question.
You could wait until next May when this program about Jehovah’s Witnesses is shown on PBS, or you can order a copy now. It was done by an independent film company.
http://www.knocking.org/
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=54714EBF23EFA251
Setting aside any Bible issues, they believe in obeying the law, even the inconvenient ones, such as speed limits when late for work.
They believe in paying taxes, even though there are many ways they could avoid them, as many religions do.
They believe in keeping their word, such as to the IRS that they will not promote politics in the church, and they actually mean it.
They teach their youth that waiting until marriage is preferable to using protection, and for the most part, the youths actually believe it. As a result, they have the lowest rates of out-of-wedlock births and STDs. Yes, there is the occasional ones who would rather have their fun now than wait, but there are far more who choose to wait.
They treat their youth with respect, not just "do what you're told!"
Youths are taught side by side with the adults, the Bible as a whole, and not just Bible stories. The very young may not understand what they are being taught, but by the time you reach the age of understanding, they have a good basic knowledge of the scriptures.
The congregations never get so large that the individual gets lost in the crowd. Since everyone is taught the same, it is easy to start a new congregation, with a set of elders.
Everyone knows everyone, whether in their congregation, or in their circuit. When Katrina happened, every Jehovah’s Witnesses living in New Orleans could be found in Texas, with every individual accounted for. How many other religions could say for certain they knew that none of those left behind belong to one of their churches?
They believe their Kingdom Halls should compliment a neighborhood, and not overwhelm it, so they are small and don’t include a lot of expensive decorative features. Each KH can hold up to four congregations.
The greatest difference between JWs and the rest of Christendom can be answered with just one question.
WHAT DAY DO YOU OBSERVE THE MEMORIAL ON?
Everyone else will falter around and perhaps come up with a day in May, but all JWs will say at sunset on Niacin 14, which falls on the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the Memorial of the Last Supper. This is the only day, aside from wedding anniversaries, that Christ said to continue keeping, yet Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Christian organization that does.
Whatever you may say about whether it is right or wrong to observe the man-made holidays created since the first congregations, the fact remains that Christendom does not observe the one day Christ said to keep. What does that say for the leaders of Christendom, that they ignore that one important day of the year, and don't even know what day it falls on?
The question of holidays gets asked a lot, yet the facts of why are clearly evident. Even the Churches of Christendom recognize that the holidays and observances are not in keeping with Bible teachings, yet they fear that doing anything about it will jeopardize their positions and power. Check any religious encyclopedia about the holidays and their history.
So the question is not why don't witnesses celebrate the holidays, but why does Christendom celebrate something not taught in the Bible? Further, why don't they know what day Christ said to observe and why don't you observe it on that day?
Whatever you may think of any of the other beliefs of JWs, you have to ask yourself is the need to observe these holidays more important than observing the day Christ said to keep?
2006-12-21 10:26:36
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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I know many of them because I used to be one.
As a group, I think they are similar to Mormons. Clean living and sincere.
When I was a Witness, people would say we were brainwashed. I didn't believe that, but now that I've stepped away and seen Witnesses through the eyes of someone who doesn't shut their eyes to the negatives, I certainly see that - as a group - they do not think "outside the box". They submit willingly, so it is not 'brainwashing' in the usual sense, but they certainly surrender their ability to think for themselves. They do lots of thinking, but it's all "inside" the box.
They are so programmed (by their leaders) to be loyal (to their leaders) that they excuse false prophecy (by their leaders) and honestly believe that God is directing (the leaders) in spite of the obvious evidence that the leaders are directing themselves.
2006-12-22 03:26:41
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Basicly they cannot comprehend God in three persons.
They believe Jesus died for their sins - but will not accept the
fact that a mere man's dead on the cross can never pay for the sins of this whole world, only the crucification of the true God can achieve that.
If they truly trust in the creator God, they will understand that He can
exist in any number of persons to achieve that. Our God decided to achieve His Salvation Plan through the Trinity. Other religions needed millions of gods ( equate this to number of fallen angels)
and still cannot achieve saving the world.
Most of these religions can't give you Eternal Life, but can give you eternal disappearance (Nirvana) as the greatest and ultimate
reward. They themselves are today non - existent (Nirvana).
2006-12-21 10:40:38
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answer #5
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answered by Charles H 3
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I don't believe all of their doctrines. But man, when they say "every member a missionary" they really believe it and act on it- I find that pretty impressive.
2006-12-21 10:32:18
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answer #6
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answered by daisyk 6
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I think most are nice people. They come to my house sometimes and I invite them in for a chat. I have converted 6 of them to gnosticism already.
2006-12-21 10:31:37
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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I think they are nice people but they are deluded by the Watchtower.
2006-12-23 07:18:35
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answer #8
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answered by Buzz s 6
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I admire their courage. They were one of the few Christian sects that went to the concentration camps rather than join the army and kill other humans. They will die for what they believe in.
2006-12-21 10:28:38
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answer #9
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answered by The Gadfly 5
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I think they need to stop showing up on people's doorsteps and forcing their garbage on innocent people. If I want to know about Jehova, I'll seek them out. I don't want to be bothered in my home by some cult members who won't take no for an answer.
2006-12-21 10:27:55
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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