If Jehovah's Witnesses are such nice people (which they really are)...?

Question

and they do things for people, and they don't swear or lie or cheat. Why does everyone hate them?
They try to follow the bible and the lord's teaching, yet they're considered weird. i don't get it. i like them. I work with some, they are night and day different from most everyone else around.
Any logical reasons? Is it because they door knock and wake you up?
The bible says the lord's true followers will preach to people. Yet no one but Jehavah Witnesses actually do it!

Answer 1

Thank you for your very nice question. One of the reasons that people don't like us is stated right in the Bible...I will show you:

John 17:14: " I have given your word to them, but the world has hated them, because they are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world."

John 15: 17-19: "“These things I command YOU, that YOU love one another. 18 If the world hates YOU, YOU know that it has hated me before it hated YOU. 19 If YOU were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because YOU are no part of the world, but I have chosen YOU out of the world, on this account the world hates YOU."

Matthew 5: 11: "“Happy are YOU when people reproach YOU and persecute YOU and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against YOU for my sake. 12 Rejoice and leap for joy, since YOUR reward is great in the heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to YOU."

Answer 2

Very good question. I have noticed the exact same thing. I used to work with a witness and they used to tease him all the time,but he just took it in stride and never seemed to bother him. He was undoubtedly the nicest ,cleanest ,hardest worker they had at the shop. Fortunatly because of his honesty and his workmanship he eventually became the crew leader (dang him) and his shift is the happiest and most productive shift our company has to this date. We may not all believe what they beleive but he once told me that the true followers of christ would be the most talked about and the most persecuted religion,and i have never forgot that. I truley am amazed by this mans faith. So i think people should leave them alone. Just my 2cents.

Answer 3

I agree with Anna and David Fernandez. I don't hate Jehovah's Witnesses.

I once had a roommate that was a Witness. I became disabled during this time that I lived with her and could not pay rent and utilities. Instead of asking me to leave so she could find a roommate who could pay, she worked 2 jobs for almost 3 years while I was waiting to be approved for Social Security. She was the nicest person you could ever meet, but she hated herself. She thought she was the worst person who ever walked the earth because she commited a sin and got disfellowshipped. I just can't understand a religion that would preach about God's love and then kick someone out when they needed God the most.

Answer 4

Well not everyone feels either way. Also we are not the ONLY religion to have members who choose to preach.:D

However since this something ALL Witnesses do on some level this is one of the things we are best known for.

There are a number of reasons for people to not like others. Personality differences, Religous differences, cultural Differences, Blind Hatred, Bigotry, missinformation, disinformation, missunderstandings and out right lies.

Answer 5

It is true that Jehovah's Witnesses are not loved by everyone.
http://jw-media.org/newsroom/human_rights.htm
Some people hate Jehovah's Witnesses out of ignorance, or over some misunderstanding. A few may have had a bad personal experience with an individual who claimed to be a Jehovah's Witness, and prejudicially extended their animus to this entire Christian religion.

However, it seems that the majority of anti-Witness hatred is motivated by religious intolerance and bigotry. A few may even be motivated against their Christian worship by the unseen 'god of this system of things', Satan the Devil.

(2 Corinthians 4:4) the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers

Interestingly, such "hatred" should be expected by true Christians in this time of the end, and it actually helps identify Jehovah's Witnesses as Christ's true disciples:

(John 15:19) If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on this account the world hates you.

(Luke 6:22) Happy are you whenever men hate you, and whenever they exclude you and reproach you and cast out your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man.

(1 Peter 4:4) Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you.

(2 Timothy 4:3-5) For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories. You, though, keep your senses in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.

It seems signficant that the relatively small religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are the ones best known for their worldwide preaching work. Yet Jesus commanded that ALL who would call themselves "Christian" perform this public work:

(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20030301/
http://watchtower.org/e/20020401/

Answer 6

You need to keep in mind that the Bible tells us that "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one"(2Cor.4:4)
Therefore,Satan being Jehovahs biggest enemy it then makes sense why Jehovahs Witnesses have been and still are being persecuted and hated.
Jesus said at John15:18:"...If the world hates you,you know that it has hated me before you.If you were part of the world,the world would be fond of what is its own.Now because you are no part of the world.....on this account the world hates you".And at John 15:20"...If they have persecuted me,they will persecute you also"
So we are very much aware that we will be unpopular with the general population.But that only serves to prove that we have the truth and that strengthens our own faith.
Matt.24:13:"He who endures to the end will be saved."

Answer 7

It's the imposition that's the problem.

Not everyone wants unwarranted visits. I don't even like it from my friends. I certainly would not appreciate it from strangers. And, It is even harder when you have to turn down a person who wants to teach about God.

For me, unsolicited knocks at my door are worse than telemarketer calls. Thus my negative connotation towards Jehovah's Witnesses.

I am sure I am not much different than most people.

Excellent question though!

Answer 8

I've actually considered joining the religion. My long term boyfriend used to be in the religion (but got disfellowshipped for being rebellious as a teen). He has taught me so much about God and I am so grateful for it. I know his parents and they are wonderful people. I have no idea why they are made fun of. I guess it's because they are a minority, and that always tends to be the trend. The majority pick on the little groups of society. It's a shame, really.

Answer 9

Sweeping generalisations are tedious. The vast majority of JWs are really nice people, but some individuals are not. Some people dislike JWs but that's not the same as hatred (though people with a persecution complex will not make that distinction). They do, indeed, try to follow the Bible, as do millions of others. "Weird" means strange and/or incomprehensible so just check out their chronology for arriving at 1914, and reasons for choosing to die rather than receive life-giving blood treatments.

It's also true that because of the high moral standards they try to keep, "the world" hates the fact that they don't sink into the sink of debauchery it is in. Of course, millions of non-JWs also keep high moral standards (not that you would know that to listen to JWs, however). Can you observe from JW answers here how many of them seem to revel in being "persecuted"? They're trained to expect it from early on, to look for it, and to trumpet it abroad to the world as proof that they are the chosen. Well, log on to Christian Solidarity Worldwide ( www.csw.org.uk ) to find out what persecution of Christians is really all about. JWs are actually included in the remit of this group's help, but they never identify denominations of the persecuted, and millions of non-JWs are being persecuted today. When are JWs going to waken up to that fact and publicly admit it?

And the claim that no one but JWs actually preach to people is drivel. You've been listening to JWs again, haven't you? That's what they've been told by their leaders and that's what they believe. Preaching is NOT limited to door-knocking! In fact, it's an increasingly ineffective, time-wasting occupation. JWs major on it, devoting billions of hours to it, yet barely making 2% increase last year. If you want me to preach the gospel to you, just contact my Yahoo email link. Sincerely!

Answer 10

Its one thing to be kind to me, not swearing around me, not lieing to me, or cheating me. Its another to knock on my door at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and tell me I am going to hell, while I am sporting a wicked hangover from Friday night.

I can turn on the TV if I want religion in my home, to have someone stop by and try to shove it though the front door is a bit much. JWs should rely on more uptodate techniques rather than door knocking. Try Spam, people don't like that either. How about telemarketing, or door to door sales......Oh thats right, its already being used.

How would you enjoy me coming to your house at 11:30 on Friday night, knocking on the door, and telling you that you are wasting your life, and that you have to live it up while you still have a chance? I should do this because I believe that it will make you a happier person, and it is my belief that it is my responsibility to make sure you understand and adhere to my value system.

My guess is that you would be quite unsettled and even a bit upset that I had the gaul to wake you up and tell you, your lifestyle was crap. Well apply that analogy with what the JWs do to me.....Its the same. That is why people are annoyed with them.