Why do people assume beliefs about Jehovahs Witnesses without asking one of them if it is true or not?

Question

I have heard things like slaughter inside the kindom halls or brainwashing and ESPECIALLY that we dont believe in Jesus. Which couldnt be further from the truth. I mean the whole reason we knock on doors is because he did.

Answer 1

Some people slander 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/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20020401/article_01.htm

Answer 2

Dear Jeff B,

Just as Trible says, I assume nothing. I used to be a bank auditor and I learned not to assume.

I have read the Bible from cover-to-cover numerous times.
I have studied and prayed about what I am studying.

I have also read the materials provided by Watchtower Witnesses. I have read the NWT.

I have made this point over and over and over with jws here and at my home. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says that IF someone or an organization makes a prophecy but it does not happen then said person or organization is a FALSE prophet.

Witnesses will rattle off the dates that have been prophesied for Armageddon and say "It was a mistake". People do make mistakes but God does not make mistakes. Your organization is a FALSE prophet which makes its members false prophets by association. Therefore I do not need to ask about anything else.

You are spreading the words of man not of God.

Edit:
It is interesting or maybe a better word is strange, to look at who is doing the assuming and who the assumptions are made about.

Take a look at the question asked by Suzanne - "For Jehovah's Witnesses: If someone is disfellowshipped do you assume it is for 'immorality'?"

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoVmxx_tNUvRAxyg9dG5Vtvsy6IX?qid=20070503161017AA4H7sv

Based on these questions and the answers provided by Watchtower Witnesses and non-jws it appears that the jws make assumptions when it suits their purpose and ridicule everyone else who provides facts rather than assumptions when it suits the jw's purpose.

For His glory,
JOYfilled

Answer 3

While there may be some people who say things without having done any reasearch, there are those who have done their homework, and know the truth about the witnesses.

I don't have any doubt that the Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Jesus, they just don't believe in Him the way Christians do.
We believe that He is God incarnate; that is to say God come
in human flesh or as the Bible says, Emanuel = God with us.
The witnesses teach that He is Michael the Archangel who is a created being. These two concepts are diametrically opposed to one another so both can't be true. One says He is God and the other says he is a creation of God.

As far as the teachings of the Witnesses, Jehovah is not the only name of God. The Jewish national name for God is YHWH, God in the first chapter of Genesis is Eloyhim, in other
scripture He is Adonai, and he has titles such as Jehovah Shalom (God our peace), Jehovah Jireh (God our provider) and many more names which all tell something about Him.
According to the witnesses His only name is Jehovah.

Jehovah's Witnesses reject the concept of Hell. A close study
of the word through the Old and New Testaments reveals that Hell is exactly what it implies - a place of eternal punishment.

Jehovah's Witnesses hope that through door-to-door witnessing and other "good acts" they can somehow achieve their desire to please God who declares in Isaiah that "All our righteousness in the sight of God is filthy rags, and that man at his very best state is altogether vanity. In the New Testament it tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God -- NOT OF WORKS lest any man should boast. Christ satisfied the demands of God on Calvary and nobody can add to that.

There is also much prophecy done through the leadership on the coming of Christ and the end of the world in the witnesses
teaching and preaching that defines them as false prophets.
The teaching of scripture is clear in that it says, "If any man prophesy a thing in the name of the Lord and it does not come to pass that man did not speak for the Lord."

There are other doctrines that run contrary to what Christians believe and have always believed and there is also things that
have to do with the founder that are documented and proven so that anyone who wished to know the truth would easily be able to find it that show him to be dishonest and deceitful in many of his activities both before and after starting the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart if you follow this teaching and asking you to examine what you believe with great care. Your eternal destiny depends on it.

Read 20 years a Watchtower Slave by William Schnell and then read Walter Martin's book Kingdom of the Cults. Schnell
was in the heirarchy of the witnesses and knows the religion and its operations inside out. Walter Martin put in over 12,000 hours researching this religion and others and has a lot of documented proof of what I am saying. These books threaten the JW's and many of them have been warned not to read them.

Answer 4

I think it's because people either don't want to hear the truth, afraid that they might like it better than what their pastor is "teaching them" or that they really do enjoy spreading nasty rumors just to get some good gossip going. Why else would they spread and believe rumors without consulting an actual member?

Answer 5

it truly is no longer genuine that each and each one denominations imagine that they on my own are the right one (in spite of the actual undeniable truth that it quite is genuinely genuine of the JWs). In Protestantism, hardly any denomination have an unique view of their personal crew; i have been to many diverse communities and that all of them agree that Christian brethren are to be contemporary in a huge decision of alternative denominations, which include the Catholics. They do concern that some communities are burdening their flock with guy-made guidelines and stumbling blocks to grasping God's organic truth, yet it truly is no longer an same because the JWs who're a lot extra severe of their censure of all others. for example, I genuinely have 2 Watchtower magazines the following (about 8 years between them) which quote Jeremiah to say the clergy of Christendom are in basic terms like the burst-open figs that won't be able to be eaten for badness. I genuinely don't have any end of books and magazines the position the Watchtower Society calls all religions except their personal as area of Babylon the great, the prostitute in Revelation who is going to be destroyed in basic terms formerly Armageddon. it truly is unreasonable to anticipate fulsome solutions to all six of your questions, so pardon me for in basic terms sticking to the major one, and including that the biblical gospel is preached by myriad denominations to myriad human beings in myriad procedures. yet their gospel message isn't like the JW one, and that is what might want to heavily problem the JWs. they desire to research out, from the Bible, what the gospel is that Paul and the different disciples preached contained in the first century, and stick with that.

Answer 6

That's just the case, people ASSUME a lot of things. Most are not willing to READ anything and take the time necessary to check out all of the facts. Like the FACT that the Jehovah Witnesses are a CULT and their originators are liars and were proved to be liars in a court of law. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it is the truth.

Answer 7

The acts of a few colour the perceptions of all. If your organisation is getting a bad rap, it's likely from the actions of a few 'bad apples'... Doesn't make any difference what kind of group is perceived...

Answer 8

That's human nature. Anything or anyone different and they are suspicious. That's why there is so much prejudice in the world.

They spread lies about Jesus too.

For those who say they asked a question and didn't get an answer. Maybe it was an answer you didn't like or agree with, that doesn't mean it wasn't an answer. I see it all the time here in Yahoo answer. You give a detailed answer and they say no one answered the question....then they pick the best answer that agrees with them.

Answer 9

Why do you assume people assume beliefs about JWs without asking them if it's true or not? How do you know whether they check things out or not? Some do. Some don't. Sweeping generalisations are exasperating.

You must be a JW yourself ("we knock on doors...") Could I respectfully suggest that the next time you're door knocking, and a person says something silly about your beliefs, you listen to them till they have stopped talking? Then ask them, "Where did you hear that?" And listen some more. If it's silly nonsense they are spouting, you can kindly point out the truth, and that will be a bonus point for you. Sometimes JWs hear the claim, "JWs don't believe in Jesus..." and immediately jump to the defense to prove just how much they believe Jesus - yet that person meant JWs don't believe in mainstream Christianity's idea of Jesus - that he's God. Or they hear criticism about JWs dying for lack of blood treatments and immediately rush in to explain why they don't take blood. Stop and think! There are reasons at back of many peoples' criticisms of JWs - personal experience, or close friends, or having read up, or being appalled at the idea of the Bible being twisted. Don't assume they don't without asking them!

Answer 10

The hyperbolic nature of your examples loads the question. Slaughter in the Kingdom Halls is, of course, ridiculous. "No thinking person" would believe that, to borrow a commonly used phrase from Watchtower literature. Any objective person who reads through a large amount of that literature, however, can see the techniques of brainwashing. The more you read their stuff -- their own words -- the more you can see that the brainwashing charge is true. Hoist on their own petard.