List of Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs.

New elders are appointed by a traveling overseer after recommendation by the existing body of elders. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. True, the brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Children in the religion are strongly encouraged to give up higher education in favor of preaching and missionary work, or unpaid volunteer services at one of their branch offices or headquarters May, 2010, Kingdom Ministry.

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Although we do not toast and this is why, the custom of drinking 'health' to the living is most probably derived from the ancient religious rite of drinking to the gods and the dead. They do not salute or pledge allegiance to flags or sing or patriotic songs.

Jehovah's Witnesses Ethics - Yet, they remain little affected by that exposure—they confine their contacts to their single-minded purpose and avoid all other occasions for association. A Jehovah Witness believes they have 'the truth'.

Harris is an atheist and skeptic blogger. If you would like to become a guest blogger, let us what you would like to say at our page. It happens on ex-Witness sites across the web, and I doubt this site will escape their notice forever. Which brings me to the reason there are so many links on the page. By posting links to their own web site and a few others to support my claims, you will be able to see for yourselves that everything you read here is true. Note that there is only one archangel in their pantheon of angels and his name is Mike. Even the angels were made by Michael. Later, Michael was sent to Earth and became Jesus. Jehovah God, as you may have guessed, is still the same big man he is to all other denominations of Christianity. Hint: it rhymes with Armageddon. It simply uses the original words in the biblical manuscripts, like or without bothering to translate them into English. To them, none of us has a soul. Not even blonds, so stop asking me. You may have noticed that this is a lot more than a 144,000 people. They will become in heaven, similar to the angels. Well, you just know is all! There is no litmus test per se. Apparently more than a few anointed were about being part of the Faithful and Discrete Slave. The task of perfecting us will be overseen by Jesus and the anointed. So what does it mean to be perfect? But what happens if you slip on a banana and get sucked into a wood chipper? No one really knows. I always assumed that perfect human beings would have regenerative powers like Wolverine from the X-Men. But many Witnesses will cringe at the mention of Witnesses believe that Armageddon could strike at any second. Jesus will smite ye! You have to be an upstanding member of the religion. Remember, Jesus sees all and knows all. That keeps my thoughts nice and private. In other words, Witnesses who survive into the Millennial Reign will teach the truth their religion to those who are resurrected. If resurrected ones reject these teachings, then they die all over again and that will be it for them too. Take it or else. Many or all other religions are thought to have origins. Some Witnesses even believe that pagan deities, like Thor and Zeus, were actually invented by fallen angels. Any religion other than their own which calls itself Christian is a part of Christedom. Or at all, really. Doing so would be like joining Satan himself. Witnesses are more than happy to convert us. Expect to leave with a few magazines or at least a tract before you go. Even if they are members of his own family. Any Witness who violates this rule by talking or eating with a disfellowshipped person runs the risk of being disfellowshipped himself. Of course, some families do break this rule from time to time. Many Witnesses only do it so they can tell their disfellowshipped relatives how disappointed they are in them. When a Witness breaks protocol to communicate with a loved one who has been disfellowshipped, it usually happens in the form of a or an email. Note that some congregations are more liberal than others and will allow some face time if the Witness gets permission from his elders. I want to stress that disfellowshipping is a huge issue, one that people sometimes underestimate. Many ex-Witnesses have been by it. That alone should tell you something about the power it holds over them. I mean when the women get married, not the fathers. If a woman is required to take on a responsibility that only a male is normally allowed to carry out, she must wear a Any head covering, even a book held on top of her head, will do. Women are not allowed to directly teach, or instruct, from the podium at any Kingdom Hall unless no suitable males can be found. They are allowed to instruct by example, however. Congregation sisters will perform a hypothetical scenario in front of the congregation, sort of like a play. It reminds me of my days as a salesman, where management would force us to act out different scenarios at sales meetings. These old guys are called the governing body, and their authority was delegated to them by Jesus. Your mileage may vary. Jesus, it is believed, is guiding the leaders toward the absolute truth in a very subtle, vague sort of way. So subtle that the leaders make mistakes just like everybody else, including people who are not divinely inspired by Jesus. But that you would be a very wrong and obvious thing to say. The light or the truth gets brighter as Armageddon draws near, my friends. So stop relying on your own understanding and trust Jehovah to make it clear in his own good time. In the meantime, feel free to check out my website at Well done! More on blood transfusions. They take all fractions of blood. This includes hemoglobin, albumin, clotting factors, cryosupernatant and cryo-poor too, and many, many, others. If one adds up all the blood fractions the JWs takes, it equals a whole unit of blood. Any, many of these fractions are made from thousands upon thousands of units of donated blood. JWs now accept blood transfusions. The fact that the JW blood issue is so unclear is downright dangerous in the emergency room. That is 50 times more than died at Jonestown massacre,some estimates run as high as 100,000 dead — Danny Haszard ajwrb dot org JW blood reform site A little story, in my 10th year of highschool, one of my best friends decided that she wanted to follow her father and become a jehovie. Having read your article and taking it at face value, it really helps me to put some questions concerning an old coworker in perspective. It still boggles me that any woman would ever want to be a part of any group that is so bent on the subjugation of women. Thanks and keep up the great work! Thanks a lot for the kind words. I like to think of it this way. I once suffered from migraines so severe that they interfered with my ability to work. The consequence was that many people, including family and in-laws, did not approve of me in general. I was not arrested or whatever for it. Fortunately, I have pretty much overcome these issues. She may not be DFed, but she will not be treated very well, either. Others may not speak to her unless forced to do so. She will already be one-strike down in the public eye. Bear in mind that JWs have high standards in terms of what allows you to call yourself a JW. You have to be baptized as one first, or raised by JWs, to be counted as one. Many celebrities and historical figures who are cited as JWs by various websites are not, in fact, considered full fledged JWs by the Watchtower Society. I was never DFed, though I have been shunned by several of them. Note that DFing is not a requirement for shunning; you merely have to be seen as a bad associate. Witnesses in Norway refute mandatory military service. All of them were of semi- or lower education. In Norway there is a clear anti-sentiment towards religious people, and perhaps, especially JW. But I was appalled by these people. One of them crashed the camp minivan in a garbage-container DUI. Another guy got caught surfing kiddie-porn at the public computer. As an atheist, I am intrigued by countries that are deemed to be highly secular. I think Norway is one. Am I right, Eric? The WTS has traditionally frowned upon higher education in most countries. There is an old saying among ex-Witnesses like myself: JWs are a religion of window washers. Hence, many end up in low paying jobs or doing grunt work all their lives. The fact that many JWs disapprove of higher education is enough to keep most of them as far from it as possible in order to gain the approval of their families and potential spouses. Your experiences with their behavior are not terribly uncommon, but not all JWs are alike. I can attest to that much, at least. I would like to suggest that you not judge them all too harshly. Note that while I am a critic of the WTS and, to some extent, JWs, I do not hate them and try not to turn them into stereotypes. Not that you were, either, Eric. Mostly, I am a critic of the corporation behind their religion the Watchtower Society and their culture, which I believe has many problems. I grew up in a witness family, my parents are still practicing members. I was never baptised, nor was I disfellowshipped. But I am still ostracized and ignored by the congregation members in my city. I believe that the JW faith is a cult, and yes I do agree that goals to obtain higher education are quashed by the religion. The only members I have met that have a formal qualification of any type are the members that joined the religion after attending university… I would have thought that higher education would have won over, but brainwashing works in mysterious ways… Thank you for this article. Now I can give it to my friends and explain what my parents believe in. I did not grow up with a family of JWs. I went to my first meeting on my 18th birthday. As a kid, all the elders and some other adults felt entitled to treat me as if I was one of their kids. Being a teenager, I kept doing them for the first year or so just because I could. Too many rules about smoking and drinking. My mother certainly rode me hard about going to church once I stopped, but it was more like she thought it would do me good than she thought I would burn in Hell. Moralistic stuff, some judgmental treatment. My life has lead me to atheism, but I harbour a deep fascination with religion and myth. It sounds like the WTS has an operation much like that of orthodox Jewish societies, with the shunnings and the elder councils. I used to read books about mythology when I was waiting for the bus back when I was in elementary school. I see it as an extension of the human psyche. Moderate, or maybe even liberal, JW congregations do exist. But they are usually looked down on by the rest. When a JW is about to be baptized, they have to go before 2 elders who will ask questions and offer advise before approving the baptism. I used to be an elementary school teacher and one year I had about 5 or 6 JW in my fourth grade class. After about six weeks or so they were all taken out of my class. One boy in particular, was very smart and we had amazing conversations about science, history, politics, and even mathematics. When he became rebellious at home is when all of the JW were placed in different classes because I was not a good fit. You know…get thee behind me, Satan! By evolution or by creation? JWs also believe certain odd things about history and medicine. If you crossed any of those lines in your conversations, that might explain why you got such a unanimous reaction from all the JW parents. Robert, I have been to your website on occasion. That is to say, you appear to be a Christian or even a fundamentalist Christian who feels some outrage over what you believe to be false teachings. To you, as is the case with many other critics of the WTS who are still Christians, the 1914 issue is probably a big deal. I respect that, and mean no disrespect when I tell you that to me—as an atheist—it is not a big deal at all. Or at least it had little impact on mine when I was a Witness back in the 90s, and now that the generation teachings has changed, it probably matters even less. Try to understand that you and I are coming at this from very different points of view. I will point out the irrationality of their beliefs in a heartbeat. Also, please remember that this is a skeptic website, not a Christian website. There could be readers here who are Christian, but they are likely to be Christian moderates instead of fundamentalists. So, to go into 1914 and the whole generation issue, I would have to explain why any of the readers here should care about it before I even addressed the actual issue of 1914. Robert, with all respect, that does not suggest that it warrants an entry here, especially since the article is already quite long. To me, as an atheist, 1914 only has one interesting feature: it is based on an incorrect understanding of history. A small article could cover that. I happen to notice that you have an article up right now that talks about 1914. Perhaps people who are interested can go there. There is a message at the top of my article from the webmaster inviting others to do just that. Best of luck to you and the eWatchman, Robert. Which you pay for. The Watchtower ferociously guard their copyright. Any JW that suggests that it could be produced more cheaply down at the local print shop instantly gets in a whole mess of trouble. To help enforce this, everyone in the hierarchy down to the local bishops gets a cut of the action — just like Amway and their inspirational tape selling racket. Paul, how do you know that everyone in the hierarchy gets a cut of the action? I think you mean elders, not bishops, BTW. But I would be interested in hearing more about that. Even former elders who are now XJWs have never said anything to me about that. Same for former Witnesses who used to work at Bethel headquarters. Thanks in advance for filling in the blanks. There are no blanks to fill in. The society stopped charging for their literature about 20 years ago. It was just easier to stop charging and start asking for a donation to cover the printing costs. All of the witness leaders at the local level are unpaid volunteers. Circuit overseers and various other missionaries as well as those who work at their headquarters receive small monthly stipends. If anyone thinks these people do it for the money, they are misinformed. Anyone at that level is a true believer and not in it for the money. I had a ex girlfriend who is a JW and I witnessed some of the stuff they do. Believe this is not a religion for everyone they are soooo sharp in their rules. Her ex hit her a few times and her family told her to not expose him because he was probably right in doing it. After the service on sundays the elders make a lottery to select people to stay and clean the whole place. Everything related to literature has to be made and approved by the big church in Bethel so all of them are reading the same. I left her because she was too afraid of what her family and JWs would do to her if they knew about that. Well written accurate posts. I remember dropping out of high school and moving out of my parents home to pursue a different happier life. I should be emulating him. That cult had profound negative impact and basically ruined my life!

More than that, though, it infuriated me the way my most solo reason for leaving was brushed aside because it was the most irrefutable: I simply did not believe in the Bible and God, and by extension any Christian belief. The intellectual isolation of the Witness leaders has allowed them to retain their traditional position, and it is they who continue to be the u purveyors of the radical eschataology. It appoints all branch committee members and traveling overseers, after they have been recommended by local branches, with traveling overseers supervising circuits of congregations within their jurisdictions. The book, published as the posthumous work of Russell, was a compilation of his commentaries on the Autobus books of andplus numerous additions by Bible Students Clayton Woodworth and George Fisher. I determined to stay by the faithful organization. The fact that many JWs disapprove of higher education is enough to jehovah witness alcohol most of them as far from it as possible in order to gain the idea of their families and potential spouses. But we could not confirm whether they really are a Witness or not.