Do Jehovah's Witnesses represent a less legitimate form of religious expression?

by slimboyfat 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  slimboyfat

  I am at a point where I tend to think all religions are rubbish. The Bible is not a book to lead one's life by and not deserving of much respect. If Jesus existed then the gospels are not an accurate picture of his life and even if the non-supernatural elements resembled a real person there is much to repudiate as there is to admire.

  So what about comparing Jehovah's Witnesses to other faiths? In talking to never-been-Witnesses/regular people I am sometimes seemingly expected to acknowledge that, while I may not accept any religious tradition or authority, nevertheless some religions are more resectable or legitimate than others. The Jehovah's Witness view is deservedly outside the mainstream, and a Baptist or a Methodist or any believer in Jesus is deserving of more respect for his views than a Jehovah's Witness. I am not in much of a mood to concede that picture of things. Because of my history I might know the foibles, errors and injustices in the Watchtower religion better than others, but I am not convinced they are in a category worse than the other bogus ideologies that sneak under a respectable banner of faith.

  There are Witnesses with good motivations as there are in any religion, and there are appealing aspects to their story as there are to other imaginary world views. I don't see the Jehovah's Witness hoping for a better world as any worse than the Anglican who can seemingly detect God's hand at work in this one.
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  designs

  SBF-

  Good observation. If you find a descent and good person in a Church you should, people should be descent and good as a minimum of being civilized.. Our old religion had many fine and descent people in it, like any other religion as with any atheist or agnostic. Like in business there are the showboats. Earlier this year I attended our local Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, every showboat minister in town showed up to offer to say a prayer before the packed conference. One Jimmy Swaggart after another trotted to the Mic. After about a dozen of these even the hardcore religious ones were starting to squerm in their seats. One friend commented that 'well I don't have to pray for the rest of the year'.
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  Black Sheep

  I don't see the Jehovah's Witness hoping for a better world as any worse than the Anglican...

  The Anglican isn't preaching that you don't have to get off your arse and fix things because God is going to do it for you.
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  leavingwt

  What's Wrong with Being a JW?

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/wrong-with-being-jehovahs-witness.php

  If one willingly joins the JWs, fully aware of the facts above, more power to them.

  I've NEVER known of anyone who has joined, knowing the facts.

  Thought Reform is alive and well.
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  slimboyfat

  The Anglican isn't preaching that you don't have to get off your arse and fix things because God is going to do it for you.

  Or you could say Jehovah's Witnesses have greater faith in their God who will solve the problems.

  If one willingly joins the JWs, fully aware of the facts above, more power to them.

  What do you mean by "fully aware the facts"? They don't have the same view of the "facts" as you currently do if they choose to join obviously.

  Or put another way, who that is "fully aware of the facts" of any religion would willingly choose to join?

  Joining any religion requires a rather rose tinted view of the religion's claims, history, scriptures and structures in my view. Jehovah's Witnesses are not different in that respect.
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  Curtains

  I wish that those who write the articles would lighten up on the constant need to legitimate themselves. This is done at every meeting and gets in the way of heartfelt religious expression.

  Plus the governing body of Jehovahs witnesses is very arrogant and corrupt. CO's DO's branch members and elders are also being corrupted. Surely this must interfere with religious expression. I don't think there is as much interaction between local leaders and the central governing body in other religions as there is amongst Jehovahs witnesses.
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  Heaven

  So what about comparing Jehovah's Witnesses to other faiths?

  Whenever anyone asks me about the religion I was raised in, I describe it as a "Bastardized form of Christianity. I was really raised a Jehovan." JWs use God, Christ, and the Bible to support and legitimize beliefs of their own design.

  I find a lot of people don't even know who they are. Anyone who does and knows a bit about their beliefs is rather surprised and thinks of them as weird more than anything else. I make sure these people are told straight up that it is a cult and to stay away from it.

  As I described to my brother's MIL, JWs believe they are doing God's work. But when you examine the Bible, no where does it say that the handing out of magazines published by the WTS door-to-door is considered part of God's work. How does this feed the starving and heal the sick?

  Anyone can have whatever beliefs they like to have. It is when these beliefs become abusive and destructive that I have enormous issue with what they are doing. My view of most religions, especially the male dominated, monotheistic ones is that they are really about power and control and not about love. For me, personally, this delegitimizes them.
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  designs

  When I started going out in Service in the 60s the biggest objections people had with our Beliefs were Blood Transfusions and the effect on children and the Vietnam War, the other big issue was that we were even on their doorstep pushing our Religion every week, we were a nusance.
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  Lily Pie

  Hi slimboy fat

  This is a good question. I think, if an individual Jehovah's Witness chooses, of thier own free will to believe in the things the Watchtower teaches, then yes. It is a legitimate expression of faith.

  If however someone is under *undue influence*(this is a legal definition that makes contracts null and void), and the ability for this to occur is actually written into the core of the beliefs and practices of the religious organisation in question - then no - it becomes less legitimate. The watchtower has a rigid centralized, top - down, style religious organisation. That encourages peer pressure to the point of bullying and shunning, in order to maintain its black and white world view with colourful generalizations. For some, this is acceptable I'm sure, for others it is spiritual abuse.

  There are people in other religions around the world that are not expressing their true selves because of pscychological fear.

  Then there are other religious groups that have less of this problem. You can usually tell a good one from a bad one, by it's fruit. HA HA.

  anyway. In terms of legitimacy. I think that a religion becomes illigitimate when it borders on reaching the legal definition of using *undue influence*. I think an individual belief becomes illigitimate when an individual is harming themselves and becomes psychologically harmed, as defined by mental health professionals.

  The standard of measure. should be the secular worlds measure.

  Lily Pie
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  leavingwt

  Or put another way, who that is "fully aware of the facts" of any religion would willingly choose to join?

  Joining any religion requires a rather rose tinted view of the religion's claims, history, scriptures and structures in my view. Jehovah's Witnesses are not different in that respect.

  This is a very black and white view of religion, IMHO.

  Religion in general couldn't be more different than a destructive, mind-control cult. Ask BurnTheShips, FHN or PSacramento about their religion. They are free to believe what they want to believe. They are permitted to read anything about the church history that they'd like to read. They are not forbidden to criticize dogma or dissent. Their churches do not practice mandatory, instiutionlized shunning. They are free to make their own medical decisions. They are not coerced to disown family members who may decide to choose a different faith. The list goes on and on.

  Watchtower is like Scientology. It's an awful example of a typical religion.

  All religions are not equal.