Getting back to the OP--
It is not anything like a normal religion. It controls every aspect of your life, including what you do in your free time, the music you listen to, what you do in your bedroom (see link at #91), etc. It also controls your medical decisions and whether or not you can accept lifesaving medical care for yourself and your children/husband.
141 Things Jehovah's Witnesses Can't Do.
- Belong to another organization or club for the purpose of socializing with nonbelievers
- Have best friends and activity buddies who are not Jehovah's Witnesses
- Associate with people outside their organization when it is not necessary
- Attend social functions sponsored by their employer unless attendance is required
- Associate with coworkers after business hours in a social settings
- Disagree with their organization's rules and code of conduct
- Disagree with their organization's doctrines
- Contribute to the Presidential Campaign Fund on their tax return
- Join the armed forces and defend their country
- Say the Pledge of Allegiance
- Salute the flag
- Vote
- Run for leadership in their organization
- Run for leadership in any organization
- Take a stand for any political issue inside their organization
- Take a stand on any political or 'worldly' issue outside of their organization
- Campaign for a political candidate
- Hold political office
- Discuss politics
- Be a union steward or shop steward
- Actively be involved in a union strike
- Use a gun for protection against humans
- Become a police officer if a gun is required
- Wear military uniforms or clothing associated with war
- Take yoga classes and practice the discipline of yoga. See Is Yoga For Christians?
- Smoke tobacco and cigars
- Work full time selling tobacco and cigars
- Attend Alcoholics Anonymous
- Donate blood
- Have blood transfusions
- Read books, magazines, publications, and literature from other religions.
- Buy anything from a church store
- Buy something at a church garage sale
- Donate items to a church run store
- Shop at the Salvation Army
- Work for the Salvation Army
- Work for another church
- Play competitive sports on a school team
- Play competitive sports professionally
- Run for class president
- Become a cheerleader
- Go to the school prom or school dance.
- Attend class reunions
- Be hypnotized
- Accept Jesus as their mediator, 1 Timothy 2:5. See Mediator
- Join the Boy Scouts
- Join the Girl Guides
- Join the YMCA
- Serve on jury duty
- Study psychology, philosophy, sociology, and viewpoints that might shake their faith
- Attend other Christian churches
- Attend nondenominational churches
- Attend non Christian churches
- Get married in another church
- Dating non believers is discouraged
- Casual dating is discouraged
- Dating someone without the intent of getting married
- Having sex before marriage
- Breaking an engagement can result in disciplinary action
- Marriage to non believers is not recommended
- Be gay or lesbian. Homosexuality is not acceptable.
- Throw rice at a wedding
- Get divorced unless the reason is adultery
- Can't remarry unless their ex commits fornication first
- Toast drinks
- Buy a raffle ticket
- Play bingo
- Gamble
- Sing any holiday songs
- Sing the National Anthem.
- Celebrate Christmas - Why?
- Celebrate New Years Eve - Why?
- Celebrate Easter - Why?
- Celebrate Mother's Day - Why?
- Celebrate Father's Day
- Celebrate birthdays - Why?
- Celebrate Thanksgiving
- Celebrate Flag Day
- Celebrate Veteran's Day
- Celebrate Independence Day
- Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day
- Celebrate Valentine's Day
- Celebrate Halloween - Why?
- Celebrate Hanukkah
- Accept holiday gifts - Why?
- Celebrate any holiday except the death of Jesus - Why?
- Partake in the bread and wine that represents Christ unless they are part of the 144,000
- Make holiday artwork for school
- Engage in holiday parties at school
- Take on a leadership role in school
- Porneia
- Do suggestive and immodest dancing in a public place
- Attend a class, workshop, or seminar, sponsored by another church
- Attend social events or fund raisers sponsored by another church
- Use of bad language (curse words) is discouraged
- Wear blue jeans, shorts, and casual clothing at the Kingdom Hall
- Wear pants at a Kingdom Hall if you're a woman
- Wear revealing clothes or skirts that are too short (looked down upon)
- Wear long hair or facial hair if you're a man (depends on the local customs of the country you live in)
- Body piercings are discouraged
- Tattoos are discouraged
- State or imply that the Watchtower is not run by Jehovah God.
- Have discussions and express Bible based viewpoints that contradict the organization's beliefs
- Say anything negative about their organization. JW's must 'speak in agreement' and be 'like-minded'.
- Consider other religious beliefs as valid and truthful.
- Acknowledge any prayer spoken by a non believer as valid
- Take another Jehovah's Witness to court (with exceptions)
- Wear or own a cross
- Own any religious picture
- Own any religious statue
- Engage in idolatry
- Believe in miracles (except those found in the Bible) See Miracles
- Believe in ghosts
- Witchcraft
- Black magic
- White magic
- Consult with a psychic or become one
- Study tarot cards, get a reading or give a reading
- Study numerology or get a reading
- Dabble in ESP (extrasensory perception), dowsing, or divination
- Use a tool such as a pendulum to access information from the spiritual realm
- Attempt to communicate with departed spirits
- Attend a seance
- Believe in good luck or say things such as 'Good luck to you'. Why?
- Believe in anything superstitious
- Prophesy
- Speaking in tongues
- Laying on of hands
- Energy healing such as Reiki
- Read their horoscope
- Study astrology or zodiac signs
- Combat training, boxing, or martial arts
- Go to heaven unless they are part of the 144,000
- Worship Jesus as God
- Idolize any celebrity or love and admire them to excess
- Women can't be elders
- Women can't be ministerial servants (assistants to the elders)
- Divulge secret information to enemies of their organization and those not entitled to know. See Theocratic Warfare
- Greet or talk with disfellowshipped persons except for immediate family living in the same house (except for rare exceptions)
- Associate with disfellowshipped persons except for immediate family living in the same house
- Keep secrets from the organization. Jehovah's Witnesses must report friends and family members who break any of the Watchtower rules.
[source]
For illustration purposes to summarize in a nutshell, the JW's beliefs about nonJWs. If you don't recognize the authority given to these men, in this picture, you're toast at Armageddon. Your children are toast, your parents if they don't recognize the authority of the men in this picture, are toast. Countries where people have never seen or heard of these men in this picture, are toast. Recognizing the authority of these men entails quite a lot as Rebel8 highlighted in her post. If a JW marries a nonJW, and the nonJW doesn't eventually become a JW, its been said that the JW is married to a corpse. That has been stated from platforms by men such as the ones in this picture to audiences where JWs attend assemblies for encouragement.