Are these common jw beliefs?

Closer to Fine

I've been thinking lately about some things jws have told me that I thought were very strange. I'm wondering if these are common beliefs shared by most jws or were these 3 jws perhaps a bit paranoid?

Don't do yoga. If you do yoga the spirits that are associated with yoga can enter your body. Hot yoga is especially risky since it is more strenuous and your body will be in a weak state already from the exercise.
Don't say your fears out loud because satan can hear you if you speak them out loud and he will use them to harm you. (This one came up because I mentioned that although I'm afraid of sharks I still force myself to go snorkeling because I love the ocean. They said satan might send a shark my way now since I spoke the fear out loud).
Angels follow sisters when they are out in service. If angels weren't following them, sisters would be getting raped everyday.

Anyone else ever heard these when they were a jw or have any others to share? I'm sure many others have been discussed previously, however, these in particular seemed very paranoid to me. I think it must be miserable to live with so much fear.

Londo111

Yes, those are common JW beliefs.

I'm not sure about yoga vs hot yoga makes a difference...I never heard that. And I've heard not to pray aloud (especially about one's weaknesses), because Satan might hear and exploit it. But I don't know about the shark bit. In the JW view, Satan is concerned with breaking one's integrity. A shark attack would not accomplish that.

Village Idiot

Don't do yoga. If you do yoga the spirits that are associated with yoga can enter your body.

Many Fundamentalist Christians have similar beliefs so it's safe to say that JWs will consider yoga in the same way that they think of Smurfs.

Don't say your fears out loud because satan can hear you if you speak them out loud and he will use them to harm you.

Never heard of that one. If true, then Satan has every Witness 'wiretapped' and can listen in on 7 million conversations at the same time.

Angels follow sisters when they are out in service. If angels weren't following them, sisters would be getting raped everyday.

There is the JW urban legend about a man who wanted to kill two JW females that came to his door. However, he was afraid to because there were two men with them. There were no men accompanying the sisters so it must have been angels guarding them.

pale.emperor

Yes I've heard all three of them. They never came from any Watchtower magazine so id be interested to know why lots of hardcore JW's all believe it.

Another one is don't allow yourself to be hypnotized because a demon can pop into your head.

Spiral

#1 - absolutely yes. Demons can enter your limbs while you do yoga (why it has to be only while you're doing yoga vs. some other non-approved activity, I don't know) and take over your body. Stupid.

#2 - this version: Satan can't read your mind so keep your thoughts to yourself and don't verbalize them. But, if Satan can act on your conversations, don't openly talk to anyone about anything that really matters ever! Again, stupid.

#3 - maybe, because it's a surprise more JWs don't get killed or attacked out in service. That one is a puzzle to a lot of JWs.

#4 Hypnotism - well, if you get help outside of the elder/committee arrangement, it must be bad.

A lot of these ideas came from talks at the KH or at the circuit assembly. Years ago there was an article about how bad yoga was, however.

scratchme1010

Don't do yoga. If you do yoga the spirits that are associated with yoga can enter your body. Hot yoga is especially risky since it is more strenuous and your body will be in a weak state already from the exercise.

Yes, yoga is evil according to what I was told growing up in a JW household.

Don't say your fears out loud because satan can hear you if you speak them out loud and he will use them to harm you. (This one came up because I mentioned that although I'm afraid of sharks I still force myself to go snorkeling because I love the ocean. They said satan might send a shark my way now since I spoke the fear out loud).

The kind of crap I grew up hearing. There were a few variations, such as demons can sense your intentions, Satan can hear you when you say the wrong thing, etc. Interesting that such crap came from the same people that I heard saying quite a few inappropriate things. I guess they were immune to it.

Angels follow sisters when they are out in service. If angels weren't following them, sisters would be getting raped everyday.

They claim that we are magically protected by angels when good things happen to us or escape from harm. The opposite doesn't apply according to them, though. If something bad happens, especially if doing their field work, angels have nothing to do with it.

stuckinarut2

Yes, I have heard of those sort of things...That thinking does exist for witnesses

sparrowdown

Yep, the one about Satan "he can't read your mind but he can hear what you say and watch what you do."

IOW unoffical cult propoganda designed to control you when you are by yourself.

Angels out witnessing based on a popular JW urban myth but I think a few cults lay claim to a similar story.

I think this one was actuallly in a publication or "I heard from a friend of a friend of mine" either way once again a story like this serves a cult because it causes you to feel like you have divine blessing safe and sound when you engage in recruiting work/ free advertising for the cult.

sparky1

For Jehovah's Witnesses, here is where the fear of doing YOGA was first inculcated:

"The yogis of India, in order to make conditions easy for the demons, commence with exercises to stupefy the mind. They hold one object in the mind's eye from periods varying from a few seconds to days, according to adaptability. Then follow intense breathing exercises, and afterward extremely difficult and demonized exercises which twist the human body in terrible convulsive positions; and only a Satanic mind could conceive of thus dishonoring the body Jehovah gave. These postures are held indefinitely; thus showing the entire lack of reason behind it, and complete demoniac influence." - from the article Demonism and Ignorance - CONSOLATION 2/18/42 PG.30

rebel8

I've heard other xian fundamentalists spew the same claptrap.

Are these common jw beliefs?

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