Ok, so the 3 examples you have given are blood,military service, and flag salute.
I will break them down
Blood--Yes there are many people (non-jw's) who might choose not to take blood, however there are very few who would refuse if the doctors told them they were gonna die. I dont know of any other religion that disfellowships/DA's its members for taking a blood transfusions. So in this respect they are different.
Military Service--There are many other religions that dont believe in this either---Amish,Quakers, etc etc etc. However these religions were around when the JW's were started, so in this respect, the JW's back in the early 1900's really werent unique.
Flag Salute--- I'm not sure about the Amish or the Quakers on this issue, however I dont know any church that encourages their members not to salute the flag, especially any one that disffellowships its members for doing so.
In my part of the country if anyone ever were to Boo the flag salute, there would be a riot for sure. Maybe this is a red state vs.blue state thing.
In my opinion, the JW's were much more mainstrean in the beginning, and the only things that separated them from most other churches back then was their rejection of the Trinity, hell fire, and their Armageddon/1914 prophecies. Other than those, JW's were still allowed to celebrate Christmas,birthdays, most other holidays, they were allowed to go to college, in other words they were allowed to live a normal life. Nowadays there are well over 100 things that JW's are not allowed to do, and for this reason I find them to be less mainstream than they were in the beginning.
Are Witnesses really all that different today, from other religions?
by free2beme 13 Replies latest jw friends
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Junction-Guy
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FreudianSlip
I agree JWs aren't drastically different from others. One area is that they consistently go door-to-door. Only the Mormons could really compare but to a lesser degree. OnTheWayOut- "No organization [religion?] asks you to shun your grandchild and certainly to never eat with him." Uh.. that's not really true. The Amish practice shunning to a greater extent than JWs. Also, many Catholics will not associate with Catholic's that have been excommunicated. Muslims would not associate with a Muslim who said he or she was gay. Almost all religions recommending shunning in some fashion if a person commits CERTAIN "sins".
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Junction-Guy
You're right FreudianSlip, there may be several Christian religions as well as Muslims, etc etc etc that practice shunning, however I dont know of any religion that will disfellowship you if you choose not to shun someone. Many Catholics may not associate with excommunicated members, however if they do choose to associate with them, they themselves wouldnt be excommunicated. I think the JW's take this to the extreme, and with the exception of the Amish they are unique in this aspect.
Dave -
free2beme
In my part of the country if anyone ever were to Boo the flag salute, there would be a riot for sure.
I live in a blue state, but a red country. However, the city of Ashland, which is near us, is about as blue as they come.