Is "Jehovah's Witness" a religion?

by cameo-d 20 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  cameo-d

  My thanks to all who answered.

  Parakeet...you're a trip. LMAO

  Blondie and Gary Buss...thank you for those most descriptive answers concerning the technicalities of the term "religion".

  I found a green book called "Religion" (Rutherford) and it makes references like "religion is the Devil's invention" and other strong statements. So it really makes me wonder how JWs reconcile calling themselves a "religion" now.

  Do they totally disregard the earlier basic doctrine?

  Or have they come to terms with the fact that becoming a religion makes them a part of Babylon the Great and that they, too, are destined to be "destroyed"?

  Or do they say that "the world" has labeled them as a religion, but yet they are not?

  Does the use of the word "Society" and "organization" make them more of a "social association"?
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  blondie

  cameo, they reconcile it because most jws weren't adults in 1950 when it changed and nothing has been much mentioned about that change since. It is much the same way the WTS deals with any doctrinal change. I was born in the early 50's and had no idea that the WTS once taught that they were not a religion until I read some of Rutherford's old books which my relatives had because they had been associated with the WTS since the 1920's.
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  cameo-d

  From Rutherford's book Religion

  Chapter: "Doomed"

  "religion...is wholly an invention of the Devil." (p.125)
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  dogon

  Its a cult, a religion, a contol group, A destructive religion, what ever you call it, it is not a good thing. It is Evil.
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  steve2

  In many countries, the primary benefit of being designated a "religion" is its tax-free status. Rutherford wiped such words as "churches' and "religions" out of the Watchtower thesaurus in his customary ill-balanced manner - those words were only approved when describing other's belief systems. However, as with all such extreme manoeuvres, eventually the pendulum swings back. Religion = tax free status therefore the word religion is now okay.
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  reniaa

  Yes.
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  flipper

  CAMEO- No- it's a destructive " mind control " cult which ruins lives and separates families
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  kurtbethel

  If it is, then according to Watchtower teachings channeled directly from God Almighty, it is a snare and a racket. In that case it is not channeled from God.
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  isaacaustin

  yes, a cultic one
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  steve2

  Rutherford was absolutely correct about one thing: Religion is a snare and a racket.