Hi Mary -
First off - Welcome to the forum. I hope you are finding us to be a decent bunch.
From only two posts, it is hard to discern with any certainty, where you are in the matter of religion, God. You seem to believe that Jehovah's Witnesses have at least some 'truth', perhaps at least as much, or perhaps more, than other religions? May I address a couple of your doctinal mentions?
First let me say this: If one wishes to establish any 'new' agenda, sell any new product, he is well advised to find innovative ways to advertise it as 'new', 'different', 'better','improved'. This is what CT Russell was faced with - selling a new religion. His doctrines were derived from others mostly, but have survived, and to most modern Jw's they seem 'unique', which to many translates as 'correct' in their eyes. Perhaps this is because one can readily accept that such radical positions, seemingly supported by scripture, must be visible only to the 'faithful'.
It is with this sales job ahead of him, that Russell began to adopt his doctrinal platform. Here are the doctrines you mentioned, in order:
- Jesus always spoke of his Father as greater. Jw's fight hard to show themselves 'different' in this area. Yet, they are not alone in such beliefs. There are many religions who believe that Jesus is God's son, that he is not God himself. Yet - if one examines the arguments, pro and con, it becomes evident that both have flawed reasoning. Both can be 'proven' by biblical reference, or perhaps biblical exegisis. Jw's are by no means exclusive in this belief system, though they will attempt to make us believe otherwise. Christadelphian's, The Way, come to mind, and there are others.
- what happens when we die, the prospect of living on earth forever. Another of the Jw 'hooks'. We don't have to die at all. If we do, we don't have to wonder what it will be like when we come back to life - it will be an earth just like we left, only better. No angelic choirs. No spirit body. Just what we already love - the earth, rain, childrens voices, petting lions, smelling the clover. Again, Jw's are not unique in this belief.
- not being involved with the worlds governments and wars Sounds like what Jesus was selling, right? And yet most historians believe that Jesus was highly involved in protest against the Roman government, thus leading to his death [although the gospel accounts clean it up a bit]. Even Jw's are not totally separate from the world though. We are all interlinked to the effects of government in our lives. Jw's are more than happy to accept help from the government when they need it. They don't vote - but then some other religions don't vote either. Amish don't vote, don't pay taxes, don't take welfare, don't drive, etc, all in an effort to observe the same belief. As for involvement in wars - the vast majority of 'consciencious objectors' in prison are not Jehovah's Witnesses. Many abstain from killing others based on conscience.
- preaching the word I dare say that most, if not all, churches would disagree on this one. I have had people come to my door from several other religions 'preaching the word'. THe Jw interpretation of 'preaching' is not unique. But in other ways, other religious people seek to spread the gospel. Mostly, it could be said that Jw's don't actually preach the word at all - they distribute, publish, sell. But preaching is not what they do mostly. [This from one who wasted a decade pioneering, and another 25 years selling Watchtower magazines and 'Bible studies'.]
- the blood issue This is a deep one - not easy to cover in a few words. Suffice it to say, that just 5 years ago, and probably up until 3 years ago, I believed that Jw's had this one more right than wrong. Let me just suggest taking a look at AJWRB. org
Where does this leave us? With a ton of choices. You can look around and find a religious group that accepts/believes just about anything. You can 'mainstream' it - just become a 'Sunday go to meetin' type. Or, you can accept that religion, including Jw's 'is a snare and a racket'.
There are as many choices as there are people who used to be Jehovah's Witnesses. I concur with a previous poster. If you have not done so - then please get Ray Franz' books "Crisis of Conscience" and "In Search of Christian Freedom" and read them. In fact, my best advise is to 'read read read'. Read anything and everything. Get the cobwebs out. And it takes a few years to do that.
Good to have you. I hope to see how your perspective and opinions grow and expand over time. Freedom is wonderful.
Peace and Namaste
Jeff