Are Jehovah's Witnesses an American Sect? (page 2)

Satanus

Also, they consider bible students to be apostates. Many of the old bound volumes and russels books are still published by some of the bible students groups. However, some jws that collect old lit refuse to get them from that source, making the apostate claim.

S

kurtbethel

I am just going to address 2 of the 4 lies.

Some define a sect as a group that has broken away from an established religion. Jehovah’s Witnesses have not broken away from some other religious group. Instead, we feel that we have reestablished the form of Christianity that was practiced in the first century.

There are two possibilities with this claim. If the Watchtower is not a sect that broke away from established religion, then it could have existed independently since the first century, or it could be created from scratch. To support the first claim, they would need to demonstrate that there was an organization in the first century that used the name "Jehovah" incessantly, taught that Jesus would return in 1914 to establish his kingdom, and distributed literature door to door promoting that teaching of obeying a governing body in Jerusalem. They would also need to demonstrate the movements of the governing body out of Jerusalem and their migration to eventual headquarters in New York. Failing to demonstrate those, they could show that they set up their religion from scratch without drawing beliefs from any other religions. An examination of their early literature from their first decades show this claim would be false. Instead, it shows a group that derived from certain sects of Christianity, but broke away from it, apostacy is the proper term, to follow their own distinct beliefs.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are active in their ministry in over 230 lands and countries. No matter where we live, we give our primary allegiance to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, not to the U.S. government or to any other human government.—John 15:19; 17:15, 16.

This is easy to disprove. The corporations that the Watchtower use are incorporated in states in the USA. A corporation is a legal charter, granted by a state, that creates a fictional legal person which is directed by humans who are part of the corporation. States in the USA are human governments. All of the Watchtower corporations got their legal power and existence by an act of the state they were incorporated in. This makes it interesting in view of the Watchtower assertion that human governments are Satan's goverment. Logically, this would make the Watchtower the spawn of Satan. Whatever the view you have about that, it is clearly an American corporation.

DATA-DOG

"This is easy to disprove. The corporations that the Watchtower use are incorporated in states in the USA. A corporation is a legal charter, granted by a state, that creates a fictional legal person which is directed by humans who are part of the corporation. States in the USA are human governments. All of the Watchtower corporations got their legal power and existence by an act of the state they were incorporated in. This makes it interesting in view of the Watchtower assertion that human governments are Satan's goverment. Logically, this would make the Watchtower the spawn of Satan. Whatever the view you have about that, it is clearly an American corporation. "

Yay!! Logic!!

They really do lie most of the time don't they?!

kurtbethel

Yay!! Logic!!

They really do lie most of the time don't they?!

Early, and often.

Leolaia

Some define a sect as a group that has broken away from an established religion. Jehovah’s Witnesses have not broken away from some other religious group.

Historically false. As Satanus points out, "Jehovah's Witnesses" broke from the "Bible Students" started by Russell between 1917 and 1931. The Wikipedia article on sects notes that "American sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge assert that 'sects claim to be authentic purged, refurbished version of the faith from which they split' ", and that accords well with the version of institutional history that the Watchtower Society promotes: From 1918 and 1919 onward, the group that became "Jehovah's Witnesses" purged themselves of "Babylonish practices" that the more conversative Bible Students (whom they declare to be apostate) maintained. Russell, in turn, broke from the "Second Adventists" he formerly had been allied with: Barbour, Paton, Storrs, etc. And the (largely American) Adventist movement was founded by American William Miller in the context of a larger religious revival (the second Great Awakening) that was sweeping through American Protestantism in the 1840s.

Instead, we feel that we have reestablished the form of Christianity that was practiced in the first century.

Notice the subjective "we feel" statement that presents the group's self-claims. That is different than what is objectively the case. Many Christian sects feel they have "reestablished" true Christianity.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are active in their ministry in over 230 lands and countries. No matter where we live, we give our primary allegiance to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, not to the U.S. government or to any other human government.—John 15:19; 17:15, 16.

This misconstrues what is normally meant by the characterization of a religion as "American". Mormonism is an American sect because it arose in America, drew on distinctly American religious traditions, and even has America as its special focus in belief and scripture. But it is similarly active in an international ministry over the world. And its American origin has little to do with any sort of political allegience.

All of our teachings are based on the Bible, not on the writings of some religious leader in the United States.?—1 Thessalonians 2:13.

All Christian denominations and sects base their teachings primarily on the Bible (the notion of an authoritative "canon" is common to all Christian groups); that is a fundamental to being Christian (as even Islam recognizes, Jews and Christians are both "peoples of the book"). This statement poses a false dilemma; what it leaves out is that what makes Christian religions differ from each other is their varying interpretation of the Bible, and in the case of JWs, that interpretation is strictly mediated by the Governing Body. Originally, in the 1920s and 1930s, it was almost entirely based on the writings of one single religious leader in the US, J. F. Rutherford.

We follow Jesus Christ, not any human leader.?—Matthew 23:8-10.

Another false dilemma. In reality, JWs teach that following Jesus and following the human leaders of JWs is EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

*** w43 7/1 p. 204 Reasonable Service ***
The Lord through his "faithful and wise servant" now states to us, "Let us cover our territory four times in six months." That becomes our organization instructions and has the same binding force on us that his statement to the Logos had when he said, "Let us make man in our image." It is our duty to accept this additional instruction and obey it.
*** w59 5/1 p. 269 Attain Completeness in the New World Society ***

The whole body under the direction of the head moves and acts as a beautifully co-ordinated unit, perfectly organized. In the same way Christ, the Head, employs the organization that is his body to carry out his assigned work. His orders reach the whole of the organization on earth through the governing body, and on down through the Branches to the congregations.—1 Cor. 12:12-18; Matt. 24:45-47.

To hold to the headship of Christ, it is therefore necessary to obey the organization that he is personally directing. Doing what the organization says is to do what he says. Resisting the organization is to resist him.
*** w89 9/15 p. 25 par. 23 Be Obedient to Those Taking the Lead ***

Loyal Christians gladly obey Jehovah’s commandments and are moved to cooperate with those to whom he has entrusted congregation oversight.
*** w07 4/1 p. 24 par. 12 Loyal to Christ and His Faithful Slave ***

Therefore, when we loyally submit to the direction of the faithful slave and its Governing Body, we are submitting to Christ, the slave’s Master. Our showing due respect for the instrument Christ is using to manage his earthly belongings is one way in which we “openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”—Philippians 2:11.