What exactly ARE the JWs known for?

by detective 41 Replies latest jw friends

  • searcher
    searcher

    Everyone I know is non-witness.

    Their reactions range from my Dad's " Its the god botherers again, I'll get rid of them"

    To my wife's " I am not talking to them, they let their children die"

    Not much of a reputation I think.

    searcher.

  • KistByQpid
    KistByQpid

    Never having been a JW...here WAS my opinion BEFORE knowing a "real" JW:

    #1 Religious fanatical cult members. Strange, unbiblical doctrines.

    #2 Elitist. Only THEY think everyone is in awe of their "reputatation" Being Jehovah's chosen few (sarcasm), gives them an obnoxious superiority trip.

    Now that I actually KNOW a JW (Mom's a new convert) Heres what I think NOW:

    SAME AS ABOVE x 10

  • AjaxMan
    AjaxMan

    Before I knew and dealt with a JW, I thought that they were just like any mainstream Christian group. That was until they told me that they don't celebrate birthdays and holidays. Then, I made more research on what they are about. I also found out that they don't give to other charities as I still remember after 9/11 that the people that didn't contribute squat to the families of the victims were the JWs and their excuse is they always help out in their own ways and have their own charities.

    To many non-witnesses that I know (friends, families and acquaintances), they are known for:

    1. Annoyingly knocking doors in the morning, especially weekend, just to throw their sales pitch about their rags.

    2. Being eccentric people with totally different habits/lifestyle.

    3. Not participating in blood transfussion/donation or holidays/birthdays celebration.

    Knowing more about the JWs now, I will never join that unGodly cult and will put a restraining order on them if they ever approach my family and kids.

    -Ajax

  • funkyderek
    funkyderek

    One thing they're not widely known for is the content of the "good news" that they've been preaching for the last 120 years. The average person may know they don't celebrate Christmas or take blood transfusions but that's about it. Six million people preaching for a billion hours a year and nobody knows what they believe.

  • Bona Dea
    Bona Dea

    My experience is like that of kistbyqpid and Yeru. I have never been a witness...never will be!! I am married to one (as of this July when he gets baptized at the Macon GA convention)...

    Growing up, we were told not to talk to them. That they were a cult (I was a kid and I had no idea what that meant...still am somewhat clueless). Maybe it's because I live in a little hick GA town, but NO ONE in these parts knows what the heck JWs believe. All I knew, prior to opening that door (which, btw, was the worst day of my life), was that they didn't celebrate Christmas.

    No one pays them any attention. And they are hardly a "spectacle"...at least, not the type of spectacle they would like to believe themselves to be. No eyes are on them (except those who have been there; done that...and have been hurt in some way, shape, or form by the org). It was unbelievable (well, it was to me anyhow), when I first started talking to them, how they think that everyone is watching them and waiting for them to "mess up", and how they believed so many people were out to get them. They are totally paranoid.

    Another thing that got me was reading the Revelation: It's grand climax at hand! book...How they honestly believe all those bible prophecies point to them. How arrogant. I guess the rest of the world will just have to miss out on that. I mean, really, how couldn't Christendom (or anyone, for that matter) see that 1914 was when Jesus returned (invisibly, of course) and that when those witnesses went to jail way back when that that was a fulfillment of bible prophecy? JWs are the most delusional people I know. This stuff is completely "in their heads". Hell, I wouldn't even know what I know about them (nor would I care to know), nor would I even be on this forum, if they had never stepped into my life and destroyed my (already crumbling) marriage. They really do live in their own little world.

    Prior to meeting them, my opinion of the witnesses was:

    1.They are a cult

    2.They are strange

    3.They go door-to-door

    4.They sold (past-tense, in these parts) Watchtower mags

    5.Those poor children never get to have any fun

    Before I actually invited them into my house, I didn't know anything about the blood, I knew they didn't celebrate Christmas (actually, I figured they celebrated it, but just some way different than the traditional way...I had NO IDEA that the only thing they do celebrate is their wedding anniversary) the beards, the YMCA, and all those other things they stay away from for fear of being contaminated with "worldy cooties"...

    Bona

  • gumby
    gumby
  • PurpleV
    PurpleV

    Here in NYC they are known for having the correct time and temperature on their WT sign over the Brooklyn Bridge.

  • PurpleV
    PurpleV

    I killed another thread.

    Edited to say it was a Rated thread, too.

    Edited by - PurpleV on 5 February 2003 22:3:20

  • detective
    detective

    Ah, PurpleV, do not fret!! I've come back to kick the corpse you left behind...(Just kidding!)

    It really is interesting to compare what perception versus reality. I also found what FunkyDerek said to be pretty telling- they aren't even remotely known for the "good news" they've been sharing for over a century. Jehovah may want to consider hiring better PR folks in the future. The witnesses are doing him no great favors as the newly appointed chosen ones...

  • PurpleV
    PurpleV

    Thanks Detective!

    When I was little I was ashamed to say I was a witness. I found it extremely embarassing because I knew everyone thought we were weird.

    Hugs,V

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