Not everything they say or do, nor everything they believe, stands up to examination from the heart, but the vast majority of what they say about the Bible is correct and can be demonstrated by them from every version of the Bible. And they mean you well. Without hatred in their hearts nor money on their minds.
So I simply wondered if anyone had anything nice to say about them?
There's woman who just started doing temporary receptionist work in our office. She's working with a government program that helps older minority women get back into the workforce. After the holidays I was standing nearby and heard her mention to someone that she's a JW and doesn't celebrate Christmas. Today I told her I had overheard her say that and wondered if I had heard correctly. She replied very respectfully and solemnly "Yes Sir...I've been a Jehovah's Witness for over 30 years now". It felt strange to have a older black woman address me, (a white male) as "Sir" that way because I am not her supervisor or her superior in any way and I had talked to her one on one many times before without that kind of reacition. I realized she might have just been saying that because she was in full JW mode and wanted to make a good JW impression.
Anyway, I told her that up until a few years ago I had been a JW myself and was even a Bethelite at one point but had stopped going to meetings for various reasons. She gasped and was very impressed about me having been a Bethelite. She asked me if I'd ever thought of going back. I told her that it had crossed my mind but that too many things had happened for me to ever feel the same.
She asked me what happened and I told her that I didn't want to go into too much detail here at work but one thig was that my father died a horrible death from not taking a blood transfusion after a surgery and then about 2 years later the Governing Body decided that taking blood fractions was OK. I told her that those fractions would have most likely saved his life.
She looked puzzled and said she never heard anything about blood fractions and wasn't sure what I was even talking about. I told her that a few years ago the Governing Body decided that if whole blood was separated out into its various components or fractions, certain fractions could be used for medical purposes and still be considered "abstaining" from blood. Anyway we simply stopped going to meeting after this and a few other similar things happened one after another. My wife and I are pretty much friendless now because no one but a few family members will associate or talk to us, even though we've done nothing other than stop going to meetings.
Her phone rang just then but before she answered it she said "Well, I've never heard anything about blood fractions but I wouldn't have stop talking to you".
I'll have to wait and see if she want's to hear more the next time I see her.
Anyway, to answer your opening question, I'd have to say that JW's as individuals are typically lovely people and I can think of lots of nice things to say about them. They have their faults like anyone else but I find that so many of them are unclear or unaware of many important details about their own beliefs and how they have evolved over the years and the price so many have paid from altering their lives around those now changed beliefs. JW's are prepared to die or let their children die, upholding beliefs they aren't really clear about. As an organization, because of their beliefs and the enforcement of them, JW's are directly responsible for prematurely ending lives or permanently altering whole family lineages. On the surface it all looks well and good. But it's only when you have a crisis or conflict yourself or when you become aware of the experiences of (likely) millions of individuals who's experience as a JW has been less than ideal, do you get a true picture of the impact of this organization and why it's beliefs and members are sometimes viewed as peculiar .