Posted July 23, 2006
Jehovah's Witnesses - Who are they and what do they believe?
Unlike in the case of Christians who are persecuted in other lands for talking
about Jesus Christ, Jehovah's Witnesses are largely persecuted for following the
teachings of their corporate headquarters.
The deadbeat Watchtower corporation pays no municipal taxes on their buildings,
without even one charity to compensate the community.
Jehovah's Witnesses at your door -- who are they?
The Watchtower is Big money, being one of the top 40 New York City Corporations
making nearly one billion dollars a year. That's just from one of their many
corporations.
Jehovah's Witnesses follow the teachings begun during the second presidency of
the Watchtower, when Joseph F. Rutherford took over in a corporate flap and
began changing doctrines quickly in the Watchtower belief system. He claimed
that angels directly conveyed "truth" to some of those in leadership. He coined
the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" to make them stand out from being witnesses of
Jesus, a typical evangelical expression (and a Biblical one).
Rutherford dumped holidays, birthdays and the 1874 date for the invisible return
on Christ, and invented an "earthly class" of Witnesses, since only 144,000 can
go to heaven according to their teaching. The rest, meaning all 99.9% of
Witnesses still alive, will live forever on a cleansed earth, under the rule of
the Watchtower corporate headquarter leaders in heaven, who will keep them in
line by local elders known as "princes."
If you have been "witnessed to" by Jehovah's Witnesses and you reject their
message, you will likely die "shortly" at Armageddon with all the other
non-Witnesses, since theirs is the only true religion, and (if they can live up
to all the rules) they are the only ones to inhabit this "new earth." If you
believe Witnesses seem rigid now, any non-conformist during the future "cleansed
earth" will be directly destroyed by their god. Even now a Witness will be
disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for any one of many gaffs, such as smoking,
taking a blood transfusion, or even voting.
To even vocally question the teachings of the Jehovah's Witness organization
will result in complete cutting off, with family and friends usually being
forbidden to talk to them. The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world, in a time
when Orwellian societies are nearly obsolete.
In his "Adams Versus God," Melbourne broadcaster Phillip Adams said in 1985
that, according to US studies, "Jehovah's Witnesses are more likely to be
admitted to psychiatric hospitals than the general population".
"According to an article in the British Journal of Psychiatry," he said, "they
are three times more likely to be diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and
four times more likely to be paranoid schizophrenics.
"As a writer in the American journal Free Inquiry puts it: 'Either the Jehovah's
Witness sect tends to attract an excess of pre-psychotic individuals who may
then break down, or else being a Jehovah's Witness is itself a stress that may
precipitate psychosis. "'Possibly both of these factors operate together ...'"
References:
www.freeminds.org ( type in a search word to find articles easily )
www.silentlambs.org ( latest news on the child abuse lawsuits against the
Watchtower )
About the author Danny Haszard: Former Jehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd
generation. Now a counter-cult educator. My home page, WATCHTOWER WHISTLEBLOWER:
www.DannyHaszard.com
Sons of Jehovah's Witnesses return from war without welcome
Created: 11/6/2005 11:12:52 AM
Updated:11/7/2005 9:52:10 AM
Associated Press
CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- Two members of the Third Battalion, 25th Marines are still waiting to be welcomed home.
The unit came back to Ohio last month after losing 48 members in
Iraq. But the parents of Jason and Johel Woodliff didn't come out for the
homecoming.
Thomas and Mia Woodliff are against war because they're Jehovah's Witnesses.
They say they respect their sons' decision to enlist, but they can't reconcile
it with their faith.
Johel Woodliff says he begged his mother to greet him and his brother when they
came back. He says his parents were upset with him when he turned down a college
scholarship to enlist.
Jason Woodliff says he was kicked out of the house when he told his parents he
wanted to join the Marines. He says he hasn't spoken with his father in five
years.
Witnessing for the faith
Thousands arrive for an annual Jehovah's Witness gathering.
Claudia Zequeira
Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 23,
2006
KISSIMMEE -- Jeff and Lucia Clay, both Jehovah's Witnesses,
remember the days when their tiny Bible reading group gathered in a downtown
Kissimmee home more than 50 years ago.
"It was 14 of us; and half were from Orlando. We had no central heat, no air
conditioning. We're thrilled to death by how much we've grown," said Jeff Clay,
79.
On Saturday the Clays, who helped build the first Kingdom Hall in Kissimmee in
1955, joined about 9,000 people at their faith's annual district convention at
the Silver Spurs Arena in Osceola Heritage Park.
The gathering is expected to draw about 65,000 visitors from Naples to Daytona
over seven weekends through Sept. 3, with three of the three-day sessions
conducted in Spanish. About 10,000 visitors are likely to be newcomers.
Crowds drawn to the convention, titled "Deliverance at Hand!" are a sign of how
things have changed in Central Florida since the religion made a foothold here.
Today, about 50,000 Jehovah's Witnesses are spread out over 400 congregations in
the region, which includes Tampa, St. Petersburg, Daytona Beach and Naples, said
spokesman Michael Roth.
Osceola alone has 29 congregations and seven Kingdom Halls.
Growth is attributed in part to demographic trends, but also largely to the work
of congregants. Jehovah's Witnesses share the word of God by knocking
door-to-door in neighborhoods to gain adherents to the faith.
"We're very active in the ministry," Roth said. "It's something we do for a
lifetime . . . not just for a couple of years."
Roth said Jehovah's Witnesses in the area have learned to overcome obstacles,
such as language barriers, by setting up congregations in several languages,
with Spanish congregations outnumbering English-speaking ones in many counties.
More recently, they've bypassed a very local problem.
"There are number of communities here that are gated," said Roth. "So how do you
reach those people? Well, you can call them or you can write them. We do both."
During Saturday's convention, one of 266 such events held in 73 cities
nationwide from May to September, many attendees described the gathering as a
way to socialize, meet "brothers and sisters" from neighboring congregations and
strengthen their faith.
More than 1 million people are expected to participate in conventions throughout
the United States.
Speakers preached to a full house about overcoming Satan's temptations, keeping
their marriages strong and watching for signs of the end of the current world
order, which Jehovah's Witnesses believe they must prepare for urgently.
Other topics included keeping a "scriptural view of health care," which advised
against "obsessive preoccupation with physical appearance."
The format was similar to that of weekly meetings attended by Jehovah's
Witnesses, which rely heavily on Bible reading and are punctuated by song.
Many congregants -- women in dresses and men in jackets and ties -- could be
seen taking notes.
RaChelle Coleman, who drove from St. Petersburg to attend, said messages at the
convention were "useful" as she left a morning session.
"We are living the last days of this system of things," said Coleman, 34. "It's
important to remember how to resist the desires of the world because Satan uses
different tools to keep us away from Jehovah."
The faith estimates its membership at 6.6 million members worldwide. Jehovah's
Witnesses are politically neutral and often refrain from "worldly activities,"
such as fighting wars and voting. They often frown upon higher education if
pursuing it is perceived to interfere with someone's devotion to God.
Dozens took the opportunity Saturday to be baptized. George Harris, from Tampa,
described the experience as "the beginning of a new life."
Harris, 20, said he grew up in the religion but began to feel closer to it when
he noticed events in the Bible were "coming true."
"I never felt the need to be baptized until now," he said. "I started to see all
these things happening in the world . . . the world just didn't seem as kind
anymore."
Iva Uzunov, a 23-year old waitress from Kissimmee, was submerged in a pool set
up by the main stage. Her baptism, she said, marked the end of a search for
meaning she began in earnest a year ago after hearing of the religion from a
co-worker.
"I was partying and doing sinful things," she said. "But everything felt empty.
I feel today I've (you are the savior?) washed away some of those bad
things. I've made some serious changes in my life."
True Christianity: And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11