Ask an ex Jehovah's Witness a question...

[Guardian85]

My bad.  The underwear thing is the Mormons.  Got my cults mixed up.

But now i'm interested ;_;

http://www.mormon-underwear.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cbfgmorIGE

[DeterminedJuliet]

Appreciate you taking the time to answer all these questions.
Did you ever manage to convert anyone while you were knocking on doors?

Not one person...the majority of new baptized JW's are the children of JW's...in 2011 the JW's spent 1.7 Billion hours in the door to door preaching work world wide for a total of 263,000 new baptized...it is almost completely ineffective. You may ask why do they continue to preach door to door if it produces little results. They will tell you it is their commission to give a witness before the end but other methods would be far more effective. Mass media, tv, radio etc but the reason is control. This is a major tool for control over the JW's. The leadership know they must maintain strict control over their lives to keep them inline and maintain their numbers. By controlling their lives like preaching and many other ways they guarantee adherence...

Wow. Why are the followers okay with this level of strict control? Do they think it's actually required by God? How do most members view the relationship between the JW leadership and God?

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Wow. Why are the followers okay with this level of strict control? Do they think it's actually required by God? How do most members view the relationship between the JW leadership and God?

Every cult has its own internal logic.  The key is to slowly indoctrinate after the fish bites the hook.  Someone will have some particular need or be at some particular point in their life that makes them susceptible to being sucked in.  Once that happens, the fish is administered the kool-aid and it makes sense, at least for awhile and sometimes for life.  If you aren't in that susceptible state, you aren't attracted.  The potential of human beings to be deceived is limitless.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Wow. Why are the followers okay with this level of strict control? Do they think it's actually required by God? How do most members view the relationship between the JW leadership and God?

Every cult has its own internal logic.  The key is to slowly indoctrinate after the fish bites the hook.  Someone will have some particular need or be at some particular point in their life that makes them susceptible to being sucked in.  Once that happens, the fish is administered the kool-aid and it makes sense, at least for awhile and sometimes for life.  If you aren't in that susceptible state, you aren't attracted.  The potential of human beings to be deceived is limitless.

I agree, I'm just wondering what their particular rationalization is.

[zeroday]

JW's are taught that the organization is the mouth piece of god only they can interpret the will of god...the following quotes from their literature shows their mind set:


"Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah's visible organization in mind."—The Watchtower, October 1, 1967, p. 587


"Does 'the faithful and discreet slave' [Watchtower organization] endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate?—Matt. 24:45, 47. No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. ...They have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature. ...Thus, 'the faithful and discreet slave' does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight... For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore Insight on the Scriptures, 'All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,' and our other publications...."—Kingdom Ministry, September 2007, p. 3


"We must not lose sight of the fact that God is directing his organization... To turn away from Jehovah and his organization, to spurn the direction of 'the faithful and discreet slave,' and to rely simply on personal Bible reading and interpretation is to become like a solitary tree in a parched land."—The Watchtower, June 1, 1985, pp. 19-20

"Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do."—The Watchtower, December 1, 1981, p. 27

[DeterminedJuliet]

Very interesting zeroday, thank you for sharing.

[Ali]

What does the name "Jehovah's Witness" mean?

[zeroday]

What does the name "Jehovah's Witness" mean?

Their name Jehovah's Witness is taken from Isiah 43:10




American Standard Version
Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

[Crow]

What is the general followers perception of non JW's?

[zeroday]

What is the general followers perception of non JW's?

Because JW's believe they are the only true Christian faith on earth today they believe if you are not one of them you will suffer gods wrath and be destroyed at his judgment day. They are taught to be separate from the world not to mix with those not called brothers...

You Can live Forever (1982, 1990) p.255

Do not conclude that there are different roads, or ways, that you can follow to gain life in God's new system. There is only one. There was just one ark that survived the Flood, not a number of boats. And there will be only one organization — God's visible organization — that will survive the fast-approaching "great tribulation." It is simply not true that all religions lead to the same goal... You must be part of Jehovah's organization, doing God's will, in order to receive his blessing of everlasting life...

[AnimatedDirt]

Is it true that JW's believe in a literal 144,000 to be saved at Christ's second coming?  If so, how is it that the slots have not all been taken already?  I'm almost positive there must be more than 144,000 practicing JW's in the world.  The heirarchy alone must take a good percentage of that number before the numbers reach the common JW.

If this is not true, might you explain a bit what the 144,000 number means to a JW?

[zeroday]

Is it true that JW's believe in a literal 144,000 to be saved at Christ's second coming?  If so, how is it that the slots have not all been taken already?  I'm almost positive there must be more than 144,000 practicing JW's in the world.  The heirarchy alone must take a good percentage of that number before the numbers reach the common JW.

If this is not true, might you explain a bit what the 144,000 number means to a JW?

That has been a subject of debate for years amongst JW's. According to their theology the heavenly calling for a literal 144,000 to reign with Christ in heaven ended in 1935 ( how they came to this date is another matter).
So no more would be called. They are known as the "Anointed"...however the number of anointed have not gone down since then but up, those claiming to have received the call. How to explain this. The Watchtower had to jump thru hoops over the decades over this one and settled on that sone of the anointed must have sinned and fallen out of favor with god and had to be replaced. Often though they just dismiss those that claim to be if the anointed:

"The most recent published report is for the year 1995, and it shows 28 more partakers than in the preceding year though the ratio of partakers to those attending did actually drop. On balance, that a few more chose to partake of the emblems is no cause for concern. Over the years some, even ones newly baptized, have suddenly begun to partake. In a number of cases, after a while they acknowledged that this was an error. Some have recognized that they partook as an emotional response to perhaps physical or mental strain. But they came to see that they really were not called to heavenly life. They asked for God's merciful understanding. And they continue to serve him as fine, loyal Christians, having the hope of everlasting life on earth.

There is no need for any of us to be concerned if a person begins to partake of the emblems or ceases to do so. It really is not up to us whether someone actually has been anointed with holy spirit and called to heavenly life or not. Recall Jesus' solid assurance: "I am the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep." Just as assuredly, Jehovah knows those whom he has chosen as spiritual sons. There is every reason to believe that the number of anointed ones will continue to decline as advanced age and unforeseen occurrences end their earthly lives. Yet, even as these truly anointed ones prove faithful till death, in line for the crown of life, the other sheep, who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, can look forward to surviving the impending great tribulation.—2 Timothy 4:6-8; Revelation 2:10."

[Asmodean]

Are there any statistics for how many tons of Watchtowers given to the unsuspecting strangers ended up being used as toilet paper?

[zeroday]

Are there any statistics for how many tons of Watchtowers given to the unsuspecting strangers ended up being used as toilet paper?

There are no stats on that but I can assure you over the decades millions of tons...the Watchtower has their own printing facilities staffed by volunteers worldwide. Just to give you an example. In 1968 the watchtower society published a new study book called "The truth that leads to eternal life" by the time the production run ended they had printed over 100 million copies. That's just one book and they produce many more with similar production numbers. Add to that the millions of Watchtower and Awake magazines each year you can get an idea.

[Asmodean]

DAMN! No wonder there are football fields the size of like... Germany where rainforest used to be.