Jehovah Witness Religion

What were you told not to talk about at parties. There was politics, something else and then there was religion. As we got to know one another in the first week, I found that many were solid in their faith. Well, religion has been a major part of my life as well until about a year ago. I grew up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I firmly believed the doctrines as being true. Many know very little of the witnesses and for the most just as the people who knock on your door on a Saturday morning waking you up and also those weird people who do not accept blood or celebrate Christmas. Well, I was one of those people until about a year ago I began to rethink my faith.This little summary is not a knock on the witnesses. I still believe there are some very kind and passionate people in this religion. BUT, while they are a very loving group of people, some of the doctrines they practice in my mind are unexplainable.

Just to get a bit of a background on the witnesses let me go over some of the beliefs. A few of the majors are they do not believe in the trinity, they believe that GOD(Jehovah), Jesus and the Holy spirit are separate entities. They do not believe in a literal HELL. It is believed as more so as just the common grave. They believe that in 1914 GOD had chosen a people to represent him and the witnesses believe they are that people. Any witness will tell you the same thing, they may dress it up a little, but this is the jist.Witnesses do not celebrate any holidays or birthdays as they are believed to be originated from pagans. Which I found that most of them are. Probably the most controversial belief is the refusal of blood transfusions. Witnesses believe blood to be sacred and the essence of life. They take the scripture of Lev. 17:14 as literal. Their official site here http://www.watchtower.org/e/hb/article_01.htm explains this thoroughly.Witnesses believe that they have the one and only true faith. They will not come out and say it, but they also believe that only witnesses will be the ones saved at the day of judgement. Hence, the preaching from door to door. The going door to door is not believed to be works done in order to be saved, it is believed to be part of the work that needs to be done in order to fulfill God's promise, meaning they don't do it to earn browny points with God.

Why I reconsidered my faith are for a few reasons. One major reason though, is how the witness organization put them in between you and God. If you were to ask a current witness the validity of this, they would flat out deny it and would turn around and say that their relationship is between them and God. This statement could not be anymor worng. Let me break it down.

To be a witness, you must conform to their guidelines. Who makes the rules? There is a group of men known to the witnesses as the "Governing Body". (to be short and sweet) These men are supposedly spirit anointed men by God who create the guidelines as to what a witness should live by. In order to be a Jehovah witness, you must follow these guidelines. If you do not follow the guidelines, you are not considered a witness and could possibly be what witnesses call "disfellowshiped", which I will explain later. So, in going along with my previous statements of how the witnesses believe that they are the only people that will be saved(again which they will not say), a person that does not follow the guidelines of the Jehovah Witness religion no matter how good of a christian they are, will basically die on judgment day.

Going back to the term "disfellowshiped". When a person commits a sin he may feel compelled to go to the older men of the congregation(what witnesses call the elders) for help in repentance. This is highly encouraged by the elders as well. When a person goes to the elders, they are to give encouragement, but also see if any discipline is needed. Disfellowshipping is the highest form of discipline. Sadly though, this form of discipline is used far more then it should. When a person is disfellowshipped he is basically cut off from all existing members, this includes family members. This means that a person is not allowed to have ANY communication with existing members. If a person were to be found openly communicating with this member, that person would be difellowshipped as well. For example, lets say if a son of a family was disfellowshipped. If he were living outside the home, he would not be able to talk to his own mother or father or any brothers or sisters he may have. So, a father could be disciplined for talking with his own son. Witnesses call this a loving arrangement from God. I myself cannot see anything loving about this.

It is for the very minimal these reasons that have caused doubts in my own faith. This has caused me very much grief as I am spiritually lost. It is hard to understand if a person has never been apart of the witness faith. But as a witness you are taught that you have the "Truth" and that everyone else is wrong and does not have God's backing. When you put your firm belief in that and then find out that it may be wrong, it is highly difficult to take in and it leaves you feeling betrayed.

This is just a small piece of information of the Jehovah's witness faith and a peak inside the mind of a member. You may ask a witness about this information and tell them what you have read here. Witnesses are very good at dressing up their words and avoiding questions they do not want to answer. But, if you listen carefully it goes back to the main point. They will most likely tell you that the person who wrote this is an "apostate"(witnesses use this term for former members that no longer believe) and that I am just trying to bad mouth their religion. Well, I can tell you I have no ill intent of the witnesses as I said I believe there are some very good people in that religion. This article is not intended to sway people from becoming a witness or try to bring out current members. This article was more written for myself and to voice my feelings.

It is reassuring to know people are in the same situation as you are in. So, I hope other former members find this encouraging.