A lot of people I know think of Jehovah's Witnesses as nothing more than the religious people who
sometimes knock on your door because they want to talk to you about God.
And, that's true, that is something they do. But, they don't really know anything about Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs.
So, let's fix that right now.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions. Ever. Imagine you're in a car accident and
you get taken to the hospital. They need to give you a blood transfusion so you can live.
If you're a Jehovah's Witness, you will say no to that. Even worse, they won't allow their children
to accept the transfusions. This prohibition has led to reports of Jehovah's Witnesses and their kids dying
more times than I can remember. So, why is this a rule? Like where did this even come from?
Jewish law forbade eating blood. In the New Testament in Acts 15:28-29 carried that command over into
Christianity. By the way, that same passage also tells you you must avoid eating meat from animals that
were strangled to death. Now, obviously, most Jews will accept blood transfusions because they understand that
eating blood and getting a medical blood transfusion to save your life are completely different things.
But, Jehovah's Witnesses don't feel that way. They are both one and the same even if it means saving your life.
If you commit what the church views as a serious sin, and a group of church elders finds you unrepentant,
you will be disfellowshipped. Not just kicked out of the church, but disfellowshipped, which means
no one in the church can ever talk to you ever again. By the way, that could include your family.
I know former Jehovah's Witnesses who haven't spoken to their parents in years because of this rule.
Basically, if you're disfellowshipped, your family could talk to you about non-church related things, like,
how their grandkids are doing or something. But, that's it. And when those family members are heavily invested
in the church, there really isn't much stuff that's non-church related that they can talk to you about.
So, once you're in the church, leaving it basically means saying goodbye to your entire life as you knew it.
By the way, what ARE some of the serious sins that can get you disfellowshipped?
Getting a blood transfusion, going to another church, using tobacco, homosexual activity, or
openly disagreeing with church leadership. Oh, and not believing in God.
They believe the world's ending soon and only THEY will be saved. The Watchtower Society, which governs
the faith, says that Jesus began ruling over Earth from Heaven in 1914.
October 5th or 6th, to be more precise. They believe that Armageddon is happening soon
and that only those who accept Jehovah's Witness teachings will be saved. Of course, they also said
all this about 1914, 1925 and 1975. So, their track record for predicting the end of the world isn't very good.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, there are about eight MILLION people who ARE Witnesses and, like, seven BILLION
who are not. So, odds are, you're screwed.
Jehovah's Witnesses DON'T celebrate their birthdays. Why? Well, for one, they think the day of your death
is way more important than the day that you were born. So, who cares. Also, the Bible only mentions birthdays
TWICE and both times someone DIED in the story. So, clearly, God's sending a sign for us to
not celebrate them. Even though dogs are mentioned in the Bible dozens of times, never in a good way,
uh, but there's no prohibition in the church on having pets.
Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate OTHER holidays, either. They don't celebrate Christmas, because that's
Jesus' birthday, and like I said, they don't do birthdays. Easter? No thank you. Eggs and bunnies are just
a corruption of Christianity. Thanksgiving? Forget it, it's not like Jesus celebrated Thanksgiving.
Arbor Day? No. That's tree worship. And, only God deserves to be worshipped.
Halloween? No. Obviously. Basically, there's only one holiday you're allowed to celebrate
as a Jehovah's Witness and it's the date that Jesus died.
Which is around Good Friday, but it's not actually Good Friday.
Jehovah's Witnesses are currently governed by seven dudes. The governing body formulates doctrine for
Jehovah's Witnesses around the world. Women are not allowed. They don't have any special qualifications
despite being able to set policy for millions of followers. And, they're appointed for life.
Jehovah's Witnesses are discouraged from getting a higher education. Preaching is supposed to be your
true calling. And, college would just get in the way of that. So, while you might be able to get away with
learning a trade, church elders actively discourage you from going to a university.
They don't want you to be part of a secular world. And they know how tempting it can be when you're
surrounded by people who don't feel that God is watching over them at all times.
More importantly, a lot of people who go to college are taught to think critically.
And examine their beliefs. They take science and philosophy classes.
And, some of them eventually shed their faith.
And that's the risk the church just doesn't want you to take.
Jehovah's Witnesses were the original pledge protestors. I feel like I should say something nice
about the Witnesses. The first major legal battle with the Pledge of Allegiance involved a Jehovah's Witness
family in the 1930s. A little boy said he didn't want to salute the flag because his religion taught him
not to bow down or pledge allegiance to anything other than God. He was expelled from school for that.
And the court said that was the right decision. Years later, kids from a Witness family in Pennsylvania
ALSO protested saluting the flag. And their case actually made it all the way up to the Supreme Court.
And the Justices voted eight to one against the family. It was a horrible decision.
And it was actually reversed by the Supreme Court in another case a few years later.
But, Jehovah's Witnesses DO deserve credit for being the first to take a stand against the Pledge of Allegiance.
Today, it's usually atheists who make the news for protesting the pledge, but historically,
that hasn't always been the case.
They did it. It wasn't easy. They got harassed when the cases were going on and yet they stood strong
on this issue. So good for them.
There are so many resources out there for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses or people who are in the faith
looking to get out. Did you know there's a subreddit JUST for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses? It's awesome.
There are also several websites that expose the church's beliefs. And they're almost all written by people who
used to be part of the church and managed to escape.
My name is Hemant Mehta and I write at friendlyatheist.com.
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