jayh

In the past year my father and my grandmother died (both JWs). Out of respect for their wishes, they got their JW funerals.

At my grandmother's funeral, the JWs were unwilling to let my cousin (a more or less mainstream Protestant minister--don't know which denom) participate in the service. We actually had a second service where he (as well as myself and the rest of the non JW family) got to say our peace.

At my father's funeral, people would introduce themselves then start telling me I should listen to the speaker talk about how I would 'see him again'. No condolences, realy, just sales pitch, captializing on my loss. Then some big dork in an ill-fitting suit tried to corner me and shove tracts into my hand. sheesh.

To be fair they weren't all assholes toward us, but you get the feeling that the more 'normal' ones really have to wrestle with that mental mold.

j

excreationist

The JW's I've talked to believe that demons and demon possession is very real...
They also don't believe in hell, which is pretty cool. They believe that when you die that's it... unless God ressurrects you to live on the new earth. (Maybe everyone is resurrected for judgement day though... I'm not sure about that.)
The JW's have anti-evolution books and I think they might think the world is quite young.

jayh

Yes, that's a good one. They are *terrified* of 'demons'. A few things like a pentagram, maybe a 'crystal' ball will be enough to get them out of your house.

they have a weird mix on this one. They buy an old earth but that all life on earth is quite young.

Their books are a mixture of illogic (circular reasoning, lack of comprehension of science) and some complete dishonesty (like the quotes they take from Gould, or the alleged quote from Scientific American proclaiming creation, in actuality the SciAm quote was a summary of pre-evolutionary belief).

jay

gsx1138

Amen Brother JayH.
I don't understand that either. The one thing the JW's give you is the ability to rip apart other christian religions. I don't really understand how you can leave one cult for another. It kind of reminds me of those women who keep going out with the guy who beats them.
Jw's are very very afraid of demons. They are perhaps the most superstitous people I've ever known (and I'm Wiccan now). They believe that anyone or any object can become possessed by demons. Their anti-evolution book is very compelling to those who don't know any better. Otherwise, it is the usual compilation of misquotations and apologist reasoning. Most also believe the Earth is 6 thousand years old.

Ensign Steve

I overheard a JW in the market talking about this. He said the reason was "because of the AIDS."

It's one thing to believe in something. It's another thing to have no idea why you belive it!



Jen

rem

Jen,

That is a typical response from a JW. Most JW's cannot provide a coherent explanation of the Watchtower's current blood policy. The main reason for this is due to the fact that it is contradictory and confusing.

The problem is that JW's are allowed certain blood therapies, but not others. They are allowed fractions of blood fractions, but not the original fractions themselves even though there is no scriptural justification for this. They are allowed procedures that use many units of stored blood, but they are not allowed autologous tranfusions in which their own blood is stored.

The Watchtower publications are not clear, so the average JW assumes that they cannot accept any blood therapies due to scriptural injunction. On the other hand there are lesser known blood therapies that are allowed which still violate the scriptural principles they follow. This leaves the JW confused, so they usually fall back to non-scriptural non-arguments, such as, 'blood is not safe'.

I know. I used to do the same. One of my main arguments as a JW was that the transfused blood would not carry oxygen for quite some time after transfusion, so blood expanders such as saline solution were just as effective. I had to admit that this didn't really make much sense to me even at that time (transfused blood must obviously have some benefit or everybody would be using saline solution!!!), but it was what I was taught, so I parroted that non-argument when I was backed into a corner.

rem

Vespertine

My aunt is JW but she's married a slightly Christian man who is currently in a legal battle with my relatives over a molestation thing (long story). I'm still not sure how this works as she goes to their little camps and has the "NO BLOOD" card in her wallet. And my cousin (her son) is/was JW yet he's listened to NIN for as long as I can remember. I don't understand why they insist on being JW when they clearly aren't. I really wish I could reach out to my cousin and see what he truly wants for his life.

On a lighter note, my other cousin, brother, and I are always devising (<--that looks so wrong...) new ways to freak out JWs and Mormons who come to the door. Any good ideas?

Ensign Steve

When I was in high school, my family had a mormon friend of mine over for Thanksgiving. She may have been Mormon, but we were teens, and in my family, teens are allowed to drink on holidays. So she got probably the drunkest she had ever been on a few beers, then the JW's showed up. That's right, the JW's showed up on Thanksgiving Day! Well we sicked my drunk Mormon friend on them, and she gave them what-for! Nothing like watching a JW and a Mormon debate each other about religion! It was beautiful!

Jen

jayh

With JWs, anything occult (this is much scarier to them than, say, sex). Tarot, pentagrams, etc. Recite a spell. They are so terrified of 'demons', thinking that the power of the demon will enter their bodies and corrupt them....

I remember all kinds of bizarre stories that would circulate around among them, about some demon attack that occurred to some JW somewhere. Pure urban legend type stuff. I remember on fellow telling me, in all seriousness, that they had 'realized' that the spiritual problems woman was having were due to demons inhabiting a ring she had inherited. They pulled it off her hand and tried to smash it with a hammer. And he thought he was behaving rationally.

Vespertine

I'll remember that, I'm sure my cousin will be very interested.