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Jehovah Witnesses, Wow are they what?

Cainkane1

Philosopher
Cainkane1
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
9,011
Location
The great American southeast
Words fail me. Jehovah's Witnesses at my door gave me a pamphlet about the coming destruction of the planet earth. Apostles are apparently going to burn alive but Jehovah's Witnesses are going to be protected and given a restored earthly paradise.

This kind of flies in the face of a Supreme being that's supposed to be kind just and loving but that's what their literature said.

I was kind of lonesome that day so when they asked me to discuss my possible immolation I casually told them that that scenario was very similar to what happened on Mars. I told them that at one time Mars had had an ocean, rivers, streams and who knows what else but after its collision with the asteroid or comet everything dried up.

They seemed interested and they asked me in a sincere way how many people had died on Mars after that event?

Jehovah's Witnesses are good examples of the harm religion can do to people. The Witnesses are a very big cult but they are a cult and anything that isn't from their own teachings is suspect.

Surely they aren't all this ignorant.
 
Cainkane1 said:
....Surely they aren't all this ignorant.
Click to expand...
All powerful gods, virgin births, rising from the dead, parting the seas, performing miracles, turning water to wine, walking on water it goes on and on. Who is not this ignorant?

Ranb
 
Cainkane1 said:
Words fail me. Jehovah's Witnesses at my door gave me a pamphlet about the coming destruction of the planet earth. Apostles are apparently going to burn alive but Jehovah's Witnesses are going to be protected and given a restored earthly paradise.

This kind of flies in the face of a Supreme being that's supposed to be kind just and loving but that's what their literature said.

I was kind of lonesome that day so when they asked me to discuss my possible immolation I casually told them that that scenario was very similar to what happened on Mars. I told them that at one time Mars had had an ocean, rivers, streams and who knows what else but after its collision with the asteroid or comet everything dried up.

They seemed interested and they asked me in a sincere way how many people had died on Mars after that event?

Jehovah's Witnesses are good examples of the harm religion can do to people. The Witnesses are a very big cult but they are a cult and anything that isn't from their own teachings is suspect.

Surely they aren't all this ignorant.
Click to expand...
The bulk of mainstream Christianity such as Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and evangelical Christians consider the Witnesses to be spaced out even by Christian standards.

One particularly lamentable and dangerous belief is their refusal to do blood transfusions, based on a misinterpretation of a biblical edict forbidding the eating of blood. Lots of Jehovah's Witness parents have had the state temporarily seize custody of their children so that the child may receive a life-giving transfusion.

There is a core set of beliefs that most divisions of Christianity adhere to, and the Witnesses dispense with practically all of them. They're like a team that shows up to a baseball series with a whole alternate set of interpretations for the rules as set out in the rulebook, then insist every other team is playing baseball wrong by not adhering to their way of doing things.

More than anyone else they have consistently predicted the end of the world and have been wrong every time. I think they no longer give an actual date.
 
Ranb said:
All powerful gods, virgin births, rising from the dead, parting the seas, performing miracles, turning water to wine, walking on water it goes on and on. Who is not this ignorant?

Ranb
Click to expand...

I see what you did there. :cool:
 
Ever since the CV thing hit they stopoed the door to door soul saving here.
That protection direct from god must not apply in Mexico.
 
Blue Mountain said:
The bulk of mainstream Christianity such as Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and evangelical Christians consider the Witnesses to be spaced out even by Christian standards.

One particularly lamentable and dangerous belief is their refusal to do blood transfusions, based on a misinterpretation of a biblical edict forbidding the eating of blood. Lots of Jehovah's Witness parents have had the state temporarily seize custody of their children so that the child may receive a life-giving transfusion.

There is a core set of beliefs that most divisions of Christianity adhere to, and the Witnesses dispense with practically all of them. They're like a team that shows up to a baseball series with a whole alternate set of interpretations for the rules as set out in the rulebook, then insist every other team is playing baseball wrong by not adhering to their way of doing things.

More than anyone else they have consistently predicted the end of the world and have been wrong every time. I think they no longer give an actual date.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Martin Luther and those darn Protestants!
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Evidence?

I like you man, but this is crap. Christians are all over the map with said "core beliefs".
Click to expand...

I'll try an analogy here. Consider Christianity as a whole to be like matter, which is composed of molecules, which in turn are composed of atoms, which in turn are composed of a series of electron shells around a core of protons and neutrons. It's that sort of "core" I'm thinking of. Basically every branch of Christianity espouses all or most of the following (I'm trying to make a straightforward list here, not write a theological treatise):

  • There is a supernatural being called God, who created everything, including his favourite creation, humans
  • God would like all humans to be with him, perhaps in the same way pet owners prefer their cats and dogs to be with them
  • But there's a big problem: God has decreed all humans to be "sinful" and not worthy of being with him (you might love your dog, but after an encounter with a skunk)
  • (Aside: even if a human has lived a totally exemplary life, he or she is still tainted with "original sin")
  • For reasons that aren't entirely clear, God has also decreed that human sinfulness can be removed ("cleaned away" or "cleansed") "with blood" (I've heard tomato juice is one way to remove skunk stink from a dog)
  • Originally said blood was real and came from goats, chickens, cattle and the like
  • But humans weren't very good at keeping up the blood offerings because they were constantly sinning, so God decided to make the ultimate blood sacrifice—that of himself, in the form of his son Jesus, who finalized that sacrifice via crucifixion
  • Because lots of other people had been crucified before and since, to make it clear Jesus was the One he was resurrected three days after dying
  • Being God's blood and not merely that of chickens and goats, it's powerful enough to remove all sin from everyone for all time
  • Now that the ultimate blood sacrifice has been made, all a human has to do in order to become worthy of going into God's presence is to simply acknowledge that Jesus has done all the work. By doing so the sin is removed and the human gains the same everlasting life that's enjoyed by Jesus following his resurrection.
  • Here's one place where Catholics and Protestants diverge: typically Catholic theology says the acknowledgement is merely the starting point and people have to keep busy doing "good works" and following the many traditions the Catholic church has built up over the centuries. Protestants usually say the acknowledgement itself is sufficient: "You don't do good works to get saved; you do good works because you are saved" is one way it's expressed.
  • At death or the Final Judgement, those who have made that acknowledgement are free of sin and can be in God's presence, usually interpreted as being in heaven. Those who have not done so cannot go into God's presence, but the Devil has a nice warm place for them to stay.
  • Some branches disagree on what happens to the "unsaved" after the final judgement. Most get really uncomfortable if you ask about people who have never heard of any of this.

That's my take, having been raised in the Anglican church and then spending a decade as a fire-and-brimstone evangelical.

Unsurprisingly, skeptics start asking questions right at the first point and tend not to give much credence to the remainder.
 
Got

Trebuchet said:
Next time they come by, ask them how many of them there are, and how many can go to heaven.
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The number of people going to heaven according to them is quite small. In the low 100 thousands. I am thinking 125k for some reason. How do I know? I dated one in high school
 
Cainkane1 said:
Surely they aren't all this ignorant.
Click to expand...

Jehovah's Witnesses have an enormous turnover, because you're right, lots of them aren't that stupid, and give up.

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1716987,00.html

MinnesotaBrant said:
The number of people going to heaven according to them is quite small. In the low 100 thousands. I am thinking 125k for some reason. How do I know? I dated one in high school
Click to expand...

144 thousand. Magical number of the 12 tribes of Israel, who get to send 12,000 each to heaven.

You get to the top by getting the most converts.

This is where Amway got their playbook from, with similar levels of adherent churn.
 
Tell them the Great Day of Reckoning and The End Of The World(TM) happened about two weeks ago. About 130,000 Americans were taken up by God.

So clearly they have missed the boat on that one, and now they will just have to stay here on Earth with the rest of us "Unsaved" and make the best of it.
 
The Atheist said:
Jehovah's Witnesses have an enormous turnover, because you're right, lots of them aren't that stupid, and give up.

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1716987,00.html



144 thousand. Magical number of the 12 tribes of Israel, who get to send 12,000 each to heaven.

You get to the top by getting the most converts.

This is where Amway got their playbook from, with similar levels of adherent churn.
Click to expand...
Isn’t there something about them being seen arranged in a perfect square, which is tricky since 144,000 isn’t a square number?
 
They have given seven dates for The End, the first one being 1873 IIRC. As each date passes, they retcon or say they never set the date (but they did).
 
Blue Mountain said:
More than anyone else they have consistently predicted the end of the world and have been wrong every time. I think they no longer give an actual date.
Click to expand...

The Church of the SubGenius (who have predicted the end of the world being 7am on July 5, 1998 for going on several decades now) were glad to hear the JWs did this, as they weren't going to let the Jehovah's Witnesses out-kook them.
 
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