I wanted my first post on Medium to be a “Basics on Jehovah’s Witnesses” type of post, but when I started doing a bit of research, I noticed something. The Jehovah’s Witnesses tag has a total of 183 stories on it, with the first one being from 2015. Medium was founded in 2012, and over the 7 years since the platform’s first story on Jehovah’s Witnesses, that averages about 26 stories per year. Not sure how this stat compares to other topics on Medium, but that sounds really low to me.
So instead of writing about the ABC’s on JWs, I thought I’d write a piece on why this group even matters to begin with. Before I do that, though, I’ll go ahead and answer why there’s so little talk about JWs to begin with.
Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Small Fries
The religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses claim somewhere in the neighborhood of 7–8 million members worldwide. Sure, 7 or 8 million people is a lot of people, but compared to the billions of members held by more conventional religious denominations like Islam and Judaism, or even other Christian sects, they’re pretty small. Not to mention that whereas some religions or sects could hypothetically inhabit whole countries with their membership, JWs can fit into New York City, according to the 2020 Census (funnily enough, New York is where their HQ is located). Logically, then, with fewer current members, there’s going to be fewer previous members, which would lead to fewer people writing about them specifically.
They’re Annoying
If you know Jehovah’s Witnesses for anything, it’s likely in the same vein as the Family Guy clip I posted above. They’re the group that knock on your door at an inconvenient hour on the weekend, wondering if you’d like to “learn about our lord and savior Jesus Christ”. Understandably, you probably don’t want to deal with some religious group looking to push their beliefs on you in your free time, when you’re trying to relax from the stress of the work week. You’re very likely to shut the door on them and forget about it until the next time they arrive. If you’re unfortunate enough, they might be on a random street corner, or sitting around an area of your college, but you’re just as likely to ignore them there as well. Unless something very specifically catches your eye, you don’t want to deal with a religious conversation while going about your business.
They’re “Just Another Religious Group”
America is typically one of the more religiously tolerant countries, not only in that many religions are allowed to exist within her boarders, but culturally too. The standard idea of dealing with religion is “you’re allowed to believe what you want, as long as its not hurting anyone”, at the worst. People make the assumption based on the little that they know about the group (they talk about God and Jesus) and just assume they’re some weird sect of Christianity- which they are, no doubt; but it goes deeper than that. That’s a depth saved for a later post, though. Its about time I started expanding on the actual reasons why Witnesses matter.
They Want “You” Dead
The “you” they want dead isn’t you specifically, but the “you” that represents the group you’re a part of. That is, the group of “the world”: the general public that aren’t true blue Jehovah’s Witnesses. You see, most Christian religions will teach salvation as a personal choice: do good, go to heaven, do bad, go to hell. If it’s even possible, JWs are a bit more cut and dry about the subject: if you’re not a JW, and a faithful one at that, then you’ll be able to survive Armageddon. If not, then you’re doomed to die. The part where they want “you” to die is in their teachings that you’re a part of the world that the Witnesses reckon revolves around them. You’re generally part of the reason Witnesses undergo hardships, part of the supposed moral degradation, and a part of the Satan-approved culture that threatens to entice them away from their salvation.
I’ll be uploading a post in the future that describes this in more detail, but while a Witness would never tell you that they want you dead, there’s a group of people (that includes you) that they’d much rather…disappear.
Strong Feelings of Intolerance
America is typically one of the more religiously tolerant countries, not only in that many religions are allowed to exist within her boarders, but culturally too. The standard idea of dealing with religion is “you’re allowed to believe what you want, as long as its not hurting anyone”. — Me, a heading or two ago
Witnesses often do not extend the same sentiment towards other opinions, let alone religions. Roll your eyes if you’ve heard this before: a religion/religious sect that teaches homophobia and sexism, justifying it with reasoning that rarely extends beyond, “because the bible says so” and presenting this position as the morally correct one, while also demonizing those who disagree. They may even go the extra mile by systematically not allowing women into any positions of practical importance or power, oftentimes for the same reason. Bonus eye rolls for conservative gender roles in marriage being the only morally correct option for followers.
Not only this, but their rhetoric surrounding other religions and social movements are almost entirely negative. Are you an ally, or LGBT? Not only are you not allowed to act in accordance with your identity, but you’re also lined up for God’s destruction because the bible says no to non-straights. Think that women can be the head of the household? Preposterous! The bible places the man as the head of household; but women aren’t put down because of this, because the bible also says that a man should listen to his wife…but can of course still make decisions unilaterally, in which case the wife has to obediently follow along despite any disagreements.
Particularly bad is their treatment of those who might begin to disagree with their religion. Should you get deeply connected to Jehovah’s Witnesses, you’ll eventually learn that they don’t take too kindly to those who decide to change their religion. At best, you’d be losing out on any friends you made while in the religion, and at worst, they’ll downright shun you. Another topic befitting its own post.
Dangerous For a Hurting Society
Oftentimes, if you’re to hear out the Witness at your door, there’s a strong chance they’ll bring up their “endgame”. For more conventional Christians, their “endgame” is eternity as a spirit in heaven. For Witnesses, it’s eternity physically living on a paradise earth, free from any pain, sickness, sorrow, and dastardly non-Witnesses.
While it’s easy to laugh now, this teaching can easily prey on those experiencing strong emotional trauma. If someone you loved dearly dies, and then a Witness so happens to show up at your door sometime later, talking about how you can see them again in said paradise earth, you could be more inclined to listen; especially when the only presented stipulation is to “serve Jehovah God”.
When a person or a society deals with an ever-increasing existentialism, the two things they crave are answers, and the comfort to know things will be alright. While this can open the door to healing and self-improvement, it also opens the door for manipulative actors to highjack their lives. It becomes very easy to think in black and white terms, vilify those who think differently, generate wild, oftentimes self-centered views on how the world works/should work, and can destroy the lives of the people who follow them; all things that Jehovah’s Witnesses represent.
If there’s something in that list that makes you think about current society, then Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t the ones to cause these issues, but they’re the type of group that thrives off of finding someone’s personal chaos, and then taking advantage of it until they’re conformed into one of their own.
Hopefully this blog (along with any YT videos I may make) will help to shed some light on Jehovah’s Witnesses, their strategies, and why you should avoid them, among other things. Thanks for reading.
