Its not hard to figure out why so many Jehovah's Witness children are conditioned from an early age to associate drudgery with the meetings and assemblies. Statistically, two-thirds of born in members leave, and of those that leave on. Most people who currently identify as Jehovah's Witnesses (65%) also were raised outside that tradition. Jehovah's Witnesses believe these men are anointed as the voice of God on Earth. But now members are heading into the city to try and reach out to more people. This is why Jehovah's Witnesses have stopped knocking on your door JW.org has been spinning the cutbacks as simplification, and have coerced dozens of those who lost their full-time jobs to give testimonials about how happy they were to accept their new assignment in the field. Jesus himself is truth, not those club-like religions. I began a life where constantly questioning and improving my beliefs and ideas and always being open to those of others were my only constant doctrines. The. Right away, Andrea recognized that there was nothing Biblical about her grandmothers answer. The membership is aging out and, I suspect that before all those belonging to the second "Overlapping Generation" pass away, we may have seen the end of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. I believe this with my whole heart. Watch Tower was spending tens of thousands per year to New York City just to maintain their tunnel and air-bridge spaces between buildings. Watch Tower Headquarters asked branches to sell as much equipment as they could liquidate including heavy equipment, printers, etc. Witnesses are being approached and asked hard-hitting questions about child abuse, shunning, and other matters. Have you lost your mind? Religious Switching: Change in America's Religion Landscape | Pew Realistically, though, its a threat to the organisation because education could broaden an individuals mind and open them up to a world of opinions outside the faith. This religion is indeed a cult and a terrible one at that. The Jehovah's Witnesses congregation is a millennialist restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs. And, I think the issue is much broader than what the simple statistics are showing. Simple forgiveness isnt in their vocabulary. 10 Reasons Why Jehovah's Witnesses Are Unhappy - Medium Earlier this year, we wrote about how the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah's Witnesses despite a long history of litigating many, many important 1st. Am I an Apostate? The gathering was a Bible study. The minister who was teaching my Bible lessons (in the Church Of Christ) mentioned the Let God Be True book in my studies, and he asked me if I knew that the doctrines of the Jehovahs Witnesses had changed over the years. In 2017, Russia banned the denomination, whose members believe in nonviolence and refuse to take up arms in war; Russia . Instead of adjusting the menu, or admitting that the chef isnt as good as he thinks he is, the owner simply blames the customers, and claims that the patrons taste buds must not be working properly. However, none of that is really working and people are still waking up from this brutal North Korean type religion. THE Jehovah's Witnesses religious denomination has been accused of selling assets and sending cash offshore to avoid paying Australian child-sex abuse victims. "(We) encourage them to make urgent contact with the Department of Social Services so . But I will say this each one of us can play a part in sharing what we know with the public. Again, they continue to enforce a one size fits all education and worship program to both children and adults. Personally, what this all adds up to for me is this: Young people, and most especially men, are leaving this religion in droves. An organization that has established itself as the sole possessor of truth and the single place of refuge from the coming apocalypse cannot divert time and resources to anything that is not related to its recruitment activities. Meanwhile, Jehovahs Witnesses in Russia have been imprisoned for following Governing Body directives. - 63% of current Jehovah's Witnesses are a high school education or less. I myself was born and raised in the organization. Changes to the Generation Teaching - JWfacts (source: Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/03/18/jehovahs-witnesses-murder-suicide-keego-harbor/409695002/). - About 1% of the entire membership is disfellowshipped every year. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that they have the one and only true religion and that their Governing Body is appointed by God himself. Jehovah's Witnesses news & latest pictures from Newsweek.com According to the organisation, there are currently more than 70,000 Witnesses in Australia. They are told to just go and pioneer.). She was especially close to her sister Cynthia. Jehovah's Witnesses and Covid-19 Like Stockholm Syndrome victims, Jehovah's Witnesses continue to support the only organization they think has the answers, identifying with and revering their captors - men who have little sympathy for the victims of child abuse, shunning, or death by blood policy. The Jehovah Witness religion is going through some tough times - Quora JWs are leaving in droves, all because of the internet. I have observed that children in families like this most often never thrive, and are swiftly on their way out by the time they reach teenage years. End of the Home Book Study Arrangement The Holy Spirit is . I Prayed and was met by a Witness We are so inured to the concept that it has become meaningless. I have a loving husband that I adore. The rules just keep right on getting tighter and tighter due to the fact that theyre in full damage control, and they want to keep as many people in the organization as they possibly can. I have several observations to add to this. What Happens When You Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses? Coronation Street favourite Julia Goulding has confirmed she's back on the cobbles. Youre taught by the organisation that once you leave you will become corrupted by the outside world and inevitably descend into selfishness, meanness and false happiness. SALT LAKE CITY The Utah Supreme Court has revived a woman's lawsuit alleging she was forced to listen to a recording of her own rape. You know what its like to not have the spiritual substance that you can grab on to. So if Jesus said that, then that means all of these cultic religions are not the truth as they claim that they are. Feeling deceived by the teachings of the Jehovahs Witnesses, she confronted her grandmother. They tell you that you need to follow these rules in order to receive salvation and so on. News Bulletin: Watchtower tightens shunning rules to include "sinful Yes, one would think so, but this would involve the Watchtower leadership reinventing, and rethinking matters that they are convinced have already been settled. Moving to Warwick eliminated these costly payments. Inside The Lost Jehovah's Witnesses Tunnels Under Brooklyn Heights Animal Suffering ITV Dancing On Ice judge Christopher announced Jayne is out of surgery - and it was a success. When you take a look at many of the mega-churches for example, it is very impressive how much they put into creating support groups and programs for their young people. Aside from the Bethel layoffs, all non-essential branch projects were either cancelled or put on hold. I just want you to listen, Cynthia begged. Its this picture of the world the word they use to refer to anything outside the faith that was painted for me as a child, and I was warned away from cultivating any close friendships with non-Jehovahs Witnesses for this reason. His wife's parents are among the 130,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Watch Tower purchased four $8,000.00 scanners. The Holy Spirit is the name of God's active force in the world. In the spring of 2015, Stephen Lett asked for donations after stating that JW.org had more money going out than coming in. Jehovah's Witnesses will often turn away from any Bible discussion that challenges their beliefs, using the excuse that they cannot listen to apostates. Church, charity and 'cult' refuse to join sex abuse redress The Watchtower organization simply has nothing new to offer, and no new ideas. Instead, all of the nations human capital is invested in one thing: warfare. There is a question regarding the longevity of JW.org given the events of the past few years. Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. If they act up and dont sit still; spankings are usually soon to follow. For Ali Millar, the experience of writing her difficult life story wasn't cathartic, it was traumatic. Something went wrong, please try again later. Nearly all WT published material does not hold up to even a freshman's college essay in terms of sources cited, strawman arguments, and avoidance of logical fallacies. Andee. They may think they do, but we have seen, we have seen the proof that our God is real. Imagine if Ford was blaming the consumers - saying that consumers had poor judgment for not wanting to buy the Pinto anymore. No immaterial soul. Many of these were good kids too. Jehovah's Witnesses 'use the Bible to victim-shame,' sex abuse survivor says. Many former friends, including my best friend of 10 years, shunned me. The Let God Be True book was written by imperfect men, and imperfect men make mistakes, and it was a mistake. In most cases of child sexual assault, the pedophile commits the heinous acts when alone with the . I was born into it which means of course that I completely missed my childhood and early adulthood. Jehovah's Witness elders made teen listen recording of her rape for To scan all documents located in Brooklyn, retaining only the hard copies they were required to keep by law. Doomsday images from Jehovah's Witnesses publications. The Jackson family was raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith, but several of the family members, including sister Janet, no longer practice the religion. These elders are being retrained, and have been called disobedient by the branch. Andrea embraced its teachings and followed all of JWs beliefs to a T. She didnt celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holidays, and she avoided birthday celebrations. Currently, in the US, JW.org has just 40% of their publishers registered in the JW.org database system. Not even Watchtowers huge lawyers can stop it. In 2015, the court hit Watchtower with a $13.5 million verdict after the organization failed to turn over documents and provide witnesses in a lawsuit filed by Jos Lopez. She tried to push his friendship away, which meant pushing Cynthia away too. They dont bring salvation to your door when they come but instead, they talk about a paradise Earth and so on. Just imagine if the Ford Motor Company was still manufacturing and marketing the Ford Pinto. You know I couldnt see my life any other way. Judging 'sincerely held' religious belief is tricky for employers Eventually (it's a slow process), there will be a tipping point where the individual communities (KHs) are too small to avoid marrying or being friends with non-JWs. She learned she couldnt get that from being a Jehovahs Witness. That our faith is true. Nothing is added, subtracted, or changed to conform to societys standards because, in the Church Of Christ, the Bible is the basis of their faith. Found some information I thought you all might be interested in. How to Leave Jehovah's Witnesses: 4 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow The Jehovahs Witnesses originated as a branch of the Bible Student movement, which was founded by Charles Taz Russell, a Christian Restorationist minister. Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian denomination with an estimated 175,000 followers in Russia. When there has been no specific date set . Watch Tower continues to try to plug these leaks like the proverbial dam in Holland, but they are running out of fingers and attorneys to plug these leaks. It is law according to the Jehovahs Witness. Young Korean Witnesses languish in prison for no reason. Strangely, their newspapers only had good news to publish about the Soviet government, and only had bad news to report about Western democracies. Witnesses hold a number of traditional Christian views but also many that are unique to them. Theres absolutely no room for error within the organization. Copyright 2023 Jehovah's Witnesses. Much of their growth from these nations is from people being born into the religion. Ironically, they cant do that, because the organization has already been identified and branded as a spiritual banquet where nothing is lacking. Learn how your comment data is processed. Jehovah's Witnesses 'use the Bible to victim-shame,' sex abuse survivor I knew the Bible back and forth. What we see from regimes like North Korea is a disregard for many of the societal endeavors that make a nation stronger, such as infrastructure, good universities, economic freedoms, and democratic processes. Branches around the world are struggling to keep up with their own accounting procedures. Spare the rod, spoil the child. Two years later he founded Zion's Watch Tower and Tract Society, which was incorpo-rated in 1884 in Pennsylvania. In more recent news concerning the Watchtower organization, Steven Lett made a really shocking and quite frankly damning statement concerning babies. With all of the publically displayed lies and deceptions that this organization has dished out over the years, people are finally waking up to the real truth about the Watchtower organization and its agenda. Therefore, if young people are uninspired, bored, or unmotivated to engage in the theocratic treadmill, Jehovah's Witnesses can simply blame it on the influences of MTV, high school, or on their favorite buzzword: the world. "I would be sick. Many of them not only help the young people with their unique issues, but also really inspire them enough to get active and pay it forward. I eventually left the faith at 18. Jehovah's Witness settlement: Are you eligible to file a claim? The records management overseer related an experience where one hand-written note cost watchtower over $200,000 simply because a JW elder at headquarters was honest and produced a written document which tied Watch Tower to a major litigation case with a prior vendor. It is more like Satans group simply because of the harsh and inhumane rules and regulations that they harbor in their midst. And when youre a member of the Church Of Christ, the peace that you have in knowing that the promise that God has made to you will be fulfilled is everything. For what Christian would ever call somebodys baby a little enimy of God? Does a recession/pandemic/war indicate Armageddon? They affirm that GodJehovahis the most high. In some respects, its very entertaining. A life of meaningless sex, drugs and alcohol is often woven into this picture.