#Jehovah's witnesses

[sky-daddy-hates-me]

How delusional do you have to be to think that the religion that has forcibly invaded and converted multiple countries throughout the centuries has preserved languages and cultures.

Old norse was only converted to the Latin alphabet because of Christianity, almost destroying the runic alphabet.

Christians forced indigenous children in North America and Canada to attend schools that stripped them of their culture and abuse them into Christianity. There are still Christian organisations who are dedicated to preaching to the native tribes on the North American continent.

How many mythological/folklore/fairytale figures have been diluted down to make it more christian friendly? How many have been demonised because they went against christian values?

How many historical artifacts or culturally significant items have been stolen or destroyed because of Christianity?

It genuinely breaks my heart to think of all the pain and suffering and death Christianity has caused to numerous countries, and the historical knowledge we might have lost in the process.

[nil-ma-aelnino]

i know we're used to seeing jehovah's witnesses as a doomsday cult but let me disagree and tell you they're a doomsday cult with very fuckable representations of jesus

[apenitentialprayer]

i've read that mormons and JWs are considered heretics because they don't affirm the trinity, so i was wondering what the sort-of 'cut off' point is. like would the ACOE be considered heretics because they say mary isn't the mother of God, only the mother of christ, for example

Alrighty, this is a big one. So, as far as the Jehovah's Witnesses and the (mainstream) Latter Day Saints movement go, things are.... a little more complicated in terms of whether their doctrine is "heresy" or if they are just plain non-Christian (and thus wouldn't count as heretical).

The crux of the argument that they are not Christian is that they do not affirm the Nicene Creed, which was articulated during the Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD). While Mormons and JWs can affirm the most primitive of Christian creeds ("Christ is Lord"), the Nicene Creed very quickly took on the status of the σύμβολον, or symbolum in Latin; the "symbol of faith," the creed whose affirmation is itself a verification of one's Christian identity. That's why during the Council of Trent, for example, the Tridentine Fathers invited Protestants to participate in the Council on the condition that they could still affirm the Creed.

Of course, Mormons and JWs do not see it that way. They self-identify as Christians; and each group doesn't see themselves just as Christians, but as restorers of a purer, more original Christianity that had existed before the creation of that Creed.

But, anyway, if the conclusion of this argument is accepted, and members of the (mainstream) Latter Day Saints movement and Jehovah's Witnesses are not considered Christian, they by definition cannot be considered heretics; per the Baltimore Catechism, heretics are "baptized Christians, but do not believe all the articles of faith" (Q 1170).

The Assyrian Church of the East affirms the Nicene Creed, have Apostolic Succession, and have limited intercommunion with the Catholic Church. And, Christologically, they have an interesting situation going on. The Assyrian Church has not formally accepted the dogmatic Christological definitions of the Council of Ephesus (431). And, on that alone, the ACoE would seem to fit into the Baltimore Catechism's definition of heretic.

But over 1550 years after that split, the leaders of both the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church signed a document that affirmed that both Churches saw the other's Christological doctrines as valid, and that both theologies were expressions of the same Apostolic faith. You can read the full document, which is not very long, here.

But to abstract the discussion of heresy for a moment (bold of me to do, admittedly, after saying the last ask was a little vague); we need to make a distinction between formal heresy and material heresy. As Pope Benedict noted in 1993, which itself was an echo of the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia's description of heresy, the defining characteristic of formal heresy is pertinacia, which can be translated as "stubbornness." What makes a person a "heretic" in a condemnable sense is this pertinacia, this holding fast to falsehoods in defiance of correction by proper authority.

So while the first generations of Protestants may be considered formal heretics, Pope Benedict noted that this does not reflect the actual social and religious conditions of Protestants living today, who are simply living out their Christian faith in the traditions that have arisen since the Reformation. They may be material heretics, and the doctrines of Protestantism may be considered heretical from the Catholic viewpoint, but being a Protestant does not automatically incur the guilt of heresy.

And, in all honesty, most Christians alive today (and most Christians in all ages) have in all probability been material heretics - i.e., they hold some wrong or incorrect opinions concerning the faith, but simply out of ignorance and not in defiance of proper authority. And that is not a sin.

[catgirltoes]

I just saw someone say that Mormonism and Scientology were the only two major US-originated religions. Which, like, how wrong can you be? Do you know how many Protestant movements originated in the States? Is the Great Awakening nothing to you?

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

[newyorkthegoldenage]

The Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses baptized 7,136 people at Orchard Beach in 1958.

Photo: Granger Historical Picture Archive

[jw-horror-stories]

Saw a portion of the Jehovah's Witness convention whatever, and they have a section that basically compares dolphins to Jehovah's Witnesses, and likewise sharks to apostates. Making the comparison that sharks will indiscriminately attack dolphins and dolphins would likewise band together to protect their children.

I find it oddly fitting as sharks only attack as needed, and dolphins are actually more murderous and prone to raping. Likewise, apostates are horribly misunderstood as aggressive babykillers, and Jehovah's Witnesses have a lot of pedophiles among their leadership.

-Mod Degurechaff, an ex shark kid

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Relief Society Visiting Teacher Report Book, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, SLC, Utah, 1978

[lower-management]

I have found out humans made Jehovah's Witnesses cartoons. It's so fucking funny i swear I have been laughing uncontrollably just thinking about it. Do they really think God will be mad because the kid has got a wizard toy? I've just been laughing like a maniac for the past hour.

[computer-cacophony]

Coming Out (In a Way) - (Journey Blog #3)

Today's the first day of classes at my local college!! I'm excited!

But also nervous.

I'm mixed.

I'm starting my day with some English Comp 2. All of my classes are online. One of the first things I do this work is fill out an "intake form". My professor says she wants to know a few things about us.

I download the word file, open it up, and...

This is.... a game changer. Like I said, I have mixed emotions. It's so nice!! She wants to know how to address me! There's at least one person I don't have to keep a secret to in real life.

And yet... I'm still scared. What if word gets out? After all, I'm a closeted PIMO Jehovah's Witness, and this is a small town. Should I add a note that says to not disclose my information when around certain people?

Maybe I will, but regardless, this would technically be the first person I (somewhat) know in real life who would know who I really am.

I'm going to say it. I am Vincent.

I'm anxious, and I feel like I'm torn between feeling free and feeling like a nervous wreck, but the idea feels more freeing and has a stronger hold on me than the urge to hold back.

I'm going to do it. Wish me luck.

[sky-daddy-hates-me]

I'm not sure if I'll ever recover from believing that fearing someone is a crucial aspect of loving someone and I fully blame Christianity for that.

God-fearing is such a fucked up term especially since its viewed as a positive thing.

[high-quality-tiktoks]

they’re persistent with it😭

[galionne-vibin]

To the neatly dressed girl who strategically avoided all of my darker skinned coworkers and made a beeline for my pasty white ass in order to hand me a Jehovah's Witness business card wrong pick babydoll I'm a lesbian and I'm not about to give up titty for any god

[apenitentialprayer]

Atheistic Repression and Protestant Flowering in the Soviet Union

Yaroslavsky set out to demonstrate the [Atheist] League's achievements by including a religious question in the 1937 census. The results were disastrous for the future of the League of Militant Atheists, which was disbanded in 1941, and religious survey questions never reappeared in subsequent Soviet censuses. Although no detailed results from the 1937 census can be reported because data analysis was quickly aborted, Soviet documents indicate that just over 56 percent of the population admitted to being religious believers. Yaroslavsky also ambiguously maintained that most (around two-thirds) of the religious believers resided in rural areas. These crude results indicate a dramatic drop in religiosity when one considers that in 1900 nearly 100 percent of people that lived in regions that would eventually constitute the Soviet Union were religious believers. Regardless, Yaroslavsky and Stalin viewed the number of atheist converts (even with probable inflation) as unsuccessful. The findings were disappointing because the "science" of atheism had predicted a different outcome. Communists expected individuals to abandon religion with fervor. As it turns out, Russians did leave the Russian Orthodox Church in droves but did not abandon religion at the same rate. In 1900, non-Orthodox Christian groups represented around 10 percent of the Russian population. These groups included Baptists, Evangelicals, Flagellants, Mennonites, Old Believers, Pentecostals, and Tolstoyans, to name a few that were most visible at the beginning of the 20th century. By mid century and toward the end of the Soviet era, Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and various "charismatic" sects entered the religious landscape. Quite interestingly, data confirm that while membership in the Russian Orthodox Church declined under communism, Protestants and various Christian sects slowly proselytized new members. From 1900 to 1970, the percent of non-Orthodox Christians (not including Roman Catholics) went from 11 to 31 percent of the Russian population. Small proselytizing groups partially thrived under communism because they continued to seek converts while being savy to the dangers of religious expression. Prior to the revolution, the Tsarist regime effectively banned many of the small religious sects and cults while actively promoting the dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church. Nondominate religious groups throughout Russia were accustomed to religious repression even before the rise of the Communist Party and the ubiquitous promotion of scientific atheism. Active religious sects developed tactics to recruit and retain members under conditions of repression in pre-Soviet times.

- Paul Froese ("Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed")

[deedsofmercy]

that moment when your jw mother who disowned you years ago acknowledges your child's birthday on facebook, even though she has refused to meet him