Jehovah's Witnesses: Society's Perception and Beliefs - Essay Sample

Introduction

Society's perception of the Jehovah's witnesses is that they believe in a God whose name is a Jehovah. In essence, God is the father and the only God. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but only God's active force. The society acknowledges that Jehovah witnesses claim that Jesus is not equal to God, but the firstborn of every creation. They hold to the belief that Jesus Christ though a mighty being, but not as mighty as God. Society view Jehovah's witnesses as those who pray and bring their supplications to Jehovah. Jehovah's witnesses are hardly engaged in relief or charity, participate in no secular organization and become involved in no political role (Conkin, 2000). Jehovah's witnesses resist any form of entertainment. The leadership discourages the younger generation from attending college. For that reason, it is challenging for people to accept the religion. They are also affected by the belief that they owe no allegiance to any nation, flags, or a person, but only Jehovah.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Jehovah's witnesses have no colleges and have not created any separate schools. Ever since its establishment, they have failed to create a rich diversity of activities and clubs. The Bible study sessions are boring to the youth, as they do have Sunday schools. Jehovah's witnesses depend most on salvation doctrines to retain and recruit members. When members are recruited, the only thing they do is to give them a warm welcome without any further offers. In most instances, the innocent recruit may be swayed by their biblical interpretation (Conkin, 2000). Currently, the interpretation is highly selective. Rusell's stimulating and daring speculation provides a way to defensive orthodoxy and repetition. Jehovah's witnesses operate in a larger society where they have few practical barriers against secular culture and do not wear distinctive clothes.

Unique Jehovah Witnesses' Beliefs

There are several norms associated with Jehovah's witnesses, such as no war, no abortion, minimal drinking, no gambling, and no sex before marriage. In every religion, sex before marriage is considered a sin, but Jehovah's witnesses view it as an aspect that should not be thought by anyone before marriage (Conkin, 2000). Minimal drinking is allowed, but if a person becomes very drunk, it is considered as a sin. Gambling is highly prohibited because it is associated with greed. Any Jehovah witnesses should not be allowed to engage in a war since the religion does not participate in the Battle of Armageddon. Jehovah's witnesses almost ban everything that is practiced by all Americans, such as gamble, sex before marriage, and drinking.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the dead cannot feel anything and cannot do anything. Arguably, the dead cannot have any thoughts. In other words, death refers to a state of non-existence (Kudela, 2015). Jehovah witnesses hold on the concept of Ecclesiastes 9:5, which states, "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten" (Carroll & Prickett, 2008).

Witnesses View on Specific Areas

Currently, Jehovah's Witnesses occupy the most sectarian and visible wing of Adventist Christianity and apocalyptic. The social contacts of Jehovah Witnesses are within the church. Jehovah's witnesses have no inclination and time for participation in a larger society. Jehovah witnesses blood transfusions, organ transplants, and vaccination. Jehovah's witnesses believed that vaccination was a direct violation of the covenant between God and Moses. Currently, the Watchtower has accepted organ transplants and vaccinations. Such that the same scriptures that prohibit organ transplants and vaccines are the same applied for blood transfusions. Jehovah's Witnesses' stance on the refusal of blood transfusions is stemmed from Bible verses such as Acts, Leviticus, and Genesis (Kudela, 2015). They associate blood transfusion to eating blood as recorded in Leviticus 17:10. Based on the biblical interpretation, most of the witnesses have chosen to die instead of consuming the blood (Carroll & Prickett, 2008). Parents have often been criticized for refraining from transfusing their blood to children. In some instances, Jehovah's witnesses accept autologous procedures.

Benefits to North American Society

Jehovah witnesses improve the public image of North American society via compromising its political neutrality. Jehovah witnesses advocates on moral fundamentalism without having compromising faith. They encourage the need to have a free expression in North America. They stood for religious freedom on the right to speak freely. They advocated for the right to publish convectional messages. They also advocated for the right to access medical treatment (Conkin, 2000). Thus, they helped in the strengthening of the American justice system by maintaining their stance on political neutrality. For instance, Rutherford attacked the power of religion, commerce, and politics. The new interpretation of Roman 13 help in increasing the gap between civil authorities and Bible students. Such that the high power was no link to secular rulers, but instead, they were orchestrated to Christ Jesus and God (Carroll & Prickett, 2008). The government was regarded to have no basis on divine authority as they were deemed as demonic. Member needs to be in harmony with God's law instead of human law. Jehovah witnesses call for embracing each other in North America.

References

Carroll, R., & Prickett, S. (2008). The Bible: Authorized King James Version. Oxford Paperbacks.

Conkin, P. K. (2000). American originals: Homemade varieties of Christianity. University of North Carolina Press.

Kudela, M. (2015). The Gynecological surgery of Jehovah´s witnesses. Gynecology & Obstetrics, 05(06). https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0932.1000297(n.d.).

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h8832002ZE(n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj4cS4n9ZkA&t=14s