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I found a leaflet hanging out of my mailbox today… “How can your family be strengthened by drawing close to Jehovah?”
“How will being close to God help you to cope with everyday problems?”
Now I’ve always felt that the stock photos and pictures used by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the LDS are very similar… but I’ve never heard them talk about families before. It sounds suspiciously like contemporary LDS material. I wonder if they’re actually copying the LDS? (Certainly them copying the LDS rather than vice versa, since the LDS has long put heavy emphasis on the family)
I wouldn’t say they are copying the LDS. On some level, I suppose all Christianity is a copy of itself. They are just trying to speak to the urges and concerns of most people, trying to make a connection. The JW’s are similar in a lot of ways to the LDS. In fact, if you ever want a weird experience of faith crisis deja vu, go find a post-JW or ex-JW internet forum 😈 I was considering writing a MormonMatters blog article on this once. It’s eerie.I think not. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have always been strong on family… until one leaves the faith then they get shunned. Brian Johnston wrote:The JW’s are similar in a lot of ways to the LDS. In fact, if you ever want a weird experience of faith crisis deja vu, go find a post-JW or ex-JW internet forum
😈 All_no-ing wrote:I think not. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have always been strong on family… until one leaves the faith then they get shunned.
Yeah – they have their similarities alright. I think if one has a tough time with the LDS church, they probably will not find it any “easier” or “more appealing” over at the local kingdom hall.
Was walking past the local Kingdom Hall yesterday (which is signposted in Spanish and Chinese for some strange reason)… when someone says to me (he doesn’t know about my church affiliation), “they’re kind of like the Mormons… what do you call one of those Mormon churches? A stake? They’re both American derived religions.” Well, so’s Pentecostalism, and so’s the Nation of Islam, but I don’t see them being that similar. (Stronger case, with JWs and LDS.)
If you want deja vu (or is it apres vous?), see here –
Brian Johnston wrote:if you ever want a weird experience of faith crisis deja vu, go find a post-JW or ex-JW internet forum
😈 It’s eerie.I did just that, and here’s what I found:
http://exjehovahswitnessforum.yuku.com/topic/16213 Actually, in an era where more people than ever are leaving the faiths of their parents and going their own way, these kinds of forums don’t surprise me at all. There are ex-forums for just about any religion out there. There are even ex-Muslim forums…now that would take bravery!
Stevo – that was a VERY interesting website. Was the post and pictures about the comparison between the mormon apostles and the JW apostles, and the watchtower vs the ensign on there when you read it? I think it was written on the 7th. I also thought it was interesting that they have their own vernacular and acronyms -very similar to THIS site? 😮 PS – Does anybody know what GB stands for. It is the equivalent of our 12 apostles – I think?
Yeah, that was the exact reason I linked it. I thought it was funny they were comparing their leaders to ours. When it comes to strange religious practices, I feel for the JWs because they’re in a tougher spot with their restrictions than we are IMO. I could go my whole life without drinking coffee or alcohol or using tobacco products or having sex with anyone other than my wife and be just fine. On the other hand, refusing a blood transfusion when I really need one could kill me.
From the little bit of poking around I did there, it appears the blood transfusion issue is a flash point for them much like the WoW is for us.
I believe G.B. stands for “Governing Body”, which are akin to our Qo12. I could be wrong, though.
Not only are they tougher on medical issues (the LDS at least applies some common sense there) but they are also stricter on associating with non-members. On the flipside, they have less emphasis on a prophet (to an extent), more emphasis on their own Bible translation, but nothing like the massive scriptures we have.
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