World Religions Report: Jehovah Witness

World Religions Report: Jehovah Witness

Chan Thippahkesone

University of Phoenix

HUM/130

Deborah George

6/19/2013

Today, society has many forms of Christianity and I know that instead of just focusing on writing about Christianity itself I wanted to write about a form of Christianity I wanted to learn more about. Most individuals know Catholics, and Protestants are Christians. However, these individuals may not be aware Jehovah's Witnesses are also part of the Christian religion and are very similar. Perhaps this is because this group seems detached from society, and does not practice Christianity in the traditional form. Individuals who are not Jehovah's Witnesses or (JW) are view the groups' religious

Practices as domineering, and unusual. Some individuals believe Jehovah's Witnesses practice mind control, and believe the group is a Cult (Jehovah net.au, n.d.). Perhaps, this is because society tends to fear what it does not understand and tend to judge on different religious groups based on false accusations. The steps I have taken to reduce this lack of understanding include internet research and having a sit down interview with my friend’s dad who has followed this religion is whole life. His name is Gerry Wagner, a father of 2 children and a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness of Everett, Washington.

Gerry took me to the Kingdom Hall and upon arriving. I was surprised to see that the outside of the building had no outward signs of being a place of worship other than the wooden sign out front that read "Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses." My first reaction was people dressed up in robs and saying weird things but that’s just because of what I saw in a movies. The building was kind of old, and had no crosses, or stained glass windows, all things that are used to identify most Christian Churches. I was astonished as I reached the front walk and the door opened. A short woman with glasses greeted me. The woman shook my hand, greeted me with a warm smile, and introduced herself as Margaret. Once inside I was surprised because there were no pews, and no crosses. However, there were chairs set up similar to an auditorium, a podium with a microphone, and two sitting areas each having one table and two chairs at the front of the room beyond the podium on either side. This was different because I remember going to a catholic church one time and you can see crosses every were you looked. Within 10 minutes, the building, and all the chairs were filled. As the members of the congregation arrived, each made his or her way over to where I sat to greet me. Never have I seen anything similar to this at any church I attended