What would you ask a Jehovah’s Witness if you could?

[BreakingCycles]

Hello I am doing a bit of personal research for my own curiosity.
I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness but managed to get out.
Because I was raised in it, my thinking has been shaped differently than people who were not. I am very curious what such people might think about jws.
So what have you always wondered about jws but felt you couldn’t ask?
Or what are / were your perceptions of them from what you’ve seen around you?
No question too small or silly.
I appreciate all perspectives with open curiosity.
thanks in advance to any who shares!

If they believe only 144,000 people get into heaven then how come they are trying to covert as many people as possible, surely they'd want to save those spaces for themselves?

And why can only men be elders?

Given that there are over 9.2 million Jehovah's Witnesses and only 144,000 places in heaven are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses wasting their time?

I'd like to know how you navigated it as a child. Not able to go to birthday parties, it even birthday cupcakes brought in by classmates.

Or did you resent being taken door knocking? We had many, towing poor children in suits and demure dresses, looking unhappy. We have a kingdom Hall close by so are a good spot to fulfill witnessing obligations. They don't knock on my door anymore after I told them, politely, they'd be reported for trespass.

Or how it is justified to attack outsiders & be indoctrinated? DH's best mate told everyone I was a b*tch who stopped their friendship. Reality was, said friend joined the JW's & DH didn't like being preached at & was sad friend no longer participated in our wedding activities but didn't step down as best man!

Haven't they got around the 144,000 will get in idea by finding something in their 'original' bible. Now anyone who converts will also get in, apparently.

They've had more false apocalypses than some of us have seen eclipses.

You get Baptists, Anglicans, catholics, Presbyterians and Muslims engage with you as much as JW? Edited to delete door knocking

"Haven't they got around the 144,000 will get in idea by finding something in their 'original' bible. Now anyone who converts will also get in, apparently."

It's like Reform but with less beer and fags.

Many people from these groups carry out evangelism and missionary work. They may not be knocking on doors or handing out leaflets, but they are still trying to convert people in their own way.
Almost every church has a big advertising board outside.
Alpha courses are promoted widely
Gideons distribute Bibles at will (not always only on request)
Church members go into school assemblies to act out Bible stories (not just into CofE schools)
Missionaries travel to foreign countries to support people whilst talking about Jesus

Different, but very much the same.

I would ask this as well. A neighbour of ours when I was a kid was in a road accident and died because he refused a blood transfusion. Left a young family😬. In the case of a parent refusing a life saving transfusion I think they would be overruled, by a court order if necessary

I work in chemotherapy and we have JW policies to avoid anaemia and the need for a transfusion. Drug doses are lower. Cycle lengths are longer, threshold for delaying treatment is higher. All leads to a worse outcome for the patient as they dont receive the optimum treatment. Its sad.
We give growth factor stimulants to try and increase red blood cell counts, but that's sub optimum, the cells released are immature and although the blood report looks in range those cells are not performing.

I recall a JW telling me that surgery can be performed using a cell save technique, where spilled blood was hoovered up and re circulated. I cannot imagine this is adequate to maintain counts in a bloody procedure

That all sounds like a lot of unnecessary suffering for the patient and their family.
All in the name of a set of rules dreamed up by bloke 150 years ago.

It's worth noting that the bloke's wife divorced him for mental cruelty.
He said the marriage was a mistake because she was ambitious and wanted to be involved in his business.

A friend needed blood products from a relative in an attempt to survive cancer, sister was JW and declined. I couldn't sleep for about a week as I couldn't get my head around it.
As it happened it would not have helped him.

This. No other words to add. It blows my mind.

Id like to ask why you started a thread asking for questions which people have asked, then disappear. So rude!

I was going to ask how you felt / feel about the refusal to accept blood (organs?)?

Do JWs believe that it is acceptable to "own" another person (as in slavery)?

I know, not much of an AMA yet is it

Do you miss it, the sense of belonging and belief. What prompted you to leave was it the culture or religion m
Are you still a Christian, if so which denomination, or are you an atheist.

Hahhahaahahaahahahahahaha stripping down ehhh! 😉 😜

I'd ask what mental illness do you have, love

Maybe a daily mail journalist bored out of their wits!

HA! I was head to toe in protective gear - goggles, overalls, mask - so I couldn't have been less stripped down. In fact, the funniest thing of all was that the Jehovah men actually called me mate because they thought I was a hairy arsed builder. When I took the mask and googles off the first thing they had to do was say, 'oops sorry madam."

Or JW.Org testing opinion so they can prime their website with "answers" to non believers questions and "prejudices".

Why do you decline to vote, as opposed to keeping it say a wholly private matter?

Not sure of the point of this thread if op doesn't reply? I was going to ask if its a cult but by saying you 'managed to get out' answered that question

wow I wasn't expecting so many responses and so quickly. My apologies to everyone who has shared and then I've seemed to disappear. I greatly appreciate everyone's time they've taken to ask and share views. Thank you. I do have a number of mental illnesses due to being raised in an abusive situation so please forgive me for not being great with technology and social thing's.
I will get back to questions more fully over the next couple of days. But for now I want to cover the repeated topics with a blanket answer.

What has stood out to me is what I suspected...that the general public think JWs are happy in their life and desperately want to bring others in. Whilst it's true that many jws are "happy", most I have known are not happy about the religion but are stuck in it.
Because yes, if you speak out against it or leave without slipping out the back door you get shunned. Its a kind of social death because as many of you noted, when you are in it you are not meant to socialise with people "outside" of it. Therefore everyone around you are jws too (hence being window cleaners as it keeps you away from other people)
So when you disagree with it, or leave, you get shunned. I have been shunned yes. Waking up from brainwashing and abuse is hard enough, but to have everyone you know shun you overnight as well is....hard to say the least.

Yes some witnesses have secret blood transfusions so as to not get shunned.

Yeah I've watched everyone else burns and it was a case of do I laugh or cry. Probably mostly cried and was angry at my life being taken like it has. Anything you might watch in that and think, ooh that's a bit too much or too far....has actually been dulled down for tv.

Once again, huge thanks for peoples time in sharing all views. its really helpful to me. Really helpful. And apologies for not being fast at replying. I never meant to hurt anyone's feelings or seem rude.