Members are instructed to not even greet shunned individuals. Disfellowshipped individuals can continue attending public meetings held at the Kingdom Hall, but are shunned by the congregation.
Siblings write off siblings. Friends shun friends. An estimated 70,000 Jehovah's Witnesses are disfellowshipped every year — roughly 1% of the church's total population, according to data published by the Watchtower.
They limit contact with non-Jehovah's Witnesses
Followers are discouraged from having close relationships with those who are not part of the faith. People who are “worldly” are seen as bad influences or “bad associations.”
The majority of elders are family men and maintain secular employment to support their families. Jehovah's Witnesses do not have a salaried clergy nor any employees.
Witnesses believe that after the death of the apostles, the Church embarked on a "Great Apostasy", diverging from the original teachings of Jesus on several major points.
The 'anointed'
Based on their understanding of scriptures such as Revelation 14:1-4, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God.
Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays, Christmas, or Easter. Members of the church "believe that such celebrations displease God" and are rooted in pagan traditions.
Wives should be submissive to their husbands and husbands are to have deep respect and love for their wives, and are instructed to listen to them on all matters. Husbands are instructed to treat their wives as Jesus treated his followers. He should not hurt or mistreat his family in any way.
How much do Jehovah's Witnesses employees earn on average in the United States? Jehovah's Witnesses pays an average salary of $427,772 and salaries range from a low of $376,759 to a high of $486,741.
Jehovah's Witnesses reject foods containing blood but have no other special dietary requirements. Some Jehovah's Witnesses may be vegetarian and others may abstain from alcohol, but this is a personal choice. Jehovah's Witnesses do not smoke or use other tobacco products.
Jehovah's Witnesses have also been criticized because they reject blood transfusions, even in life-threatening medical situations, and of failing to report cases of sexual abuse to the authorities. Many of the claims are denied by Jehovah's Witnesses and some have also been disputed by courts and religious scholars.
Rapper The Notorious B.I.G., aka Christopher Wallace, was raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith by his mother Voletta Wallace, who is still active in the religion today. Actress and television host Sherri Shepherd was raised as a Jehovah's Witness but no longer practices the faith.
The Witnesses have nothing against weddings or funerals, but they do have strict religious beliefs that impel them to avoid certain activities and celebrations which, they believe, violate moral principles found in the Bible.
Background: Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia
There are almost 69,000 Jehovah's Witnesses (in approximately 760 congregations) throughout Australia.
With this historic change, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses grew 3% in the United States in 2021 alone, matching the most significant increase for the organization over the past decade and the second-largest percentage increase since 1990.
Both Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons identify as Christians, although their non-Trinitarian doctrine — both deny that Jesus Christ shares a single fundamental divine essence with God the Father and the Holy Spirit — has often brought them into conflict with mainline Christian tradition.
Knorr, President of Jehovah's Witnesses. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month.
Witnesses do this work without pay and some, called pioneers, spend 70 hours a month in door-to-door witnessing. Witnesses believe that missionary work should take priority over career, so many will choose lower-paid jobs with limited hours so as to have more time to devote to their faith.
Jehovah's Witnesses identify as Christians, but their beliefs are different from other Christians in some ways. For instance, they teach that Jesus is the son of God but is not part of a Trinity.
JW support said the Jehovah Witnesses are a patriarchal society where women cannot hold positions of authority and are to view men as their head. It also says that Witness women cannot teach unless no men are available, and when they do they must wear head coverings to show “submission to the headship arrangement.”
Marriages are required to be monogamous and legally registered. Marrying a non-believer, or endorsing such a union, is strongly discouraged and carries religious sanctions.
How do the Jehovah's Witnesses feel about cussing? It's frowned upon. The Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian group that believes Armageddon is imminent, discourage members from any sort of foul language on the grounds that it's expressly forbidden in the Bible.
Jehovah's witnesses do not celebrate national or religious holidays or birthdays. The only day they do memorialize is Jesus Christ's death around the time of Easter and Passover.
“To us, going door to door is an expression of our God's impartiality,” he said. “We go to everyone and let them choose whether they want to hear us or not.” Even in pre-pandemic times, door-knocking ministry came with anxiety because Witnesses never knew how they would be received at any given home.