Those who leave the faith are called "apostates" and are "disfellowshipped", a term for formal expulsion and shunning, where members are "prohibited from talking, and even from saying 'hello' to them", according to Ohmyjw.
The movement's adherents initially called themselves Bible Students until 1931, when they took the name Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah is a transliteration of the letters YHWH, which were used in place of the unspeakable name for God in the Old Testament.
In a statement the religious group told the BBC: "If a baptised Witness makes a practice of breaking the Bible's moral code, and does not given evidence of stopping the practice, he or she will be shunned or disfellowshipped.
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. Their names are published at local Kingdom Halls. Of those, two-thirds never return.
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 denomination requires adherence to a strict moral code, which forbids premarital sex, homosexuality, gender transitioning, adultery, smoking, drunkenness and drug abuse, and blood transfusions.
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.
Feelings of loneliness, loss of control, and worthlessness are also common after leaving. The culture of informing on other members inside the Jehovah's Witnesses also leads to a continued sense of distrust and suspicion long after leaving.
Jehovah's Witnesses have also been criticized because they reject blood transfusions, even in life-threatening medical situations, and for 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.
The ban is due to Jehovah's Witnesses' refusal to swear allegiance to the state; their religious convictions forbid an oath of allegiance to or service in the armed forces of any temporal power. From 1935 onward, Jehovah's Witnesses faced a Nazi campaign of persecution.
Jehovah's Witnesses strive to follow the Golden Rule by treating others the way they themselves would like to be treated. —Matthew 7:12.
Family planning
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God or Jehovah. As the Bible does not directly discuss birth control, birth control is seen as a personal decision and is left to the individual's conscience.
They limit contact with non-Jehovah's Witnesses
JWs are advised not to join groups or teams outside the faith and are also discouraged from higher education.
The Jehovah's Witnesses church has no clergy-laity division. All baptized members are considered ordained ministers. Congregations are led by elders, who are spiritually mature members, or by qualified assistants who called ministerial servants.
Jehovah's Witnesses are fastest growing denomination, survey says.
Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world and the most persecuted Christian organization in the 20th century. How the Witnesses shape their response to persecution is invariably associated with the social reality they construct in their rhetorical practices.
Their religious activities are banned or restricted in some countries, including Singapore, China, Vietnam, Russia and many Muslim-majority countries.
Monogamy between one man and one woman and sex only within marriage are requirements in the Witness religion. But Witnesses do permit divorce in certain cases, believing that the only valid ground for divorce and remarriage is adultery. Divorce is not allowed except in extremely limited circumstances.
Religious beliefs and practices
For instance, they teach that Jesus is the son of God but is not part of a Trinity. By traditional measures of religious commitment, Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the most highly religious major U.S. religious groups.
Marc John Jefferies, who you'll recognize from films like “Losing Isaiah,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” and “Notorious,” was raised in the Jehova's Witness faith as a child. Like sister Serena, Venus was also raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith by their parents.
Jehovah's Witnesses are well-known for going door to door to share their faith.
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 (/dʒɪˈhoʊvə/) is a Latinization of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה Yəhōwā, one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton יהוה is considered one of the seven names of God in Judaism and a form of God's name in Christianity.
A: While the Seventh-day Adventist and Jehovah's Witness faiths both give special emphasis to the Second Coming of Christ, they are different denominations with separate histories and discrete practices. Seventh-day Adventists arose from the Adventist or "Millerite movement after the Great Disappointment of 1844.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's "only-begotten Son", and that his life began in heaven. He is described as God's first creation and the "exact representation of God", but is believed to be a separate entity and not part of a Trinity.