Hello All!
Sorry for not writing my blog until now, but I was lazy.
Last Sunday, Hannah and I went to TWO churches! The first one was the Roman Catholic Church then after we went to a Jehovah’s Witness Church.
I already know a fair amount of the Catholic faith, so my blog is not really about that one. But we still had a good time. The Father sung very well and it made me feel like I was in Rome, no joke! It was a very nice service though.
The JW (Jehovah’s Witness) church was definitely better than I thought it would be. On the other hand, Hannah and I were both pretty sick and had terribly runny noses, which made the service seem longer than it actually was because I wanted to leave and get better.
The people there were very nice and welcoming to us. I am not sure they get a lot of visitors, but then again, JW’s don’t have the best stereotypes. You know, it takes a lot of guts, sometimes, to say that you are a JW just because some people can’t take that religion seriously. In one way, that links to why Hannah and I are doing this project, so we can expand our knowledge of the different religions and not have a naïve view of them.
Oh, and speaking of sick people, the pastor-dude was sick that day, so they had a modified service. Normally, they would have someone speak for half, then they would study The Watchtower for the other half, instead they just studied The Watchtower. This study did feel more of just a Sunday School thing and not so much a worship service. I am trying to keep in mind that the pastor-dude was ill so we missed out on that experience. The atmosphere was very friendly and more relaxed than some of the other churches, which was nice.
As we were studying The Watchtower, someone had brought up the very controversial topic of blood transfusions and all that jazz. They don’t do it because it says to abstain from blood in the bible. May I point out that RIGHT AFTER it is mentioned, it says to abstain from fornication too? How many people follow that? It is becoming an accepted practice to have sex before you are married. I disagree with it, but that is the world we live in unfortunately. There are so many things that are also said that we should not do or do, but Hannah already went through that. In my opinion, I think it is kind of ridiculous to not get a blood transfusion, especially if it would save your life. But again, this is just my opinion and is what I believe. They don’t agree with our church and how Joseph Smith saw God and translated the Book of Mormon, and that is their opinion. One thing I quite disliked though was when a JW came to my house, and upon finding out I was Lds, they mentioned that The Watchtower had recently had an article about how Joseph Smith lied and how the Book of Mormon is false. I do find that to be quite offensive. I have done some research and am unable to see if that lady was actually telling the truth because I can’t find any archives on The Watchtower. But still. Honestly? Is bible bashing really necessary in your church publications? I think it’s ridiculous and offensive.
So, what’s with the whole “Jehovah” thing? Were they wanting to be different from all the other religions so they decided to use the name Jehovah? They still use God though. It’s really confusing. Sometimes they will say Jehovah, but others they say Jehovah God. Why not just keep the original one? I get confused by that.
The way we studied The Watchtower is that we went over EVERY single detail in the article, which was like…long. I got pretty bored because I just felt like… I don’t know. It was just kind of boring after a while. I guess it felt like they were teaching their congregation how to be able to better explain their religion so when they go out on their missionary adventure thingy, knocking on people’s doors, they know all about what is happening in The Watchtower. It was like they were being trained rather than being taught actually. If you know what I mean. Everytime they answered a question, it sounded kind of robotic. It was really weird. There was this little kid that answered questions and it sounded as if the answers were programmed into him… but I suppose in some ways, we are all like that. From the time were are little, we are given these answers that are being programmed into us so we will remember it always. People accuse the Lds faith of brainwashing their children, but doesn’t every religion? In some religions, you are taught to hate other ones. Take the Westboro Baptist Church, for example. They teach their children some very extreme views of hatred towards, well the world it seems. Is there anyone (not a part of their religion) that they do like? That’s beside the point. My point is that in every religion, you are pushed to believe what the religion wants you to believe.
Well, after the whole service was done, and there was no sacrament type thing to be found, literature started to come our way. We were handed a ridiculous amount of literature, all explaining the JW faith. It made them seem…desperate. On the flip side, they do seem like… fairly…humble…people, I suppose. They liked to inform us of the good they do. I didn’t mind, but I did want to leave…and they just kept…talking. It wasn’t all bad though. They do still have views that I do not agree with, but you will get that in every religion you go to.
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