A Prejudice Against Jehovah Witnesses

A Prejudice Against Jehovah Witnesses

One social category that is commonly pre-judged is Jehovah Witnesses. The prejudices that I have against Jehovah Witnesses are mainly based on personal experience. Jehovah Witnesses (JW) think that their practice the one and only “true” religion. Believing that they are superior and far greater than any mainstream religions. JW are unpatriotic, arrogant and not family oriented. Lastly I think that JW think that they are too good to accept blood transfusions.

These are prejudices because it is a prime example of a biased, unjust generalization of an entire category of people. I do not believe that my prejudices against this group of people are irrational or inflexible. In my opinion it is quite the contrary, this generalization is supported by facts provided by their own publications.

When I was younger, I was what you could call a “child” of a Jehovah Witness. About 1989 my mother began “studying” with Jehovah witnesses. They used to come to our house early in the morning or late on Saturday, to teach her the “bible”. My dad was a young minister in a storefront church in Baltimore. My early memories about this period are of my father forbidding my mother to study the Bible with these people. When they would arrive, my mother would run to the door to keep my father from interacting with them. Depending on my father’s mood, they would study or my mother would tell them to return at a later time. It was as if my mother was having some secret forbidden conversation with these people.

My parents argued often about the change my mother was making as far as religion was concerned, and how it was affecting our daily lives as a family. While my father and extended family was celebrating all of the traditional American holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Independence Day, and etc.) my mother was teaching me that these were pagan practices and participating was a sin against Jehovah. All of this eventually took a toll on the marriage, and my father left after 10 years of unity. I have watched and personally felt the ramifications of the brainwashing like behavior of this faith.

As I grew older I noticed how the Witnesses would travel door to door and force their religion upon people. Shoving pamphlets in the hands of individuals who were in public places going about daily life. Jehovah Witnesses prohibit voting, claiming no participation in this worldly government. Jehovah's Witnesses practice extreme shunning of former members. This is an enforced policy that requires the members to avoid anyone who