Probably, some are real. But, most of them are disingenuous. Some, maybe even AI generated. Still—why not answer a question? Use Twitter (X) skills. 140 characters, later 280, forced the windbags to be concise. Do it here.
Since they are disingenuous, ought one use the line of Paul to Elymas? “O man full of every sort of fraud and every sort of villainy, you son of the Devil, you enemy of everything righteous, will you not quit distorting the right ways of Jehovah? (Acts 13:10) No. Not unless you also can strike with blindness the way Paul did. Just answer the question. If they are too taunting or stupid, (which many are) let them slide.
Many are hot-button issues, taking the form of ‘gotcha’ questions, that are not heard in the Kingdom Hall, where people in general are quite content.
Q: Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses love the earth more than heaven?
A: When you step on a cloud, your foot goes right through it. That doesn’t happen on earth.
“As for the heavens, they belong to Jehovah, But the earth he has given to the sons of men.” (Psalm 115:16)
Q: Why do Jehovah's Witnesses not go to hospitals for medical treatment? Is prayer considered more effective for healing?
A: No. They like prayer, but they don’t imagine they can go into hospitals and clear them out with prayer. Humans weren’t supposed to die at all, doing so only as a result of the first man pulling the plug on himself long ago, and consequently all his offspring. Since then, someone has likened life to boarding a great ship heading out to ocean that you know is going to sink. Usually, there is foundering along the way.
It is only when the cause of that original death is removed that sickness will be removed as well. (Romans 5:12) To be sure, prayer connects one to a higher source. The resulting better mood can aid recovery from illness, but no one imagines it a silver bullet. And, of course, Witnesses go to hospitals as readily as anyone else.
Q: Saints look forward to a NEW heaven & earth, says 2 Peter 3. What do Jehovah’s Witnesses say about that?
A: The ‘heavens’ above could fry you one moment, freeze you the next, drench you thereafter, and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it. Thus, ‘heavens’ made a good Bible metaphor for government. For the most part, such is still true of human government; they impose conditions on you, but power to change them is negligible for most. ‘Earth’ likewise becomes a symbol, not for the planet itself, but for the people on it.
Q: Jehovah's Witnesses: How do Satan and his demons tempt people since they no longer talk to humans through animals and since Jehovah's Witnesses say that hearing voices is a symptom of mental illness?
A: They use email and voicemail.
Q: Do Jehovah's Witnesses go door-to-door on Halloween night to distribute religious literature, as they do at other times of the year?
A: Usually not, but in the book ‘In the Last of the Last Days: Faith in the Age of Dysfunction’ I tell of when I called on a man the day after Halloween, with decorations still on his porch, and told him I was tempted to introduce myself as a trick-or-treater in a Jehovah’s Witness costume. It proved to be an ice-breaker.
Q: What is the meaning of a cult, and who do you go to if you think it is one?
A: To them, if it makes sense to you. Away from them, if it doesn’t.
Recognize the ‘cult’ label is affixed these days to anyone straying too far from the mainstream, and often for that reason. People who decry brainwashing the loudest are less concerned about brainwashing than they are brainwashing that is not theirs.
The definition of cult has much changed over the years. It used to be that if you fell under the spell of a charismatic leader, separated from society, and began to do strange things, you just might be a member of a cult. That definition is expanded today into any non-conformist group, as though someone else is ‘controlling’ them to do be that way.
Q: Was Charles Taze Russell high on drugs or drunk as a skunk when he founded the cult that would become known as Jehovah's Witnesses?
A: No, he was the guy who said (and practiced): ‘If you stop and kick every dog that barks at you, you’ll never get very far.’
Q: What motivated you to leave or join jw.org (Jehovah's Witnesses) as a teenager?
A: What caused me to join at an age only slightly older was the prospect of understanding the Bible, experiencing the pieces come together as though a jigsaw puzzle. Often as a boy I had hoped to do this, but the pieces never seemed to fit together. Turned out that many of them were mangled by popular teachings that are not found in the Bible. It is the attempt to read them in that causes people despair to ever understanding the book.
Q: What are some common perceptions of Jehovah's Witnesses among non-members?
Alas, they run up against Jesus observation that, ‘People light a lamp and set it, not under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house.’ (Matthew 5:15)
If you have good news, you don’t just sit on it. You tell others.
Q: What is the process for leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses after being disfellowshipped?
A: It is always hoped that a disfellowshipped one will return and many of them do. Disfellowshipping is a last-ditch attempt attempt at discipline, when all other avenues have failed, to ensure that members adhere to the biblical standards and conduct that they have voluntarily signed on for. Of course, anyone can tire of them and leave on their own, but if they insist on bringing unacceptable conduct into the congregation, trouble ensues. More on disfellowshipping here:
https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2018/08/the-trump-card-of-christian-discipline.html
Q: It breaks my heart to see people joining the Jehovah’s Witness cult. What should I do?
A: Learn to mind your own business.
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