I find it so interesting that even we as Mormons, who are part of a peculiar and misunderstood culture and religion, fall into believing all of the stereotypes out there of the members of the Jehovah's Witnesses following. Their religion has one of the most infamously bad single stories probably out of any other cultural, ethnic, or religious minority I've ever heard of. Truly, they are a religion with a single story, a story that the world and even we as Mormons use to define them all individually. I actually never thought to research more into their beliefs and culture until this assignment. I found myself thinking, "what are single stories that I have of minorities in this country?" That's exactly when I thought of those interesting folks who preach door to door ("but in a weird way, not like our missionaries"), focus on condemnation and punishment, who don't celebrate holidays, and that think only 144,000 people will be saved at the last day.
In the news, all we hear about the Jehovah's Witnesses are their peculiar culture of "hate". They hate holidays, they hate everyone who isn't a member of their faith, they hate doctors and the medical world, they even hate "The Smurfs". I've never though of questioning all the bad press that surrounds their religion, or what the world refers to as their "cult". I've always believed the single story surrounding their religion and accepted all the stereotypes because, as a believing Latter Day Saint, I know they're "wrong". But how ignorant is that point of view? Are these thoughts really becoming of a Christian? In fact, it's odd to see just how similar we are as Mormons to the Jehovah's Witnesses. They believe in a strict morale code, they live in a way to best imitate Christ, they call themselves Christians, they believe in a daily practice of reading scripture and church published material, they believe in spreading their beliefs through proselyting. They provide materials for adults, youth and children to help them with common problems in our day including stress in marriage, and whether or not there is a supreme being. If we really choose to understand Jehovah's Witnesses, much like any other religion, we can find the good in their beliefs. They strive to live in order to obtain salvation, and they earnestly work that others might accept their guidelines to redemption.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the world, and especially we as Mormons, need accept other religions outside of our own as good, and valuable. Our leaders preach that while our religion is the true church of Christ on the Earth, that we should respect others' beliefs and attempts to follow God and what they perceive as His will for them. Jehovah's Witnesses do the best they can with what they have. They strive to live a good life, and hope for salvation when their mortal journey is over. So what if you've Bible bashed with a few of them, or if they hate the Christmas holiday or are just plain "weird". I'm sure the world as a whole would say the same about our religion. The point is, their single story, however accurate, is still a single story. Why not get to know their beliefs, their motivations, and learn to appreciate them as fellow Christians who may not have all that we have, but are trying the best they can.
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