Stormy goes to church
The clocks have not returned. I bought the world's cheapest pocket watch with a chain, to wear to work. =D Unfortunately, the bosses are also taking away our calculator, pens and paper, and other stuff we don't strictly speaking need to do our job, we just need it to keep our job from being terminally annoying. Seriously. They change the dvd prices once a week but I'm not allowed a notebook to keep track of the changes? Bleh.
Anyway, on to the actual story.
I visited the Jehovah's Witnesses in their Kingdom Hall on Hacienda st 9/7/14.
My choice was prompted by having two lovely older women show up at my door sharing their faith the day before. I didn't need another faith, but I did need a religious service to talk about for my presentation, and when they mentioned their meeting was at one pm, allowing for plenty of sleeping in, my course was clear. The next day I put on my best trousers and shirt, combed my hair and went to church-- a thing I have not done since age six.
The Kingdom Hall is a mundane building, no marvelous Gothic architecture or anything built to wow the eye. I quickly realized I was under-dressed: I was the only female in pants. This is probably something I should have thought of! The two ladies I had spoken with the day before found me quickly and introduced me around; I explained that I was here for a school project and hoped not to be a bother.
They were very friendly and seemed thrilled to have me. I was quickly introduced to half a dozen more ladies closer to my mother's age than mine who asked about my class, asked about my family, loaned me a songbook, Bible, and the current Watchtower magazine, and gave me a rundown of what would happen during the service. I'd say there were maybe 50 people in the hall; about half the number it could hold, in movie theater style seats set in a half-moon shape around a podium. Most of them were closer to my parents' age than mine, and the majority were women. There were maybe half a dozen children with their families, and no twentysomethings at all. This faith may be fading in the US as its members age.
The service began with a song from the song book, followed by a prayer led by the fellow at the podium. There were two speakers, one of whom I guessed to be the leader of the local hall and the other to be a traveling speaker. There seems to be no 'priesthood' as such; as I understand it speakers travel around giving their talks at different Kingdom Halls, unpaid. The speaker this time was a man, and from the vibe of the place I guessed all speakers are men. The JW website later confirmed this.
His talk was "Are you building with fire resistant materials?" by which he meant "are you raising your children right?" the theme being that Satan is trying to destroy our children via drugs, alcohol, TV, music, and sexual temptation, and we as parents should be very careful to build our children to be fireproof. There were many references to Bible verses about building materials, illustration from the Three Little Pigs about the three kinds of houses: the shoddy one, the one that looks nice, and the true quality workmanship, and very few practical tips on actual child-rearing. I was trying to have an open mind, but I didn't find the speech either very informative or very interesting.
There followed another song. There was something surprisingly pleasant about singing in a group, even if I was just following along from the book. The songs sung that day were obviously written for the Jehovah's Witnesses as they used Jehovah's name a lot, but it's possible they also use mainstream hymns.
The next section was study of the Watchtower magazine. This was taken very seriously; the people sitting near me all had their Watchtowers heavily highlighted with comments written in the margins. We read an article called "Jehovah Knows Those Who Belong To Him" about times in the Bible when god had struck down people who were worshiping wrongly.
The article struck me as quite shallow. What were the hypocritical worshipers doing that was wrong? Why was it wrong? What was the normal mode of worship for the time? I suppose a story doesn't strictly speaking need a lot of historical context to teach a moral lesson, but I wished it had some. What it did have was very nice illustrations, and study questions in the margins.
There was audience participation for this part; the speaker read the questions from the magazine and different people raised their hands to answer the questions. I can see how this might foster a sense of community, but most of the answers were quoted directly from the magazine; only a few people spoke of personal experiences or brought information from outside sources. It was very strange to me; just enough like a classroom setting that I kept expecting people to be responding to each other, arguing, really engaging... and then they didn't. Their voices also struck me as odd: they were using the sort of tone one might use to reveal a deep, suddenly discovered truth, to read from the magazine.
I wondered if there was some sort of spiritual communion going on here that went completely over my head. I certainly couldn't detect any, and I was trying, knowing there must be something here that made people want to attend every week. Perhaps it's simply that they did it every week, and the routine becomes comforting. Or maybe Jehovah was speaking to his people, and simply not speaking to me.
Afterward the attentive ladies showed me around and showed me the schedule. They have evening meetings where they study the bible and also practice talking to people to get better at going door to door. So their enthusiasm at my presence was practiced, though I don't think it was false. I couldn't help wondering what the response would be if I continued to attend as my skeptical, nerdy, pants-wearing self. I'm almost tempted to experiment... but that would be very rude to people who'd been nothing but kind to me.
I have two Watchtower magazines and one Awake! one from the church service and the others that the ladies had left. Perusing them, I found several life stories of Witnesses, an article about witnessing in Micronesia, and articles about dealing with burnout and resentment. One article was about damage to the environment, stating the Jehovah would punish those who despoil the earth. I approve the sentiment, much more than I approve the article suggesting that locusts motion-sensing systems couldn't have evolved. According to the website, Jehovah's Witnesses are not creationists, but they may lean a little farther that way than they want to admit. Another article, “You Will Be Witnesses of Me” seems to be a condensed version of all the Witness beliefs that are different from mainstream protestant beliefs. I know just enough about protestant Christianity to know this article would strike them as very strange, but not enough to track down each and every difference.
I also poked around the official Jehovah's Witness website, trying to get a better image of the religion as a whole. The website is quite nice, very sleek and professionally made, and has a lot of educational soundbites for people with questions.
Most troubling: Jehovah's Witnesses don't accept blood transfusions. The soundbite simply says “This is what we believe,” cites a Bible verse about not eating blood, and states (without references) that science is coming up with new blood substitutes so your chances of permanent damage from refusing blood are slim. I get the impression that it's almost a territory marker: if you're one of us you refuse blood transfusions. That's how you prove you're one of us. Of course many individual members of religions quietly forget such territory markers when the chips are down (most Catholics use birth control, for instance) and I suspect that when it's just the family and the doctors in the ER some Witnesses would accept a transfusion and atone in prayer later.
Most startling: Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas! Or Easter. Halloween was apparently too shocking even to mention. Of course they're not the only subsection of Christianity to have different holidays: Christian Scientists don't celebrate birthdays since they believe the soul is eternal. They even have “you are eternal” cards they can send to friends on their birthdays. And of course the Seventh Day Adventists worship on Saturday rather than Sunday. Again this feels like a tribal marker: to be one of us, you must put yourself in an awkward position in relation to the culture.
Most informative: Spreading the good news is a major part of being a witness. Of course I knew they went door to door, but didn't realize it was such a big part of the faith. Witnesses will also come have a Bible study with anyone who asks, anywhere, anytime, for free. The study-ee is (supposedly, anyway) under no pressure to convert. Part of my mind says this is a lovely thing to do: people who are lonely can get together with someone and talk about their interest in the Bible! Another part sees it as preying on people who are so lonely they call on a stranger for conversation. I'm tempted to ask for a bible study, just to see what one is like, but knowing my intentions are less than honorable makes me hesitate.
Most squirrely: “Do Jehovah's Witnesses have women preachers?” “Yes. Several million women spread the good news. Although they don't assume a leadership role in congregations...” I'm paraphrasing for length but the website did straight out say, “Yes, except that actually No.”
All in all, my visit with the Witnesses was fascinating in an anthropological sort of way but left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The strange reactions to the reading of the Watchtower magazine really rubbed me the wrong way, and the knowledge that the ladies' kindness was both sincere and practiced was a bit off-putting, as was the knowledge that these nice people would suggest I refuse important medical treatment. What I saw on the website was also disturbing. I can't judge a faith on one visit, but I think I've seen enough to judge it's not for me.
Anyway, on to the actual story.
I visited the Jehovah's Witnesses in their Kingdom Hall on Hacienda st 9/7/14.
My choice was prompted by having two lovely older women show up at my door sharing their faith the day before. I didn't need another faith, but I did need a religious service to talk about for my presentation, and when they mentioned their meeting was at one pm, allowing for plenty of sleeping in, my course was clear. The next day I put on my best trousers and shirt, combed my hair and went to church-- a thing I have not done since age six.
The Kingdom Hall is a mundane building, no marvelous Gothic architecture or anything built to wow the eye. I quickly realized I was under-dressed: I was the only female in pants. This is probably something I should have thought of! The two ladies I had spoken with the day before found me quickly and introduced me around; I explained that I was here for a school project and hoped not to be a bother.
They were very friendly and seemed thrilled to have me. I was quickly introduced to half a dozen more ladies closer to my mother's age than mine who asked about my class, asked about my family, loaned me a songbook, Bible, and the current Watchtower magazine, and gave me a rundown of what would happen during the service. I'd say there were maybe 50 people in the hall; about half the number it could hold, in movie theater style seats set in a half-moon shape around a podium. Most of them were closer to my parents' age than mine, and the majority were women. There were maybe half a dozen children with their families, and no twentysomethings at all. This faith may be fading in the US as its members age.
The service began with a song from the song book, followed by a prayer led by the fellow at the podium. There were two speakers, one of whom I guessed to be the leader of the local hall and the other to be a traveling speaker. There seems to be no 'priesthood' as such; as I understand it speakers travel around giving their talks at different Kingdom Halls, unpaid. The speaker this time was a man, and from the vibe of the place I guessed all speakers are men. The JW website later confirmed this.
His talk was "Are you building with fire resistant materials?" by which he meant "are you raising your children right?" the theme being that Satan is trying to destroy our children via drugs, alcohol, TV, music, and sexual temptation, and we as parents should be very careful to build our children to be fireproof. There were many references to Bible verses about building materials, illustration from the Three Little Pigs about the three kinds of houses: the shoddy one, the one that looks nice, and the true quality workmanship, and very few practical tips on actual child-rearing. I was trying to have an open mind, but I didn't find the speech either very informative or very interesting.
There followed another song. There was something surprisingly pleasant about singing in a group, even if I was just following along from the book. The songs sung that day were obviously written for the Jehovah's Witnesses as they used Jehovah's name a lot, but it's possible they also use mainstream hymns.
The next section was study of the Watchtower magazine. This was taken very seriously; the people sitting near me all had their Watchtowers heavily highlighted with comments written in the margins. We read an article called "Jehovah Knows Those Who Belong To Him" about times in the Bible when god had struck down people who were worshiping wrongly.
The article struck me as quite shallow. What were the hypocritical worshipers doing that was wrong? Why was it wrong? What was the normal mode of worship for the time? I suppose a story doesn't strictly speaking need a lot of historical context to teach a moral lesson, but I wished it had some. What it did have was very nice illustrations, and study questions in the margins.
There was audience participation for this part; the speaker read the questions from the magazine and different people raised their hands to answer the questions. I can see how this might foster a sense of community, but most of the answers were quoted directly from the magazine; only a few people spoke of personal experiences or brought information from outside sources. It was very strange to me; just enough like a classroom setting that I kept expecting people to be responding to each other, arguing, really engaging... and then they didn't. Their voices also struck me as odd: they were using the sort of tone one might use to reveal a deep, suddenly discovered truth, to read from the magazine.
I wondered if there was some sort of spiritual communion going on here that went completely over my head. I certainly couldn't detect any, and I was trying, knowing there must be something here that made people want to attend every week. Perhaps it's simply that they did it every week, and the routine becomes comforting. Or maybe Jehovah was speaking to his people, and simply not speaking to me.
Afterward the attentive ladies showed me around and showed me the schedule. They have evening meetings where they study the bible and also practice talking to people to get better at going door to door. So their enthusiasm at my presence was practiced, though I don't think it was false. I couldn't help wondering what the response would be if I continued to attend as my skeptical, nerdy, pants-wearing self. I'm almost tempted to experiment... but that would be very rude to people who'd been nothing but kind to me.
I have two Watchtower magazines and one Awake! one from the church service and the others that the ladies had left. Perusing them, I found several life stories of Witnesses, an article about witnessing in Micronesia, and articles about dealing with burnout and resentment. One article was about damage to the environment, stating the Jehovah would punish those who despoil the earth. I approve the sentiment, much more than I approve the article suggesting that locusts motion-sensing systems couldn't have evolved. According to the website, Jehovah's Witnesses are not creationists, but they may lean a little farther that way than they want to admit. Another article, “You Will Be Witnesses of Me” seems to be a condensed version of all the Witness beliefs that are different from mainstream protestant beliefs. I know just enough about protestant Christianity to know this article would strike them as very strange, but not enough to track down each and every difference.
I also poked around the official Jehovah's Witness website, trying to get a better image of the religion as a whole. The website is quite nice, very sleek and professionally made, and has a lot of educational soundbites for people with questions.
Most troubling: Jehovah's Witnesses don't accept blood transfusions. The soundbite simply says “This is what we believe,” cites a Bible verse about not eating blood, and states (without references) that science is coming up with new blood substitutes so your chances of permanent damage from refusing blood are slim. I get the impression that it's almost a territory marker: if you're one of us you refuse blood transfusions. That's how you prove you're one of us. Of course many individual members of religions quietly forget such territory markers when the chips are down (most Catholics use birth control, for instance) and I suspect that when it's just the family and the doctors in the ER some Witnesses would accept a transfusion and atone in prayer later.
Most startling: Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas! Or Easter. Halloween was apparently too shocking even to mention. Of course they're not the only subsection of Christianity to have different holidays: Christian Scientists don't celebrate birthdays since they believe the soul is eternal. They even have “you are eternal” cards they can send to friends on their birthdays. And of course the Seventh Day Adventists worship on Saturday rather than Sunday. Again this feels like a tribal marker: to be one of us, you must put yourself in an awkward position in relation to the culture.
Most informative: Spreading the good news is a major part of being a witness. Of course I knew they went door to door, but didn't realize it was such a big part of the faith. Witnesses will also come have a Bible study with anyone who asks, anywhere, anytime, for free. The study-ee is (supposedly, anyway) under no pressure to convert. Part of my mind says this is a lovely thing to do: people who are lonely can get together with someone and talk about their interest in the Bible! Another part sees it as preying on people who are so lonely they call on a stranger for conversation. I'm tempted to ask for a bible study, just to see what one is like, but knowing my intentions are less than honorable makes me hesitate.
Most squirrely: “Do Jehovah's Witnesses have women preachers?” “Yes. Several million women spread the good news. Although they don't assume a leadership role in congregations...” I'm paraphrasing for length but the website did straight out say, “Yes, except that actually No.”
All in all, my visit with the Witnesses was fascinating in an anthropological sort of way but left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The strange reactions to the reading of the Watchtower magazine really rubbed me the wrong way, and the knowledge that the ladies' kindness was both sincere and practiced was a bit off-putting, as was the knowledge that these nice people would suggest I refuse important medical treatment. What I saw on the website was also disturbing. I can't judge a faith on one visit, but I think I've seen enough to judge it's not for me.