Jehovah's Witness is an apocalyptic cult related to the Seventh Day Adventists, both of which sprang from the Millerite movement of the early/mid 19th century. Miller is famous for having precisely but erroneously predicted the apocalypse not once but twice. Lots of people believed his prediction and went outdoors to wait for the rapture, which of course never came. Both times! It is a shining example of the resiliency and persistence of unjustified belief even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence. It's actually kind of scary.

Sorry for your loss. I am an xjw and I have been out of the cult for many years. In jw dogma 144,000 go to heaven. For the rest of jws they must obey without question everything that the governing body tells them. These commands are non negotiable, question them and you are out! Huge consequences follow, if your family are jws then you will be shunned by them. All other jws will treat you as though you are dead. No contact in any form because if they do then they are in big trouble also. They see god as the almighty and jesus as a separate and very inferior being. Like all religions it's all horse shit.

I’m so sorry for your loss. I went to a funeral several years ago for my in laws who are are also JW’s. My ex is a recovering one. They are not xian they are considered pseudo xian or cult like. This is a made up religion by one man like Scientology or seventh day eventists. They’ve had rapture predictions that came and went where people gave away or sold all of thier worldly possessions waiting for Jehovah and they still are.. lol. Be glad you’re not in that mess.

People like to think that they are part of a chosen elite group. Thinking you are a member of the chosen elite also makes it easier to ignore those who disagree with you.

There a millions of JW's. If you are not in the 150,000 what then. i don't like the odds here so I'll pass.

It's all a crock of shit so it doesn't matter if they get some of it wrong, it's only a story. Sorry to hear about your mum.

I know less about the JWs than I do about some of the other Christian sects. After a while it all sounds equally bogus, so knowing details ceases to matter to me.

So sorry for your loss. I just lost my mom recently also.

The number is 144,000. It's in that ergot-induced nightmare, Revelations. Just ask yourself, given the Earth's population of 7 billion people, are you the best person out of 55,000 of your closest friends? No? Then you're going to hell.

But it's actually worse than that. That 144,000 is not general admission seating. All of those spots are reserved for the 12 tribes of Israel, 12,000 each. So the bible actually says that not a single Christian gets to go to heaven. So why would anyone be a Christian?

I think it's no more, or no less silly than what's in Every Other Religion.

It sounds as ridiculous as any faith-based hogwash.

My condolences on your loss. My mother has been looking into religion recently but I gave her a quick lesson in what that means today. Cherry-picking. If she wants to believe in the good parts of the bible, she would be better of not reading it.

I would go to a funeral - I would even do the rituals out of respect for the living .but nothing could make me belive any of this and i wouldnt even try to make sense of it - if it helps them, good. It certainly doesnt hurt me.

Being an former fool of religion, that jw are more screw up than most religious sects. To my knowledge they are the only sect that claims there is a certain number of people that get into heaven. Other sects claims everyone can get into heaven, if they perform the rituals of that sect and believe in the teachings god,etc. What's sad is that I considered becoming one of those jw fools. Glad I avoided that train wreck.