• chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    12 hours ago

    I think again you’re thinking mormons. I grew up JW, and they don’t have dorms, unless it’s the Bethel HQ in NY. The mormons also do the helping thing, but not really JWs.

    Now don’t get me wrong, JWs do want isolation, but it isn’t as strictly enforced as mormons. They tend to make up for it by encouraging lots of meetings/study weekly, and heavy discouragement of having any friends or interactions outside of anyone else JW. No dating, no meeting up as friends, no real after school activities or school teams, discouraging going to college, etc.

    • theneverfox@pawb.social
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      12 hours ago

      Oh, I am thinking of Mormons, I kinda thought they were a subset that had the same deal with the missionary set up

      I’ve never really run into them then, fair enough

      • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 hours ago

        Yeah, they are similar in going door to door, and they both have very harmful practices and beliefs, but they differ in a lot of ways too.

        Mormons: Started much earlier than JW, generally door to door is only for a mission for new adults as some mention. Their history has a bunch of blood due to violence and war, they were very militaristic and generally started with cult like prophet leaders. Also had polygamy. They have restrictions on drinking not just alcohol but also stuff with caffeine and others I may not know. Racist history too, with white supremacist writings and more holy books than just the Bible.

        JW: Bible fundamentalists. While they use other books, only the Bible is holy. They view missionary work as utmost important, so do it all their life instead of a 2 year mission. They don’t observe holidays and shut idolatry, even crosses etc, and are pacifists. Started in late 19th century. They don’t ban alcohol, but in everything moderation etc. They do ban cigarettes and drugs, and even had an antivax phase early on(but not now). They ban blood transfusions, and have a strict shunning policy for those who leave. They also believe legal stuff should be handled by the elders and not courts, making abuse such as child sexual abuse easier to cover up,and refuse to provide the government their internal documents on such crimes. I was never brought up to view any one person as a special prophet aside from Jesus, though they do have a governing body made up of just men.

        Both isolate in different ways and have blood on their hands, though they do it in different ways, as JWs mostly end up killing their own with medical refusals. JWs also discourage voting (believing no man made government will succeed), while mormons are very much involved in politics. JWs also believe the end of the world is around the corner.