A while back, I was at church when someone mentioned that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in an afterlife. I was incredulous. How could any Bible-believing Christian deny the existence of an afterlife? When some Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door, I decided to ask them about this.
As I had suspected, the tidbit I had learned from a friend at church was not the whole story. In fact, Jehovah’s Witnesses do believe in an afterlife, but they do not believe that our spirits exist between death and the resurrection. In other words, while mainstream Christians believe the body and spirit are separated at death, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that when we die the body ceases to function and the spirit ceases to exist. Thus, their view of the resurrection is not the reuniting of body and spirit, but the re-creation of body and spirit.
I suspect that others with similar questions are reluctant to ask the Jehovah’s Witnesses for information, probably because they are afraid if they show interest in the religion, the missionaries will pressure them to convert. When I showed interest, I was indeed pressured to learn more and more. However, the pressure was mild, kind and instantly removed once I stated that my curiosity was satisfied and I was no longer interested in meeting with them. My interaction with the Jehovah’s Witnesses was positive: I gained a basic understanding of their religion and an admiration for them as a people with strong faith and high moral standards. When I asked them not to come again, we hugged goodbye and wished each other well.
One of the reasons I wanted to learn about the Jehovah’s Witnesses was more personal than mere curiosity. As a member of a minority religion, I know firsthand how ignorant most people are on religious matters. New acquaintances have told me they thought Mormon was the same as Amish or the same as Seventh-day Adventist. I’ve been asked whether Mormons celebrate Christmas or wear magic underwear. Others have been anxious to tell me “the truth” about Mormonism, which consisted of half-truths learned from pastors and anti-Mormon Web sites. The most troubling misinformation I've seen is a list of "Mormon beliefs" taught to one of my friends by her college professor. Though the friend detected no malice in the professor, more than half of the beliefs in the list were simply wrong. That a college professor was passing along such blatantly bad information is simply inexcusable.
So my discussions with the Jehovah’s Witnesses were not only to satisfy my curiosity, but also to elevate myself above the ignorance, lies and rumors that constitute most people’s understanding of religions that are not their own. I hope you will join me in elevating yourself above the misunderstanding between people of different belief systems. I am not here to preach or persuade, and I am uninterested in debating the truthfulness of my religion. I do, however, welcome discussion through your comments, so long as they are respectful. I will only post comments that I deem appropriate. We Latter-day Saints are strong believers in freedom of worship and respect for other faiths. I hope we have this in common.
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This comical exchange between Sam and Rebecca, the leading characters on the hit show Cheers, illustrates all too well the misinformation that circulates about Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as Mormons).
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