Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Why Family Is So Important To The Jehovah's Witnesses

Taking a quick look into the beliefs and practices of the Jehovah"??s Witnesses can prove to be an eye opening experience for modern individuals and families alike because they might seem a little outdated at first glance. Although society has evolved and changed, the way that the Jehovah"??s Witnesses operate and their beliefs system has not. It has been working for them for some years now so why change something that is not broken? Take the family unit as a prime example. The importance of family is a core tenet of the faith and is the one that holds the entire religion together but has changed little over time.

The family unit has been at the very centre of the Jehovah"??s Witnesses faith since its foundation in the 19th Century. As a result of that and the fact that it has not really changed in that time, the ideal of the family unit may appear to be old fashioned but it works well in conjunction with the beliefs that are at the heart of the faith.

Every Jehovah"??s Witness family is patriarchal meaning that the male is firmly at the head of the family and has the final say in every matter occurring on a daily basis. He has the right to dictate how his wife and children behave and has complete authority. This might sound a little too traditional for some people but it means that there is always a form of authority within every household. This has proven to be of benefit to families in modern times, with the increasing crime rates and lack of a family unit in society. It has also kept the Jehovah"??s Witnesses faith together for over 200 years. If children do misbehave then any punishment given must be completely fair and not harsh in any way but children are encouraged to fully obey their parents.

That is not to say that female Jehovah"??s Witnesses are repressed or second class citizens, as is the common if somewhat misguided belief, because they are not. All females have a relevant role within the house and can discuss major events and decisions with their husbands and fathers. In many homes of this faith today, households are democratic and make major decisions together but the male head of the house has to settle all disputes and gets the final say if there is a disagreement. The male is also to be the provider and make sure that his family has everything they need to grow and prosper under their faith.

The family unit that is accepted in the Jehovah"??s Witnesses faith is one husband and one wife only. The couple should treat each other with the utmost respect and love, both remaining faithful throughout their lives. In fact, every married couple is given the example of the way in which Jesus treated his followers as the way a husband should treat a wife, which of course means staying faithful. In fact, adultery is expressly forbidden. No man or women should ever commit adultery having entered into a marriage because it is denounced as a sin in the Bible. Having said that though, adultery is the only grounds on which either party can ask for a divorce. Divorce breaks up the family unit and so is not generally allowed but is understandable if the husband or wife does not remain faithful.

As you can see, the importance of family not only influences the home life of Jehovah"??s Witnesses but also the way in which they behave, the respect they have for others and the overall conduct that all Jehovah"??s Witnesses adopt. It has been a key part of keeping the faith together for some years and will continue to be so in the future. Their values and beliefs are rooted in the family unit and long may that continue.


Jehovah Connect Dating site for Jehovah's Witnesses offering free memberships and relationship advice. Meet someone for friendship or marriage on Jehovah Connect.

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A List of Pagan Religions

According to author, folklorist and scholar of magic, Zora Neale Hurstone, "Magick is older than writing. So nobody knows how it started". Although the word "pagan" may be interpreted in many ways, for the purpose of this article, "pagan" refers to the ways of live that existed around the world before the advent of the Judeo-Christian religions.




Many people assume that "pagan" religions existed only in pre-Christian era Europe. However, history has proved that the Sumerian, Egyptian and African cultures, followers of the Hindu ways of life in ancient India, the Native Americans of North America, Aztecs and Mayan Civilization of South America, etc practiced some form of animism including nature based worship.




Most people know that a large cache of papyri was found in Alexandria, Egypt some time ago. This cache helped us understand some of the pagan ways of life in 5th century CE, including the way they lived, their marriage customs, daily problems expectations of life and death and their spiritual outlook.




However, we don't know from where they got this information.




It could've been from anywhere in the world since trade routes were already established millenniums ago. Alexandria had achieved the reputation as a world capital of magick. Diviners, spell casters, dream interpreters, palm readers, etc were living in a city which was divided into many quarters, including the Greek, Egyptian and Jewish quarters.




As you can see from the list of pagan religions in the world, there are still huge portions of the world that have not been "converted" by the monolithic business style religions and which continue to flourish in many parts of the world. Here is the list of Pagan Religions from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/: Traditionally, these faiths have all been classified "Pagan", but scholars prefer the terms "indigenous/primal/folk/ethnic religions".




African


Akan Ashanti (Ghana) Mahoney (Fun) Efik (Nigeria, Cameroon) Igbo (Nigeria,


Cameroon) Isoko (Nigeria) Yoruba (Nigeria, Benin) Bushongo (Congo) Bambuti


(Pygmy) (Congo) Lugbara (Congo) Akamba (East Kenya) Dinka (Sudan) Lotuko (Sudan)


Masai (Kenya, Tanzania) Khoikhoi Lozi (Zambia) Tumbuka (Malawi) Zulu (South


Africa)




American


Abenaki Aztec Blackfoot Cherokee Chickasaw Choctaw Creek Crow Ghost Dance


Guarani Haida Ho-Chunk Hopi Huron Inca Inuit Iroquois Kwakiutl Lakota Leni


Lenape Longhouse religion Maya Midewiwin Native American Church Navajo New


Orleans Voodoo/hoodoo Nootka Olmec Pawnee Salish Seneca Selk'nam religion


Tsimshian Urarina Ute Zuni Eurasian




Chinese Japanese Koshinto Siberian


Shamanism Tengriism Estonian Eskimo religion Finnish and Finnish paganism


Hungarian folk religion Sami religion (including the Noaidi) Tadibya


Rose Ariadne has been practicing ancient forms of Witchcraft for over 25 years. Get more info about pagan religions here:http://www.askroseariadne.com/editorials/wiccan-jewelry.html

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