A Visit By The Jehovah's Witnesses

So, I seem to be entirely too nice for my own good. I can't turn people away. Ever. And I sit there and pretend that I agree with them, when all these red flags are going up in my head. I don't speak them because I hate conflict. It's one of my biggest flaws, though you all probably wouldn't know it from this site, since I seem to be really argumentative here.

At any rate, today I had a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses stop by my house, giving me yet another one of their pamphlets and discussing the Bible with me. They're really nice ladies and all, but not believing in Jesus as the Son of God and all puts on my fake mask in a hurry.

Today we started discussing the Kingdom of God. During this discussion, a number of things popped into my head that are really making me question not only their beliefs, but my own as well.

Basically, their interpretation of scripture with regards to God's Kingdom is as follows: God's Kingdom is a government with Jesus as King. He's better than all human rulers, but will be assisted by 144,000 devote Christians as they collectively rule Earth from Heaven.

Cue the warning bells. First off, they're saying that only 144,000 people will go to heaven. Period. That's about half the population of the city I went to college in. A small fraction of the population of big cities like New York, Denver, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis, etc. And apparently these people (well... men, but I'll discuss that in a sec) have been chosen since Jesus walked the Earth. What are the chances, I ask, that there are still spots open for people, especially as society becomes more secular?

On the bright side, I don't think they said anything about people actually going to hell in this scenario... they just stay on Earth for eternity. Talk about over-population, hmm?

In addition to that, Jesus will be the judge of everyone, for ever and ever. He'll apparently be just, but by what standards? Will he sentence to death (though apparently death won't exist) people because they steal a loaf of bread. But wait... people won't need to steal because hunger won't be an issue, nor will disease, mourning, or pain.

How can that be assured, though? I mean, obviously God can remove disease from the picture, but if humans have free will, how can there be no pain? If someone decides they want to do something bad, that will cause pain, no?

This is starting to sound more and more like a tyrrany to me. I mean, look at who the most faithful Christians are today... whether you consider them Christians or not, the WBC and other extreme sects are quite faithful.

Which brings us back to the 144,000 people. According to the verse they cite for this instance:

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, stnading on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. [...] These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. Revelation 14:1, 4-5.

So... these 144,000 are virgin men. They also have never lied. And supposedly, these 144,000 are the best people for the job, because they have suffered like humans, and thus can empathize while they rule from heaven.

I am by no means an expert on human nature, but wouldn't someone who has suffered like humans also live the vices of humans? Wouldn't that include sex and lying? While they may be considered sins, they are human vices and a part of human nature. Can you truly be human if you don't live some of the 'sins' of the Bible? If you don't understand why people do these things? Can a perfect person rule fairly?

This little book will certainly be an interesting read if I got all this out of two pages halfway through it.