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Jehovah’s Witnesses
Rocky River Road, Cleveland, Ohio

by DonnaLynn Riley 

All of my life I have heard jokes and complaints about Jehovah Witness faith. Due to even my own lack of knowledge about the religion, I decided that one of my experiences had to be to find out more about this religion.

I visited the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall on Rocky River Road in Cleveland, Ohio. The first thing that had caught my attention is that the building itself had very little decoration. Most churches that I had grown up with were very ornate with stained glass windows and very elaborate architecture. The building looked more like an office structure than what I had come to believe in as a church. The interior followed in the same vein, being very unornamented with no religious icons whatsoever. It was hard for me to believe that it was a place of worship at all. Unlike many religions, you couldn’t tell anything about the religion itself by looking around in the building, so I knew that to find more information I would have to meet with a member.

My brother in law’s sister, Pat Murphy who is a Jehovah Witness and I contacted her to arrange a meeting. Early in our conversation she had mentioned that she was baptized. Since I had been baptized as an infant, I really didn’t understand why it was important that she mentioned it. When I asked her about her baptism, she informed me that they are baptized as adults or whenever they feel that the follower could truly accept the teachings of their religion. She was astonished that my religion felt that baptism as a baby could mean anything to either the baby or the parents involved. She proceeded to invite me to a bible study in her home. 

Her home itself seemed very similar to the hall. She didn’t have any holiday decorations in or around her house [this visit was made around Christmas time]. She didn’t have any religious icons as well. When I had asked why there were no decorations, she had informed me that they didn’t celebrate holidays or have any other false idols in their household. That led me to assume that whereas I view decorations and icons as symbols of faith, they view such decorations as idols. 

The bible study itself was very informative. I had never spoken to anyone that knew the bible as well as they did. I could barely keep up with the chapters and verses that they were quoting, let alone know what the passages were. It also became aware that they took the bible literally, taking each word as the Word of God. Also a large part of their get together was to arrange schedules to witness in different neighborhoods. I was moved by their extensive knowledge of the bible and their devotion spreading the Word of God. 

I was so moved by the depth of their faith; that I was angered that so many people misalign Jehovah Witnesses. Even though I don’t believe in the same principles, I had to admire their vast knowledge of the Bible, and their desire to witness to as many people as possible. This experience truly made me see their religion in another light and to realize that there are many ways to interpret the Word of God. 

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