Jehovah's Witness

15 Stories

They Haven't Come Knocking in 2-Plus Years. They're Back

Jehovah's Witnesses making in-person rounds again after a pandemic hiatus since March 2020

(Newser) - Jehovah's Witnesses have restarted their door-to-door ministry after more than two and a half years on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, reviving a religious practice that the faith considers crucial and cherished. From coast to coast, members of the Christian denomination fanned out in cities and towns Thursday...

A Russian First: Jehovah's Witness Sent to Prison

Dennis Christensen convicted of extremism

(Newser) - A regional court in western Russia on Wednesday sentenced a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison, in arguably the most severe crackdown on religious freedom in Russia in recent years, the AP reports. The court in Oryol found Dennis Christensen, who was leading the local Bible reading,...

Naked Kidnappers Thought It Was the 'Great Tribulation'

They thought neighbors faced demon danger

(Newser) - The carload of naked people arrested for kidnapping in a bizarre case in Canada last year apparently believed they were doing a good deed—saving their neighbors from demons. Two women and a man involved in the incident pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement last week and a woman also admitted...

Jehovah's Witnesses Paying $4K a Day to Shield Records
Jehovah's Witnesses Paying
$4K a Day to Shield Records
INVESTIGATION

Jehovah's Witnesses Paying $4K a Day to Shield Records

Court order levies penalty for each day it doesn't turn over documents about alleged abuse

(Newser) - The Jehovah's Witnesses have a $2 million tab with the state of California that's growing by $4,000 every day, all because the group won't hand over internal documents that detail alleged child sex abuse in its congregations. Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting explains: San...

Russian Supreme Court Bans Jehovah's Witnesses
Russia Bans
Jehovah's Witnesses

Russia Bans Jehovah's Witnesses

The religious group plans to appeal

(Newser) - Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday banned Jehovah's Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group, the AP reports. The court ordered the closure of the group's Russian headquarters and its 395 local...

Jehovah's Witnesses Hold Prince Farewell Service

They knew him as 'Brother Nelson'

(Newser) - Security was tight as mourners packed a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall on Sunday evening for a memorial for megastar Prince, who worshipped there before he died last month. Media and fans were kept well back from the invitation-only event in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka. A city spokeswoman said...

Prince Was Also a Quietly Devout Jehovah's Witness

The 'Wall Street Journal' takes a look at his religious habits

(Newser) - Prince wrote and sang some pretty dirty lyrics , but in his private life, he was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The Wall Street Journal takes an in-depth look at the little-known religious life of "Brother Prince Rogers Nelson," who attended services at a Kingdom Hall in the Minneapolis...

Jehovah's Witnesses Could Get $1B for NYC HQ

Group is moving upstate

(Newser) - The Jehovah's Witnesses, the door-knocking religious group that has been based in Brooklyn for a century, is selling its headquarters and other properties for an expected price tag of $1 billion or more. The Witnesses' move to Warwick, a town about an hour north of New York City, will...

Cops: Parents Took Ailing Boy From Hospital

Britain's Ashya King has brain tumor, was last seen in France

(Newser) - Police are searching for a 5-year-old British boy with a severe brain tumor whose parents took him out of a British hospital and were last seen in France. The press office for Jehovah's Witnesses said today that Ashya King's parents were followers, but that there was no indication...

Sisters Get New Lungs —From Same Donor

The chances were small, but it worked out for Irma Myers-Santana, Anna Williamson

(Newser) - They quibble, joke, and share knowing looks, but for months, Irma Myers-Santana, 71, and her sister, Anna Williamson, 69, had been debating who more urgently needed a lung transplant, each wanting the other to go first. Earlier this month, though, the sisters ended up in the same operating room, each...

Jehovah's Witnesses Must Pay $21M in Molestation

Church kept member's history of abuse secret

(Newser) - A California jury says the Jehovah's Witnesses must shoulder part of the blame for the alleged molestation of a girl by one of its members. The jury's verdict orders the religious group to pay a record $21 million in punitive damages to the victim, now 26, reports MSNBC...

Jehovah's Witnesses Call Quitters 'Mentally Diseased'

Official magazine's statement prompts police inquiry

(Newser) - Former Jehovah’s Witnesses—as well as some current ones—are protesting after the religion’s official magazine called those who quit the religion mentally ill. “Apostates are 'mentally diseased', and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings,” said an article in the July issue...

Serena's Tirade: What Would Her Church Think?

Jehovah's Witnesses no fans of cursing—but she won't face big trouble

(Newser) - Serena Williams is a Jehovah’s Witness, which causes Slate to wonder: What does her religion think about her foul-mouthed outburst at the US Open? Jehovah’s Witnesses “discourage members from any sort of foul language on the grounds that it's expressly forbidden in the Bible,” writes Juliet...

Jackson May Be on View in Glass Coffin

Funeral promises to be extravagant event

(Newser) - Michael Jackson’s funeral could be as lavish as one of his concerts. His body will reportedly be transported in a horse-drawn carriage, and he could be on view in a glass coffin. “The glass casket idea would create so much public interest it would take time to organize,...

Prince Moves 'life 4ce' to LA
 Prince Moves 'life 4ce' to LA 
GLOSSIES

Prince Moves 'life 4ce' to LA

Artist moves to LA to find meaning inside music industry

(Newser) - Prince has found religion, and, after decades in Minneapolis, the artist has moved to LA to search for what makes its music moguls tick. “It’s all about religion. That’s what unites people here,” the Jehovah's Witness told the New Yorker during a tour of his new...

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