Jehovah's Witnesses really think they are hated?

They're taught to fear churches and believe Satan lives in them, basically. I can understand why she would be afraid. I'm so happy the Spirit is moving and reaching out to your mom! Praise the Lord for that. God is working on my mom's heart recently, too. She is nowhere near visiting a church but there is definite progress. I've been praying for that for a long time. I'll add your mom to my list.

Other JWs in my family and that I encounter, especially ones here on Y!A, really do believe they're hated. And they believe they're hated because they're JWs. It has nothing to do with the reason Jesus said Christians would be hated because they don't really work for Him or share His message.

Yes, they are paranoid enough to think that they are hated. "Oh, look how the world hates us and persecutes us! That's proof we are the only true religion" sort of thing. They seem to forget that Catholics and Protestants in Syria, Iran, Egypt and other African states are being falsely accused, imprisoned, tortured and killed because they refuse to submit to Islam and Sharia law. However, that's not the point here.

After I left the Witnesses in the 1970's, I spent a long time avoiding religion because I had been brainwashed into thinking every denomination of Christendom was part of false religion, Babylon the Great, soon to be destroyed at Armageddon. So when a couple of Christian friends with whom I was studying the Bible invited me to their church service, I hesitated. I still believed all the stuff I had been brought up with, and even entertained the possibility that I would be struck with a bolt of lightning should I dare step across the threshold of this U.K. Baptist church.

Honest, I'm not exaggerating! It took a lot of will-power to overcome my prejudices and wrong-thinking. Then again, I'm a bit of a risk-taker, so I went. It was a baptismal service and I was blown away by the testimonies of the people who were being baptised that day. The minister preached from the Bible without apology or excuse and I could sense the Holy Spirit at work in that place. A real watershed, spiritually speaking.

Anyway, I praise God that your mother is going to come to church to hear you sing (and listen to the sermon). It took a long time for the Holy Spirit to break down all my barriers and heal me, but that's how God does it. I pray that is what is happening with your mother and that she will be brought to saving faith in Christ Jesus. Let us know what happens after!

If your question is do I believe that your Jehovah's Witness mother really believed she would be chased with a pitchfork or that she believed people would be outraged in there for attending your church, my answer is no I don't believe any such thing. In fact, the very notion is ludicrous.

If your question is do some people hate Jehovah's Witnesses, my answer is yes they certainly do. There are some hateful people in this world. Or would you deny that fact?

My brother was a JW and would come to visit unannounced and stay for a week. He would not go to mine or nor dad's church while visiting. (Dad was a Methodist preacher). When he came, he expected us to put our lives on the back burner until he was gone. It's bad to be negative about one's own brother, but after he died a few years ago, I felt as if the other shoe had finally fell! May he rest in peace...........Now we do. I always thought that religion was suppose to bring families together, not separate them..

If word gets back to her elders that she attended the service of another church, and there are multiple witnesses to it or she admits it, then your mom can find herself being disassociated from the religion of JWs and shunned.

Attending the service of another church is a sin punishable by disassociation. Maybe that is what your mom is really afraid of and she's pretending to be afraid of the people in your church to create an excuse not to attend.

They are disliked because they go around knocking on peoples' doors proselytizing. People find that intrusive and annoying.

Your mother is a bit extreme in her fears.

Then again, we all know this question is exaggerated.