Has anyone ever heard of a scots irish group called 'we free' I had a friend who was born into a family of 'we free's' in Norhtern Ireland and it was incredibly strict only reading the bible in your best clothes and church twice in sundays

As a historian it is simply like any other religion. I am concerned about it as I was I involved with an extremist fundamentalist Christian church when I was young. I was controlled just as much as any JW, we were taught that we were normal and the JWs were a cult. It was the old pot calling the kettle black.
In some respects such as the lack of belief in the trinity the JWs are much closer to some of the earliest Christian beliefs, on other accounts such as insisting on calling the Abrahamic God Jehovah, they like any other religion have simply made stuff up.

6 years ago I began dating a disfellowshipped JW. She encouraged me to join her in JW meetings and to begin studying their literature with a JW elder. Her and I married shortly thereafter and she was reinstated into the JW fellowship. Today we're recently divorced and I am devoutly atheist in regards to any religion. All of the JW's I met along the way were kind though.

More annoying, than as threatening, as scientology or other mind control cults.

To borrow a line from The Life Of Brian....'They're mmmmmad sir'

I would say that they fall among the craziest of religious, and tend to be the most caustic.

When I first moved to California in elementary school the first friend I made was a JW. At the time I was a "generic" non-churchgoing protestant. I started going to their church with him and having weekly bible studies with him. I liked a lot of their beliefs, except 2: their refusal to get blood transfusions and refusal to celebrate birthdays or holidays. I never got good answers from them to back either of these up. For transfusions, they told me that the bible says you can eat meat, but not blood. When I pointed out that this was about animals AND you're not eating it, they were unswayed but had no convincing rebuttal. For holidays, they said there was no record of Jesus celebrating either his birthday or any other holiday. My thoughts were that the bible doesn't mention him wiping his ass either... maybe we should renounce toilet paper?! Eventually I started to question many other things about them (and religion in general) and became an agnostic/atheist.

My mother became a JW when I was 7. She quickly became completly immersed to the point that everything else in life was secondary. She used trickery, bribery, and extortion to try to indoctrinate me to it. I have no more respect for them than any other religious fanatic. When her methhods didn't work, I was simply cast aside, left to fend for myself.

A bit more whackadoodle than many religions, but not quite as whackadoodle as scientology.

The ones that I have met have seemed very vulnerable to me - I always let them in because it seems the right thing to do, but it always seems to me that they have a neediness beyond anything I am able to offer - This isnt meant in any bad way at all and possibly they have a harder time here in Northern Ireland where its nearly all catholic or protestant .

I met a born again christian at a seminar and she too was vulnerable so maybe its just here being cliquey. I am not from N.I. ; originally London then all over the U.K so I get the same treatment - I'm irrelevant too but don't mind .

My brother was a JW but he never mentioned it when we spent time together alone or in family gatherings. I have little knowledge of them.

My mother was raisede jehovah's Witness and sh ehated it. So, as an adutl she and my father converted to the Mormon church. I refer to this kind fo thing as the Chinese fire drill of religion.

I view them as a brainwashed cult no better than mormonism. My mother was raised Jehovahs Witness and I was always aghast with the stories she told

Peaceful, law-abiding, kind of pushy and woefully delusional.