Blame Rutherford mostly for this. His influence was very pronounced and still is.
The JWs first duty is to denounce all other religious bodies.
To quote Rutherford:
the Devil inspired the creation of various Protestant Churches – all of them, including even the Seventh Day Adventists.
All priests and all Protestant clergymen are of the Devil - They are enemies of God, and are simply "Antichrist."
Asked to define Christianity he replies, "Christianity means the worship of Almighty God in spirit and in truth, in accord with the commands of God and teachings of Jesus Christ. None other are Christians. There is no such thing as "Christian religion," because religion and Christianity are exactly opposite and diametrically opposed one to the other."
Asked to define religion, he said, "Religion is any form of worship practiced by creatures in recognition of some real or supposed 'higher power,' and which practice finds support or authority only in the teaching handed down by tradition."
Rutherford declared that "religion was introduced into the world by the Devil."
"For religion," declared Rutherford, "dishonors and reproaches the name of Jehovah God, whilst Christianity honors and vindicates the name of Almighty God. This is why true Christians are always persecuted by religionists."
To quote Russell:
Russell had said that, in 1878, God had rejected all existing Churches, constituting the Russellites as His only spokesmen thenceforward.
The world, they say, is divided into two opposed groups, that of the "Theocratic Kingdom," and that of "Satan's Organisation." "Satan's Organisation" includes all Churches and Governments.
So when posters worry about the JW coping a bit of stick they should know what the entire order of the JW think of them.
So as you can clearly see the JW are not a religion. They are, well, ahh, they are, umm, special.
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