A “buy-in” protest against federal immigration operations at Home Depot has led to clogged lines at a store in Southern California, where a man allegedly being chased by officials was killed after running onto a freeway.

About a hundred protesters stood in line to buy one item, an ice scraper, at the store in Monrovia and then waited in line to return the item, worth about 17 cents, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

‘Buy it and try to collapse their system for a moment, or for some time, with the group of people that are witnessing and are willing to stay, to stand up for the human rights of day laborers.’

Home Depot has denied involvement in the operations, but the company’s critics say that Home Depot is not doing enough to protect customers and employees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A spokesperson for Home Depot sent a brief comment to Blaze News via email about the protest.

“We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations,” the spokesperson wrote. “We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”

Video on social media showed the protesters standing in line, some with signs criticizing Home Depot. The protest was organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

“Whether the corporation wants to admit it or not, Home Depot has become ground zero for this cruel, vicious immigration enforcement that’s taking place in our country,” said National Day Laborer Organizing Network co-director Pablo Alvarado to the Times.

The Department of Homeland Security has previously denied that the man who was killed after running from the Home Depot was being pursued by DHS officers. The 52-year-old man from Guatemala was struck by a vehicle on the freeway.

“We want to scrape ICE from our communities,” said NDLON communications director Palmira Figueroa to KCBS-TV. “It’s kind of symbolic, right, to use an ice scraper. Buy it and try to collapse their system for a moment, or for some time, with the group of people that are witnessing and are willing to stay, to stand up for the human rights of day laborers.”

Some pointed out that they were actually buying putty knives, not ice scrapers, likely because ice scrapers don’t sell well in the Southern Californian climate.

RELATED: VIDEO: Leotarded liberals protest ICE facility with ’80s-themed aerobics class

The protest lasted for about an hour before the protesters started to march through the store, which led to store workers closing it down.

“Oh, you can actually shut a store, right?” replied Figueroa. “You can shut for this, but you cannot, you have not, shut them when an ICE raid and abuse is happening.”

Some have also called for a boycott against Home Depot over the ICE operations.

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​Ice at home depot, Ice scraper protest, Ice deportations, Day laborer protest, Politics 

A former safety lead for one of Mark Zuckerberg’s social media apps alleged the company is not very strict when it comes to those who engaged in human trafficking.

The claim comes from a plaintiff’s brief filed as part of a lawsuit against Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. The lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California alleges that the social apps “relentlessly” pursued growth at all costs and “recklessly” ignored the impacts their products have on the mental health of children.

‘You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation.’

Vaishnavi Jayakumar, Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being, testified that she was shocked when she learned Meta had a “17x” strike policy toward those who reportedly engaged in “trafficking of humans for sex.”

“You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended,” Jayakumar claimed. The former employee also said that she considered it to be a “very, very high strike threshold” in comparison to the rest of the industry and that internal documentation from Meta corroborated her claim.

As Time reported, plaintiffs in the case claim that Jayakumar raised the issue in 2020 but was told it was too difficult to address. This reportedly came at the same time it was allegedly much easier to report users for violations surrounding spam, “intellectual property violation,” and the “promotion of firearms.”

In a statement, Meta strongly denied the claims.

RELATED: Florida attorney general announces lawsuit against Snapchat for allegedly empowering child predators

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions in an attempt to present a deliberately misleading picture,” a Meta spokesperson told Time.

“The full record will show that for over a decade, we have listened to parents, researched issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens — like introducing Teen Accounts with built-in protections and providing parents with controls to manage their teens’ experiences. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and we stand by our record.”

Still, the lawsuit claims Meta was aware of the harms its platforms caused and even knew about millions of adults who were trying to contact minors through its apps.

Moreover, the lawsuit also alleges that Meta halted internal research that would have shown those who stopped using Facebook became less depressed or anxious, NBC News reported.

The study, reportedly titled Project Mercury, was allegedly initiated in 2019 as a way to help “explore the impact” that Meta apps have on “polarization, news consumption, well-being, and daily social interactions.”

RELATED: Blaze News investigates: Is social media really a ‘breeding ground for predators’ — or are we worrying too much?

Additionally, the lawsuit compares the social media sites to “tobacco,” likening the platforms to cigarette companies marketing their products to kids.

A Google spokesperson said the lawsuit “fundamentally misunderstand how YouTube works and the allegations are simply not true.”

“YouTube is a streaming service where people come to watch everything from live sports to podcasts to their favorite creators, primarily on TV screens, not a social network where people go to catch up with friends,” the Google spokesperson stated. “We’ve also developed dedicated tools for young people, guided by child safety experts, that give families control.”

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The Department of War issued a statement Monday announcing an investigation into Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona after he made comments advising military members against carrying out allegedly unlawful orders from the president.

Several Democrats participated in a video calling on U.S. military members to refuse to follow unlawful orders, and the president slammed them Saturday in a post on social media. Kelly is a retired Navy captain.

‘It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!’

“The traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain what they said was OK,” President Donald Trump wrote in all caps.

“It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!” he added.

He also suggested that they should be hanged for their “seditious behavior,” but the White House walked back those comments.

On Monday, the Pentagon said Kelly was under investigation.

“The Department of War has received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.). In accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 688, and other applicable regulations, a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” the statement reads.

“All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful. A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order,” the DOW statement added.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the Democrats who participated in the video, said police responded to her home over a bomb threat. She said she was not at home at the time.

Kelly responded on social media to the Pentagon statement.

“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” he wrote. “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene says she has received violent threats — and blames Trump

A Blaze News request for comment to Kelly’s office was not immediately answered.

“This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,” the statement from the Pentagon continued. “Further official comments will be limited, to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.”

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A programmer has made it possible to read Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous emails from his point of view.

The computer whiz, going by the name Riley Walz, has a history of creating unique webpages and even created a fake 2020 Republican candidate.

‘You’re logged in as Epstein and can see his emails.’

Walz is assumed to be in his early 20s given that he was described by CNN as a high school student from Upstate New York in February 2020.

The youngster’s website features several links to obscure but clever programs he has created, like a fast-food price comparison index and a random video viewer that shuffles between YouTube videos uploaded between 2009 and 2012 from iPhones using their default file names.

For his latest endeavor, Walz, along with another young man named Luke Igel, created Jmail.world. While it is not clear what the “J” stands for in this case, the website is a Gmail inbox clone that lets users operate a replica version of Epstein’s Gmail account.

“We cloned Gmail, except you’re logged in as Epstein and can see his emails,” Walz plainly wrote on X.

RELATED: Epstein files backfire as Democrats get pulled into their own trap

The inbox includes the last message Epstein received at his “jeevacation@gmail.com” address, which was a July 14, 2019, note from Quora Digest.

Interestingly enough, the email included popular stories at the time, like “Why do you think the reason behind Trump abruptly canceling Pence’s New Hampshire trip?” and “Why is Trump’s trade war the wrong way to compete with China?”

Under a list of sidebar contacts, names like Ghislaine Maxwell, his confidant, activist Noam Chomsky, and attorney Alan Dershowitz are listed.

The emails also include numerous exchanges of articles and news clippings between Epstein and longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon. The dates range between February 2018 and April 2019.

RELATED: How GOP leadership can turn a midterm gift into a total disaster

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Emails between Epstein and Maxwell — who went by “Gxax” at times — ranged in nature, but included parody emails with Maxwell pretending to pen a message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking President Obama to rescind his citizenship.

“Dear President Obama:

I am writing today with a somewhat unusual request. First and foremost, I am asking that you return America to its August 20th, 1959 borders so that Hawaii is no longer a state and you are no longer a citizen,” the email read.

Others showed Maxwell telling Epstein she would “have to distance myself from you in [a] statement.”

“And they need me to say I was not aware of massage w/andrew in my house,” it added.

Finally, readers can also view the emails that Democrats have widely circulated in an attempt to implicate President Trump, including a message where Epstein tells Maxwell that Trump “spent hours” at his house. Democrats redacted Virginia Giuffre’s name, a victim of Epstein’s that had previously noted that she never witnessed Trump do anything inappropriate.

In other emails to author Michael Wolff, Epstein said Trump “never got a massage.”

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​Return, Gmail, Jeffrey epstein, Trump, Obama, Ghislaine maxwell, Democrats, Steve bannon, Tech 

On November 18, six Democrat lawmakers released a short online video titled “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” in which they encouraged service members and intelligence personnel to reject “illegal orders” from the Trump administration.

While the video posited that the administration “is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens” and acting in ways that threaten the Constitution, it did not substantiate its claims with any evidence or examples of illegal orders, leading many — President Trump included — to call it sedition.

When Glenn Beck got wind of the scandal, he posted the following, which President Trump then reposted.

Today on “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn expounded on his warning, urging the need for four actions to be immediately taken to prevent the unraveling of our republic.

1. Congress must censure the mutinous 6

“If lawmakers can publicly encourage military resistance without consequence, then Congress has surrendered its moral authority. You cannot police the executive branch; you can’t oversee the intelligence agencies; you can’t demand transparency if you cannot police your own members,” says Glenn, calling censure necessary “constitutional maintenance.”

“If Congress refuses to [discipline the lawmakers who made the video], then the precedent remains, and it gets worse. And history shows us no nation survives a politicized military — ever.”

2. Pentagon must publicly reaffirm: ‘We obey the president’s lawful orders’

The military has to “restate the chain of command publicly and immediately. The joint chiefs don’t need a press conference; they don’t need hearings. They just need to say the United States armed forces obey all lawful orders of the president,” says Glenn.

“That’s the firewall between an American republic and every failed nation in history.”

3. SCOTUS must slam the door on Boasberg’s secret spying precedent — immediately

Glenn urges the “the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court: Close the door on the Boasberg case” immediately.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg “opened a door that is so dangerous,” says Glenn, by approving secret grand jury subpoenas and gag orders in the 2022-2023 Arctic Frost investigation — launched by the FBI and special counsel Jack Smith to probe Trump allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election — that let the executive branch seize phone records from at least nine Republican senators without any notice to Congress for over a year.

“No judge — no matter how noble his intentions — has the authority to rewrite the separation of powers. If one branch can secretly spy on another, then you have no checks and balances. You have a surveillance government,” says Glenn, insisting that the Supreme Court must “intervene.”

“If they don’t, this is the new normal,” he warns.

4. If media and elites stay silent, the American people must stand up and demand consequences

“In a functioning republic, this is supposed to be where the media steps in. This is where the cultural leaders, the voices — left, right, center — stop obsessing over clickbait and start explaining to the people what just happened, why it’s unprecedented, why it matters, [and] how we as citizens need to respond,” says Glenn.

But as of now, that’s not happening in media, academia, or Hollywood.

The reason for their silence, says Glenn, is “because America’s cultural class no longer sees its role as the guardian of the republic” but rather as “guardians of ideology.”

If their failure continues, it’s the role of the American people to “step in,” Glenn says.

In order to do that, citizens must put aside their political beliefs and party affiliations and focus on the big picture.

“This is about whether the military stays under civilian authority, whether our adversaries overseas are given the indication that we are ripe for the taking. This is about judges that want to erase the separation of powers. … Most importantly, this is about whether your children will inherit a functioning republic,” Glenn says.

“You don’t riot; you don’t panic; you don’t despair. We are headed into Thanksgiving. Give thanks for the crosses that we bear; give thanks because our liberty, our freedom — should we decide to keep it — will be more valuable to us. But you should call your representatives. … You need to demand transparency; you need to insist on consequences.”

Rage, division, and apathy, Glenn warns, will get us nowhere. The answer is “citizenship.”

“If we sleep through this, the system will break — guaranteed. But if you wake up, stand up, and insist on boundaries, eventually it will happen.”

To hear more of Glenn’s encouragement and analysis, watch the clip above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Sedition, Truth social, Donald trump, Don’t give up the ship, Blazetv, Blaze media 

A WNBA player just may have put a tired debate to rest for good.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham responded to comments made by a panel of male basketball players last week, and her willingness to agree with them might land her in hot water with gender activists.

‘Men are just stronger, bigger, athletic; they just are a different build.’

On Tuesday, NBA players Michael Porter Jr. and Lonzo Ball and former pro LiAngelo Ball shot down claims from WNBA star Paige Bueckers, who said she could beat NBA player Josh Hart one-on-one. The panel also denied former NBA player Pat Beverley’s claim that the WNBA champions could beat an NBA team.

By Thursday, Cunningham said dozens of people had sent her the remarks looking for her reaction.

“This is my personal opinion, but if you are a professional football player, basketball player … if you’re in that elite-level group, yeah, you should be able to beat the girls,” she explained. “Like, I’m not surprised by that.”

The 29-year-old then delivered a blunt message to her peers: “I just don’t get why it’s continuing to get brought up. And like, if women are saying that, like, he couldn’t beat them, yeah, he could. Any NBA star or player could beat a female in high school,” she said.

Cunningham’s co-host on the “Show Me Something” podcast, West Wilson, had a different approach to Porter’s comments. He put forward the notion that Porter has some sort of issue with women that caused him to bring up the topic.

RELATED: NBA players finally drop brutal truth bombs on WNBA stars: ‘It should be common sense’

Wilson said Porter has been “talking about true women” for the last two years, adding that he believes the Brooklyn Nets player is “weirdly insecure about women being around him” and their “reflection of him.”

The co-host was silenced when he read the contextual argument made by Porter. However, he omitted the portion of Porter’s remarks in which he said he had played against Cunningham when he was in the eighth grade and easily defeated her.

“My sisters went to University of Missouri, and I was still a young dude, and they had me playing on the scout team,” Porter said last week. “And they had a few WNBA players on their team, like Sophie Cunningham and a couple others. I think I was in seventh or eighth grade.”

Cunningham then brought her co-host back down to earth with her next comments, admitting that a team of elite eighth-graders could indeed handle adult women on the court.

RELATED: WNBA player complains chartered planes are too small: ‘We are grateful, but there’s still work to be done’

– YouTube

“If they’re future pros,” she prefaced, “… it’s probably true.”

Cunningham continued, stating the obviously biological differences.

“I don’t want to be unrealistic or delusional, like, men are just stronger, bigger, athletic; they just are a different build. And so if you put them up against females, well, yeah, they’re gonna win. Duh,” she said.

Wilson asked if any WNBA players thought they could beat a group of high-school boys, and Cunningham was more than willing to put a nail in the coffin.

“Dude, there’s no way. … If you put their best high-school [players] against the best WNBA … the male and female are just so different. I just don’t think that’s a fair matchup,” she admitted.

Interestingly, the duo went on to discuss Cunningham’s basketball history, which included discussions of playing with Porter’s older sisters.

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A federal judge dismissed the cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James Monday.

Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the two indictments, ruling that President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan was invalidly appointed to her position.

‘No one is above the law.’

Currie said that “all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment” to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia “were unlawful exercises of executive power and hereby set aside.”

Prosecutors who work alongside Halligan said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has the authority to choose whom to appoint to the position and that the 120-day period interim U.S. attorneys serve operates as a temporary check-in system for appointees.

RELATED: Eric Swalwell offers melodramatic response to Trump DOJ probe: ‘I refuse to live in fear’

Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images

“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,” Currie said of Halligan’s appointment. “It would mean the government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.”

Currie dismissed the cases without prejudice, keeping the door open for the cases to be refiled, though whether they will be remains unclear. The Department of Justice may also opt to appeal Currie’s decision. Blaze News reached out to Bondi’s office for comment.

Comey was indicted in September for “serious crimes related to the disclosure of sensitive information,” with the Department of Justice alleging that the former director lied to Congress.

“No one is above the law,” Bondi said in a statement following the indictment. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

RELATED: Letitia James gives unhinged rant after court hearing for bank fraud allegations: ‘This is not about me!’

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

James was indicted shortly after Comey in October over allegations of bank fraud and providing false statements to a financial institution. If James had been convicted, she would have faced up to 30 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines on each count.

“The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” Halligan said in a statement following the indictment. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

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​Letitia james, Pam bondi, James comey, Lindsey halligan, Lawfare, Donald trump, Department of justice, Fbi direcor, Cameron currie, Politics 

After attending a somewhat run-of-the-mill novus ordo Mass with only a few redeeming qualities, my husband and I decided to visit another church in Nevada that is possibly one of the most hated and misunderstood Christian denominations — even with the Latter-day Saints and Seventh-day Adventists.

It was both his and my first time attending a Jehovah’s Witness church.

‘I personally don’t want to go to heaven, but want to remain on Earth when we’re resurrected. I want to live among the animals and trees and plants and not rule over others.’

We walked 40-some minutes to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and were greeted warmly, even though we were two minutes late and the congregation had already begun singing the first hymn. The setting might have been bland, but I felt I had achieved a bucket-list goal.

For years I’d tried to visit a Kingdom Hall. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were one of the last churches to reopen nationwide after COVID, offering online meetings for nearly two and a half years, until summer of 2022. Even after that, many remained closed for another year, and a large portion still host hybrid Zoom/in-person gatherings for the immune-compromised.

Kingdom Hall

To many, the inside of the meeting hall would appear no different from a conservative Protestant church. Most women wore skirts or business suits; the men were in full suits. The carpet was gray, the walls plain, decorated with a few pictures of flowers. There were no windows.

Rows of theater chairs faced a pulpit. Though the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have ordained ministers, any baptized man may teach from Scripture. On the day we visited, a guest speaker from Idaho — tailored suit, bright red tie — delivered a sermon much like any Protestant pastor’s, citing extensive Bible verses to support his points. There was no American flag, unsurprising given JW pacifism. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not vote, and while they don’t forbid self-defense, they register as conscientious objectors during drafts. They believe that those who live by the sword will die by the sword (Matthew 26:52).

RELATED: Church-hopping: Confessions of an itinerant worshipper

Keturah Hickman

The sermon

The message, titled “Is There in Fact a True Religion from God’s Standpoint?” began with statistics: 85% of the world identifies as religious, 31% Christian, across 45,000 denominations — with a new one forming every 2.2 days. “But how does Jehovah want to be worshipped?” he asked.

He read from Mark 7:6-7 and James 1:26, then cited Solomon: True religion is to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). More verses followed — Isaiah 48:17-18, Micah 6:8, Matthew 7:16 — arguing that true belief and conduct must fit like a well-tailored suit, not mismatched pieces.

He condemned most Christian denominations for justifying slavery so that men might Christianize pagan souls for the kingdom of God. He pointed out that the Jehovah’s Witnesses never supported such horrid beliefs. (He failed to mention that slavery was already abolished by the time they came along.) He warned against fatalism, ancestor worship, and faith in human institutions. “If a religion permits or promotes practices the Bible condemns, it is not true,” he said, citing Colossians 3:10, John 8:32, James 3:17-18, and others.

“Truth is found in the word of God,” he concluded. “When we love the word, we are peaceable.”

The sermon ended with the JW hymn “My Father, My God and Friend (Hebrews 6:10).”

All along the Watchtower

After the hymn, an elder read from “The Watchtower,” the denomination’s monthly study magazine. Before the group was called Jehovah’s Witnesses, it was the Watch Tower Society, founded by Charles Taze Russell in 1881.

The article that day was “Jehovah Heals the Brokenhearted” (Psalm 147:3). The elder read each paragraph aloud, then passed the microphone for congregants — men and women, in person or on Zoom — to share reflections.

Here are some highlights.

Satan wants us to wallow in our feelings. Jehovah wants us to defy Satan and serve Him. When we do that, He sees us and is moved to help us.Jehovah doesn’t keep track of our sins, but only of the good we do.Jehovah does not put a time limit on our prayers as if it were a therapy session. We can pray to Him for as long as we like, and He’ll keep listening.The Son’s sacrifice forgives our past sins so we can move ahead into the future.We can comfort each other by being gentle and genuine.We are not to blame for how others hurt us.

It was repetitive but sincere — an hour-long group meditation on comfort and resilience.

The service ended with another hymn. There was no tithe, and communion is held only once a year for those who believe they are among the 144,000 destined for heaven.

The congregants

Afterward, several congregants welcomed us. One woman, Linda, about 70, explained that she had converted from Protestantism before marrying.

“There aren’t many differences between us and other churches,” she said, “except that we don’t teach what other places teach.”

“Such as?”

“We teach that Jehovah is Almighty God and that Jesus is His son and our Messiah. And we don’t believe in hellfire,” she said. “You can’t really find that idea in the Bible.”

I asked her if that meant that she believes everyone goes to heaven or if they just die.

She said, “The Bible says 144,000 go to heaven to be kings and priests to be the government of the kingdom of heaven that will come to Earth. I personally don’t want to go to heaven, but want to remain on Earth when we’re resurrected. I want to live among the animals and trees and plants and not rule over others.”

Linda gave me a small Bible — I gladly accepted it because it was lightweight and would fit perfectly into my backpack, and until now I had only been able to carry a New Testament. She explained to me that the Jehovah’s Witnesses didn’t approve of many of Scofield’s notes in the KJV and that their version had more accurate cross-references. I love having various versions of the Bible to read through, so there was no complaint from me!

She invited us to join her husband and friends at a cafe for a late lunch. And so we went with about 20 other congregants. I sat by a woman just a little older than I. Ozzy had been raised in the Jehovah’s Witnesses and had spent much of her youth as a traveling nanny. She told me that nearly six years ago she had married a Grace Baptist Church man and had a daughter with him. They eventually divorced. “I’m just grateful my daughter is learning about God in both homes she’s raised in,” she said.

Although Ozzy did not speak ill of her ex-husband, it was clear that she thought her expression of faith was more valid than his. So I asked her what was different between the two theologies, in her opinion.

“That’s a good question,” Ozzy said. “Not much.”

Then she added:

Except how we define the Trinity — you know, you can’t find that word in the Bible. I’ve searched every translation of the Bible, so I know. We both believe in the concept, though JW is more literal and bases their definition on how the Bible describes it. We believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities united by a common will. Grace Bible Church is more Catholic when they talk about the Trinity.

After a day with them, I found them sincere and Bible-focused, hardly cult-like. They loved God, quoted Scripture freely, and treated us with warmth — even when I somewhat aggressively asked about one of their more infamous beliefs.

“I have heard that your church does not allow people to get blood transfusions and that this has caused many people to die.”

“Yes, we believe blood is sacred and not to be spilled in war nor ingested for any reason,” Linda responded. “But blood can be divided into four components, and it is okay to receive any of those minor fractions.

“Most people don’t even need blood transfusions as much as they used to,” she added, noting that “scientists have discovered that there are healthier ways to fill a low blood count with supplements and iron.”

Are the Witnesses a cult?

I’m not sure what makes a group a cult any more. Some say it’s when people follow a man rather than the Bible — but the Jehovah’s Witnesses have no central figure. They encourage personal Bible study.

Interestingly, 65% of members are converts — adults who join by conviction, not birth. While many leave, those who stay do so deliberately. Angry ex-members exist in every religion, and that alone doesn’t define a cult.

Much of JW doctrine is nothing your average Protestant would quarrel with: anti-abortion but pro-birth-control, personal responsibility for family size, and no institutional oversight (beyond guidance from JW Broadcasting in New York). There’s also no enforcement mechanism for rules on blood transfusions or holidays.

There are 8.6 million Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, compared to 15.7 million Jews, 17 million Mormons, and 22 million Seventh-day Adventists. Many Protestants single out the denomination’s rejection of transfusions, but the Jehovah’s Witnesses are neither faith healers nor anti-medicine. They are pacifists but politically moderate and scientifically literate.

Charles Taze Russell

Jehovah’s Witnesses founder Charles Taze Russell was raised Presbyterian. At age 13 he left his church to embark upon a kind of quest for the truth, for a time backsliding into unbelief.

Known for writing Bible verse on fences as a way to evangelize, he founded a group called the Bible Student Movement in 1879. Much like Mormons, the Two by Twos, and the Jim Roberts Group, his group grew by sending out pairs of men to preach the word of God directly from the Bible.

Despite Russell’s zeal, his life was riddled with scandal. He divorced his wife after she demanded a larger editorial influence on “The Watch Tower.” He sued for libel often, occasionally winning — one time the jury mockingly ruled in his favor but gave him only one dollar, and so he filed an appeal and received $15,000.

After wrongly predicting the end of the world numerous times, Russell died in 1931. The group split apart. Approximately a quarter of the members remained faithful to Russell’s successors and began calling themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Their use of the name “Jehovah” also irritates critics, though it appears in the King James Bible (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4).

Their rejection of the Nicene Trinity remains the sharpest point of division — a doctrine codified by the Catholic Church and later adopted by nearly all of Protestantism. It’s an irony of history: Protestants who define themselves against Rome still use Rome’s creed as the boundary of belief. Disagreement with that doctrine, however, does not make a faith a cult.

The trend to schism

One striking point from the sermon stayed with me: Every 2.2 days a new denomination is created.

Until the 16th century, Christianity had only a handful of branches. Now there are 45,000. The JW speaker said it is because everyone seeks truth; I think it’s because we’ve forgotten love.

As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13: “If I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.”

What merit is truth without love? God does not honor self-righteous division. This, perhaps, was Martin Luther’s and Henry VIII’s greatest sin — their pride tore Christ’s body into pieces.

Protestants readily maintain friendly regard for Judaism, which does not accept Christ’s divinity, while showing far less tolerance for groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or Adventists — who profess Jesus as Lord and Redeemer.

For this reason, I urge believers: Visit all churches. Seek unity where possible. Not to follow fads, but to love the whole body of Christ — even the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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