My husbands whole family (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc) are all JW. My father-in-law holds a very high position in the congreation and gives lots of the talks and that sort of thing. My husband was raised as a JW, but stopped practicing when he left home after high school. He had stopped believing quite some time before that.
I LOVE my husband's family. They are the best inlaws anybody could ask for. They are kind, supportive, interested in our lives - but not pushy. They are funny, intelligent, very well educated and well read. They have never pushed thier lifestyle or religious choices on us, or even mentioned it at all, for that matter. They have a wonderful relationship with my son and he is the absolute light of their lives.
Do they wish that we followed their religion? I'm sure they do. Just like a Christian family might be sad that their son ended up an athiest, or whatever. They have never brought it up, though, and it has caused no tenion or had feelings on either side. As far as what I think about their belief system, personally, I don't think what they believe is any stranger than what anybody else believes.
They do not celebrate any holidays or birthdays, for the reasons explained above. They do celebrate the birth of a new baby. Weddings and anniversaries are also very big deals. They also do not vote, pledge to the flag, or anything that has to do with government.
I don't know why the one guy mentioned would avoid company picnics and all of that, unless they are built around a holiday - like a Labor Day picnic, etc. I would guess he just doesn't like that kind of thing.
Oh, the best part about having JW inlaws is that we only have one side of the family to buy Christmas gifts for, we never had to worry about forgetting their birthdays, and we don't have to argue over who's family we are spending the holidays with. It's the best!
...that was pretty harsh wasn't it?!
