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When did George Benson become a Jehovah's Witness?
The following is an excerpt from an online interview with Benson: John - When did you become a Jehovah's Witness 1979? George - Yeah, I got baptized then but I… had been studying the bible many years before that with them. John - What was it that helped you find that faith? George - Oh yeah, years ago one of my cousins was killed in a gang fight, he was just a kid he was sixteen years old and that was the biggest tragedy for me at that point in my life because I grew up with him. Our mothers were sisters, we lived in the same household and we were raised together and he was a protector for me when I grew up because he was such a tough kid you know. His mother would tell him that it would get him in trouble one day because he loved to fight and finally somebody couldn't stand to get beat up and they killed him and that was a tremendous tragedy and it was then that we started looking for answers and the only satisfying answers to where life was going was found in the bible. My mother was always a bible person anyway she had been taking me to many different kinds of churches since I was a little boy and she found God's name and that was the thing that made me become a Jehovah's Witness. They knew God's name. They showed that to us in the bible. That was the great difference that made the difference for me. John - I love talking to people about their faith and where they came from, how they found it and why it works for them and you had checked out many different churches via your mother. George - Yeah, for me it answered a lot of my questions about life and another thing about going to different churches was I got a chance to see how other people think so none of that was wasted. I had a chance to see what motivated other people so the value was still there. My mother took me to all these different places to learn about religion in general and for me the thing that I was looking for was found with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They are very demanding in that they stick to bible principles and they do not waiver from it. I like that about them more than anything else. John - We have an Autistic daughter and one of our former therapists was a J.W. and she told me once that one of the things that really works for her is how structured and clear the religion is. George - That's right and it has a goal and it sets out the goal very clearly. There is that goal in the bible and what the bibles all about, it's not just about some nice words written down, it has a purpose and it's clear and we head towards that goal, all six million of us around the world. You know, I know what a Jehovah's Witness is thinking around the world in Africa or in Russia. We all have the same outlook and we study the same thing every week. John - Do you enjoy that kinship? George - Yes, it's a big family. He was up until a few years ago as some Witness friends of mine met him backstage and I am assuming he still is. (MORE)
