I read your blog from time to time, but I guessed I missed this interesting post.

I was raised JW but escaped as soon as I turned 18. I feel quite sorry for people who are still trapped in that group. (Many would like to leave, but can’t because they would lose their families)

You are right that they are not really interested in establishing a rapport. They want to give you a pamphlet, and then make a note of it. They have to report how many ‘placements’ they make, how many ‘return visits’ they make, how many ‘home bible studies’ they have. Fightingwindmills is very good for some JW’s stats.

But, they are just doing what they believe is the right thing. They are doing what they believe is God’s work. They don’t have a choice, really. And they do work so hard at it…

Did you know that Prince is a JW now? (WTF?!) Here’s some JW/Prince humor:

Madam says: When I was a kid, my step-father used to invite JWs in to debate them. What can I say? Not my thing. The video is amusing, thanks.

There’s a piece in the May 2008 “Believer” (Dave Eggers, not JW) [http://www.believermag.com] called “The Four Quadrants of the Apocalypse.” It’s a chart of historical religious movements/cults organized by their ideologies. The y-axis measures how much the group believed in heaven-on-earth after the apocalypse or if they believed in a more “fires of doom” ending. The x-axis measures how passive or reactive the group is/was: do they wait patiently for the end or do they violently confront the world and/or kill themselves? Heaven’s Gate and Aum Shinrikyo, were high on the x-axis (kill themselves, kill others). The Shakers were low x-value, high y-value believers (passive, Heaven-on-Earth); the Millerites (1818-44) were passive, but fires of doom believers. FYI: the Millerite followers went on to found the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventists. And the Branch Davidians (Waco) came from the Adventists. Fascinating.

My husband says that in Lima, Peru, if people don’t want to be bothered by the door-to-door Jehovah’s Witnesses, they just put a small sticker in their front window that says “We’re Catholic.”

Now, in the US, I study with Jehovah’s Witnesses, but mostly just because I’m curious and I like having someone come to visit me once a week. They are super nice. I am humanist and so there are things that I cannot reconcile, but I appreciate their willingness to teach me more about the Bible. Even if I don’t believe it is the Truth, with a capital T, it’s still interesting to me. :)

Madam says: I appreciate that they are trying to share their faith, but to me it is jarring to be accosted in the street. These ladies weren’t really interested in establishing a rapport, just handing out the pamphlet. Nevertheless, an interesting encounter!