After about 15 minutes I decided it was time to go down and see if whoever it was had left anything by the door. I looked through the window at the door, didn't see a package, didn't see a note, I almost left when I saw a little piece of paper folded into the storm door. I went and got the paper still expecting to see either campaign literature or maybe a restaurant ad, but instead I was greeted with the words THE END OF FALSE RELIGION IS NEAR!
"Oh, Jehovah's Witnesses" I said to myself. I was glad that I hadn't decided on running down to see who was at the door originally. I've done that before with the Jehovah's Witnesses, which maybe wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have two psycho dogs trying to run out the door.
I try to have a certain higher level of charity in my thoughts towards the Jehovah's Witnesses because a good friend of mine in high school was a very serious JW and did the door-to-door thing. So I know how honestly she believed in what she was doing, so I give them the benefit of the doubt on the whole thing.
But anyway, I open up this little pamphlet and it read like, to me, a negative ad. "How many religions can you think of whose members engage in war?", "Does your religion teach that the soul does not die?", "Do you know of religions that condone immoral sex" and right next to this paragraph is a sinister looking priest (well, he looks sinister to me - at the very least he's devious). Some of the stuff is pretty clear who they are targeting. The Meddles in War and Politics targets Evangelicals, and conservative Protestants. The Tolerates Immoral Sex targets liberal Protestant groups and the Anglicans, "church groups ordain gay and lesbian members of the clergy" and here's the knock against the Catholics "Even churches that condemn immorality have tolerated religious leaders who have sexually abused children", next to 'sinister priest'.
After all that on the back page is how to "identify true religion", which not surprisingly is the Jehovah's Witnesses, along with contact information on how you can get some free literature.
I got to thinking about this little pamphlet and how to me it was like a negative ad that you see on tv in this political season, you know the kind that go just about like this...
*show pictures of kittens*
John Smith enacts policies that kill kittens...
*more kittens*
Kittens... like these!
Vote Fred Jones, because he doesn't kill kittens
-Paid for by Friends of Fred Jones-
Everyone says they hate negative ads, but I also understand that they work. I wonder whether or not these little pamphlets work on people. I guess I don't have more of a point than that, and I decided that I had to write about this now before Mom comes home and tosses the pamphlet into the garbage.
13 comments:
I didn't even want the stupid thing. (Same pamphlet, this afternoon.)
I just said that I wasn't interested in having it, and I gave it back. He just said, "Okay." Not sure if my Virgin Mary was scaring him (in my front yard).
JW's are in a cult. Once I tried to give a couple of girls some information to counter their arguments, and they said that they were "not allowed to read anything you give us." I sh** thee not! Not allowed! Such a shame. And they didn't see the irony in that statement, as they tried to lure me away from the Mother Church.
When the JW's were hitting the houses across the street on Sunday, I told the girls to stay out of the front yard while Hubby and I closed up the pool. (a) I don't trust strangers wandering aroung my neighborhood. (b) I don't want any JW's talking to my kids and possibly confusing them.
Everyone must do their independent investigation on who they are, what they represent, and thier way of worship... instead of going with the flow because it's been in the fam for so long.... or its comofrtable or convenient.
So while some may feel the tract's message is negative, it just may help others face the reality of what they are involved with - whether it be by name only or actually thier practice or worship in thier faith.
BTW - No we are not a cult, but if that's someone's opinion it is certainly not the reality.... and I don't know how old "the girls" were but perhaps thier parents told'm not to accept anything. By the same token nothing should be forced on anyone either ;^).....
I do believe that the Catholic Church considers JW (as well as Mormonism) to be a cult. Now, I might be wrong on JW being viewed as such, but it's what I recalled seeing. I'd have to double-check it. However, there are plenty of problems with JW beliefs. Catholic Answers has some interesting information about JW, the history of the sect, and some questions to consider:
http://www.catholic.com/library/More_Stumpers_for_Jehovah_Wit.asp
and
http://www.catholic.com/library/Stumpers_for_Jehovah_Witnesse.asp
Ahhh...those did not work! How about this? Go to Catholic Answers (http://www.catholic.com) and look under non-Catholic groups, then under non-Christian groups. There is a huge section of questions and answers about the JW sect.
Mate is well known that the Catholic church protects Pedophiles and if u have ever been in a Catholic orphanage
you will know what I mean the preists also would get the nuns pregnant infact when they excuvated a nunery in Brisbane they found corpes of babies that had been buryed in the basement and during the secound world War there was always a Catholic Preist present, on both sides!!!WHITH A RECORD LIKE THEY HAVE, would u tust the Catholic church with your children??
The last Church I would ever consult would be the Catholic Church.They have a lot of blood on there hands, I think u will find there is more questions about the catholics than any other religion.And as far as the Pope goes what answers has he got for humanity???In fact why not do some research on the Popes u will be suprised what u will find .Go to Google news type in Cathlic church u will be shocked.
Looks like I hit a nerve...
The JW is not recognized as a true church mainly because it has changed the wording of the Bible to suit their own purpose as well as their belief on a definite number of people who will be saved and everyone one else will perish.
The sad thing is that the followers are sincere but are used by the higher ups. These followers have to spend their own money to buy the tracts and literature that they pass out.
I used to stop and chat with JWs but they really didn't listen to what I was saying about the truth of the Catholic church. Now brainwashing may be too strong, but that is sure the impressin I got. Now I just tell them, I'm Catholic and I try to have a Catholic tract handy.
Esther,
JW's beliefs are solely based upon the bible - any bible. Their translation is the same as any other but without all the 'thys' and 'thous,' basically in modern english. The bible is clear in its statement of those with a heavenly calling. (Rev 7:4)Everyone else has the hope of living on a Paradise earth. (Psalms 37:11) There is no limit as to 'how many will be saved' as you put it. Hope that clears up any misunderstanding.
Implying that im brainwashed offends me. I'm sure that if your home was on fire upstairs, and you were all cosy in your armchair watching T.V downstairs, you would be grateful for someone off the street knocking on your door and warning you? If you believe in something so strongly that you are willing to give up your time and resources to try and help people see what the bible says, I don't think that's the worst thing a human could do is it?
I don't consider the New World Translation to be a real Bible at all. So many verses have been entirely deleted or changed in part that the Word of God has been perverted. For example, the following verses have been removed - Mt. 17:19, 18:11, 23:14, Mk. 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28, 16:9-20, Lk. 1:28, 17:36, 23:17, Jn. 5:4, 7:53-8:11. And that's just from the Gospels! I wouldn't trust anything written by the Watchtower.
any bible.
NY JW:
Since you're so fond of spamming Catholic blogs, 'splain this:
If the WTS ain't a cult, then explain why
1. It meets all 8 criteria for a high-control propaganda group
2. The National Institute for Mental Health lists it as a cult
3. The American Psychiatric Association lists it as a cult
Rationalise it any way you like--I've told you before, and I'm happy to tell you again: yours is a cult, not authentic Christianity, and you'll never get anything but admonishments from this crowd to get out while you still have a brain left to do so....
http://angrynunnohabit.blogspot.com/
...dedicated to the to preaching Christs Gospel and the conversion of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, one person at a time, until these demonic organisations lay in waste....
In His Grace, miki
Anonymous said:
"Implying that im brainwashed offends me. I'm sure that if your home was on fire upstairs, and you were all cosy in your armchair watching T.V downstairs, you would be grateful for someone off the street knocking on your door and warning you? If you believe in something so strongly that you are willing to give up your time and resources to try and help people see what the bible says, I don't think that's the worst thing a human could do is it?"
Since ya lifted this straight off the pages of the Reasoning book and about a dozen different WT's (instead of using your own personal analogy), I'd have to say that Esther hit it right on the mark about being brainwashed.
Secondly, as a cult-exit counselor, I am one of the few non-JW people who use the New World Translation nearly every single day and, Honey, Jehovah's Witnesses do not know the Bible, nor are they equipped to "help people see what [it] says"--they know and spew demonically inspired Watchtower propaganda, that's all. I run rings around Witnesses on a nearly daily basis: because I know your Bible better than you do, I know your literature better than you do, and I know your history better than you do and in that light I can honestly say that you need to examine your own religion, with an eye towards absolute truth, before you start getting all huffy with us about being "offended"....
If you were really the "persecuted" followers of Christ you claim to be, you'd be mirthful about such an accusation--kinda like I am by the ignoramous "mate" and his claims about imaginary convents in Brisbane (that's from a book over a hundred years old that I have in my own library and, no, it's not true. Anti-Catholic urban legends never die, they just find new unwittin's to carry them...hehehe...)....
Look at my blog for updates about my meetings with Jehovah's Witnesses about once a month:
http://angrynunnohabit.blogspot.com/
In His Grace, miki
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