Hi everyone
I woke up this morning to the news from ThomasCovenant that all Kingdom Hall locations and meeting times are now available on jw.org. I made the following comment, which I'll repeat below...
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I was genuinely surprised to find this info displayed so freely on their website. It's amazing to think that we now have access to the addresses and meeting times of every congregation in the whole world.
My initial reaction is that this is a smart move on behalf of the Society. If they make the search engine more prominent on their new revamped site, they can guarantee that at least some will click through with the intention of by-passing the info on the internet and seeing how the religion operates for themselves.
However, information is power - and it can ALWAYS be used against someone or something. For example, what does everyone think of the following idea...
Almost EVERY kingdom hall has neighbors, because it is usually positioned in an urban neighborhood where it can easily be accessed by the community, and not on a hill in the middle of nowhere (like Patterson, for example).
As many of you will know, the local bodies of elders go to great pains to ingratiate themselves with their neighbors when it comes to sensitive issues such as parking etc (especially for the memorial). However, in many cases, these neighbors end up feeling non-too-impressed by having their street invaded every Sunday morning and Thursday evening (and days inbetween during a CO visit). So whilst many neighbors will feel quite affable towards the kingdom hall and their local JWs, there will ALWAYS be some with an axe to grind.
WHAT IF we researched each and every address using simple web-based technology like Google Streetview etc, and pulled the addresses of each and every kingdom hall neighbor in the developed world? There would be at least two neighbors per hall - one left, one right. However, in densely packed locations you could include more addresses. Obviously it wouldn't work for EVERY kingdom hall, such as those with industrial or apartment complexes on both sides, but certainly the majority.
You could then start a mailing campaign to contact each and every one of those suitable addresses with a simple message, something along the lines of...
"We couldn't help but notice that you are living in close proximity to a kingdom hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Doubtless you are in frequent contact with members of the religion, and you will have your own views on their activities. Whilst we would never advocate hatred towards any faith, we are contacting you through a deep sense of concern that individual Jehovah's Witnesses are under the influence of a cult-like religion that is operated and organized by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in New York, USA. This religion, which in many countries benefits from tax exempt or charitable status due to the perceived 'public benefit' of its teachings, encourages its members to do the following...
- Shun close family members if they later choose to reject Witness teachings
- Shield those accused of Child Abuse if the incident wasn't verified by more than one person
- Reject forms of medicine that include whole blood transfusions
If, like us, you agree that no faith should encourage such damaging and potentially life-threatening teachings/policies as those mentioned above, there is something YOU can do.
We have prepared a simple poster that you can position in your window or on your fence where it will be seen by Jehovah's Witnesses as they walk to-and-from the Kingdom Hall. The purpose of the poster is not to provoke anyone or incite religious hatred - it is merely to show concern for individuals who have been manipulated into accepting the Witness faith. The poster directs such ones to research their religion online, using independent third-party websites such as Wikipedia.
If you agree to display such a poster, we would love to hear from you. Please email [email address] to receive information on how you can view the poster and download it in order to display it.
Regardless of whether you wish to help, we would like to thank you for your time in reading this message.
Kind regards, etc.
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I know what you're all thinking - WAY too ambitious. But let me give you an idea of how it might work for, say, the United Kingdom.
There are 1,537 congregations in the UK. Many of these will share the same hall (in parts of London, up to 3 congregations can share a hall). I don't know the precise number of Kingdom Halls, but for the sake of argument let's call it 1,100.
If we assigned 70 of the 1,537 congregations to each participant, we would need 22 UK participants. Each participant would firstly research each of the assigned congregations, find the approximately 50 kingdom halls and the neighboring addresses, and THEN mail a copy of the above letter to each neighbor (let's say, 100 neighbors to 50 KHs) by second class post. The cost of a second class postage stamp has now risen to 19p, so assuming each of the 50 kingdom halls has two confirmed neighboring addresses, that works out at £19 in postage costs per participant. I don't know about you, but I consider that a small price to pay in getting the word out as part of an organized initiative. Of course, there will also be printing costs to consider.
A similar model could be used for all other countries, including the USA (which would obviously need more participants).
So, who's in??!!
Cedars