by besty 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Folks I needs some input on this subject.
I have 3 family members who are shunning me due to their JW belief system and I would like to prime some non-JW relatives on the use of humour to reach out to them.
Its not right IMHO to poke personal fun or be sarcastic or unkind about their belief system so what do we do?
Any suggestions on how humour can be used in this way?
GaryBuss + Dogpatch - you guys are the experts - please advise.....
I think everyone should be able to take a joke about what they believe. Unfortunately cult members take jokes and humour about their beliefs about as well as a frontal attack!
Unfortunately cult members take jokes and humour about their beliefs about as well as a frontal attack!
Agreed - they run @ -459.67F degrees of humour when it comes to their beliefs, and yet they have a normal distribution curve of humour capacity as the rest of the population.
My question is how to reach out to them using humour....
I've found that drawing comparisons to other religions that they believe are wrong (Mormon) but you know follow a lot of the same tennants, then joking, "imagine if JW's did that" can get the mind rolling.
Just be careful.
I can joke about my mom, my weight, my ethinicity - but if anyone says anything - it's not funny. Humor from within the community is funny - when it comes from outside it can be taken as an attack. Know your audience, but unless it's one on one and you really know the person I would suggest the jokes be kept to a minimum.
I find humour to be a good way of getting over how ridiculous certain things are in the borg. Like joking about how last week if you said you had decided not to go to the book study any more you would be counselled but from next January, if you tried to have your own bookstudy on a Tuesday you would be counselled.
This is an interesting topic, because in these types of situations, at least in the long-term view, I've always felt that whichever side is funnier will eventually win. Once you hit upon a routine of using satire to point out the absurdities of a situation, you just keep using it and you attain some sort of private victory, at the very least. This almost never works with Jehovah's Witnesses, but at least it makes me feel better.
For example, my favorite story lately is about how my mother was initially afraid to let me read the books of Dr. Seuss, because she was afraid the bizarre stories and illustrations would result in my "thinking all weird."
Instead, I was encouraged to believe that Bruce Springsteen was possessed by Satan, and that one day I'd live in a world where polar bears would be my friends. Nah, that ain't weird. Right.
Like recently, someone told me their daughter was having nightmares because of the illiustrations in the Revelation book. I said "yeah, stay away from Harry Potter but 7 headed 10 horned monsters of Revelation are OK?!"
every time my wife and kids go to the hall I say........"enjoy your cult meeting"......a couple of weeks ago my 10 yr old boy said....."you are just listening to people on the internet who you don't know and that is bad"....I said....."tell me any of the names of people on the governing body?"....which he couldn't...I said..."see you are listening to people who you don't know"....then I said ..."who started the watchtower society?".........his immortal answer?....."charles rennie macintosh"....cue my wife laughing.........cheers besty....you californian hobnobber......he he....da ninja
((((((((((((EVERYONE WITH FAMILY IN THE CULT))))))))))))))))))
