I was out this weekend with a group of my "worldly" friends. The majority of them don't know that I'd been a witness in the past, nor did they know that my family still is.
I'm not sure how we got on the subject of religions, but one guy asked, "What's the name of those people who don't have windows in their churches?"
Several guesses were thrown out including Amish and Mennonites but he shook his head. To help the group figure it out, he then added, "Oh you know, it's the people that knock on your door all the time."
"JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES!" the rest of the group shouted. "That's them" he added, then he asked, "I wonder why that is, why they don't have windows in their churches. Are they afraid of being bombed, or something?"
The one person in the group who does know about my history, looked at me. Randy, who had asked the original question noticed the glance and asked, "Are you one of those Jehovah's Witnesses?"
I told him, "Well, not any more. But you're right. Generally they don't have windows. Why? I couldn't tell you but I suspect that 1) they don't want the congregations daydreaming and staring out the window. They want their members' focus on the speakers at all time. If you stare out the window, you'll die at Armageddon, donchaknow! 2) JWs love being miserable. It's pretty miserable spending 2 hours in a windowless building. It's just part of the aesthetic. 3) These are bare bones basic buildings. Windows cost money. Their organization would much rather spend money on more practical things, like lawsuit defense. They have pedos and people who let kids die that were refused blood transfusions to defend! Bottom line, they're an whacked out religion. That's why there aren't any windows!
You could have heard a pin drop around our table.
Finally someone said, "Ok, well now we know not to ask Ms. Zombie here how she really feels about JWs! Sweetie, would you like a margarita?
I must say, that was a darn good margarita they bought me!