What's "The Perfect Storm" To Become One of Jehovah's Witnesses? (page 3)

WTWizard

When a person with just a little Bible knowledge (worse than none at all) is starting out in the world, having trouble making ends meet, and is all alone, that person is more likely to be scammed into becoming a witless. It helps if such person lacks access to outside information.

People that are strong in another religion, have good material security, a fully integrated knowledge of the Bible, or have stable social networks are generally poor candidates to become witlesses. Either they will see no need for it, or they will be able to pick up on the blatant inconsistencies between the Bible and Washtowel teachings.

AllTimeJeff

My observation

Biggest ingrediant is ALWAYS that the person is somehow dis-satisfied with their life at the moment. Maybe a little disillusioned. I always liked to say then and now that those who are feeling good, have a good family and job usually have no interest in JW's. (It took me 14 years to connect the dots on that one)

Meeting and studying with a nice JW as opposed to the pricks. Lets face it, it wasn't the most spiritual that got the studies to the KH and then baptized, it was the pubs who were the most gregarious and nice. It was all about personalities nothing more. And ditto some nice love bombing elders once the study got to the KH

Thats it! To me, everything else is secondary. The formula is always the same, introduce doubt into the current belief system of the study while steadily building JW dogma as Bible dogma. Stress how the NT talks about the need for all to go house to house just like JW's do, plus attend all meetings as the bible says. Rinse and repeat as necesarry.

ataloa

For me, it was:

Growing up in a mainstream religion I knew wasn't true.

Wanting to know the bible, but no one's churches were teaching them much of anything about it.

Being at a very low point in an abusive relationship and begging God to help me and I would do anything.

Answering the door to a small child reading a verse from the Bible - I couldn't be rude and just send them away. The woman knowing her Bible and flipping it here and there as I fired my questions. Wow, I wanted to know the Bible like that!

Her showing me in MY bible that God had a name; my religion had not taught me that and I was mad and felt a fool.

They would come to my house every week for free? Yes!

But wait; not yet.

As bad as I wanted to learn the bible, I could never be a witness and knock on strangers' doors, so I was going to say no. But I had a small child and I knew I owed it to her to teach her truth, whatever that may be, and she could make her own life-or-death decision. In the end, that's why I accepted; I was never going to be a witness myself - too cowardly.

I loved the meetings. So different from the churches where some angry preacher was upset or emotional all the time; preaching the same old sermon. We got to participate. I know the born-ins see it differently, but it was very exciting for me.

There were many red flags and I was in and out for many years. Finally, when I was estranged from most of my family, I was baptized.

delilah

Well, my mom became a witness, after her youngest sister died at 16. She was devastated, and when her Anglican minister said that "God needed an angel" my mom was angry that a god would cause her sister to suffer from the age of 9, until 16, when he would then" take her to heaven".

Enter the Jehovah's witnesses, with all the right answers.....the rest is history...

minimus

Today's Witnesses can't answer anything. They are not well researched and cannot properly explain (JW) Bible prophecy, blood doctrines, disfellowshipping, neutrality, etc. They need to read it to you from a publication because most of them don't understand it themselves!

aligot ripounsous

When I started "studying" with JWs at age 26, I knew, and my parents discerned, that I was doing it in order to react to my catholic upbringing which had left bitter memories, having had to live in boarding schools in tender years when I needed my parents, confronted there with some mentally or physically brutal members of religious catholic orders.

Also, I thought, and still think that, somehow, a religion that puts its teaching in words and sentences accessible to simple people must have God's approval, even if it is not the only necessary condition, whereas catholic mysteries are indigestible.

Third, after having met on a weekly basis with a JW in France without attending even one meeting in 18 months, I landed on my own in London and, after diverse types of experiences, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't associate with better people than JWs.

When I was an active witness, I never adhered to their fancy teachings about modern days fulfilment of prophecies but I thought that since God was allowing a people to wear His name, He was engaging His repute in the entreprise and therefore must have backed this organization, lest He would make it impossible for any future organization to exploit the same religious niche as this one if the latter were found false.