There is nothing so totally off-putting as earnest Christians demonstrating in front of another Christian group's gathering place. The most these rent-a-crowd attention-seekers do is hone their ability to verbally persecute another religion. But wait: I should be more understanding: Thanks guys for increasing the JWs perception of being persecuted for their religiouis beliefs.
5th Annual Memorial night demonstration at Kingdom Hall!
by the research lady 50 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
the research lady
Demonstrating against the policies of the Watchtower organization obviously is not for everyone. But, why would the naysayers try to discourage those who want to speak up. This organization deserves to be exposed. At least it is a starting point in trying to do something. Simply put, what happens when you do nothing...nothing.
-
leavingwt
All of the folks AGAINST the KH protests, should show up and protest the PROTESTERS.
-
DT
"Demonstrating against the policies of the Watchtower organization obviously is not for everyone. But, why would the naysayers try to discourage those who want to speak up. This organization deserves to be exposed. At least it is a starting point in trying to do something. Simply put, what happens when you do nothing...nothing."
I also wonder why a former witness would want to discourage those who want to speak up. It think most of us can agree that the Watchtower Society should be exposed for what it is. It's mostly a question of how this should be done. I would rather see a few people try this approach and then report on their progress. This has been going on for several years. I'm sure that they are learning as time goes by. I don't know if this approach is really effective or not, but I know I won't find out unless people actually try it. I think cult psychology is too complex and varied to just assume that an approach won't work based on our own limited experience.
There are valid concerns about this approach. It may also be true that our experiences as Jehovah's Witnesses may have subtly influenced some of us to believe that fighting against the Watchtower society is futile and counterproductive. We were raised with stories of how opposition usually backfired. We weren't often told about the times when it could be effective, except maybe to scare us from having anything to do with apostates.
I personally think that protests like this might have had a positive effect on me when I was in. I know others feel differently. If someone isn't reached by this approach, they might be reached by something else. However, this wont happen if nobody is willing to do anything.
-
rebel8
Demonstrating against the policies of the Watchtower organization obviously is not for everyone. But, why would the naysayers try to discourage those who want to speak up. This organization deserves to be exposed. At least it is a starting point in trying to do something. Simply put, what happens when you do nothing...nothing.
I have said as much many times on this very forum. But I cannot support trying to convert jws to another religion.
DT is onto something that should not be ignored. If you want to help one person at a time (reaching very few), turn many more off, and reinforce cult affiliation for others, you're free to do that.
There are effective ways to educate the public (which is a prevention strategy, not an intervention-for-current-cultists strategy)--that are rarely or never utilized by the ex-jw community. Media advocacy is the most effective. Go to your newspaper's editorial board, write editorials, write letters to the editor to stretch out the publicity when there is a negative news story about jws, etc. Refer to my old threads if interested, where I've detailed several effective strategies--and by "effective", I mean there is research evidence proving effectiveness.
-
steve2
But, why would the naysayers try to discourage those who want to speak up. This organization deserves to be exposed.
There is a world of difference between protesting against the Watchtower and using the protest medium to promote another (Christian) religion. It's a little bit like trying to draw someone away from a bad marriage by lining up a potentially better spouse.
For goodness sake, by all means expose the Watchtower's many errors, but do so without riding on the Christian-fundamentalist bandwagon - especially right outside a kingdom hall.
-
mary stewart
not sure if this'll work. when i was in, the signage n sloaganeering would reinforce that the dubs were the good guys.
but whatever. could work withe newer/weaker ones.
-
steve2
Openly protesting against the Watchtower's policies is one thing - and to be applauded. Using another religious group's beliefs to launch a protest against the Watchtower's policies is another thing altogether - that's the aspect I question. These groups hate the witnesses' teachings anyway, and use any sign of dissent to promote their own fundamentalist notions.
-
the research lady
Demonstrations seem to get people's attention. Take a look on the news today and see what tops the headlines....demonstrators! The streets of London are packed with strong willed people willing to stand up against a world economy that is on the brink of collapse.
-
steve2
Demonstrations seem to get people's attention.
Two issues:
1. Yes, attention-seeking demonstrations do get people's attention. Whether this is an effective method or has a counter-effect remains a topic of dispute: Anti-JW demonstrations, for example, simply prove to the JWs that they must be God's true people because they perceive demonstrations as the persecution Jesus said his followers would endure. This increases their conviction that they have the truth. How effective is that???
2. While yours is a demonstration against the JWs, it is more than that, isn't it? Yes, it's an opportunity to promote an alternative set of "Christian" beliefs. This is the aspect I question. Exposing a religion's teachings is one thing; setting up an alternative set in their place is quite another.