I was pushing my sister's wheelchair as we were enjoying the perfect
Saturday Noon weather. We were going to a local restaurant to get
something to eat. I saw a well-dressed Hispanic man in his twenties
with an African American boy. (I only mention races because it tells me
they are not father and son. The guy wasn't old enough to have a son
that old either.) I guessed the boy to be as old as 12.
My sister said he was probably 10, no more than 11. They were waiting
on the north side of an intersection for the crossing light. We were
waiting on the south corner going the opposite way.
The Hispanic man nudged the boy and pointed at us, indicating that they
should wait until we crossed and that the boy should "place" something
with us.
So we cross and he pulls out a flyer that asked a question something
like "Do you want to know THE TRUTH." "THE TRUTH was bold on the 2nd
line and I don't remember the specific question. His presentation was
just "We would like to offer you some literature." I didn't know these
fellows at all so I decided the game was on.
OTWO: "What do you know about "the truth" ?
The JW Boy gave an exact worded presentation that he had memorized. It
went something like this:
JW Boy: "The brochure takes you to your Bible to see that God has a
purpose that is being fulfilled today."
I wasn't interested in a discussion of God's purpose, so I decided to
take the conversation directly to one subject that might help the boy.
OTWO: "Do you even know 'the truth' about the organization you are
working with?"
JW Boy: "What do you mean?"
OTWO: "Do you know that if you were to get baptized and later change your
mind about your faith, your Witness family will probably shun you for the
rest of your life."
JW Man (wanting to take over): "That's not true."
OTWO: "You know it is"
JW Man: "People don't shun their own family members."
OTWO: "I am talking about this boy specifically, not outside family members.
If he gets baptized as a young person, then at age 18 or so, decides to
join the military or go to another church or celebrate holidays, he can and
probably will be shunned by his Witness family for the rest of his life."
JW Man: "That simply isn't true."
OTWO: "You ask him to offer me a flyer about learning 'the truth,' yet you
stand here lying about your own organization. YOu know it happens all the
time."
JW Man: "I disagree with anyone that does that."
OTWO: "Then you know it happens, yet you deny what I say?"
JW Man: "The individuals that decide to do that on their own are wrong.
They should not do that."
(I noticed that he really didn't understand. He must not have been clear
on the idea of shunning or was possibly fairly new to the religion. I no
longer thought he was lying, but was just ignorant.)
OTWO: "It's in the rules. When a member is disfellowshipped or disassociated,
the Witnesses, including family, should stop associating with him. That means
shunning- not talking to him anymore."
JW Boy: "That wouldn't happen to me, anyway. I made my dedication to God
and won't decide to leave."
OTWO: "You are baptized already?"
JW Boy: "Yes."
OTWO: "Well, then I'm too late. You are stuck. You don't know what you will
want to do with your life or what 'truth' you will discover as you get older.
But you will learn that what I said is true, you cannot leave without family
shunning you."
JW Man: "Maybe you have us confused with someone else. We don't do that."
OTWO: "No confusion, you are Jehovah's Witnesses. It's in your teachings.
It's in your elder's rule book. If you don't shun the disfellowshipped and
disassociated ones, you can be thrown out and shunned yourself."
JW Man: "This is not so."
OWTO: "Okay, it IS so. I have been here long enough. I clearly know more
about this than you."
JW Man: "You must be misinformed."
(Now we are walking away) OTWO: "No, I was an elder in a congregation of
Jehovah's Witnesses. I had the rule book. I know the rules. Young man,
you will read it for yourself one day. It's not just in the rulebook, but it's
available in your WT-library. Good day.