Palmtree
What you said here "Did they really believe people's life or death hung in the balance, based on their reaction to this sister's blitherings?
I mean, bless her heart.........but what good is accomplished by sending such ones out door-to-door?"
That was what I always asked my husband. I mean first some of the ones we worked with you just could not understand them as they truly just mumbled. Here I would be standing at this strangers door like you mentioned with the householder looking at me like why are you here? Some householders would take the magazines out of pity for them which was bad because then unknown to them they just became a return visit.
Many of these mentally ill had a long list of RV's. I have went with them on their calls and the householder treated both of us like we were special needs people. I know as soon as we left the magazines went straight to the trash can. It may have made have made the mentally ill feel good but it did nothing for the householder as all householder thought was that we were a very strange religion. They did not know have a clue that they had to listen to this person mumble or they would soon die. That was God was going to kill them for not being a JW
My husband always told to read Luke 19:14 and if Jehovah could make the stones cry out surly he could use these mentally ill. I always shot back to him that if someone cold called at our home for raising money say for a school drive as that happens a lot where we live and they smelled really bad and mumbled where you cold not understand them, would we give them money? What would we think of the school for sending them out? We would probably call the school and ask if they really did send them out.
Yet here as JW's we are not only sending these kind of people out door to door but we are going with them! And this is not just a fund raiser but it means the lives of the householder if we truly believe the religion.
My husband's response was always that Jehovah uses all kinds of people to spread his word. As much as I tried to understand it I never could.
I remember when I was a teenager this young brother in his early 20's came into the hall his family was from the other side of the state and from what I understood they were strong JW's. The guy seemed very normal and everyone liked him. Unknown to to us all he had stopped taking his meds. Then one day out in service in a car group they passed a white horse in a field and he told the group 'that might be the house that was meant for him.' They were like 'what are you talking about?' He said 'you know I am supposed to come riding a white house soon.' They thought he was joking laughed but he just got really upset and agitated with the car group. Turned out he had major mental problems and no one knew. They had to take him home as he was getting so upset with the group. That is truly scary. His family had hoped that moving out on his own would be good for him and they did not want him to be looked down on for his illness.
This religion is just scary to me.
LITS