Would you express an opinion to that person studying with the Witnesses or would you keep quiet?
If you did say something, what would it be?
If You Heard An Acquaintance Was Considering A Study With JWs Would You Get Involved At All?
by minimus 22 Replies latest jw friends
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journey-on
No, I wouldn't get too involved. One should be allowed to explore their own spiritual path wherever it leads. I would simply say (with a puzzled look on my face kind of like this ), "You might want to research that cult, I mean, religion on the internet first. Here's a good website that pulls back the curtain pretty thoroughly, www.jehovahs-witness.net.
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Ding
I would definitely try to talk with them.
Enough people have been blindly sucked into the WTS already.
Knowing how telling people not to study with JWs plays into the WT's hands, I would encourage them to look at all sides of the issue.
I would strongly recommend that they read CoC before they decided to study with JWs so they would be prepared.
I would also show them a lot of the false prophecies and nonsense written by Russell, Rutherford, and Fred Franz, give them photocopies, and encourage them to insist that JWs give them satisfactory explanations.
I'd link them up with jwfacts.com and freeminds.org.
Regarding doctrine, I would share with them Walter Martin and Bill Cetnar's tapes giving them non-WT interpretations of key texts.
If they were reluctant to consider anything critical of the WT, I would show them WT articles about how we need to examine whatever is taught by ANY religious organization and that the truth stands up to scrutiny. I'd ask them to apply these WT tests to the WT literature itself.
If they wanted to talk with ex-dubs, I'd put them onto JWN.
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Iamallcool
I would not say anything about it since I am a fader. If my JW family find out that I said something to discourage him or her to study with JW's, They will pretty much disown me.
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Nobleheart
I'd try to talk to them, sharing with them my firsthand experience with the WT. I wish someone had warned me against JWs when I was a study, presenting me with real proof why association with this org is not beneficial.
"When persons are in great danger from a source that they do not suspect or are being misled by those they consider their friends, is it an unkindness to warn them? They may prefer not to believe the warning. They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?"
- THE WATCHTOWER January 15,1974 -
minimus
I have simply expressed FACTS! I let them know I was raised a Witness and then proceed to tell them a number of oddities regarding the religious views and doctrines. By the time I'm done, they are too.
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BluesBrother
They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?"
Nice, Nobleheart - and a WT quote at that..
I had a work-mate once who said that she was having talks with a J W lady who regularly called on her. I took the girl to one side and gently explained to her that, of course it was up to her what she did, but I did have first hand experience from the inside of that organization....I went on to say one or two things about it - not too much but to encourage her to ask questions and look at outside comments as well as the J W answers.. The last I heard, she was taking an "Alpha Course" instead, at her local church.
I even did it once at the Kingdom HAll. I was by then attending with my believing wife for the sake of our marriage ..A young man was studying and regularly coming along. He would often chat to us and we got on good terms. In the K Hall lobby one day I had the opportunity to say that I had been a member but not now, and some reasons why. Of course it was up to him, but he must please examine all aspects very carefully and not be put off checking the net for more info. I begged him to be discreet about out conversation.......He soon stopped attending and I heard that he stopped his study.
That was dangerous for me , I did not want to be "outed" at that time but like the WT said , I had a responsibility to say something.
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MrFreeze
I would do my best to keep them from making a big mistake. Remember, it is a matter of life and death (blood issue). I would not keep quiet.
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Scully
One of my former co-workers was "befriended" while taking her children to the playground in their neighbourhood by a JW lady who also frequented the park with her children. She said how nice the JW lady was, and how well behaved the children were, and because there was a budding "friendship", my co-worker felt obliged to accept the WT & Awake! magazines when the JW lady offered them to her.
Their conversations were always centered on the bible, which my co-worker appreciated because she was a bit of an evangelical christian herself. She disagreed with some stuff in the magazines, and some WT interpretations of scripture, but overall felt their conversations were mutually beneficial. She looked forward to her regular chats with the JW lady.
I asked my co-worker if she had any pamphlets or anything from her own church to share with the JW lady. She did, but it hadn't occurred to her to share them with the JW lady. I warned her that if she ever tried to share anything from her own church with the JW lady, that the JW lady would reject them, without even considering their content or that they discussed bible topics. My co-worker felt confident that the friendship she had with the JW lady was stronger than that, and I said, "Well, in the interest of mutual respect and out of friendship, I think she should read your pamphlets. She believes she has The Truth™, and has nothing to fear from reading what she considers to be inferior material. But I was trained, just like she has been, to reject material from other churches, and to not enter conversations that she cannot lead in favour of the Witnesses. If you try offering them to her her, or having a conversation about your own beliefs without having to entertain hers, she will find a way to leave. If you persist, or if you discontinue your JW-based conversations with her, she will terminate the friendship." I had also mentioned that the JW was very likely engaging in Informal Witnessing™, and counting the time on her Field Service Report™, and each conversation as a Return Visit™.
A couple of months passed without my co-worker mentioning the JW lady. Then one day when we were alone, she told me what had happened. Shortly after our previous conversation, the JW lady showed up at my co-worker's home (without ever having been told which home was hers) with another JW lady, to offer a Home Bible Study™. My co-worker took the opportunity to thank the JW lady for coming (although she was a bit creeped out that she had found her house) and said that she enjoyed the Magazines™ and wanted to give her a pamphlet from her church to return the favour. My co-worker had been hopeful that my prediction would be wrong and that the JW lady would be gracious enough to accept her pamphlet, but was very disappointed when the JW lady rejected her offer and then quickly left.
She later met the JW lady in the park again, and the JW lady tried to follow up on the offer of a Bible Study™. She asked the JW lady point blank: Are you Witnessing™ to me right now? Have you been 'counting' our conversations on your little monthly reports? The JW lady admitted that she was doing just that. Then she asked, what would happen if I said I didn't want to read your magazines anymore? If I just wanted to talk about the kids and school and stuff around the neighbourhood? I was surprised at the answer, because I wouldn't have been so callous: "Well, I guess there's really no point in us talking at all, then."
My co-worker was so upset that she was being used by the JW lady to pad her Field Service™ hours and Return Visits™ and Placements™. But she was grateful that I had given her a heads-up and gently challenged her to try to take charge of the "friendship" to see if the JW lady had ulterior motives. She felt that had she ignored my advice, she might have ended up accepting the offer of the Bible Study™, and who knows where that would have gone....
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minimus
Scully, great experience!