by cedars 27 Replies latest members private
talesin, well that's something- thank you for your initiative! If you contributed your time as a researcher, that would certainly help speed things up.
I hope this idea catches on with others, but that's out of my control. If nothing else, it would be nice to do it in at least one country such as the UK, and then if it's successful roll it out to other countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and so on.
Cedars
I think this is a good idea. This address information can be incredibly useful for campaigns like this.
I do have a concern that only a small percentage of people may actually take the desired action. I don't think many people will be willing to display posters.
Here is a rough draft of another approach that I have been thinking about for some time.
Hello,
We are writing to express our concern about some activity that is taking place in your neighborhood. As you know, you live near a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. This organization is known for actively going door to door and discussing the Bible. We support their right to do this, but are very concerned about one specific feature of this activity.
Like every religious organization, Jehovah's Witnesses have some members who have a history of pedophilia or other sexual offenses. Unlike other religions, they ask such members to go to people's doors as an identifying mark of their religion.
We feel this poses an unacceptable risk to the children and vulnerable members of your community. In protest of this policy, we are encouraging the people in your community to ask to be placed on the Jehovah's Witness "do not call list". This should reduce or even eliminate visits to your home. If they do come, you have the option of calling the police since you have a right to bar their visits to your home.
Enclosed you will find a post card addressed to the local Kingdom Hall. It requests that your address be added to their do not call list. It is already stamped. All you have to do is sign it and drop it in the mailbox.
Thank you.
Cedars,
PM me if you get someone who can do the mailing, we can go from there. I can research and send them a list of addresses. Team work is a great thing!
tal
I hope you don't mind, put a link to this on jwsupportforum, I like the idea, I would be willing to do some research but due to wife still being a study would be reticent to sign any letters.
Thanks DT, although it seems a heck of a lot of trouble to go to simply to get a few more addresses on the DNC list. I agree that only a small percentage will be brazen enough to display the poster, but there will ALWAYS be some. British homeowners can be an eccentric bunch who can get worked up about seemingly small things, and you underestimate them at your peril. I'm sure there'll be at least a few dozen in the UK who will happily display a poster at the front of their home - especially those who feel irked by having JWs as neighbors.
Thanks insearchoftruth, I will try to get the word out on other forums too. I feel this idea has mileage if we can only get a few names on the team sheet.
Cedars
"Thanks DT, although it seems a heck of a lot of trouble to go to simply to get a few more addresses on the DNC list."
It kind of depends on your viewpoint. Getting people on the do not call list is kind of a side benefit to alerting people that Jehovah's Witnesses are willing to send pedophiles to their door.
I think it's easier to get people motivated to do something that benefits themselves, like stopping possible pedophiles from knocking on their doors, then to recruit them to do something for a cause they might not understand.
I think some testing would be valuable. It may be that an easy "offer" like asking them to request to be placed on a do not call list could soften them up for more aggressive action later.
It occurred to me that it might be cheaper and more practical to send out post cards explaining the pedophile situation and list the phone number of the hall so they can just call and ask to be placed on the list. Even if they don't call, it could lead to some pretty awkward conversations when the Witnesses come around.
There are a lot of possibilities, but I can't think of any issue that would be a greater concern to people in the neighborhood than the practice of sending pedophiles and other sexual predators to their home.
"I'm sure there'll be at least a few dozen in the UK who will happily display a poster at the front of their home - especially those who feel irked by having JWs as neighbors."
You might be right. It sounds like a website will be necessary to provide the posters and additional information. In my view, selling the idea of displaying posters is something that might work only after you get their attention and explain why they should even care.
For example, I would never try to directly sell vacuum cleaners by mail. However, I might consider offering a free floor cleaning where they can see the vacuum cleaner in action and be exposed to a salesman who knows how to sell vacuum cleaners. In this case, the initial mailing would only start to get them interested and hopefully move them on to the next step of the sales process.
A similar approach could be used for this campaign where the initial mailing is just designed to grab their attention and then funnels them to a website that can do a better job of motivating them to action and providing additional information.
It then becomes a question of the best way to grab their attention. I can't think of a better way than informing them that the next Jehovah's Witness at their door could have a history of sexual violence or pedophilia and be there with the blessings of those in charge. That's the best I can come up with. If anyone can come up with something even better, then I think we should definitely consider it.
I like DT's letter for the US. I really don't believe most homeowners here would display a poster, but they would drop a card in the mail to get rid of jws, with or without the child molester situation.
Can we mail it to every one to post on their door and say after you have read the whole wiki posts then you can knock on my door again.
I'm bumping this in case we decide to do a mail campaign for the neighbors of the congregations involved in the Candace Conti case.
