Junkyarddog and jwfacts, I so agree. When push comes to shove, SDAs are every bit as cultish as the JWs. They claim Ellen G White was a humble prophet of God but if you dare question her authority within the SDA church, watch the SDAs do one of two things: Either go into cultic attack-back mode or back-tracking.
Interesting discussion with some Witnesses at my door today
by jwfacts 59 Replies latest jw experiences
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outsmartthesystem
"The littlest one was trying to put a magazine into my hand, whilst the father was parroting the title. Even though I knew what was happening, it was all so quick and overwhelming I had no idea what he was talking about. You have to wonder what a normal householder is left thinking about the situation."
I have not read the other replies yet....but wow......talk about an over-aggressive sales pitch. Let alone the exploitation of a small child. I mean......what householder is going to purposely reject accepting a "gift" from a smiling, eager child?
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jwfacts
I mean......what householder is going to purposely reject accepting a "gift" from a smiling, eager child?
It took all my will power not to take the magazine, and I felt guilt for not doing so. I can imagine that the family have great magazine placements. It goes to show how many of the magazines are taken from people with no intention of reading them. The spin that it is the largest circulated magazine (such as appears on the front page of the watchtower website today), fails to mention that it probably has the widest distribution to people with no intention of ever reading it.
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WontLeave
I'm confident any of his beliefs you broke down with logic and fact were completely rebuilt by the time he got back to the car and any arguments you made were purged from his memory. He was probably spouting the exact same thing at the very next door with total confidence. I've seen it happen with people online and in person. I've seen it happen here and out in service. I've shown "brothers" that what they were telling people was totally false (one that springs to mind is the myth that Columbus discovered the earth is round) only to have them immediately resort to it again.
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Phizzy
I know what you mean Wontleave, and if I am honest I did the same myself to a degree, just ignored the path that new knowledge and reasoning was taking me and went back in to JW(Zombie) mode.
But over the years, encounters with people like Paul, and other reading I did made me examine the religion of my birth, as soon as I subjected it to open minded scrutiny the House of Cards that is WT doctrine fell apart.
The Cognitive Dissonance builds over the years until there is a point you cannot stand it any longer, and you do something about it, people like Paul add massively to that build up of pressure.
Well done Paul !!
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AnnOMaly
Very well handled, Paul. You never know what has stuck in their minds. They may not know what to do with the information now, but when the time is right something may click and start their mental cogs turning. Even being kind (with the drinks and good wishes), calm and reasoned will have left a lasting impression on them if nothing else did. Thanks for sharing.
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Darth Rutherford
Thank you jwfacts, I really enjoyed that experience. Very nice!
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Aussie Oz
Interesting how we receive a visit from the JWs depending on our state of mind at the time...
right now, after the weekend i have had, I would probably rip their bloody silly heads off. Sure they may be nice, but they are still dangerously stupid and programmed to be evil drones.
Oz
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still thinking
I agree Oz....and you have good reason to feel that way.
jwfacts...you did an awesome job at the door...well done... You never know what might stick in their mind and cause irritation for them. Possibly not even something you think might spur them on to look further.
You certainly gave them plenty to think about. Spoilt for choice really...
The only thing I can think of that would have topped that conversation, or at least put icing on the cake. Would have been if you handed them a card with jwfacts.com on it. And said, if they were interested in finding out the truth about the truth, this site would give them something to think about. You could have given it to the little boy...swap ya for the mag. Then you could have asked them to come back and exchange thoughts on the mag AND the website....
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00DAD
KingSolomon: Of course, they never get that far, as they look around the hall and see a bunch of heads bobbing in agreement without thinking, all falling victim to a psychological phenomenon termed pluralistic ignorance, resulting from having entered a spiral of silence.
Really interesting points, thanks for sharing.
I believe, although I can't prove it for certain, that those psychological forces are at work in JW-land. If there was someway to survey all JWs in a manner that they all would honestly answer questions such as:
- Do you really believe the new "Overlapping Generation" teaching?
- Do you really believe this is God's Organization?
- Etc. ... insert your favorite Doctrine of Contention here ...
I think we'd find that the majority of JWs either DO NOT believe or at least have serious doubts.
But when we sit there in the KH with our private doubts and disagreements wondering if it's really true the social pressure seeing everyone else seeming to agree tends to make us turn our doubts on ourselves: We are the ones that are weak, stupid, lacking faith, etc.
This is a powerfully manipulative psychological technique and the WTBTS knows it!
00DAD
BTW, I like the new Avatar! It's a good look for you.