by ilikecheese 16 Replies latest jw friends
Have they ever done anything that's truly effective?
Sandwich signs, sound cars, phonographs, the Photo-Drama of Creation? More annoying than anything except in excitement-starved backwaters.
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The Odd Life of Jehovah's Witnesses
It is an empty tradition based on a bad translation and misinterpretation of Scriptures like Acts 20:20. Indoctrinated traditions are hard to change, especially since door-to-door is so much part of the Witness self-identity.
fakesmile said:
all weekday witnessing does is target ppl who dont have a job. that is not a good business model. it is working backwards to bring in converts who are broke, lazy or disabled.
Just to play WT's Advocate here (which pretty much is the same as saying 'Devil's Advocate', but that comparison seem unfair to the Devil, LOL! At least the Satan figure has drive...): weekday D2D is a GREAT way to find disaffected individuals who don't feel they're getting their 'piece of the pie' under this "EEEVILLL" system of things, and are looking for someone (God) to kill 99.999999% of the Earth's population to free up some resources that, in their minds, RIGHTLY belongs to them.... They NEED a pet lion and Alpine chateau, and are pissed that watching Jerry Springer just ain't getting it for them!
At it's core, the JW message of violent and deadly radical overthrow of all of the World's governments is far more extremist and dangerous than anything that came out of Stalin's or Marx's mouth. The only reason it's not taken seriously by most gov'ts is because most people in power are educated enough to know that religions like the JWs are immune from accepting that the joke is on them.... The Paradise petting zoo is a scam, just like the Florida real-estate schemes in the 1920's which showed palatial mansions in Sunny Florida when the reality was mosquito-infested swamp-land sold sight unseen, with no plans to develop the plots.
Most JWs I know are well-intentioned and lovable losers.... There's an old saying that the road to Hell is paved by well-intentioned individuals, but intent doesn't matter if the end goal is conceived based faulty premises.
Giggles...
Going out tomorrow myself....(yes retail FS is planned among other things)
I avoid weekend FS like the plague...
It has been more about 'busywork' vs conversion in my area for sometime...
For me, preaching to my classmates and co-workers was way harder than knocking on doors. I'm shy as it is and didn't want them labeling me some religious wierdo to boot.
Not everyone at home is out of work. Thanks to the internet, many people can work from home these days. Although if they're working, I'm sure they don't want to take the time to be bothered by JWs. Or they might work odd shifts. In which case, they're probably sleeping and don't want to be bothered either. Like James Woods says, there's a lot fewer stay-at-home moms these days. Depends on the area.
Although stay-at-home moms it seems might make a better target if they can be found. It's women that take to religion more than men.
I can see where it's easy hours for the JW who's heart isn't in it (but then why pioneer)? But if your heart is in it, I would think it would get really discouraging.
jws said:
Although stay-at-home moms it seems might make a better target if they can be found. It's women that take to religion more than men.
Yeah, that makes sense.
When it comes to selecting health-care providers, it's also defo the women/Moms who wear the pants in the family, as the "influencers". Most husbands we see in clinic only go because their wives INSIST they go, and many Mothers will return with their brood if they sense that the practice is kid-friendly, but more importantly, acknowledges and reinforces their parental responsibility for initiating and making the families health-care decisions.
It sounds stereotypical (and exceptions DO exist), but it's an observation based on countless experiences with many colleagues (even explained in professional conferences), and those who choose to ignore the dynamic do so at the risk of their practice's viability and profitability.... Marketing campaigns for practices go out of their way to target women, for this reason.
Like a lot of man-made religious traditions, its chief virtues are 1) it occupies time and 2) reduces the likelihood that the member will start to stray or, worse, start to doubt the tradition.
If your definition of "effectiveness" is keeping members busy with religious duties, it is effective. Remember for a core number of JWs, there is less concern about speaking to people than, um, getting their hours in.
Indeed, even back in the 1980s when I last door-knocked, I'd be getting into the "swing" of having so many "Not At Homes" I'd end up in my own private little world. It would be kind of a mild shock when I found someone at home. If anything, I'd say the number of "Not At Homes" has increased over the decades, particularly during week days.
