OMG, I've had several experiences. Altho I've been away for decades, I don't want to be known as the JW person. Sometimes, though, I reveal it for comic effect. People laugh so hard. It must be my delivery.
Altho I breach my rule here, I tend to not want to fight with people in ordinary life. Not only JW stuff but other matters, too, I will try to politely correct someone who I know is factually wrong. Of course, my boundaries are great and sometimes I hurry home to research the matter. 98 percent of the time, I was correct. Some people are more confident of themselves than others.
I once went to my local church. Most of the time it is boring. I'm not very invested. They care so much and I do not. There was a guest preacher. He spoke about Elaine Pagels work on Gnosticism and other books she wrote. Well, I studied with Elaine in college. I follow her career. She was impressive when young but no one had any idea she would soar. Not many people were interested in her work. It was very academic. I've read her books several times. He started telling the parish what she wrote. I know these people for many years now. I knew if she were drunk out of her mind, she would not write or say such things. I can't believe my ears. There is no one present that I know would read her books.
He continues to discuss her work. In fact, her slant/personal bias is the opposite of what he was saying. He had extraordinary public speaking skills. Overall, too slick and I'm from Manhattan. Everyone else is transfixed with worshipful eyes. I gave him every benefit of the doubt. He was misrepresentiing things. No one could be so versed and not have the slightest reading comprehension. Of course, the way he framed her work supported his overall conclusion. I respected his conclusion but I would never agree with it. After the service, there is a longer line than usual.
People are telling him he is extraordinary. Yes, an extraordinary snake salesman. I politely engage him and explain my interest in the topic. It was a struggle. It is not that I am better than he. No way. Because of accident and no planning on my part, I was physically present for some things. I know not to be rude. Well, I'm not going to get a gun and shoot him. He smiled at me and acknowledged what I said. It did not bother him in the least. He had a show to go on the road. In my entire life, I've never heard someone so responsible boldly do what he did. Some of the people I know well. Without making a scene, I politely drew away the key people I believed would understand I wanted no trouble.
I said I could be wrong. They had already heard me discuss Pagels in Bible Study class. It was weird. Without saying he was lying, I told them how confused I was. Pagels herself could never in a million years be as slick as he was. The world is not as slick as he presented. The selected parishoners nod their heads and go on how great he was. It is not my home culture. I can't read them.
It bothered me a lot at the time. Perhaps I am oversensitive to mischaracterization on a gross level b/c of the Witnesses. No one can read and research every topic in life. He makes a lot of money doing this. Well, a lot is relative. Most people would like the gig.
I try my hardest to ignore it. Fundamentally, I no longer live my life to engage in ideological warfare. I had enough for several life times. If people want to believe that the cow jumped over the moon....what is it to me. Of course, in a normal world, I would never encounter these things. People here are not that far from NY and Boston. They have little skepticism.
I refuse to waste my energy on snakeoil salespeople. Maybe I am too skeptical. I do believe that introspection and knowing your biases are important. It was drummed into my head. Maybe it was drummed into my head, though, b/c I lived in a certain area and wanted to do certain things. Anway, nothing is going to happen if I let things slide. I would prefer to be challenged.
If I had a dollar for every time someone screamed at me what a fool I was for stating something that I later researched and found to be correct, I would be filthy rich. It may just be temperament. Some people have great confidence--even when they are wrong. I see pluses and minuses to both sides. If I do get upset, though, I try to find someone else to validate my experience. If I just briefly mention what happened in a few lines someplace else, I feel much better.
Also, let us be honest. We are only JW buffs b/c of shared trauma. If we were Catholics or Protestants, people would know more. I telephoned some Mormons today. All my Mormon knowledge is from wikipedia and Big Love. I suppose it is totally false.
