Why do they still call them public talks , when the public never show up in any numbers of significance .
smiddy
Meeting Today
by lambsbottom 22 Replies latest jw friends
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Faithful Witness
How do you think members of the "public" are made to feel when they walk inside the Kindgom Hall?? I will tell you my experience.
We came in, wearing our Sunday best. I think we were camouflaged fairly well. We even brought our old NWT's (this was before the release of the new version). I did forget our songbooks, but someone else lent us theirs.
As I handed it back to her at the end of the meeting, I said, "I knew I forgot somethiing!" and smiled as I thanked her. She looked at me sideways, smiling but suspiciously asked, "Where are you from?" I told her we were from another congregation but hadn't been attending for awhile. We came to try to "catch up" on the latest. She said, "Yeah! It was a good one this week!" (the week of Sept 8, when they rewrote the definition of the FDS, etc.) I agreed, as we high-tailed it out of there.
Everyone was lingering afterward, getting ready for the service work. Not a single person greeted us, aside from the woman who lent us the songbook. It was creepy and the air was so heavy with a feeling of burden. I felt like we were crashing a funeral, and the attendees were all just pretending to be friends with each other.
When my husband and I first started going to meetings, about 9 years ago, you had to fight off the JW's. They were all over you, with questions and curiosity, like you were a new shiny toy. We visited 2 KH's last fall, and neither one welcomed us in a way that was encouraging or friendly. We couldn't wait to get out of there, and had no desire to return. Ever.
I am just SO so glad we got out of that cult before jumping into the pool. Oppressive doesn't begin to describe it.
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Faithful Witness
That thing about the "Ark" is also noteworthy. Aren't the public talks scripted? Someone told him to draw that ark. Is this a clue about the lifesaving instructions that are coming down soon?