Due to current restrictions, letter writing has
replaced the door-to-door method of preaching. However, the typical JW
practice of hand printing sappy and childish messages and enclosing what
amounts to Watchtower "junk mail" is enough to embarrass even XJWs.
I decided to compose a letter which completely
"spills the beans" regarding current JW beliefs and practices, and here
is why I did so. In the 1960s, when I was 15 years old, I was carefully
trained to call, uninvited, on my neighbors, reading 3 scriptures,
concluding with Rev. 18:4, and telling them that they were in a false
religion which would soon be destroyed by Jehovah; and that, if they did
not leave their religion and become a JW, they, too, would be
destroyed. I shudder, now, recalling the things I said to people back
then. But, we were told at that time that the nearer we got to the great
tribulation, the more stinging our message would become. Well, clearly,
that was another Watchtower lie, because the message preached by JWs
today is a complete joke.
So,
I imagined a sincere JW who truly believes that the "great tribulation" is imminent, and
who truly believes JWs are performing a life-saving preaching work, but
who is completely put off by the milquetoast message preached by JWs
today. That sincere JW believes it when Watchtower says that what
matters is, not the message being preached but, rather, the
righteously-disposed heart condition of the one hearing the message
which will result in one being spared at Armageddon. One may never get a
second chance, so one had better take full advantage of one's first
opportunity to acquaint one's listeners with "Kingdom truth" as
published by Watchtower and embraced by JWs worldwide. One would think
that every JW would feel that kind of urgency if they truly believed
what the GB tells them is going to happen very shortly. I purposely
presented JW beliefs in language commonly used by the JWs I knew when
discussing such beliefs among themselves, privately or at the KH. One online commenter loved the condescending and judgmental tone of the letter.
I
began circulating the letter, mailing copies to hundreds of
church pastors throughout Texas, using the return address of the local
KH in various communities. I listed the telephone numbers of Watchtower
offices in Warwick, Wallkill, and Patterson, imagining that people would
be so shocked by the letter that they would call to comment or ask
questions. I even mailed a copy to myself, and showed my copy to a
number of local JWs. They all read the entire letter, saying that it was
clearly written by an apostate, but confirming the accuracy of the
beliefs and practices described therein. I even called the numbers
myself, and one Watchtower elder offered the same assessment. He also
said that Watchtower had received numerous calls about the letter.
I
began sharing the letter on social media, and the response from XJWs
has been very enthusiastic. Thanks to the efforts of individuals who
clearly enjoyed the letter, it now has its own domain, www.jwletter.com,
and has been translated into Spanish and other languages.
In times past, Watchtower compared its judgment message and its effect on people as the sting of scorpions. Remember the pictures of horses with scorpion stingers for tails? JWs are clearly disturbed by my letter, as if being stung by a scorpion, and I
know it is because they know that it exposes the idiocy of Watchtower
teachings which they have wholeheartedly endorsed, even though they don't talk openly about such things except among themselves. Most people
have known at least one JW, but nobody knows what JWs really believe. www.jwletter.com hopes to change all that.