My jw friend keeps preaching to me in e-mails

by Queenme 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  Queenme

  Dear Friends This is my first time posting. I am not a jw and have never been one but I have a friend who married a jw and converted. In spite of the bunk barometer going off in my brain over the years and never responding to her efforts to convert me, she just cannot stop preaching. We now live in different parts of the world so it's done via e-mail. I have tried to let her know her efforts are futile but she keeps plugging away and it annoys me intensely.

  A little background detail - we have been friends since we were 8 years old and have many memories in common before marriage, careers, different cities and countries, etc. As she's the one that keeps in touch, I keep trying to find the real person behind the mask and weaken every time I've avoided writing, been sarcastic or haven't replied and then write volumes about my very different life style. She replies with all sorts of wow and wonderful before the paragraphs of jw stuff.

  I hope this community can help me to suggest a suitably friendly but crushing written response to stop her writing any more unwanted jw nonsense. I realise her whole life is jw related but that is not my problem.

  I read with interest and learn from this forum. Thank you.
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  Doubtfully Yours

  Send her links to this board and others and ask her to first check those out prior to continuing the JW recruiting efforts.

  DY
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  Hadriel

  Tell her you'd like to study if she can answer a few things that are troubling you. Tell her that the reason you've not engage much with her is that these things are tough to understand.

  1. JW's taught for years that the United Nations was the scarlet colored wild beast mentioned in Revelation. Yet for 10 years they were a member of said organization. Only when a news story was uncovered did they retract from their membership.

  2. JW's teach that they are the only true religion and God's only channel, yet Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson at the Australian Royal Commission investigating Jehovah's Witnesses and their 1000 plus child rape cases never reported, said that witnesses were not God's only channel.

  3. JW's teach that the eating of blood is improper, I would agree in speaking of eating animals they should absolutely be bled properly however when incorporating life saving blood transfusions in this ban seems to put this law above the sanctity of life. Additionally in Leviticus 17:15,16 the penalty for eating blood was to essentially bathe and be unclean until the end of the day yet if a witness willfully takes blood to save their lives they're disfellowshipped. How is this consistent with the punishment laid out by God?

  4. JW's have taught that they were chosen in 1919 by Jesus as stewards for his people. Yet most of the teachings at the time of choosing have been abandoned and worse yet been proven blatantly false. For example in the Finished Mystery it was taught that the last days started in 1799 NOT 1914, That the Alpha and the Omega was Jesus. that the one riding the white horse was the Pope, that the Leviathan was the locomotive and many many other things that have been completely abandoned. Not to mention would be likely considered apostasy today. Just because it is old doesn't mean it is invalid for if it is than the 2600 old bible should be considered invalid as well.

  5. JW's teach that only they will survive. God will essentially kill 7 billion plus and only save Jehovah's Witnesses. This despite the fact that there are thousands of religions, 100's of bible translations and it is the luck of the draw if a person chooses the correct one. If God gives us freewill then the person must choose among millions of combinations hoping they get it right or they are destined to die.

  In the above questions they are impossible to answer. Many of these were posed to me by a study I had no way of answering them which caused me to come to my senses. However there is no guarantee as some are actually attracted to the idea of the truth rather than the actual truth.

  All the best...
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  Finkelstein

  Why don't you be direct and say that her constant preaching is really annoying you in spite of you respecting her beliefs, suggesting to respect your non beliefs.

  There is a world for both personal ideologies to exist without the anguish or prejudice.
  
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  Hadriel

  @Finkelstein although I totally agree with you unfortunately dealing with JW's is a one way conversation. They're allowed to preach to you but you not them.

  So if you want to maintain the relationship the best way I've found is to at a minimum take them down a notch with some facts that can't be disputed. At least then they can justify why you feel as you do in their own minds. If you're really fortunately they'll be shaken to reality but don't hold your breath.
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  BluesBrother

  Well...she can count her time spent preaching to you on the 'net. It is all part of her "Record of faithful service" and is reported monthly as is time spent standing next to a trolley cart or door knocking. If she sends unsolicited literature in an attachment that is a "placement" and further credit . So, it is in her best interests to keep going.

  I like Hadriel's questions actually, that might put her off , but will probably kill the friendship
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  tornapart

  Give her a link to jwfacts.com :)
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  NVR2L8

  Preaching to you is her only way to stay in touch because JWs usually do not entertain friendships with "wordly" people. You can be friends but only on her terms...
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  sowhatnow

  tell her the bible says not to

  cast pearls before a swine, lol

  i do believe that years ago the counsel at meetings was to not continue to preach to persons who are not responding to that message, for it is a waste of time . then of course it changed.
  

  my own mom cant stop dragging me into a conversation every time i see her.[ though i was a jw slave for 30 years...... but she knows by now im a lost cause but she will not give up because in her mind im as good as dead if i dont turn around...]
  

  and so your friend now is using the advice later given, keep trying.
  

  that if they keep dropping little tidbits of info, that some day, something might spark your interest... and then all the work will have been worth it. because you cant give up on people.

  only people who don't agree after they do agree.... change their minds... whatever.
  

  lol contradictory? um yea..
  
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  Queenme

  Thank you for all your replies. They are much appreciated. I will keep referring to them as and when needed. I think I need to establish that communication is a two way street and will refer her to jwfacts and her opinion thereof as a first resort. If she doesn't run for cover, I have all those questions from Hadriel as well as the knowledge of counting time, etc to add. It's good to have the opinions of those who have inside knowledge as so many people think jws are another eccentric and off beat branch of christianity.

  Thank you all once again from South Africa.