Ever Wondered What People Think of Not-at-home Letters and Obit Letters?

by blondie 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  blondie

  I agree with what he has to say, Searril. I have had experiences myself in regard to jws. I had people at work who knew I was or had been a jw, ask me why they were getting a letter from a total stranger and commenting on their relative's death. Or a letter out of the blue. It is not this man looking for something to bitch. He had several different instances and was saying what passed through his mind and how it did not lead him to God.

  I got a letter myself from a sister in the same town I lived in who I knew although she was in another congregation. She did not recognize my name or me as a jw.

  It is a surprise for many jws that people find these behaviors strange. Reverse the circumstances, imagine you're getting a letter from a complete stranger, obviously more concerned about their religious message than how you are experiencing terrible sadness and loss. Or how creepy to get a letter from a Mormon telling you they have the bible answer to your situation.

  So don't attribute bad motives to this person. He is just giving his experience to these things.
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  stillin

  Yup, Searril hasn't thought about it. Even simple door-to-door work is a bizarre thing to do. But commenting on the strangeness of sending letters to people as being over the edge is simply calling a spade a spade, not whining! Good topic, Blondie.

  I think that for ones who have been in the religion for a long time, it just seems normal or even extending kindness to people who have lost somebody they love. But it really isn't. It's opportunistic and predatory.

  The Witnesses confuse the ones "sighing and groaning over all of the detestable things" with simple humanity. Mostly because they have none of their own.
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  carla

  "But it really isn't. It's opportunistic and predatory." - YES!!!!!

  How jw's do not see themselves as just plain weird is beyond me. It is one thing to say, "you are in my prayers" and quite another to get a personal note from a complete stranger after a loved one has died. One that the jw has no clue about and has never met attempting to tell you what to believe about the afterlife and that of your loved one.

  I think part of the problem is that jw's do not grieve in the same way others do. I don't know, that's all I can think of. "Yep, they are dead so sad, now let's get out in service so we can get over it and not think of such unpleasantness."

  Makes 'em sound rather like cold callous s.o.b.'s doesn't it?
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  Searril

  I've been hit by others on the street and had letters from lawyers show up in my mailbox. I didn't go on the internet and whine about it. I threw them in the trash and moved on with life.