Did anything a householder said ever make an impression on you?

by Alleymom 64 Replies latest jw friends

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  Alleymom

  WOW! Thanks for all the great answers! You all are giving me a lot to think about!

  XJW - B12 (love your name!)

  Working with my mom, while their was a jw blood custody case involving a 12 year old girl, going on in the city, and we called on a nurse. She was very visibly upset, and though she was not rude per se, she was very strong and emotional in gettting her point across.

  Wow, that makes me think of a friend who didn't know from anything about JW doctrine, theology, false prophecies, etc., but she knew they teach blood transfusions are against God's will. Her father was dying of some form of cancer, and she became very emotional when two JW's called at her door. She told them in no uncertain terms her dad was being kept alive by blood transfusions and what kind of God did they worship if they thought this was wrong?

  Knowing how strongly JW's feel about the blood issue, I would have thought her response wouldn't "work" --- but I am coming to realize that all kinds of things "work". Her very honest, right-from-the-heart response may have struck a chord. Thanks!

  Englishman --

  One chap looked me right in the eye and said: "You really hate doing this, don't you? Go on, be honest, a young chap like you should be out having fun".

  So, like some of the other incidents mentioned here, this was something you agreed with and it stuck with you.

  Duncan --

  "What do you think you're doing? Go home and go to bed, you stupid young man! You're not only making yourself worse - you're spreading it all around!"

  She was quite right, of course. Maybe she was a nurse or doctor or something. It was one of the few times I had been made to feel genuinely ashamed to be on the doors, and I remember that feeling even now.

  LOL! A word of truth right between the eyeballs (or sinuses) <s>. What is interesting to me is that, like some of the others here, you remember the incident and your feelings so clearly. And, again, this is not something you would ever read about in a "how-to-talkto-Witnesses-at-your-door" book.

  Lisa --

  "How much are they WORTH?" ...Well,I didn't have an answer for that, so I said l, " Not much, how about 10 cent a piece"

  Not much! <laughing out loud in an empty room again!> From the mouths of babes <s>!

  When I was really young, 5 or 6. I remember alot of people slamming the door in our face as soon as they saw who we were. One time in particular, the lady opened her door, her dog made a mad dash for the door, then just as she was slamming it shut, the old sister I was with, swung her bookbag toward the door and it got slammed in the door, the lady in the house started yelling at us, "You people will try anything".

  Fear and hurt feelings -- pretty powerful stuff for a youngster that age! I feel bad for you (and others) for going through all this stuff as children. Lisa, I have read others saying the pictures in the literature scared them, all the earthquake scenes, etc. Are you one the ones who wrote about that?

  Blondie ---

  Explain why how Jesus is Michael the Archangel
  Explain the 2300 days/constant feature
  Explain "free gift" and "works" in the Bible
  Explain why anniversaries are okay but birthdays are wrong
  
  (Started realizing JWs follow men not the Bible)

  Thanks -- food for thought (for me, I mean! But I see it was food for thought for you, too!)

  I like the annivesaries/birthdays question. If someone had asked you why if was wrong to honor our fathers/mothers on Fathers'/Mothers' Day when the Bible tells us to do that, do you think that would have provoked a similar response?

  Ok, I'm up on the 2520 days, but what are the 2300 days?

  Another thing I picked up on is that you said all these people asked you to EXPLAIN. So instead of attacking your belief or arguing with you, they let you do all the floundering, and you realized for yourself that your own explanations were pretty weak.

  Thanks again to everyone! I am fascinated! Keep them coming!

  Marjorie
• 

  City Fan

  Here are a selection of phrases I heard in my 20 plus years of door knocking:

  What are you selling?

  Why don't you get a proper job?

  oh, Piss off!

  You lot let children die, don't you?

  You lot were here last week!

  You're dressed like the prime minister!

  If I buy your magazines you won't be back next week, will you?

  oh, I've read all your books!

  oh, Sod off!

  etc etc...
• 

  Alleymom

  Plmkrzy ---

  The funny thing is, no.
  
  However, some of the sisters I went out in service did. How? Because while I was, not taking "my turn" at the door, I had to listen to them witness. Listening to some of the reasoning they offered to "prospects" especially concerning "these troubled times hard to deal with", disturbed me enough to wonder where in the hell they came up with some of this s**t! I felt embarrassed sometimes and wanted to say "hey, don't look at me!" "I was just passing by and just happened to run into this person myself" "Would you be interested in some Tupperware?"

  Hmmm, I've had JW's at my door give some pretty lame responses, too. I never stopped to really think about what kind of poor witness this was to their partner(s).

  Blackout ---

  Also another time I met a Lady who used to be a witness and was now a mormon .

  Ummm .... talk about "out of the frying pan into the fire" !!!

  BeelzeDub --

  an aging WWII veteran came storming out the door... yelling that he was going to put a bayonet up are ass for the WT refusing to take up arms. Left quite an impression.

  I bet it did! (I can just imagine my 85-yo FIL, who is a WWII vet. The older he gets the more irascible he is. Charge!)

  Dobby --

  "Congratulations. I think it's wonderful, but it's not surprising - it's the circle of life isn't it? It's part of the human experience since the beginning of time and you have taken your place in that process".

  It was wierd because I suddenly saw myself as very small as part of the vast, moving, dying, living, loving, birthing mass of humanity from the present, past and future. Why did I think I was someone special? And why is my experience or lifetime any different than anyone else's? And finally what's wrong with just existing - living the best you can - why do we think we have to find "truth" in this ancient and mysterious human existence when no one before us has found it.

  Wow!

  Undercover --

  I remember one elderly woman who listened patiently as we gave our prepared sermon. We asked her who she thought was responsible for all the worlds woes. Her answer? The Beatles. The world was normal till they came along and then everything changed. And all this time I thought that the world had changed in 1914.

  The Beatles? Are you sure you wasn't the Sicilian lady mentioned upthread <s>?

  The "lady" of the house came to the door wearing a see thru negligee(sp?). As I commenced on my sermon, the lady reached up and pulled loose the bow that was holding it together in the front and it fell open for an excellent view. I pretty much forgot why I was there at that point and just stammered and stuttered my way through the rest of it,

  So did you go back and tell everyone about that incident? So that they could incorporate it into theocratic ministry training, of course?

  I have a group of older ladies from my church who sometimes ask me for hints on answering the Witnesses. They are home all day so they get a lot of calls. Maybe I'll run your story by them and give them all something to laugh about <s>.

  Hamas --

  Yeah, but how do you know it's true ?

  Holy epistemology, Batman!

  Thanks everyone. I'll check back tonight. My husband works at home and seems to think he needs the computer now, can you imagine <s>.

  Marjorie
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  freein89

  holy epistemology batman HAHa, funny.

  When I was a good little JW, I don't think anything would have gotten thru to me. But, when the doubts began Oh yeah. When the dubbies call I resolve to be nice and to plant a seed. Because that person may be doubting and it would feel so good to help. It is so very tempting to be all nasty and try to trip them up. But ya never know whats runnin loose in their little heads. Maybe the pitter patter of little doubts. You catch more flies with honey, honey.

  Deb
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  TresHappy

  I remember several of our congregation's territories got worked extremely often. The congregation's reigning queen, Miss Pioneer (she didn't win Miss Congeniality) and I were out one day in a subdivision of mostly duplexes. I never will forget we knocked on this guy's door and as soon as he opened the door, his mouth dropped. "You were here last week, as a matter of fact, it was you (pointing to pioneer). She said "Well I hope we didn't disturb you." He then went on to ask her "Is this a training ground for Jehovah's Witnesses?"
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  maxwell

  No matter how much right a person has to kick me off there property when I arrive unannounced trying to change their religion, no rude response ever impressed me. That just triggered the programmed JW response you all know. But there was one householder who was speaking to my dad once when I was a teenager who made a comment that I didn't feel my dad was able to fully answer and that still sticks in my mind till today, because I had never before and never after saw any householder able to do that. I was living in a rural area in Tennessee, east of Memphis, so perhaps the people are not as sophisticated as people elsewhere or maybe I looked at things with colored glasses, but I don't remember any other occasion of someone bringing up a point that my dad couldn't answer. Anyway this guy takes a punch at the New World Translation. He asks us to read some scripture in Timothy. I don't remember exactly which scripture and then he points out that there's words that are added which changed the meaning. My dad wasn't able to satisfactorily answer him and I never pressed him on the point myself. If you're familiar with the New World Translation, you know there's many places where there are words enclosed in brackets [ ]. In the back of the NWT it says, "Brackets enclose words inserted to complete the sense in the English text." This insertion I can understand if they are inserting an article or a pronoun that is implied. However that did make me concious whenever I read the Bible from then on. Sometimes it did seem that the insertion changed the meaning of the scripture. It didn't make me leave the organization, but was just something simmering there and may have contributed to my later independent thinking.
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  hybridous

  As a young kid, I was at a door with another young kid. We met a Born-Again pastor. He ended our discussion by shouting at us...

  'You're going to hell, man....and you're TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU!!!'

  Prick. Yeah, that did so much to help me wake up from the cult. If people would only realize that kind of behavior only reinforces that cult 'us against the world' mentality. Never mind that fact that we were only young kids (maybe 10 - 12 years old) just doing what we were told.
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  acsot

  Through all my years of pioneering and feeling so privileged to have the “truth” and being able to verbally wrestle with people, I felt very smug and self-righteous about my beliefs. Stressed and guilty also, mind you, but smug nonetheless.

  Then about two or three years ago we knocked on the door of a building used as part temple, part monastery for a small group of Buddhist monks. We could feel the peaceful atmosphere, their kindness and hospitality, even though they didn’t speak much English. Their smiles were genuine, and after we left the door, all we could talk about were these Buddhist monks and how gentle and serene they were. Our “life-saving” message was forgotten, as were our magazines, and we just talked about their simple life, their lack of material things and how happy they seemed. Quite the contrast to how we were feeling, I’m sure: guilt-ridden and under obligation to be knocking on doors of people who could teach us more about living true to ourselves than we could ever teach them.
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  undercover

  I remember one of my proudest moments as a dub in service; a guy came to the door with a book in hand(he saw us coming down the street). Some book about greek and bible translations. He was all ready to defend the trinity. We got into an argument about it. He was kinda of obnoxious, but hey, it was his front porch, not mine. I remember asking him that when Jesus was baptized, who's voice from above said, "this is my son....". The man answered, "God's". I replied, "No, God just got baptized, remember, because Jesus and God are the same by your definition". He went ballistic. He said I was a blasphemer and was going to hell and that he wished me ill. I had somehow managed to keep my cool through all this and I simply stated that as a Christian, that I would not wish ill on anyone whether they were in agreement with me or not. That really got him. He ended up apologizing and retracting his statement about wishing ill upon me. I was so proud that I had caused this guy to lose his cool and react so angrily. I thought that I had vindicated God's name somehow. Actually though, looking back on it, all I did was invade his privacy, provoke him into an argument and cause him to lose his cool.
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  RunningMan

  Back when I was younger (around 19) I ran into a university student who seemed very well versed in philosophy. We had a long discussion at the door, probably around an hour.

  He very carefully extracted our beliefs regarding the generation of 1914 and the end of the world. Finally, he stuck to one point: what will I do if time passes and the end does not come? I said that it was unthinkable, since it was God's promise. But he kept hammering that point - what if? I eventually had to admit that it would mean that we had misunderstood and would need to adjust. That point came back to me many times over the years, particularly around 1994.

  Another call was very short. I called on a man who identified himself as a doctor, a hematologist or something like that. He was rather abusive, making the point that he had seen "some of our people" die the "most horrible deaths imaginable". I got out pretty quick, but the call was the type that made you shakey afterward. I had to run back to personal study for a tune up.