It certainly is difficult to reach JWs with truth when truth means so little to the masses. So very contidictory to call a belief 'the Truth' without any truth in it. This is probably why it has been my experiences that most JWs are intellectually dishonest. Present evidence that contradicts their position and they shut down and will not engage any longer.The truth hurts apparently. I have had many conversations with JWs at my door thru the years and have found that they will say almost anything to hold their position. One elder once told me when I asked why would the bible say to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost? His reply, That means nothing. They're just names like Tom, Dick and Harry. That poor fellow [and his wife too]
Why it's a waste of time talking to JW's
by Phizzy 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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carla
"I have noticed most of them do not pay attention to what you actually say anyway."- ain't that the truth! -
Simon
I think you explained it in the opening sentence:
I believe it to be a waste of time talking to, reasoning with, JW's if you expect any kind of quick result.
It's not a waste of time talking to and reasoning with JWs ... just don't expect them to switch from beliefs built up over a lifetime of indoctrination because of something you said in a 5 minute conversation.
But people can't "unhear" things and at some point, some seed you plant is possibly going to cause a connection when something else happens or they discover some new information and they may make the jump to asking questions about whether the things they have been taught to believe are true and whether the WTS has lied.
The house of cards can come down pretty quickly after that.
It just takes time. Think of it as planting seeds, not picking apples.
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punkofnice
"I have noticed most of them do not pay attention to what you actually say anyway."- ain't that the truth!
Indeed. I told some apathy trolly drones that I didn't believe in god. They kept asking how did I think god felt about stuff. I had to keep repeating....he doesn't feel any way about things because he doesn't exist. -
undercover
Substitute JW with Mormon, Catholic, Baptist. It's all the same when it comes to faith and belief. One believes what one wants to believe, despite the facts and the logic. Until a person gives voice to the doubts or questions his faith, then you're not going to convince them they're wrong. Just like us at one time. Until we admitted to ourselves that something was wrong, we ignored all the criticisms, evidence against our beliefs. We thought we had the 'truth'.
Now, that's not to say it's a complete waste of time trying to enlighten a JW. You have to know and accept that you're not going to convince them in a relatively short time period. You have to plant the seed, and maybe water it from time to time. And it may never take root, but maybe one day, something triggers deep in their mind, and that doubt creeps to the surface, and they give it voice. And they research on their own. They're on their way then...
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Island Man
I disagree. I think it can seem like a waste of time if you have unrealistic expectations.
Sharing TTATT with JWs does have a deep impression on them even though they may not show it outwardly or act on it immediately. Seeds of reason are planted which may spring up and grow years later when the circumstances are right. It is those seeds that may make the difference in helping a JW to exit when (s)he faces a crisis of faith or adversity brought on by the organization itself.
TTATT is not a block that brakes the camel's back. It's just bales of straw that weigh down the camel's back one step closer to its breaking point.
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Lieu
If most believe they are happy in their ignorance, it's definitely a waste of time.
Most wake up on their own. And it's usually some crazy internal change or article/talk/doubt/etc which does it. External exchange has very little to do with it.
The research into things comes after the awakening not before. Most have to have that wait, huh, moment from something said in an article or a talk.
What anyone outside the internal sphere said would have meant nothing to me. You're just Satan trying his best to mislead in my mind. JW think.
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steve2
Introvert 2
Yes, I have experienced the same sort of negative reaction. Somehow it is okay for unknown numbers of former witnesses to have their non-JW lifestyle and unthinkingly go their inactive way. But when it comes to explicitly examining their "leftover" beliefs and hang ups, they cannot cope. They are back in that same old orbit of let me carry on with my non-JW stuff but I daren't be seen as an opposer.
Developmentally stunted and deluded. This kind of guilt-ridden backslider operates in every religion known to humankind.
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jookbeard
I've had some great chats anti witnessing on their carts, I remember speaking to a guy in my town centre about their UN membership, his reactions was a look of being gob smacked, I still to this day have not seen him out again, I had another very good chat with a couple of ladies at very busy stations in London on seperate occasions I have lost count how many times I've been able to speak about the ARC to them, who knows what these little snippets and morsels do in unlocking their mindsets,only last week I had a very brief chat in a town centre close to me about the generation of 1914, they guy standing there looked genuinely surprised, they haemorrhage members, their Google buttons are only a nano second away from them, dont underestimate the work activism does. -
dogon
I used to talk to them when they come to the door. You can be spot on your argument, know the 607 argument down to the last period and they will never ever listen. Your wasting your time. They will leave and say the demons have hold of you and you just lost time you will never get back. I decided those bastards took enough of my time and life and those fuckers will not get more.