by Faded 18 Replies latest jw friends
I think everything has to start somewhere, and you can see the passion and commitment from those loyal 50 that showed up in Warwick yesterday. The event was not very well organized but you could see the passion & dedication from most of them. And I think they at least touched a couple of people at the KH yesterday.
Having an annual day of action actually inspires me. Besides organizing it better, how would you make it better and more successful?
This is way over and above the topic of November 5, but if there was a way to unite the ex JW factions and create a universal front, there could be hundreds of activists working in cities all over the world. Or one mega event.
If you had 2 or 3 major players organizing it, with a solid event organizer, the event could have 10x as many people there next time.
People such as Barbara Anderson, James Penton, John Cedars (yes even him - he's articulate and thought provoking even if people question his motives), Lee Elder, Susan Gaskins, etc. And also involve the VAA, Mike & Kim and other "unusual ones". Say what you want about them, but they do know how to reach people. No six screens though as he didn't bring his buddy Johnny the Bethalite to the first one. ;)
I know this is a pipe dream because there is so much infighting within some of these people, but can you just imagine what they could accomplish if they were united?
if there was a way to unite the ex JW factions and create a universal front, there could be hundreds of activists working in cities all over the world.
There are no JW factions. There are just individuals, some who do protests at KHs and some who do YouTubes or blogs. We don't want to unite or become activists.
Most of us just want to live a normal life after spending years in a crazy religious cult. It's destroying itself with its stubborn refusal to comply with governmental and legal regulations all over the world. Already it's a shrunken remnant of its former self with continual demands for money.
Well said Xanthippe. The kh protestors came across as real human being protesting about something that distressed them very much and yet they fought and managed to be dignified in their grief.
Both my wife and I have developed in the last 6 years several dozen friends and many more acquaintance. All know about Jw cult. We have also given 3 sermons at our local UU congregation on cult's in so many years and how Jw's fit into that mix. I know our friends talk to others about our experience's because when they introduce us to their family and friends they often say these are the ones we been talking about.
For us on Nov. 5 of next year we will be doing the same thing as we have been doing. For us this is our protest that we are involved in. Education is we feel the best way to inform people. Still Totally ADD
Let me also point out a huge and overlooked flaw in the idea of yearly 11/5 protests.. this is an american based religion, both in history and in physical location. November 5 is meaningless to americans. Guy fawks isnt a historical figure we grow up being told about or identify with on any level. A simple and effective way to start would be choosing a more meaningful date
I’m not sure that I saw the same nobility on display that you did, but I am a very skeptical (perhaps cynical) person. I think the simplest answer is that we should use Watchtower training or tactics against Watchtower.
For one, ringleaders should have a solid résumé in the religion. It’s hard for anyone to take seriously an apostate who was not very active or sincere and is now speaking out. It plays better publicly to put at the forefront those who really believed and lived the lie and makes it more difficult for Watchtower to discredit them. It would be easier for apostates like me to believe that folks with a substantial track record are not chasing personal glory. Figures of this caliber also do much more to grab the attention of curious JWs. Think of how carefully vetted anyone used in Watchtower publications is. This would require that too many folks currently “spearheading” the movement stay in the background, which I think will be an impossible sell. No one wants to feel their value is increased on the sidelines, especially those seeking attention for their activism. I’m not saying people shouldn’t tell their stories, as some find it therapeutic, but some could be a bit more tame or altogether absent from events where media is present.
For me, the biggest issue is the amateurism about the ordeal. I don’t want to hear that “it’s a start” anymore, especially considering this very protest had been in the works for years and that some of the organizers were elders who had previously helped organize much larger events, I’m sure.
A clear theme should be selected, and signs should be designed accordingly and collectively approved. The theme should be something that is easily understood by non-JWs and pulls at their heart strings.
A dress code should allow for the comfort of the protesters, while not detracting from their message before an ultra-conservative audience hung up on dress and grooming.
A wide available, exact time, location, and itinerary would perhaps whet the appetite of those on the fence about attending.
Don’t protest in front of HQ. It’s a waste of time. Print out informative tracts like Watchtowers and blitz Warwick going door to door and inviting other community churches along. That’s a story a newspaper or local news channel can get behind. Encroaching on the JWs’ self-proclaimed trademark might be the only thing that could rile the feathers of the HQ brass.
I also think Morpheus has a great idea. Why not choose a date significant to all JWs that doesn’t require taking a day off work? The first Saturday of October would see a lot more JW traffic and may sow seeds in the mind of some AM attendees.
There’s much more that could be done to legitimize the spectacle, but I really don’t see the current ringleaders whose efforts are counterproductive taking one for the team and stepping aside or allowing for a more democratic approach.
Pick a date on October. Make it coincide with some 1914 theme
A clear theme should be selected, and signs should be designed accordingly and collectively approved.
Print out informative tracts like Watchtowers and blitz Warwick going door to door and inviting other community churches along. That’s a story a newspaper or local news channel can get behind.
I think that's how CT Russell started his movement....
but if there was a way to unite the ex JW factions and create a universal front,
