Fake Jehovah's Witnesses

by SanFranciscoJim 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  SanFranciscoJim

  The WTBTS continues to fight courtroom battles demanding freedom for JWs to go about their house to house proselytizing unhindered.

  I recently heard about a case where a young couple called at the house of an elderly woman somewhere in Europe (not sure where), posing as Jehovah's Witnesses. They returned to the home later that same night and burgularized it.

  While I do not believe that JWs should be hindered from the preaching work (free speech and all that), I do believe that they should be made to register with local or state agencies which regulate door to door solicitation. Furthermore, they should be required to carry identification (or better yet, wear a government-issued name tag) identifying them as a genuine Jehovah's Witness. No, a "No Blood" card won't work!

  The police are required to identify themselves with their badge when at someone's door. Why then shouldn't Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, or for that matter any solicitor also be required to carry an identification badge?

  Your thoughts?
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  Euphemism

  The constitutional question involved is the right to anonymous free speech. But perhaps that could be preserved if the badge was merely a government-issued permit, rather than an actual name.
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  SanFranciscoJim

  The constitutional question involved is the right to anonymous free speech. But perhaps that could be preserved if the badge was merely a government-issued permit, rather than an actual name.

  Perhaps, but I'd still like to see a photo I.D. to go with it.
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  Elsewhere

  The reason the WTS does not want JWs to carry ID badges is to blur liability in the event of a lawsuit.

  Right now if a JW screws up and is sued by a householder, the WTS cannot be sued because the JW was an "individual acting on his own". I am not aware of a single example of the WTS standing along side a JW who got sued. In fact there was a recent court case where a bethelite was driving a Watchtower truck and killed someone. The WTS kept demanding in court that the bethelite was not an employee and was acting independently of them... the court did not buy it and the WTS had to pay up.

  I also recall another suit where a JW went into a gated yard that had a sign that said “no trespassing”. He was knocked over by a goat and broke his leg. The JW sued both the home owner and the local congregation. The WTS sent in some lawyers and argued that the JW was acting on his own… the man lost the suit against the congregation, but won the one against the home owner.

  The WTS will only aid a JW if it is in the interest of the WTS… otherwise they will throw the JW to the wolves.
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  SanFranciscoJim

  The reason the WTS does not want JWs to carry ID badges is to blur liability in the event of a lawsuit.

  Hmmmm..... I wonder.... If someone posed as a JW and burgularized the home, as has already happened on at least one occasion that I am aware, could the burgled householder turn around and sue the WTBTS (or the local congregation) because the Society has chosen one degree of separation from their proselytizers, in essence making the JW solicitor an independent agent.

  With that thought in mind, could I, as an exJehovah's Witness, go from house to house with "apostate" literature, identifying myself as a Jehovah's Witness in the process? Would the Society try to stop me? If so, how could they reconcile their apparent separation from the door-to-door preachers in their own ministry?