by Elsewhere 49 Replies latest jw friends
Elsewhere,
what you did is up there with Sir Richard Burton passing himself off as a muslim to go to the Shrine of the Kaaba in Mecca. Still all those images of programs and the like gives me creepy flashbacks. I can taste the frozen OJ and danishes now.
so we owed you huh Elsewhere? I don't think you could have paid me enough money to attend!
Hey, thanks. I think I would prefer to walk round Portland with a nail in my shoe. I did think page 5 of the program summed up my views these days.
I thought the title was the "WALK YOUR DOG" district convention.
It would make as much sense as what they're putting out these days.
Loved your use of scripture. Nothing like smacking a JW around with his own light saber.
I just wanted to say that I was very impressed. My parents are off in Dayton right now going to the convention. At least I'll know what they'll be bringing back for me.
Damn, you sat through two whole days of the stuff? shite, I don't think I could make it through the door without decking somebody.
CZAR
I am fascinated by the man's picture on the front of the brochure. Since I'm getting the impression that their new target audience is uneducated, low-income, people of color, why do they feature an old frightened looking white guy? Are new immigrants supposed to think "hey, if that old white guy is scared, maybe I ought to be scared, too?" I mean, really?
So, Else, did you find this experience personally therapeutic?
So, Else, did you find this experience personally therapeutic?
Therapeutic, yes... in that I now know I can walk into the middle of the "lion's den" and take them on with ease. It was amazing.... I think I found the trick to defeating any JW, even the hi-ranking ones: They all have a pathological need to talk about the org to strangers. There is a catch though... and it is actually a GOOD one: You cannot out-right attack them or say anything bad about the organization. Doing this will throw up their "aposto-shields" and they will run away.
This is why standing outside with signs or trying to hand out flyers will get you nowhere... their aposto-shields fly up and at that point it is impossible to talk to them. The trick is to get THEM to come up to you by looking like an "interested one". This also puts them into a very difficult position in terms of how they operate: Their entire foundation is one of approaching strangers and talking to them. In order to defeat my new approach they will have to make a major paradigm change in how they operate.
On the other hand, if you simply talk about freedom of religion and respecting each other's beliefs, they end up stuck. They cannot logically dispute your reasoning but at the same time their aposto-shields will not go up, so they stay and keep listening to what you say. They know they cannot dispute this because they are always talking about how proud they are that the Org has won so many court battles about the very same thing. The problem for them is that deep down they know that they believe that only THEY are right and all other religions are from "Satan". They end up with a blatant contradiction in their mind that they cannot make go away. This also puts them in the very uncomfortable position of trying to rationalize the act of hating all other religions while still trying to look rational and reasonable... something that is impossible.
In time they get a funny look on their face that looks like some gears of independent thought have started to turn... then a sudden look of consern and fear.
I went to one a couple of weeks ago in Long Beach (sat. afternoon to be exact). It was fun walking around and remembering. What was not fun was looking at the loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong lines for the ladies' rooms. What was interesting was that at the north end of the center were restrooms that were not be used, but were open. Also, how some of the "brothers and sisters" were very secretive about the location of said restrooms.
I walked into the arena as they began to play the "King-dum Melodies." Songs that I had gotten out of my head are now back in it. Especially the one that was "sung" and I use the phrase "sung" loosely to open the afternoon session, "Let';s Watch How We Walk." My g/f said that it (the song) reminded her of the "Dulac song" from Shrek (where Shrek and Donkey first enter Dulac).
I couldn't stay any longer than 10 minutes into the first talk, which was about as exciting as whatching grass grow. My boredom threshold had reached it's limits. So we left and tooled about Long Beach for the rest of the day. After dinner we decided to head home (using the Metro) we got on, at about the time when the convention ended and got witnessed to. I, to my g/f's chagrin, began to counter-witness. I explained that the WTS hides pedophiles as the RCC, which they so vehemently condemn, and that all of this has been detailed on the various media outlets. I went on, and on, and soon they began to exit the train. Whether it was their actual stops or just to wait for the next train, I don't know.
All and all, a great time was had by all.
LABD, of the never let them breathe, class
