Dear Inky:

When the JW told you: ““Oh, you could never offend me/hurt my feelings!” she had a good point: no other religion micro manages the individual more than the JW’s headquarter in Brooklyn, as far as I know. They are very organized. Every Sunday “sermon” is the same, word by word (translation to different languages approved and selected by headquarters) in every part of the world, every single Sunday. JW’s feelings, individual feelings, exist, I have no doubt, but these too are highly micro managed, instructions are printed out regarding everything. Good religion for anyone who wants to be micro managed in every single way.

Whatever issue you have with your neighbors, Inky, you might as well contact headquarters to figure out what to do: they are the authority. If your neighbors behave in any way that scares you or distress you, check with Brooklyn and if Brooklyn says your neighbors are wrong, tell your neighbors what Brooklyn said.

I don’t know what scares you about your neighbors. Let’s say you are afraid they will… try to get your boy to enter their home by offering him cookies. Ask Brooklyn if this is allowed, find the pamphlet that addresses the topic of offering cookies to children, and YOU, Inky, with a JW pamphlet in YOUR hand, approach your neighbors’ door and introduce the pamphlet to them!

You, Inky, got no say with JW… so get Brooklyn on your side… what says you, Inky?

anita

Wow. I was actually thinking about Jehovah Witnesses earlier.

There was a time, about a year or two ago that they would come to my house almost every other weekend or so. They would be in the parking lots of the grocery store, across the street waiting for students to get out of class, etc.

It bothers me that they try to push their beliefs on you, all the time. Why can they not understand when you say you already have a certain religion/belief? Do they think you’ll magically change your mind?

I feel like a prisoner in my own house sometimes. If I’m driving up to my house, and I see them walking down the street I basically run into the house. If I’m at home when they knock I just turn off all the lights and turn down the volume on the TV and go into the back room till I think they’re gone.

Now, I know I could just politely refuse, but they don’t seem to handle refusal well at all. They keep insisting. They have someone else come and knock. They all try to ask the same questions. It angers me that they don’t seem to understand that I don’t want anything to do with them. So instead of facing them, and probably having a bad encounter, I just hide it out. It also has to do with the fact that I don’t open the door to strangers, too much of a risk these days.

However, despite how much their persistence annoys me, I must admit…. To some degree I admire their dedication to what they are doing. Trying to get others involved. I say this because they’re usually dressed modestly, in their Sunday best. They also usually have the whole family come along with them. I’ve seen several with their children, and instead of watching TV or going to the mall or park, etc. They’re out and about trying to enlighten others on their view. That is not something everyone could do, so for that, I admire their dedication to a certain extent.

Inky, wow the persistence. I don’t think I would have been too happy if I had a son and my neighbors took him somewhere I didn’t know about. So in terms of that, I side with your family and friends. It’s good that you were finally able to clear the air and make the JW lady understand. I’d say not to worry about your neighbors, they don’t have a right to be offended. After all, you are allowed to believe whatever you want. Just like you wouldn’t push your beliefs on them,they have to understand to back away in terms of the whole religious conversion.

Anita, good note to remember for if I ever decide to open the door to them. I’ve always thought I’d just tell them, “I’m Catholic, thank you very much and that will not be changing anytime soon, goodbye”. Yeah, I’d be lying but I think that if I said oh I’m spiritual not religious they’d just keep insisting.

You know, some JW are very nice people. My sister had a best friend who was JW and she never tried to push her views or even mentioned it. I was shocked that they didn’t celebrate holidays or birthday parties and were forbidden from attending any sort of celebration pertaining to those events. They also can only marry within their religion. I feel like they are very opressed, but who am I to judge.

However, some of the rudest most spiteful people I’ve ever met have also happened to be JW. Very untrusting and suspicious of others. Too snobby as well. Of course this doesn’t apply to all of them.

Dear Inky:

If I had JW neighbors that did things that bothered me I would call the police, I suppose, if those things are illegal. But next thing I would do is call Brooklyn to ask if they permit this or that behavior and then I would type the answer and person I spoke with (stating that this particular behavior is not okay with Brooklyn) and take that typed paper to the neighbor. So I wasn’t kidding about my answer. I know that the pamphlets they have do not address these issues, by headquarters do have clear instructions printed somewhere about anything and everything under the sun… or the moon. I never called their headquarters myself so I don’t know what kind of response I’d get, but if I was in a conflict situation, I would call! Or email. And I would walk to their home with a pamphlet looking paper in my hand. That sounds like fun to me, that last part

anita