The JW came knockin'....

I'm not sure why I invited them in. The two older gentlemen seemed so friendly and I just thought about how much nerve it takes to knock on someone's door and how much rejection they must face as they try to share their 'good news'. And I was a little curious. My grandmother is Jehovah's Witness and I've never really tried to understand what they believe or why she converted after her husband died so many years ago.

Admittedly, my experience with the Jehovah's Witness is limited. I've grabbed flyers they were handing out at public events and have shoo-ed them away from my door when they knocked in Seattle. I had heard that the JW believe that the sky is falling and that only 100k people will be chosen to live with Jesus in heaven forever. And that just seems crazy and hopeless to me. Isn't the point of religion to give you some sort of hope for the future and comfort in our current condition?

So this is your official warning. If you are not a Christian or don't like to talk religon skip to a different post...I've had quite a few people ask me about this so I decided to post the progress.

It was almost two months ago that I first invited the JW in to 'talk'. I let them believe that I was open to what they wanted to teach me, but was in control of the conversation. Within one additonal meeting, they suggested I meet with some women - that it might not be appropriate for the men to meet me alone in my home with my kids. I had already decided that they were not serial killers and was comfortable chatting with them, but didn't object to the handoff. Turns out they weren't equipped to have the type of conversation/debate that I was engaging in so they brought in the big guns - Phyllis and Mary. Turns out Mary is a leading teacher in the area and her side kick is a new recruit. So I had to bring them up to speed. They came weekly for 4 weeks and then I told them that I needed to take a break, that I wasn't satisfied with their answers to my questions and didn't feel like they were prepared to talk about what I asked. So I made a copy of the the four questions we had been addressing and made them take it with them and study it. And they are coming back next week to talk about it after a month haitus.

It has been an interesting game of cat and mouse. I posted my research/notes that I used to prepare for our talks and I think the approach worked well. At this point, I have them on the defensive. The strategy was to focus on one issue and force them to address the issue before we moved on. I made them look at me when we spoke - somehow that took them out of debate mode and I think it helped them to hear what I was getting at. They are very well prepared and will throw lots of scripture at you to demonstrate how much they know as they talk you in circles. But if you really listen to what they are saying - it sounds like crazy talk! Nothing is directly answered. It is very frustrating and takes lots of patience. I've published my rough notes with scriptures here. I spent up to 4 hours a week preparing for a 1-2 hour conversation.

I didn't engage in this debate to 'convert' them. I really did feel sorry for them because I perceived that there is so little freedom and joy for the JW and I wanted to understand. I think I wanted to connect to my grandma. I wanted to get a feel for how someone could be drawn into to a religion like this. And I wanted to demonstrate another way of thinking - critically understanding truth and struggling to come to my own conclusions. I've gotten what I wanted out of our meetings and think I'll cut it off after I hear the response to my questions. They are now inviting me to local JW events and I don't want them to waste their time on me or mislead them as to my intentions. They are working hard for their salvation, and every door they knock on and every convert they are able to 'save' gets them one step closer to heaven.