Jehovah’s Witnesses:The Knockers
February 25th, 2008 | by sagefever | Published in Daily Featured, Video | 6 Comments
I am sure you have been as annoyed by them as I have.They always seem to come at the exact wrong time,at my door,invading my space.After watching Independent Lens the other night ,right before I politely tell them “no thanks” I am going to add a “Thanks”~ here is why you may wish to do the same.The film “Knocking” follows two separate families and their journey in and around the Witness faith. The film deals fairly with the many controversial aspects of this belief system~personal rights,blood transfusions,ostracism of ex believers and other topics.
It is in their advocating of free speech that my ignorance of this group most struck me. They have gone before SCOTUS a remarkable 60 times to fight for free expression~and won a even more remarkable 50 times.
The most notable period was between 1935 and 1938.Their firm belief in the commandment “Thou shall not kill” resulted in their interment in concentration camps in Nazi Germany.Here in the U.S. it resulted in destruction of their Halls ,riots against them,attacks on the street and most regrettably tar/feathering,stoning and castration.In 1940 they lost before SCOTUS the case against saying the pledge.After this 200 editorials across the nation,and Elanor Roosevelt,spoke on the irony of this decision.The very thing we claimed to be fighting against Germany for,we committed at home. In an unheard of three years turnaround the Justices reversed their decision,allowing the Witness’s to not say the pledge~worship of an image according to their belief.
The film covers a lot more ground than this,it is worth trying to catch or buy the DVD~even a visit to http://www.pbs.org/independ… will give you pages to see and much more to discover.While I am in no danger of converting~it behooves us all to learn more about the “other”.
That knock on your door is a reminder that the principles of free speech,religion and personal liberty can exist in peace.
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February 25th, 2008at 4:39 am(#)
Nice catch, sage.
I find this absolutely fascinating.
At the same time, though, I’m married to a man who was shunned and later excommunicated and whose VERY JW father, sent him a letter, while he was serving in Iraq that basically told him that he was going to burn in hell if he did not repent and come back (and convert his family…that’s me and the kids…fat *&^% chance of that) to the church! I should note, that the second deployment was extremely hard for SSG Dizzy, so getting this very offensive letter from his own father broke his heart. (BTW I have never met my in-laws).
Now, as a kid, I had several friends who were JW and I adored them. But, my father-in-law pretty much reflects to me why I want to distance myself from those people, despite all the good they have done. Of course, I’m grateful for the good they have done, but their ugliness in other areas kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
February 25th, 2008at 8:02 am(#)
Did not know all that.
interesting.
(or as my grandfather would have said: “Even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then)
btw- The JW are the blind hog in that analogy, not you.
February 25th, 2008at 8:17 am(#)
Dez, your story breaks my heart. That a religion or belief system could interfere with an otherwise good and loving person is just too much for me.
February 25th, 2008at 11:39 am(#)
i try not to be rude. having said that- the decent christian churchies will leave you with a tract to be recycled and be on their way. the convert at all costs variety don’t even care if you are on the phone with someone else- they still want to spread the ‘good news’ regardless if you have heard it before and it is ‘old news.’ so- i very succinctly tell them that i am an athiest and i have no desire to be converted. i think the next time i will tell them- i am a recovering christian and you are hampering my recovery.
February 25th, 2008at 2:21 pm(#)
sage
It’s funny, in the early 70’s it was the moonies and they were relentless. i learned to hate them and was ignorant to them.
Today we seem to be on the JWs regular route. They are frequent visitors on our street but I am nice and just say no thanks I’m a practicing Catholic and they go away.
It work, anyway the tenuous times are bringing all kinds of Religion out of the walls!
February 28th, 2008at 8:20 pm(#)
Dizzy Dezzi,
I’m saddened by what you experienced, but confused also, as a JW myself, I have never been taught that anyone would “burn in hell” so to speak because the original language doesn’t support the concept. For more details on the understanding of Hell from the bible, I would encourage you to read this article http://watchtower.org/e/20020715/article_01.htm
from the website because if that’s what that person really said, and I’m not doubting you, that’s not really what the bible teaches. I hope that the information in the article will clarify and you can refer to your own bible. I pray we can all learn to not paint all people with the same brush.
I go door to door and have had wonderful conversations with people of all backgrounds and beliefs. I think communication and reaching out to one another in this difficult time can’t help but be a positive thing. I’m not out to “convert” anyone, just to pass a long the same message that Jesus did and sent his followers to do, what people do with that information is their business. I don’t know everything, but I care deeply for people and would never want to miss that one person who may be praying for help and I can be there to even just be a listening ear or a helping hand. I really hope that you find in your life the peace and contentment that I have found - and continue to find in mine. Blessings and Peace,