Jehovah's Witness Leaflets

[paris125]

Did anyone get a leaflet from Jehovah's Witnesses inviting them to their convention? Has anyone been?

[Dingoeater]

I went to a convention in Manchester a few years ago, it wasn't really my thing but I went as a guest of a friend who would otherwise have gone on her own. The speakers and such were mostly interesting from my perspective of having a degree in philosophy and being able to spot their logical errors. On the other hand everyone I met there was extremely polite and they all gave an excellent witness. No one tried to brainwash or convert me (not that I had thought that they would) and while I wouldn't attend another it was interesting to see how members of another religion met up and enjoyed themselves.

[beejaybee]

You were lucky they did n`t try to covert you.

[wonder years]

i dont agree with the jehovah witnesses, they came to my door one day and had a conversation, about blood transfusions, if its was a live or die situation they would still not have atransfusion because it was up to god to choose wether they lived or died,and they would not have life saving surgery god would choose this course to, i told them why did god give all thease brill doc and surgeons the skills and brains to help everybody live then my dad and daughter only survied due to having blood transfusions i could not consider refusing them this treatment; also they said aids was a gods punishment for people who had transfusions and contracted the aids virus, by then i was so bloody mad i said they were a bunch of prats and slammed the door on the !!!!!

[paris125]

To be honest whenever I've seen them they've been nothing but nice and polite - they seem to be very family orientated, and their children are very good and pleasant. I have to say that I respect them and their beliefs - they are law abiding citizens and always try to do their best from what I can gather..

[lankeela]

Whats the difference between a Jehovahs Witness and a Skoda? You can shut the door on a Jehovahs Witness.

[girlygirl]

I always try to be polite and respect their beliefs but they make it sooooo hard to sometimes!

[Pippa68]

I have Witness pals..they are great! of course we do have quite intense discussions, and they have never been pushy enough to try & convert me ;o)

However, I do have to say that if I was choose any religion it would be the JWs ~ a lot more of what I have read makes sense than any other teaching I have researched. As for the 'blood' thing, my friends insist that it is down to personal choice ~ if you decide to take blood then it is completely up to you & they haven't known of anyone in their church expelled for doing so..even though they know of people who have had transfusions.

[jake-the-peg]

You might want to ask them a bit more of their ideas about women.

They have strong ideas about gender roles both in their religion and in families. Men are the lead of the family and women are "loving caretakers".

So you'd want to be OK with that!

[Pippa68]

I am not thinking about entering any religion at all ~ ever..however, if I were thinking about it then the JWs make a lot more sense to me..

Regarding your question about gender roles..this confuses me a little as my friends are a married couple ~ and it is pretty obvious to me that it's her who 'wears the trousers' in their relationship! she works full time & does quite a lot of the chores which men are traditionally known for undertaking. He looks after the kids while she goes to the gym too ;o)

However, my sister in law & her husband are Evangelists..she finished her Midwifery training just after they married and her husband insisted that she give up work in order to become a homemaker.

[jake-the-peg]

That's rather interesting, seems like times are changing even for JWs!

[maxximus]

considering them and the mormons are a bit better than a hundred years old based on a, the world is going to end on tuesday cult, what i've just read kinda scares me.

[Pippa68]

Suffice to say I have a much harder time with my in laws than I do with the JWs. We seem to fall out every Christmas as the in laws like to bang on about Santa having nothing to do with the 'real' Christmas (whilst decorating their Christmas tree!). I usually reply that if they want a tree they may as well have santa, and maybe taking a leaf out of the JWs book is the way to go ;o)

I also took exception to them using my relationship with my husband (who was then my live-in-lover) as a discussion evening with their church group regarding having children out of wedlock. They tend to frown upon JWs knocking on doors, yet they set out to join various groups (badminton, football, book clubs etc) in order to evangelize...hmmmm. At least the JWs are upfront about it!

I much prefer to have an open mind about all religions ~ all followers of a religion declare others to be 'false'. That's the kind of opinion I am not that open to.

[jake-the-peg]

No Santa but the Christmas tree's OK - I love it!

Of course with all these religions saying that theirs is true and all the others are false it tends to imply either God wants us all to play some strange game of cosmic roulette with our immortal souls or they're all wrong hmmm.

PS did it ever occur to you that JWs must regularly knock on the door of double glazing salesmen? - I wonder who wins!

[Pippa68]

LOL jake! actually I hear that a lot of double glazing salesmen are JWs..they can kill two birds with one stone, and also get ample time off to sell both wares outside of their local area ;o)

My JW mate told me that, by the way...heh heh.

[paris125]

From what I know of them, the husband and wife are supposed to be a team, although the husband has the responsibility for looking after the family - not necessarily in terms of them working while the wife stays at home, because I know a couple of them, and the wives work just as hard as the men!

You've got to admire them though in a way I suppose because they really do believe in what they are saying, and I think most people they speak to tell them to get lost but they do keep on going!

[Dollie]

my mate's girlfriend got 'sucked' into the JW's several years ago. She worked with one and they became friends and when her mum died they told her that is fhe joined them she would be sure to meet up with her mum again. She joined them and they soon were telling her that if she didn't manage to convert her partner (my mate) then she should consider leaving him and certainly postpone their wedding - especially as he refused to be wed in their Kingdom Hall. They managed to live together for around another 8 months or so but during that time, she burnt all her non-religious books, wouldn't let him watch soap operas on the Tv and she moved into the spare room after sharing a bet with him for nine years. Eventually she left him because he wouldn't convert. Strangely enough, after two years she went on to have an affair with the JW's leader who was married, and they now live together. Funnily enough tho - the JW 's didn't throw them out - now I wonder why that was .......

[ianess]

I have attended a couple of their conventions as a guest, and while I cannot agree with some of their teachings I can honestly say that they are amongst the most pleasant, tidy, and well-mannered people you could hope to meet.
I am and probably always will be an Agnostic but have to respect people for their beliefs.

BTW......jokes about Skodas are no longer funny since the takeover by VW.

[paris125]

There was an article in our local paper about their convention at the Newcastle Metro Arena, and they all looked so smart and happy - whatever you think about them, you've got to respect their beliefs and the fact that they have such a strong conviction - not something that everyone can say they have?

[Echo]

There were 2 JW's who came to my house to sell me chocolates in exchange for converting to their religion. I took the chocolates and told them I would need some time to think about it.

I've never been invited to a convention though.

[paris125]

Are you being serious about the chocolates.....?