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Monday, April 5, 2010

A Knock on the Door {or} Thoughts on Talking to Jehovah's Witnesses

{image taken from weheartit}

Ezra was taking his morning nap and JP was quietly playing next to me with his cars when there was a knock at the door. JP jumped up yelling, "Judah's here!" thinking it was his friend. It was not. A few ladies in dresses greeted me with friendly smiles when I opened the door. I saw their "Watchtower" pamphlets tucked in the worn pages of their Bibles. Jehovah's Witnesses. I felt compassion for them. I politely listened to what they had to say. (JP picked his nose for pretty much the entire time they were sharing.  I kept trying to discreetly swat his hand away, which made him chuckle more loudly each time.) Then I asked them a few of my own questions. I couldn't remember, did JW's believe that Jesus was divinity? Did they believe in the trinity? Their answers were programmed and made me feel distant. I briefly told them what I believed without trying to convince them of anything. Then I changed the subject away from our religious differences and to our human similarities. We joked around. They asked me my name and I told them "Jenny." They asked me my sons' names and when I told them "Ezra" I explained that I didn't want him to have a common name like I had, "...a name like every other white girl in my generation," and they had a pretty good laugh about that. Probably mostly out of shock because I had admitted that I was a white girl. They asked if they could come back and see what I thought of their pamphlet and I said sure. I really wanted to say, "No thanks" but I thought maybe I could do some research in the meantime and not be caught off-guard when they come again. Next time they come, maybe I'll have a pamphlet for them to read. That's fair, right? ;-) Some JW research:
What JWs really believe (but won't tell you straight-up).
The Bible tells Christians to beware of false-doctrines and also to be ready to defend your faith.  Here are some things you might say to a JW.
I also found this interesting.

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