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Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
#11
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
They never come to my door, which is just as well. I have no desire to wrestle 120 lbs. of dogs just because some asshole decided to interrupt my day with his cult’s good news.
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#12
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
(October 8, 2018 at 7:36 am)purplepurpose Wrote: Theists aren't cowards or stupid.
Come meet my cousins. Read
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#13
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
I have received them one time. I left no witnesses.... contrary to jehova.
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#14
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
(October 8, 2018 at 7:25 am)Gwaithmir Wrote: This is a continuation of a thread I started on The Thinking Atheist. I would like to hear about and discuss any recent or past encounters that participants here have had with JW's who showed up at your door or who you have met in public places.

JW's usually ring my doorbell twice a year. There are two Kingdom Halls within a half hour's drive of my house. I seldom see the same faces more than once and it has been well over a decade since any of them have been willing to come inside to discuss and debate religion. I let them know immediately that I'm an atheist and present them with atheist tracts and my atheist business card, which they always refuse to read. Read
Y'know, I don't believe I've ever given you one of my better JW stories.  

One afternoon, I was improvising electronic music against some pre-recorded tracks, preparatory to a gig I had coming up.   The music was of jazz-fusion character, and very loud.  It was a hot day, and I had the windows open, and was wearing next to nothing -- just some gym trunks.  In a pause, I hear a determined knocking at my front door.  Since the neighbors are all cool with the music (some musicians themselves), I thought maybe it was a delivery I was expecting.

The walkway up to my front door hosts a number of concrete icons made that friends have donated over the years.  These include:  a grasping hand holding an egg; a skull; some basic geometric shapes, and an inverted pentagram.  On my front door, at eye level for an adult of average height, is a Darwin fish.

On the living room table immediately in front of the door were the remains of a visit I'd had the evening before with some buddies -- a sea of empty beer cans and shot glasses, and a half bottle of single malt.

Given the prevailing sights and sounds, I personally can't imagine a less promising place for the JWs to make their pitch, yet when I answered the door, there they were.  They tend to travel in pairs, and I was faced with two conservatively dressed women, one in her early twenties, the other perhaps nearer forty, with an armload of stuff.  Apparently undeterred by my near nakedness or the litter on the table, they asked if they could have a few minutes of my time.

I said "sure", invited them in and offered them a seat on the couch, which they accepted, and a shot each of single malt, which they declined.  Poured one for myself, and sat down.  They then produced booklets and leaflets and notebooks, and began earnestly informing me of the "crisis in our schools regarding sex education".   We chatted for a while, me assuring them that I was as concerned about the matter as they, although my priorities might be somewhat different.  They handed my a "Watchtower" with several passages underlined in red.  

I told them that I would need to read the document carefully, but that if they would leave it with me I would give it my full attention.  I then invited them to come back in a week so that we could discuss what I had read, and they seemed to think this would be a great idea.  

I offered the single malt again, which they refused again, and on the way out I handed them printed copies of the Noble Eightfold Path, as interpreted by the Hwa Yen school of Buddhism, and suggested that when they returned the following week, we could spend come time meditating on the ramifications of the issues they had raised.  They seemed a little uncomfortable about this, but thanked me for my time, got in their car -- without even visiting my neighbors -- and drove off.

They failed to show up the following week, and for some reason, I never saw them again.  In fact, this was several years ago, and I've not had a JW come to my door (at least while I've been home), since.  I do spot them in the neighborhood occasionally.

Do you suppose they've forgotten about me?  

Should I try approaching them and renewing our acquaintance?

I'm sure there are still some poor JWs who haven't heard the Good Word of the Buddha.

Or Lagavulin.

Hehe
-- 
Dr H


"So, I became an anarchist, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
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#15
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
[Image: ohthankgodits-just-an-alligator-ithought...802979.png]
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#16
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
(October 9, 2018 at 8:37 pm)Dr H Wrote:
(October 8, 2018 at 7:25 am)Gwaithmir Wrote: This is a continuation of a thread I started on The Thinking Atheist. I would like to hear about and discuss any recent or past encounters that participants here have had with JW's who showed up at your door or who you have met in public places.

JW's usually ring my doorbell twice a year. There are two Kingdom Halls within a half hour's drive of my house. I seldom see the same faces more than once and it has been well over a decade since any of them have been willing to come inside to discuss and debate religion. I let them know immediately that I'm an atheist and present them with atheist tracts and my atheist business card, which they always refuse to read. Read
Y'know, I don't believe I've ever given you one of my better JW stories.  

One afternoon, I was improvising electronic music against some pre-recorded tracks, preparatory to a gig I had coming up.   The music was of jazz-fusion character, and very loud.  It was a hot day, and I had the windows open, and was wearing next to nothing -- just some gym trunks.  In a pause, I hear a determined knocking at my front door.  Since the neighbors are all cool with the music (some musicians themselves), I thought maybe it was a delivery I was expecting.

The walkway up to my front door hosts a number of concrete icons made that friends have donated over the years.  These include:  a grasping hand holding an egg; a skull; some basic geometric shapes, and an inverted pentagram.  On my front door, at eye level for an adult of average height, is a Darwin fish.

On the living room table immediately in front of the door were the remains of a visit I'd had the evening before with some buddies -- a sea of empty beer cans and shot glasses, and a half bottle of single malt.

Given the prevailing sights and sounds, I personally can't imagine a less promising place for the JWs to make their pitch, yet when I answered the door, there they were.  They tend to travel in pairs, and I was faced with two conservatively dressed women, one in her early twenties, the other perhaps nearer forty, with an armload of stuff.  Apparently undeterred by my near nakedness or the litter on the table, they asked if they could have a few minutes of my time.

I said "sure", invited them in and offered them a seat on the couch, which they accepted, and a shot each of single malt, which they declined.  Poured one for myself, and sat down.  They then produced booklets and leaflets and notebooks, and began earnestly informing me of the "crisis in our schools regarding sex education".   We chatted for a while, me assuring them that I was as concerned about the matter as they, although my priorities might be somewhat different.  They handed my a "Watchtower" with several passages underlined in red.  

I told them that I would need to read the document carefully, but that if they would leave it with me I would give it my full attention.  I then invited them to come back in a week so that we could discuss what I had read, and they seemed to think this would be a great idea.  

I offered the single malt again, which they refused again, and on the way out I handed them printed copies of the Noble Eightfold Path, as interpreted by the Hwa Yen school of Buddhism, and suggested that when they returned the following week, we could spend come time meditating on the ramifications of the issues they had raised.  They seemed a little uncomfortable about this, but thanked me for my time, got in their car -- without even visiting my neighbors -- and drove off.

They failed to show up the following week, and for some reason, I never saw them again.  In fact, this was several years ago, and I've not had a JW come to my door (at least while I've been home), since.  I do spot them in the neighborhood occasionally.

Do you suppose they've forgotten about me?  

Should I try approaching them and renewing our acquaintance?

I'm sure there are still some poor JWs who haven't heard the Good Word of the Buddha.

Or Lagavulin.

Hehe
I have a similar anecdote which may have involved a JW. This took place about six months after I bought my house in Chester, MA.

I was splitting firewood in my backyard on a hot spring morning (May or June, 1977). The temperature had soared into the mid-90's, so I was wearing only my underpants and a pith helmet. About an hour into my work session, I heard a car pulling up next to my back steps. Without thinking about my appearance, I walked around the corner of the house and confronted a rather portly woman getting out of a pink Cadillac. She was dressed as if she was going to church. There I was, nearly naked, wearing a pith helmet and holding a splitting maul. The woman gasped in shock, leaped back into the driver's seat and sped off the way she had come, nearly hitting the stone wall near the garage. To this day, I haven't the slightest idea who she was or why she was visiting me. None of my neighbors knew who she was either. Huh
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)
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#17
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
I just like to make them question things then slam the bloody door on them.
[Image: latest?cb=20100721025111]
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#18
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
I usually get two visits from the JW's annually, one from a Kingdom Hall in Westfield, MA, the other from one in Lee, MA. The first group almost always knocks on my door in early May and the others drop by in August. A group of two young men and two young women visited a couple of days ago. Either the first group was late or the second group early. Anyway, before they could start their spiel, I handed them my atheist business card. The young man who took it simply glanced at it, then said, "You have a nice day, sir." At his nod, they all got back in their car and left without another word.

I suppose I was mildly annoyed at not luring them into an argument about religion and/or the Bible, but at my age I'm finding such persons a declining source of amusement.
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)
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#19
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
I never pass up a chance to discuss religion. I know this this thread is about JWs, but I'd like to mention that the Mormons are actually better for a good conversation. JWs are decent, too, though. In a world full of assholes, I don't mind chatting with people who agree with me that love is in short supply, even if (in the final analysis) I think their basis for believing so is pure delusion. I always read their entire pamphlets after they leave, too. Never have I found a JW or Mormon pamphlet that convinced me of anything. Really... these guys need to hire new pamphlet writers. I wonder what kind of person would find their pamphlets convincing.

On a side note, the last two JWs who came to my door were two drop dead gorgeous women. The only time in my life I wanted to hang with JW door-knockers (other than my fascination with religion) and I didn't have time to chat that day. Assuming he exists, I take it as a sign that the Lord Jehovah prefers that I remain an atheist, because those two might very well have converted me.
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#20
RE: Atheists & Jehovah's Witnesses
Pin 'em down with details and ask for repeatable and testable evidence for their claims
The meek shall inherit the Earth, the rest of us will fly to the stars.

Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups

Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling with a pig in mud ..... after a while you realise that the pig likes it!

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