Jehovah's Witnesses Spend Thanksgiving Knocking on Doors

by koolaid-man 21 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  koolaid-man

  http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/nov/24/jehovahs-witnesses-bump-evangelism-thanksgiving/

  WNYC News Blog

  Jehovah's Witnesses Spend Thanksgiving Knocking on Doors

  Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 12:00 AM

  By Daniel P. Tucker

  • 

    One of 80 territory maps used by Jehovah's witnesses from a Jackson Heights Kingdom Hall to evangelize door to door.

  Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead, members of the religious sect take the day to increase their door-to-door evangelism.

  "Since it's a holiday from the secular viewpoint, people have time off, so usually families and individuals will put forth extra effort in the ministry to go door to door," said Jagdish Patel, an elder with a Kingdom Hall in Jackson Heights, Queens.

  He said the number of witnesses from his congregation canvassing city streets skyrockets on holidays.

  "Usually, on the weekdays, there will be a group of 8 to 10 people going out in the service," he said. "But on holidays, it can be 30, 40."

  Witnesses from the Jackson Heights congregation walk 80 territories in that neighborhood, as well as in Astoria. Each territory is comprised of three to four blocks.
  
  Jehovah's witnesses do not celebrate national or religious holidays or birthdays.

  The only day they do memorialize is Jesus Christ's death around the time of Easter and Passover.
• 

  cantleave

  Wow - that's newsworthy!!!

  Exclusive!! JW's knock doors .......On their day off work.
• 

  Ding

  Disturbing people during annual family gatherings is totally counterproductive.

  When people are justly annoyed by the intrusion, JWs duly feel persecuted.

  It's another loyalty test and indoctrination tool of the WT organization.
• 

  BluesBrother

  Of course they do... didn't you?

  We do not have Thanksgiving over here, but Christmas Day was always a big one for us in the "Ministry". We reckoned that we might find 'em at home! Funnily enough, people did not seem any more annoyed than normal....

  I cannot speak for today, I get the impression that enthusiasm has waned a bit......
• 

  designs

  Circuit Overseers being at your KH during Thanksgiving or Christmas where you felt pressured to go out in Service, major UGH!
• 

  OUTLAW

  Breaking News from KoolAidMan/Rick Fearon..

  "JW`s go from Door to Door on Holidays"..

  Why do we need to be informed about something we lived?..

  It`s Effin Stupid..

  We should take up a collection and buy Rick a Helmet..

  On this Weeks Six Screens Show..

  Rick talks for 8-12 hours about his New Helmet..

  (Special Guest from inside Ricks Helmet..Johnny the Bethelite!)

  No Fluff..Just Shock..

  

  ........................... ...OUTLAW
• 

  GLTirebiter

  Thanks for posting the link, Rick. It's good to see this coming from a mainstream outlet. It's even better that two articles below the Witness one, the headline reads "Charity Estimates 8.5M Pounds of Food delivered During Holidays". That offers a sharp contrast between those who brag about doing God's work and those who actually do it.
• 

  ldrnomo

  THAT'S ODD, In my time as an elder we hardley had any turnout for field service on holidays. Most dubs don't really want to talk to people at doors they just want to go out drive around keep not at home records and visit people they already called on who seemed interested. So why would they want to go door to door when they know people will be on the other side.
• 

  Lunatic Faith

  We went out on Thanksgiving once in territory which hadn't been worked in a year. People were pissed we were disturbing them. I never went out on Thanksgiving again. I tried Christmas once too and found the same thing--only worse. People are really pissed when you disturb them on Christmas. I agree with the poster above, most people avoided going out on those days so as not to antagonize people. The last couple years I was in I began to realize that JW's aren't spreading the message as much as blackening Jehovah's name in people's minds. Very few people respect what JW's do, they are usually annoyed by it. I don't see how that could be considered a beneficial result to evangelism.
• 

  Ding

  Very few people respect what JW's do, they are usually annoyed by it. I don't see how that could be considered a beneficial result to evangelism.

  I suspect that the higher ups in the organization LIKE the negatives the annoyance brings. It fosters a lot of WT objectives that in many ways are more important to the organization that the drawing in of new converts:

  1. Fostering the us v. them mindset of JWs

  2. Enhancing the persecution complex the organization uses so effectively to control JWs

  3. Increasing the isolation of JWs from their "worldly" neighbors

  4. Identifying the most gung ho JWs in each congregation (or at least those who can be manipulated by pressure into going out on those holidays)

  5. Providing fuel for guilt trips among JWs who stayed home