I'm currently taking a course in cultural anthropology to fulfill a college requirement and thought I'd share something from one of the textbooks we are using. In the book, "Extraordinary Groups -- An Examination of Unconventional Lifestyles" ethnographer William W. Zellner relates his findings when he spent some time studying the Jehovah's Witnesses. He relates of an experience he had when attending a convention:
"At a Minnesota district convention...there was a pressroom set up and staffed by elders who could quote Scripture in support of any Witness viewpoint. The existence of the press center may have been significant, evidencing a sensitivity to the 'other world,' a sensitivity that has not existed in the past.
When one of the elders was asked by an observer why a press center had been established, he said that the Society had taken positions against draft registration and the Equal Rights Amendment, and they wanted the public to understand that their views were based on Scripture.
There were many chairs in the large pressroom; half were occupied by elders, half were empty. There were press releases, books, and pamphlets. The only thing missing was the press."
I thought this scene was very telling. An organization that believes it is "God's channel" on earth and the grand fulfillment of ancient Hebraic prophecies assembles a large entourage for members of the media and no one shows up. I think this illustrates something that JWs are totally in the dark about and something that ex-JWs sometimes forget.
Not many people really notice this religion, let alone know what it is all about. The average JW suffers from a "persecution complex" and believes that 124 Columbia Heights is the center of the universe. The entire world is agitated by the Witnesses (more specifically the couple thousand "annointed"!) preaching and view them as being a remarkable, almost miraculous group of people.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, the JWs make headlines every once in a great while, usually in the news for some court decision or because some young man has died of blood. Ah, also for the child molestation controversies of late as well. But, ask the average person if there is anything really all that special about this group and the response will be in the negative. Nice people, honest, a little weird and pushy, hard workers, kind of haughty -- that's what the average person will probably say if they are asked to describe the Witnesses. If they have even heard of them at all. (Amazingly, I have run across some people who had never heard of the JWs)
I told a proffessor that I was an ex-witness and he said to me, "Jehovah's Witnesses? Something about 144,000 right?" That generally is the extent of anyone's knowledge of the JWs.
Among the elite circles of the world or the proffessional community the JWs are rarely mentioned. The two areas where they are brought up are with regard the issues of bloodless medicine and US constitutional rights. Other than that, the world just doesn't pay attention.
Telling a JW this will be about as productive as talking to cheese. They don't have an answer and they won't understand what you are saying. But, even ex-JWs sometimes make the Society out to be more than it really is. No, it's not the great Evil Empire that we have built up in our minds. It's not the worst religion out there and the rest of the world will sympathize with us former members but that's about it. It's a minor religion that we just happened to be part of and broken away from. They are a small group. We are a small group.
I was talking to a former Seventh Day Adventist on another forum and I asked him what he thought or knew about the JWs. His knowledge was comparable to the average person -- he hardly knew anything about them. But he did tell me something that I found very insightful. He said, "You know, the only people who care about Seventh Day Adventists are Adventists and former Adventists. The rest of the world is ambivalent. The same is true with Jehovah's Witnesses." I don't think it could be said any better.
The only people that are concerned with Jehovah's Witnesses are JWs or ex-JWs. The rest of the world could care less.
Bradley