chik,
Looks like paradise, smell like pigs**t.
JK
Bible belt in america and the amish?
by chikikie 18 Replies latest jw friends
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potentialJWconvertswife
Jaguar- don't put George W off on us southerners! He was born in Connecticut, no matter where he calls home now. I don't think he could have won the election with only the southern states behind him. Oh wait, he DIDN'T win the election- he was awarded the presidency by the US supreme court. Bastards! -Potential
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jamiebowers
I live in Ohio very close to a large Amish community now but now when I was a jw. However, when I was a jw in PA., we had a few Quakers. We took those houses like any other.
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Not Feeling It
I'm reading on my phone/pda now so its not so easy to reply. however I grew up in SE pennsylvania a stronghold of amish mennonite and the like. our territory bordered the area where witness was filmed. neat movie. ill write more later for your amusement
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Not Feeling It
Service in the Amish areas was always interesting. The conversion rate (to JWs at least) was practically nil besides some converts about 60-80 years ago (wow). There was a convert family of Zooks that went to the Hall I used to. I think they are all dead now as they were SUPER old when I was in my pre-teen years. I've been gone from there for about 15 years now so I have no idea if there have been new ones. I doubt it.
The area is extremely rural. Amish farms are very big. So you would spend a good part of the morning driving to see about 10-20 houses. I didn't mind it. Typically the groups would stop for a break or to do more town territory to keep the placement quota up. The Amish/Mennonites were very often home since they worked mostly on thier farms. Funny thing: Witnesses don't have a monopoly on the term "worldly" as the A/M's use it too.
There were great variations in thier adherance to rules within thier religions (driving cars, electricity, association with outside world, etc...). Witnesses I knew used to point to that negatively showing how *they* were a cult for it. Pot meet Kettle.
The conversations with them were usually interesting. They too know thier Bibles very well. So, I recall one time arguing with an Amish lady about hellfire. At some point she was shouting "the letter killeth". It was interesting that sticks in my head even still. I wonder if they were counting time on us since we surely didn't mind preaching at someone for an hour getting absolutely nowhere.
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chikikie
not feeling it, Im so sorry it took so long to reply, you can lose threads for weeks on this thing even if you started em!!
Loved your post, I can imagine you arguing on a summers day with an old amish lady.
Well I guess that answers my questions, living in britain you dont meet many religious nutjobs apart from JWs, lol
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R.Crusoe
Must say I often dreamed of being Hamish but the English let me down!
'fraid now the Bible itself would pose problems on top of the linguo!
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reneeisorym
I live in the Bible belt.
I have never been door to door up north so I have nothing to compare it to. Usually we liked the territories where people were black because they would be nice and just take the literature. They would take it as long as you kept coming and we loved working those territories. A lot of times if we did anything, it would be to spark their interest in God again and they would start attending church. I remember my grandma saying, "I have a hard time starting Bible studies but I sure have sent a lot of people back to church!" There were many who were mean or hid but that wasn't the usual or what was expected.
The white people would either hide or challenge your doctrine. I remember one man who knew so much about the BIble that he basically "won" the conversation. It stunned me and was one of the reason I left the organization. I imagine it is a lot easier to find people to talk to in the Bible belt about the Bible. The difference is that they usually view you as heretical and will listen to you just to challenge you. You are usually scared to death you will knock on the door of a preacher. The white people who fell out of the stereotype were searching for something and would study long enough to figure out this wasn't what they wanted. It usually happened about the time they would pressure them to go out in service or attend all 3 meetings.
We also liked little old ladies because they were lonely and just liked the company. They would try to change the subject to gardening and their familes. We would go to the same house week after week to talk to them about how the tomatoes were doing just to count time. If you did bring it back to the Bible, they would talk like they never read a single WatchTower.
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BurnTheShips
The bible belt would be the states in the south that gave the world George W. Bush.
What a dumb thing to say.
Apart from states in the "Bible Belt", Bush won:
Nevada
Idaho
Arizona
North and South Dakota
Utah
Colorado
Ohio
Indiana
Virginia
FloridaBurn