by Chloe 18 Replies latest jw experiences
I thought if a JW asked me that like I say to people on IRC(Chat)I often swear at ASL questions and probley most likely dig in to them like I did on that saturday.
I never knew JW lie about what they are doing when talking at the doors. The lady I lectured about the Cult, was very truthful to me about being with the JWs.
I hardly do get JW's as I was easily angered through the post cult trauma syndrome and breakdown I had upon leaving the Cult.
My last cong was ASL so this is normal prcatice. It's called "search work".
The reason that they don't ID themselves as JWs is cause they don't want to interfere with the other language congs that are preaching in the same neighborhood. We were instructed to only preach to the deaf.
I must say that this is actually a collosal waste of time. I spent days on end looking for deaf people to no avail. This was actually one of the points in the back of my mind as I began to Awaken wondering how Jehovah could be using us by wasting our time all day looking for deaf people we could never find.
You did right by telling them they're in a cult. You should have a card that says, "if you want the truth about the truth, come to JWD...."
A@G
I know several persons who are studying sign language, and to really
become proficient in it they are going to
(imperial march theme here please)
College
Guess that they will have to live with the fact that they will not be considered
for appointments in their congregation now.
The woman who lived in my house before I bought it was deaf. At memorial time this year, some JWs came to the door, signing their little fingers away. I told them there was no one in my house who was deaf. They kept insisting that, yes there was, there was a woman who lived here who was deaf.....
Yes, there WAS, and she moved to Oregon....
Are you sure?, they asked me. Like I don't know who lives in my house.
So, my autistic non-verbal son came up behind me and was very curious to watch them signing. He knows a few signs. He signed "a@#hole" and then shut the door.
They left.
Such a good little Catholic boy I've raised!
StAnn
disingenuous
They probably don't know what that means.
dumb da dumb dumb.
It is standard practice for ASL preaching JW's to not identify their group.
They state that they are involved in a volunteer work in the neighborhood
looking for the deaf (not usually saying they are looking for ASL users, but
specifically for the deaf). If asked "what for," they say they have DVD's in
ASL that will benefit them. They may say they have educational materials
for the deaf. They are trained to duck the questions. Their main concern
is to locate the deaf and not to witness to anyone else.
The reason: most people feel a sense of pity for the deaf. Even family don't
fully understand them. They are happy that someone is out there offering
information to the deaf. If someone who doesn't speak ASL knows of a deaf
person in the area, they will usually see these people at the door as a good thing
and say where the deaf person is located. "Someone to help that poor deaf woman,
how nice."
They are searching using known names of deaf or known addresses. Often, the
name is common and the address unknown, so they go to every Susan Jones in their
entire territory to find the deaf one. Or they go to a known address where someone
may have lived at one time, but the name and address just fell into JW hands. They
hope the deaf person still lives there, or that the family lives there and knows where the
deaf person is. It is common that they will get some information out of these type of
calls. Also, if a "Deaf Child" or other diamond-shaped warning sign hangs in a neighbor-
hood that mentions deaf in the area, they will ring every bell in the area searching for that
person.
Deaf JW's also commonly provide lists from their school or from their health center or
from their help center or whatever- lists of other deaf people and their addresses. They are
usually violating the law by providing such lists, so they don't want to divulge why they are
knocking on a particular door. They just act as if they are asking everybody.
They don't identify themselves for the obvious reason. While people want the deaf person
to receive help, Jehovah's Witnesses assume they are persecuted, so identifying
yourself will cause the householder to refuse to help in many cases. While that is true, it
really has nothing to do with persecution.
its a terrible shame JW's can't offer any hope for stupid people hoping to be smart or liars hoping to become honest.
I was told that at the deaf assemblies, people with tourettes syndrome would attend. I've never been, but I betcha it's a RIOT to hear someone blurt out in the middle of talk, "COCK GOBBLER".
I would so LOL...
I was associated with deaf witnesses in two provinces and what you're referring to is called "deaf search work" or just "search work".
I've done it a few times and the biggest benefit was that we didn't have to wear ties or identify ourselves as witnesses, just volunteers looking for deaf people to give them ASL material on DVD. It also makes it really easy to pioneer in an ASL congregation or group.
Doctrinal idiocy aside, the JWs have really tapped a market with the deaf community. Nobody has ever made an ASL bible (at least that's what I was told) and the New World Translation that's currently being released in stages will be the first. The deaf community is also fairly insular from what I've seen and many deaf go to the meetings as an alternative to the gossipy back-biting that goes on in their other cliques. It's a convenient social networking tool.
How long it takes them to clue in to the fact that the kingdom hall can be just as bad is another matter.
There's the potential for really rapid expansion in this demographic because it's been neglected by virtually everybody else and the good ol' boys in Brooklyn get those *kaching!* growth figures in their eyes when they see a ripe market. There's also an equally good chance that those figures will deflate just as fast for the above-mentioned reasons.
