Training us better to talk to people at the doors.

by life is to short 12 Replies latest jw experiences

  • life is to short
    life is to short

    OK so many of you did not mind sitting and wasting time in a car while out in service because it beat banging on doors and trying to convince someone to join a religion that at least I could not fully explain even to myself much less someone else. I agree sitting in a car beat banging on doors hands down. But was it not crazy going door to door. I guess I am just waking up to the insanity of it all. I pioneered and I tied and tried to buy into the end is near thing, that it meant peoples lives and that they were all going to die unless I SAVE THEM, but the people at the doors seemed so happy and they made good points about what they believed way better than I could do for my faith most the time. I used to think 'hey they seem happy leave them alone and let them enjoy their morning instead of getting them all worked up over a 144,000 going to haven or some other stupid thing that we felt we needed to push on them.'

    I think what has been eating at me lately is that we were not trained to handle the people at the doors. Normal people thought we were nut case cult members and treated as according to how normal people treat cult people. Like at the airports or in Seattle where the Scientologists hang out. You just avoid them, but we come to peoples doors. We invade their homes, the places that they live. I look at it now as how rude and arrogant we were.

    OK so the normal people know we are a nut case cult members but then that leaves the crazy people of the world. I was raised in the JW cult and had no training on how to handle mental illness. Yet that was who listened to me at the door the mentally ill. I do not have anything against people who are mentally ill but I do know you need training in how to handle them. Like at the hall I go to all the ones coming in to the "truth" have by-poller or manic depression or some other such mental illness.

    If that were not enough I was thinking of when I was a teenager and the neighborhood I worked in field service was infected with drugs. The city I live in is not that horrible of town but the area where the congregation I grew up was and still is really bad. We had two drive shootings one killed a 16 year old girl shortly after we came back from Bethel and the other shooting killed a three year old girl. Yet the elders thought nothing about have young sisters work around the block by themselves.

    I remember being about 16 or 17 years old and working with another young sister and this householder trying to get us to come inside no one knew where we were. Another time I was about the same age and worked with a sister who was in her late 70's this really creepy guy invites us in and the older sister was like sure we'll come in. The first thing he did was block our way of leaving yet the older sister did not think a thing of it. I was totally freaking out inside. We were there for well over an half an hour when finally some elder came looking for us. The look on the creepy guys face when he saw a man at the door was scary. Maybe I am wrong in my thoughts of him but I told the older sister back in the car that guy gave me the creeps. She just said Jehovah draws all kinds of people.

    I guess I just do not understand how this religion has made it. There has to have been more people hurt doing door to door then we know. Like a sister was murdered in Washington when I was a teenager. I heard it was in central Washington but not for sure. The point is the murdered sister was blamed for her death. She went to the house alone and should have known better. Excuse me. I was sent to homes with just one other sister who was my age. So she went alone I was told Jehovah would watch over me.I guess I am just bitter right now with how stupid this all sounds and I am somewhat mad at myself for buying into it.

    LITS

  • Kristina1972
    Kristina1972

    Dont' be mad at yourself... you were very young. How sickening that this organization puts trusting young people in harms way both mentally and physically!

    My husband grew up in the KH, and his 67 yr. old Mother is a lifelong witness. He is 43 and has never been baptized, does not attend KH.... but insists they have the TRUTH. Be happy you have seen through the BS and gotten out. I feel so bad for my husband when I see the nerve problems he has because of his beliefs..... I have seen mental issues in his family because of this religion. I get so pissed at my MIL for raising him in that religion, but she was brainwashed as a child also, so I hate her mother who was the one who converted to JW when MIL was a small child. How very sad to see families torn apart and misguided by this organization.

  • ziddina
    ziddina

    As Kristina said...

    You were lied to. That's absolutely NOT your fault. You were sent into potentially dangerous situations by a bunch of old men living in an elitist, isolated, out-of-touch-with-reality environment... Who lie to themselves about the validity of their message, their spirituality and their righteousness...

    And you are OUT now, right???

    Things are looking up...

    Zid s

  • moshe
    moshe

    Their would be no JW's preaching at the door, if they always told the truth. To be successful in recruiting and gaining studies you have to lie all the time. I still remember the lady who asked me 30+ years ago, if I was happy. I told her, 'yes', but my face face me away. She destroyed my presentation with this comeback, "you need to stop lying", and closed the door. I was totally beat for the beat. I knew she was right, I wasn't happy- but not good JW could ever admit that to another JW!

  • agonus
    agonus

    that's the biggest problem with the WT... they ask the impossible and don't even equip you with the tools to accomplish the slightly-below-average... it's like giving you a rock and a piece of string and telling you to build a bridge with it

  • peaches
    peaches

    have faith....jehovah will watch over you....the scariest thought in the world....shudder....

  • yknot
    yknot

    Between the dumbing down and donation arrangement ......FS became just as way to keep JWs busy in hopes 'something' might happen.

    I practiced my presentations and segways into placing the literature......

    When the Reasoning book was released I memorized topics I would use to start discussions.

  • greenhornet
    greenhornet

    what is "people at the doors"

    It sounds like children of the corn.

  • Coffee House Girl
    Coffee House Girl

    I couldn't agree more, the only people I got to respond to my presentations and take my magazines were the mentally ill or creepy men who got excitied at the thought of maybe getting into my pants & I had to pawn him off on a brother....

    I had no idea how to help the mentally ill really....

    I am going to college now to become a social worker and really help people for the first time in my life, not just throw useless magazines at them about whales, smoking, growing corn....WTF

    good thread

    CHG

  • notverylikely
    notverylikely

    maybe getting into my pants

    I am interested in your ideas and would like to start an ogling session, er, I mean, bible, I mean, watchtower study.

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