Looking for people interested in talking about their faith

jratcliff

As I am brand new to this forum I am not entirely certain how things are done around here. If this post is off topic or unwanted, please feel free to remove it. I won't be offended.

I am starting a new theological podcast with a friend of mine. We have not yet done even one episode, so it's in the planning stages. The concept is that we want to talk to people of various religous faiths about their personal beliefs and experiences. This is not a discussion that is meant to be argumenatitive. It is not mean to be pro-religion, anti-religion, disrepectful, or disparaging in any way. The only purpose is to explore, through personal interviews, the faith of individuals with different religious backgrounds. I hope to do episodes covering a wide array of world religions but, for my first episode, I want it to be about Jehovah's Witnesses as it is a faith which has always interested me and I don't know a lot about.

My co-host is a good friend of mine who has a degree in theology and philosphy from Saint Louis University. He is a devout Catholic and I, personally, am agnostic. We don't have any agenda beyond trying to explore the belief systems of individuals of various faiths.

What interests me isn't what a particular Church has as it's official doctrine. That is easily found anywhere in books and publications. What interests me are the beliefs of individuals; how they came to their faith, how they practice it, and how it affects their lives.

Rather than interviewing just a single person for like an hour and half (as many podcasts do) I would rather intervew five or six people each for ten or fifteen minutes, since no single person can reflect the entirety of a particular faith. Each member of a particular faith has a unique experience that is deeply personal to themselves.

In sharing these stories we hope to come to a deeper understanding of others. If anyone would be interested in participating please feel free to contact me by personal email: [email protected]

Once again, if this message is off topic or inappropriate for this forum, the moderators may feel free to remove it. I will not be offended.

Thanks,

John

yknot

Hi John....

Generally speaking this forum has only a handful of professed believing and faithful JWs but most of us are questioning JWs, 'conscious class JWs', or Ex-JWs.

So most of us don't strongly hold to the 'faith' as it is ......

I am sorry but the Watchtower has strongly discouraged faithful Witnesses from visiting sites on the internet that are not under the supervision of the Watchtower. (((((Reference September 2007 Our Kingdom Ministry, Question Box- Thus, “the faithful and discreet slave” does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight.—Matt. 24:45-47.)))

Good Dubbie always faithfully obey the 'Slave's' counsel without question .......

Your best bet is a local Kingdom Hall.

Now if your podcast is interested in how some 'woke up' and exited then this is the right place.

Best Wishes.

cyberjesus

are you an ex - JW?

asilentone

cyberjesus, read one of his statements, he does not know alot about JWs.

Black Sheep

Have your cameras ready to ambush them when they knock on your door, or...

Look them up in your Yellow Pages and ask your local congregation.

It is unlikely that you will get a representative member using the internet, as discussing their faith on the internet is discouraged.

As they have a policy of not disclosing the truth to those that they consider don't deserve it, you may not get an entirely truthful opinion from any member.

To get a really good insight into what they teach you could fake interest and take a 'Bible study' (=study their books) for a few years, being very careful that any questions you ask don't set off any alarm bells that you might be an 'opposer'. It would be easier to join a forum like this and ask ex-members what they teach.

Cheers

Chris

jratcliff

Thanks guys for the reply. As I've been asking around, and learning about 'disfellowshipping' I now realize it's doubtful I will get an active practicing JW to intervew. I've also decided, that's probably not that important. An ex-JW has a richer story to tell. I'm looking for about five to six people to interview to get a range of experiences. I already have two people who said they will do it so I'm still looking for a few more.

I am not myself ex-JW. I will give you a little bit of my background that I shared with someone else privately.

-------------------------

"Since your email was so personal, I will share a little bit of my personal background. I am not JW. However, my Uncle is. When I was young, because my mom had health problems, I was sent to live with my Uncle for extended periods of time. While I lived with him, the whole JW thing was pushed on me pretty hard. My Uncle had an incredible child who I felt as if he were my little brother. We were very close. This child was born with a congenital heart defect. Because my Uncle was JW he refused blood transfusions for his own son. When Kenny died, I was very upset and remain upset to this day. There is no reason to believe for certain that a blood transfusion would have saved his life but..it certainly would have put him at far less risk. How could a parent put their own child at risk because of something written in a book controlling dietary restrictions of primitive people in 500bc?

I cannot fathom that. So, as you can see, I hold no great love for JW.

That said, my podcast is not meant to be pro or anti JW. That's not the idea. My podcast isn't even about JW. My podcast is about *belief*. It is to explore the reason individual people come to form their personal belief systems. It isn't for me to attack, or argue, it's for me to listen to people's stories and try to learn from it.

That's why I don't want to interview just one person, but several to get a better range of experience. This is just a general topic which fascinates me.

It's not a big deal if you don't want to do an interview, though I think your story is very compelling and would be powerful to share. I just want you to know that I am not trying to hurt or take advantage of anyone."

asilentone

jratcliff, they can lie to you about their beliefs. It is called Theocratic Warfare Strategy. It is way better to ask us (ex JWs) what JWs believes.

Deputy Dog

jratcliff

What interests me isn't what a particular Church has as it's official doctrine. That is easily found anywhere in books and publications. What interests me are the beliefs of individuals; how they came to their faith, how they practice it, and how it affects their lives.

With the JWs, these are one and the same.

jratcliff

Thanks all for the useful replies. After doing some research I see that it will be difficult to get honest answers from an active JW, even if I could find one willing to speak to me.

That said, I am now certain that it will be more interesting to interview ex-JW, as they represent the full range of experience.

My goal is to do some phone interviews this weekend so I can get my first podcast done. My weekend is wide open so I can accomodate your schedule.

I would like to interview about 4 or 5 people and, so far, I only have one person lined up. If you would be willing and interested in letting me ask you some questions about your JW experience I would be very appreciative. I do not have to use your full name in the Interview if you are uncomfortable with that.

Please send me an email if you would be able to talk to me for a short interview (10-15 minutes) sometime this weekend.

mailto: [email protected]

Thanks!

John

Broken Promises

Be sure to let us know when you have finished your project, it sounds interesting!

And I’m very sorry to hear of the loss of your cousin in those circumstances.

Looking for people interested in talking about their faith

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