I found a tract at my door. It had $10 with it! It was from a local Baptist church! ( actually,I think someone wanted to give me a donation for the left over yardsale items I gave away. ) Anyway, it was a kind thing and I appreciate it. The typical tract that JWs can't accept from people of other religions even though there was absolutely nothing unscritptual about it. I never did think it right that JW expected others to read their tracts, but wouldn't accept other religions tracts. ( I took their tracts-thought it rude not to. )
found a tract at my door/with a catch!
by enoughisenough 10 Replies latest jw experiences
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ScenicViewer
" I never did think it right that JW expected others to read their tracts, but wouldn't accept other religions tracts. ( I took their tracts-thought it rude not to. )"
Good for you! I too was bothered by the fact that we expect others to take JW literature but we had to reject theirs. What a tremendous double standard. Now I see it as information control from a very controlling religious organization.
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User99
That reminds me of an experience in a previous congregation. We were out in service, and one of the brothers joked about slipping a dollar bill into one of the magazines so that the householder would see it and take the magazines. It was one of those days that no one was taking any literature.
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enoughisenough
now that I think about it, another person gave me a tract...it had a $ in it.
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a watcher
I routinely give homeless people a tract with $5 in it.
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SignalVan125
That's so cool! Getting a tract, especially from a Baptist church, is kinda unexpected but nice. You’re totally right, it's kinda odd how some people might not take tracts from other religions, even if they're just about kindness and stuff. Like, we can all learn something good from different beliefs, you know? Taking their tracts is a polite move, for sure. 😊
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BluesBrother
I never agreed with that edict not to accept other people’s tracts. I used to carry on. I felt embarrassed when the Uber elder I was with once stopped me from taking one…..
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WingCommander
Ok, child of the 80's here. As a JW "yang wan" who was trained at a young age to place tracts, one of my very first "Red Flag" moments was exactly this. I was to attempt to win over people at the door with a tract, but was absolutely forbidden from then accepting one of theirs (if asked or to reciprocate). I was trained to reject it kindly, but immediately saw the hypocrisy of it, even if I didn't know what that word quite meant yet. In my young mind, if we had the "Truth" real truth, than it would stand up and certainly nothing some baptist or something gave me would measure up or sway me. So even as a young child, it made me ask "what don't they want me to see?" And by extension, "Is our faith really so weak as to not stand up to comparison and examination?"
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TonusOH
That is the problem with the WTS approach. They want you to be open-minded and question everything when you are not a JW, then they want you to have unquestioned loyalty and obedience when you are.
They try to hide it a little bit- the approach is "test the things we tell you and you will see that they are true." Not 'test it to see if it is true' but 'test it and you will confirm it is true.' If your test does not confirm that what they tell you is true, then you had better test again and again until you see the truth of what they are saying. Otherwise you risk removal.
When you are in and determined to stay in, you can gloss over the contradiction. But it doesn't go away. Every time you see/hear a JW reject any non-WTS literature or discussion because it is dangerous to read or listen to, you wonder why someone who has god's own truth would be afraid to confront the devil's lies. In order to continue to remain, you have to lie to yourself. At some point you either confront this problem or you bury it.
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Drearyweather
I worked with an elderly pioneer sister most of the time in my group. If someone gave her a religious pamphlet in return for her tract, she just smiled and replied: "Sweetheart, I took great efforts to come to your door, tell my thoughts and give you this tract, I would be happy if you come and find my house and give me a proper presentation of what it contains and then I'll choose if I want to take it or not- in the same way I am giving you the choice now."