ACTIVISM strategies

TerryWalstrom

With the proliferation of Social Media, more people have been reached by the Watchtower organization than ever before in history. It sure took them long enough!

At the same time, Anti-JW Activism has caught fire to counterbalance the propaganda.

There are all sorts of Activists operating "out there" using books, videos, Podcasts, Facebook, and incidental un-Witnessing to puncture and perforate the false message and counterfeit codswallop of the Governing Body.

__________

Who is doing an effective job and how do we measure the effect?
I'd like to hear from the Ex-J-Dub community feedback on who they feel is setting an example of getting the word out with real results.

What makes a book, Podcast, or YouTube video effective in your opinion?

Obviously, there are two main target groups:

1. Disillusioned wake-ups secretly doing research to answer their disquieting curiosity as to why their suspicions about the Organization are gnawing at them.

2. DF'd and Faders who are out of the Kingdom Hall and clueless as to what comes next.

Let's hear what you have to say about all the variations on Activism, whether it is :
books: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jehovah%27s+witness+books

organized (http://aawa.co/

crowd-funded:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-reluctant-apostate-religion#/

humourous: https://www.youtube.com/user/lougoode,
couples https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG2tODD7ys5CYEu6qYvj1SA,

Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPRyuxv6tBzPTmw211lSxmQ,

sparky1

This website/discussion forum is doing a great 'anti-witness' work all by itself. In just the last 15 days, I counted 35 new members. To paraphrase the title of one of your posts, 'When the student is ready, the teacher arrives'...........certainly many 'students' that are ready to learn 'the truth about the truth' come to this site and learn from the vast amount of 'teachers' here that have unlimited experience in life after Jehovah's Witnesses. This 'quiet' , not in your face activism that is displayed by this forum is not to be undervalued by any of us that post here. It is an excellent two-way street. We each have been helped by someone here and in turn no doubt have helped someone else to see the 'truth about the truth' more clearly. Thumbs up to all who post here with the intent of helping their fellow man!

The Searcher

Good topic.

Al lot more could/should be done to rip off the veneer of the WTBTS/JW cult and expose its lies and corruptions.

Personally I feel that the priorities are to try and hit the org financially as well as to warn potential converts of the very real risks they face by becoming a J.W.

Since the org wallows in its charitable status based on its "Bible education" work & free literature, perhaps their qualifications for charity status should be revoked due to the fact that their raison d'être is nothing to do with charity, and everything to do with self-promotion and self-enlargement - both financially and in converts.

In the UK, the government can be obliged to debate a topic in parliament if 100,000 signatories sign up to an e-petition. https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

Separately, complaints/questions could be submitted to the UK Charities Commission to highlight the glaring absence of charity work by an organization which has tax-free status, receives taxpayers' money via gift-aid, and which will avoid paying a fortune in taxes when it sells off it Branch Office properties in London - as well as any multi-million pound London Kingdom Halls which almost certainly will be "consolidated." (include all the other UK K.H.'s which will be sold off)

Individually we can help individual ex/J.W.'s - but to deal with the org, we need the services of an "Equaliser."

TerryWalstrom

Discussion groups (especially this one) led the way long before all the rest.

Listener

This site stands in it's own right as a powerful research tool. It often comes up on Google results. You name any JW topic and you can find a discussion on it here.

apocalypse

This site is one of the best methods of dismantling watchtower. Watchtower hates open discussion. I also appreciate ones who have put up videos on YouTube etc. Last, but not least are the information sites put up that are specific to certain topics. All good.

I have tried some local things. Caused a few problems. The result was talks by horrified elders from both the Kingdom Hall platform and the assembly hall platform. Plenty of oohs from the gallery. On the list of those affected are upwards of a dozen dubs who are now free. And I got plans.

Chook

The JWs will go the way of that song that said "who killed the radio star". The Internet is the death sword.

TerryWalstrom

About a year and a half ago, I overheard a religious "discussion / debate" between two young men. I tried not to listen until certain JW buzzwords popped out. That's when I knew.
I had an out-of-body feeling come over me and I got up and walked over to the and introduced myself.
At that point in their conversation, the young JW fellow had spoken the word, "Apostates. . ."
I said to them something like this: "I'm sorry to interrupt your private conversation but I couldn't help but overhear you talking about me."
That got their attention.
I turned to the Witness and said, "I used to be exactly like you and now I'm an Apostate. But, the things you're saying just are factual--and I felt compelled to say something."
And off we went from that into an amazing adventure.

The JW has become, all these months afterward, like a son to me. No, really--we talk at least once or twice a week. He came by Starbucks yesterday all dressed up for door-to-door work. He brought a chess board. We played three games and I informally gave him advice and tips.

It is an amazing relationship which is so rewarding, I can't begin to explain what it does for my interior sense of worth.
Waking somebody up that young is a kind of Gift from the Universe.

Activism can have unseen trade-offs, long-term effects, and short-term manifestations. The little things we say are like time bombs.
In a good way:)

But the best by far, creating a relationship with a human being whose entire life will now be improved because of walking over and interrupting a conversation is beyond the telling.

I still can't tell you what came over me to make me butt in--it was something eerie--a truly ineffable feeling of "rightness" which I could not resist. A religious person would say, "I felt the 'calling'." :)

If we all can find a way to give in to the sense of balance involved in intruding into Jehovah's Witnesses' dream world for the sake of their quality of life--we could really make the world (not to get too maudlin about it) a better place, indeed.

konceptual99

This site has personally been invaluable during my awakening and continues to provide an outlet for discussion and comment that otherwise would be hard to achieve. My personal opinion is that the only other source of open discussion and support is the exjw reddit.

Facebook groups are great in themselves but tend to be more limited in their membership. I occasionally dip in the ex jw uk group but as I have to use a second account under incognito browsing it's a bit of a pain to have to keep logging in. If I was openly out then I think FB would be a better as the community aspect would be more accessible.

JWfacts is awesome. There is no other place to go to to find facts presented in a logical and evidence supported manner.

JWSurvey seems to get alot of traffic and the nature of the content there does seem to draw the curious. I know Cedars is marmite to many but I don't think you can underestimate the reach of the site. I also think that the editorial content has become more rounded as Cedars has involved others in the content production.

There are obviously many ones presenting content on youtube. Some are better than others, some will appeal to certain people more than others.

I don't think there is a single right or wrong way. Individuals will consume information in whatever ways are most suited to them and this may vary for that person at different times, I know it does for me. Their needs may also vary with where they are in the journey. In the early days, information from JWFacts or a snappy video on youtube may be best. Other times it will be support through discussion here, reddit or Facebook.

The only thing I would say is that the people/sites/vloggers that I keep going back to and value are the ones that avoid sensationalism and distortion of the facts. Opinion is one thing, but there are some out there who simply end up confirming the apostate stereotype which I think is counter-productive.

Chook

Terry

I love how you draw them in ,using their own strategies ,brilliant . I live in town where there is an assembly hall and on weekends McDonald's get a lot of JW visitors . The coffee might not be as good as Starbucks but if you were there I think a massive cult healing could take place or at least some provocative thought process could take place. I have family in and I haven't been nailed to the stake yet, but I know it's only a matter of time due to my strong convictions.

ACTIVISM strategies

Share this