I was in India (Kerala) last month for my sister’s wedding – she just got married to a Bethelite (Lord save her), and I thought I should add my two pence here.
- Kerala definitely has a lot of JW’s
- Keralites (and a lot of south Indians) take religion super seriously. Most mornings, in the village where I was at, I would wake up to the shrieking sounds of women screaming out their devotion to Jesus, Hindu chants to whoever, and the required call for prayer (this wasn’t the loudest though. It’s a contest. All of them used deafening speakers – the decibel levels were incredible. All this starts at 4:30 in the morning. Never seen noise pollution like this before.
- Ok I just got off the phone with my mum and she says they’ve placed more speakers closer to their front gate (like wth!)
- My sister has told me of a bizarre Hindu custom where devotees attach themselves to hooks, and get dragged through the streets. Apparently this has happened in my parents’ village. Do not open this link if you’re lighthearted: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3414449/Worshippers-display-devotion-piercing-skin-hooks-spikes-Hindu-festival.html
- People generally don’t turn you away, you can walk uninvited into a person’s house to start preaching with no introduction. The subject of God is welcome in most environments
- Poverty is rampant in many parts of India. Like one of the posters said, a lot of people will switch to a new church as soon as they receive more benefits. I’m sure that’s how my ancestors converted to Christianity (from Hinduism). The missionaries brought with them opportunities for education, healthcare etc
- There’s definitely a lot of “local” JW customs and rules. This is partly why the society (? Do we still use this word?) is inviting all the non-resident Indians to go back to India. Probably to knock some sense into the poor locals being JW their own way
- I had this pest of a middle aged anointed JW bother me throughout the time I was there. As if sitting through a meeting wasn’t hard enough, he would come after to badger me saying I HAD to move to india to take care of my parents (believe me they’re just fine), take my sisters place and do the full time ministry. That there was no use in living where I do because there are enough JW’s here and India is the place to be. I started to rudely ignore him after the first couple of times this happened. (bad me I know, but he was just a pain!)
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I'm just glad to be back home now. I need a vacation from my vacation! :P