Here in the US they are just part of a vast landscape of various religious organizations. I' ve ran into them numerous times etc. and that is just the way it is.
I certainly don't appreciate being verbally admonished to hell for xyz, but I frankly have a hard understanding why some will go out of their way to ridicule someone. Just say no, thank you.
The first few times, one ought to say "no, thank you" and shrug it off, yes. However, when they go out of their way to come back despite being repeatedly told not to do so in some fruitless endeavour to save you from the licking flames of Hell, (Michigan), then something a bit firmer than a "no, thank you" will be the soupe du jour at my place.
Pace said:
Different folks live different lives. If I don't agree with something, just say no thank you and no harm is done.
Indeed, but when their lives as a group consist of not respecting your difference from them and telling you why you're going to Hell, (Michigan) if you do not live as they do, and when they constantly meddle in government business, I think it ought to be spoken against.
With that said, I think Jehovah's Witnesses go through a lot of unnecessary persecution. Other religious groups think they're somehow better than them, when in fact they're strikingly similar, only the JW are more forthcoming in their whole door-to-door thing and littering public places with pamphlets, etc. Evangelical Christians are known for doing exactly the same, and yet they are more respected, only because there's more of them.
So in that regard I do think JW are unfairly judged.
I could be wrong but I highly doubt they leave a vast number of magazines at your door since we are told NOT to do that. That we should physically talk to someone before we think of leaving literature. It could be possible someone is not followig procedure, but this is not common.
It is around here, and that is how I inexplicably ended up with several issues of The Watchtower and some random books whose names escape me, along with a copy of the bible, and I will not say what ensued afterwards lol. It could be the group in my area is not following the protocol, but theoretical and practice often differ, and it is not uncommon to find sections don't give a crap about what you are or aren't supposed to do and do what they will anyway. They also are known for leaving tracts and other such things in public places, to my annoyance. They leave them at this one Chinese buffet I go to all the time more than at any other place, for some reason.
Also, I didn't say JW specifically were trying to create a theocracy. That was a commentary on religious people in general, especially those of the Judeo-Christian persuasion. Jehovah's Witnesses actually come in pretty low in my list of annoyances, they're annoying and persistent, yes, but they don't dominate the country [so far]. That was just a commentary on the way religious people seem to want to affect political legislation in a place which is supposed to separate the state from the church, and while JW may make up a fraction of said people, the comment was meant towards the religious in general.
As a final note, thank goodness they don't come around here anymore. I don't like to talk to people as it is, especially when they're strangers at my door who already see the world 180 degrees different from me and are looking to preach at me.
Some of their pamphlets and tracts are pretty amusing, though. I admit it is a guilty pleasure of mine to pick them up at offices if I see them and read a poorly crafted argument about why my bisexuality is wrong, or why I shouldn't listen to rock and roll. Lol.
