Missed Opportunities With Jehovah’s Witnesses
I have been a vocal atheist for a long time and have had long and in depth conversations with people of many different sects of various religions. Christianity is of course the most prevalent religion in America and I have talked to many Christian sects. But until recently, I had never talked to a Jehovah’s Witness.
A few times I came close to talking to a Jehovah’s Witness. I remember when I was in college, I was home for the summer and a Jehovah’s Witness came to the door of my parents’ house. Unfortunately, my sister answered the door. She rudely informed the Jehovah’s Witness that she was Jewish and practically slammed the door in their faces. After she told me who was at the door, I practically ran after them, but they were gone.
Then a few months back, a Jehovah’s Witness came to my door and I answered it. The problem was that she didn’t tell me she was a Jehovah’s Witness. Instead, she asked me about depression and offered me a pamphlet on the subject. I took the pamphlet and opened it up. By the time I saw that it was a Watch Tower pamphlet (which was pretty quickly) she had already run off. I mean she literally ran.
This woman clearly did not want to spend her Saturday going door to door trying to convert people. I bet she prayed every time that she rang a door bell that no one would be home and that she could just leave the pamphlet. It is sad that her religious leaders made her feel obligated to go and knock on doors. I think 99 times out of a hundred, she probably had gotten the door slammed in her face. It had just so happened that I was the hundredth person and actually wanted to talk to her about her beliefs.
This brings me to what happened this weekend, when two young Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door. But I will save that story for tomorrow. The question of the day is, do you or would you slam the door in the face of a Jehovah’s Witness or would you engage them in conversation?
Filed under: conversation, Jehovah's Witness, Preaching, Religion