Are JWs Usually Anti-Semitic?

[Guest Anonymous]

Or did I get a *special* one? If I'm not busy I will sometimes chat with the door to door religion peddlers, and I had a couple on my porch this morning. Dude read me a couple of scriptures out of his funny Bible, and talked about how Satan rules the world.

 

Then he went on a spiel about how the Jewish people persecuted Jesus Christ. To which I was like uh, what about all those Jewish people that followed him? He brushed me off. He told me the Jews put Jesus to death, I told him I was pretty sure the Romans did it. He told me to read my Bible. I began to get cranky. I told him what he was saying was anti-Semitic. He asked me if the Bible was anti-Semitic and I replied that it sounded like he was interpreting it that way and I thought it was ugly of him.

 

All of a sudden he decides he "doesn't want to debate" with me. I informed him that he was on my porch, I wasn't on his. He asked me if I wouldn't come share "the truth" with him, I told him I wasn't arrogant enough to presume that I knew it. Then he skedaddled.

 

So, all of that to ask, is that normal JW behavior? Or did I get a super nutty one?

[Kitty]

You'll find anti-Semites in just about any brand of Christianity. It boggles the mind, especially when they're the super-legalistic ones who have memorized most of the Old Testament and apparently none of the new except for John 3:16.

I don't know if it's normal JW behavior though.

And of course ignorant morons like him "don't want to debate" anymore once they figure out they're full of shit.

[finleeport]

The New Testament can be taken as antisemitic, especially the gospel according to John.

[FaustianSlip]

That sounds weird, even by JW standards. I don't spend a lot of time talking to them, but my mom has had a number of them in her class (she's an elementary school teacher), and if any of them or their parents busted out stuff like that, I'd have heard about it. Though granted, you would hope neither the kids nor their parents would be trying to convert people in the context of a public school, but I'm sure it's happened before and will happen again.

Dude said something like that to me on my property, I'd turn the hose on him. And seriously, even if you do believe that crap, it seems like PR would dictate that you might not open your conversion pitch with it. How did he know you weren't Jewish yourself, no horns? :roll:

All of that said, there are definitely passages of the New Testament that have historically been interpreted in pretty anti-Semitic ways. Just look at some of the stuff that was referenced in The Passion of the Christ. I've never heard of JWs being particularly or habitually anti-Semitic, though, and we've definitely had them knock at our door before. Like Kitty says, though, you get anti-Semites in a lot of denominations.

[Guest Anonymous]

Dude said something like that to me on my property, I'd turn the hose on him. And seriously, even if you do believe that crap, it seems like PR would dictate that you might not open your conversion pitch with it. How did he know you weren't Jewish yourself, no horns? :roll:

All of that said, there are definitely passages of the New Testament that have historically been interpreted in pretty anti-Semitic ways. Just look at some of the stuff that was referenced in The Passion of the Christ. I've never heard of JWs being particularly or habitually anti-Semitic, though, and we've definitely had them knock at our door before. Like Kitty says, though, you get anti-Semites in a lot of denominations.

If I could have reached the hose, I would have been sorely tempted. There was an older guy and a younger one, but the older guy did all of the talking. At my old house, the only JWs that knocked were sweet elderly ladies, and I never heard talk of that sort from them.

Another highlight - he told me that *science proves* that people turn to dust when they die. I'm thinking that decomposition is a wee bit more complicated than that, dude. He also said it trying to argue his point that no one is in heaven, because all of the dead people are dust. I was raised in church and I never heard anyone argue that dead people are physically in heaven. Clearly he couldn't reason himself out of a wet paper bag if he had a dozen razor blades, so I can't imagine he's very good at converting people. ARGH. I'm getting pissed all over again just thinking about it.

[Daenerys]

This totally reminds me of a line in 'An Education' where the headmistress is telling Jenny off about her older fiance:

"And he's a Jew as well! You know that the Jews killed Our Lord!"

"But... Miss... Our Lord was a Jew..."

XD

[bananacat]

That's weird. What if you had been Jewish yourself? Surely this JW has come to the doors of Jewish people while recruiting. Does he simply not want them to convert, or does he expect his anti-Semitism to appeal to them somehow?

[Daenerys]

Depends where he is, though...

[Beeks]

Huh. I haven't seen a JW in YEARS and in the last month I've had three pairs of them come by my house at different times. The convos generally went like this:

Them: Hi

Me: What religion are you selling? [saw their Bibles]

Them: We're Jehovah's Witnesses!

Me: We're Jews, and we're very happy being Jewish.

Them: Were you born Jewish?/Were you always Jewish?

Me: Yes

Them: Bye!

I thought it was odd they all asked if we'd always been Jewish, but I figured it was because if we had converted they thought they'd have a better shot with us? Who knows. I don't know a whole lot about this religion but they were all perfectly nice and pleasant.

Edited to clarify this was three separate occasions.

[MerryHappy]

The JWs I deal with tend to be super aggressive to the point of causing me to fear for my safety and that of my children.

One time i was loading my children into their car seats in our vehicle when I was waylaid by a group of JWs. I refused to talk to them (as I was busy) and one man kept getting louder and louder, demanding to share his 'truth.'

It ended with me screaming at him to leave me the fuck alone after repeated quiet requests and his co-witnesser people physically pulling him away from me. Bear in mind that this all played out in front of my very small children.

The last time the JWs came to my door, I told them I wasn't interested-that I was an atheist. The woman kept quizzing me about it. Had I always been an atheist? Had I actually ever know 'real believers'? (to which I answered, yes-that is why I am an atheist.)

It got to the point where she kept trying to open my locked outer glass door.

I do not love it when the JWs come by.

[Rachel333]

I'm not familiar with JW's, but that sounds off.

We have a nice JW who comes by every so often. She's a middle-aged woman who knows all our names and even greets our dog by name. (We've never met her when she wasn't proselytizing.) We just politely decline and she goes to the next door. It's kind of a funny relationship.

I probably should learn more about JW beliefs, but they mostly just seem very boring. I do know that other Christians can be really mean to JWs (and any other group that claims to be Christian but doesn't meet that person's definition of Christian, like LDS or very liberal Christians--I've seen Christians be ruder to Mormons than they ever would be to non-Christians), and they've obviously had some persecution, since they were sent to concentration camps in WWII. On the other hand, they seem like a very controlling group and I've heard that a lot of the JWs who go door to door really hate doing it but are required to by their church.

[sacrilicious]

I had a couple come by this morning as well. Declined "The Watchtower" and told them we were Buddhist and to save the paper. :lol:

They were very polite, at least.

[lilwriter85]

It has been about a year or so since I have encountered a JW on my doorstep or near my home. In the past the JW's who I have dealt with aren't really aggressive. In the town I grew up in, there were four or five large JW families and they were types of people who liked to be on friendly terms with others so when they went to houses they weren't too pushy or anything. In the city I live the JW's who have come to my doorsteps are bit aggressive. The last time I dealt with a JW, I was approached by two women. I had pulled into my driveway and the two women were next door but nobody was home and they came over to where I was. They introduced themselves as JW's, but their main focus was distributing pamphlets on how technology is evil and sinful.

I have heard stories of super aggressive JW's who sometimes bash certain groups. A friend of mine who is also a former co-worker moved away with his family back in 2009 to a smaller city. My friend is currently a stay at home dad with his daughters. Once a JW woman asked why he didn't do his manly duty of working outside the home. My friend told that the reason he wasn't working was due to lack of opportunities in his career field and he also told her that he occasionally does odd jobs. This particular JW never went back to my friend's house. My friend has said that he gets other JW's once in awhile and sometimes he doesn't answer the door if he recognizes them.

My aunt lived in a predominately Catholic neighborhood in Chicago in the 1970's. The neighborhood was also a working class type with factory workers, cops and firefighters and their families living there. My aunt was a nurse who worked mostly nights and her ex-husband was a firefighter so there were times they were home during the day and there were occasions when JW's told them and other neighbors that Catholicism was evil. My aunt said that JW's loved going to that neighborhood because a few people were bound to be home during the day, because of swing and graveyard shifts.

[Beeks]

Aren't JWs the ones who believe only 144,000 people will get into Heaven, ever ever? I'm pretty sure I'm NOT one of the 144,000 best people who ever lived and who ever will live, so why the heck would I convert to a religion that would guarantee me no access to Heaven? No thanks.

[Rachel333]

I think it's something like 144,000 actually go to heaven, but the rest get to live in paradise on earth. They had to find something to explain why there could be more than 144,000 JWs, anyway.

[Beeks]

I think it's something like 144,000 actually go to heaven, but the rest get to live in paradise on earth. They had to find something to explain why there could be more than 144,000 JWs, anyway.

Oh, that's cool then. At least they don't have real hell with fire and brimstone.

[Guest Anonymous]

I think it's something like 144,000 actually go to heaven, but the rest get to live in paradise on earth. They had to find something to explain why there could be more than 144,000 JWs, anyway.

I asked specifically about the only 144,000 people get to go to heaven bit, which is when the dude started talking about how nobody is in heaven because dead people are all dust. Basically I feel like he deflected every question I asked with some bullshit or other.

[finleeport]

I could never understand why some Christians could be so antagonistic against the Jews.

I always believed that the Jews should thanked by the Christians, if it hadn't been for them, the Christians would have never known about the God of Abraham. But that's not to say I don't exclude Zeus or Odin or the Horned God, just we could have been ignorant of another God.

So because of Judaism, the Christians should thankful to Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Moses and Elijah etc.

[deelaem]

First of all Lissar, ^5 for putting the idiot in his place. Well done!

I never answer the door for any religious peddlers. I even have a sign by my door that says "No Peddlers". Of course they never think that's what they are doing, so they knock anyway. I simply go about my business and don't even care if they see me through the window. And I certainly never try to restrain my fiercely barking German Shepherd away from the window. ;) Once when I got caught outside by one, a scary look and a low-voiced "Get off of my property" got rid of him.

It's so sad how JW's are forced to do this soul-winning door to door crap. (Are you listening PP and Zsus?) They literally feel like they have to do it for their salvation, and let's face it not everyone is cut out for it. I think you got one of the more clueless ones.

[Daenerys]

We have one that says 'Promoters of Religion and Salespersons of any kind are absolutely NOT welcome here'

It does the trick. Ironically my mother bought that and she's a Christian.

[demgirl]

I know I am a terrible person, but I kind of enjoy fucking with the witnessing people I meet, be it on the street or door to door. I grew up with a militant atheist father who teaches the history of western religion sometimes so while I lack a lot of basic knowledge about religion that you get from actually attending church regularly as a child (I'm getting better thanks to FJ), I know all of the standard arguments. I'll be screwed if any of them ever to manage to get past the standard comebacks, but so far none have.

[NurseNell]

I worked with a science teacher who was a JW. I never understood how she could reconcile being a science teacher with the beliefs of the JW. She was a fantastic teacher and won awards for her innovative ways to teach science. And then on weekends she went door to door for the JW. Very odd.

Nell

[Kitty]

I've never had JWs come to my door, actually, probably because the closest Kingdom Hall is 45 minutes away and my neighborhood is so far in the middle of nowhere not even people in my small town know where it is.

There's been plenty of Baptists who have come around though...

[Kitchen Princess]

You know, you could be turning away Michael Jackson's mother!

I had JWs come to my house in Memphis and hand me a Watchtower. I put it on the patio table in front of me and the lady said, "That will be $1 donation." I handed it back to her and said she could keep it.

[Chrystal-J]

I studied with the JWs for years. They're a cult that is only semi-Christian. They have an altered bible that they used to promote the Watch Tower magazine. The Watch Tower is their "true" source of knowledge--even the bible has to be alter to fit that! They often say that "Christendom" is doomed, so they aren't exactly Christian.

The members are forced to go out and do so many hours of field service or they will be severely chastised. They must document the hours (like a worker who has a time clock to punch). The fear of being disfellowshipped and then shunned is very high, so they do the hours required to stay in good standing with the group. If shunned, their own parents or adult children will no longer speak to them, so the pressure is very high to do as the leaders say.

Also, they're told that they'll die in Armageddon if they don't do as the leaders of the JW tell them. (I never believed that, but many strongly do.)

Best way to deal with them is to say "I'm not interested" and shut the door. If they persist, you can ask them to not come back. Most of them will respect that.

I never bought into the whole party-line, I was mainly interested in it because I thought they genuinely did bible studies and I wanted to have one. It wasn't until *years* later that I realized they had altered the bible to fit the JW Magazine. It is after being baptized the real pressure/brain-washing begins. They didn't reveal their secret teachings (about altered bible) until you were baptized, so I never learned about the really kooky stuff until I quit associating with them and read about it at ex-JW sites.

I still get a few stragglers who knock on my door from time to time and I just tell them I'm not interested and leave it at that.