# Would it be evil for me to give Jehovah Witnesses handouts from JWFacts.com when they come here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774 "2014-08-17T20:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/81 "2014-08-19T02:04:04Z")
I don’t see why it would be evil at all. They’re sharing their beliefs and their literature. Why shouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![vietnamvet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/90db22/32.png) [@vietnamvet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vietnamvet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/82 "2014-08-19T03:39:49Z")
I placed quartz crystals around my property. And if the JW’s ever cross the “field”/ I’ll tell them about it. So far , they have sensed the energy field , And I have not been bothered. They are very superstitious about crystal energies. Try it! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/83 "2014-08-19T03:50:56Z")
> [@vietnamvet](#): > > I placed quartz crystals around my property. And if the JW’s ever cross the “field”/ I’ll tell them about it. So far , they have sensed the energy field , And I have not been bothered. > They are very superstitious about crystal energies. > Try it! Maybe they are just rightfully weary of overly superstitious people like you? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/84 "2014-08-19T04:01:19Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I have never called anyone a "douchebag. " Yeah. Instead you insult their mothers. Much classier. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/85 "2014-08-19T05:33:20Z")
> [@simster](#): > > So - lets focus on the second question for a bit - > > In your own words - what constitutes a ‘lie’ ? > > I’ll remind you what the Watchtower Organization states - > > What would you think if it were shown that the Watchtower does not follow its own guidelines? I have done research in various Watchtower publications. So far as I know, if an error was made, a subsequent publication has stated, “We stand corrected.” They use, and acknowledge, various outside sources, and I have done likewise: An elder once asked me to research (long before the era of the Internet), in various encyclopedias, the source of the cross. (I still have the results of that research.) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/86 "2014-08-19T07:02:34Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I have done research in various Watchtower publications. So far as I know, if an error was made, a subsequent publication has stated, “We stand corrected.” . . . Not when they predicted the end of the world on a certain date, and that date came and went. Even Harold Camping admitted he was wrong, but the Watchtower didn’t. (If I’m wrong here, I will…admit it! But I’ve read the Watchtower for years, and never saw a correction regarding those predictions.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/87 "2014-08-19T12:09:41Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Why any person should object to this–it’s plainly expressed in Pauline letters Tell us more about this Pauline. [Don’t keep me hanging!!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/The_Perils_of_Pauline_VideoCover.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/88 "2014-08-19T13:32:12Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > :Sigh: I don’t know any better word; “divided” was common among Witnesses at the time. I’m pretty sure that was the point. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/89 "2014-08-19T14:11:06Z")
Speaking of names, **dougie\_monty** , why would a JW choose a name that brings to mind “the full monty.” Are you a closet nudist? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/90 "2014-08-19T14:22:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Speaking of names, **dougie\_monty** , why would a JW choose a name that brings to mind “the full monty.” Are you a closet nudist? It’s a shortening of his real name. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/91 "2014-08-19T14:29:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Tell us more about this Pauline. [Don’t keep me hanging!!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/The_Perils_of_Pauline_VideoCover.jpeg) Golly, no. That rope must really be chafing you. In this context, pal, Pauline simply means “of Paul.” To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, don’t bother looking for Ms. Pauline. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/92 "2014-08-19T14:33:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Speaking of names, **dougie\_monty** , why would a JW choose a name that brings to mind “the full monty.” Are you a closet nudist? No! If you had seen a particular thread a while back, you would know that I made the username from a shortened version of my regular name. And what’s the point of being nude in a closet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/93 "2014-08-19T15:02:25Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > And what’s the point of being nude in a closet? 😃 To get dressed in private? ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/94 "2014-08-19T20:57:13Z")
I helped my girlfriend stop the JW visits and she never knew it. I was visiting her when she was home from college for the summer and her parents had gone camping for the weekend. As I drove down her street I passed a couple middle-aged ladies who were pulling bibles and pamphlets out of the trunk of a car and handing the pamphlets to a girl who must have been around kindergarten-aged. I figured they’d arrive at my girlfriend’s place in about an hour. I continued driving and parked in front of my girlfriend’s house. As I approached my girlfriend’s front door I looked up and noticed I could look through the window above the door and clearly see where the stairway from the foyer met the second floor. It wasn’t visible from the street, but if you were following the little cement walkway from the driveway to the door you could look up at just the right moment… I knocked, she answered the door wearing only a T-shirt, and I handed her the spiffy calculator she wanted to borrow for some courses she was planning to take in Autumn. Then I leaned in close and said, “How long until your parents get back?” “Two days.” she grinned at me, then turned and led the way into the house, “Where do you want me?” I thought for a moment as I followed her upstairs, and then a sudden inspiration came to mind. As I passed the landing half-way up the stairs, I grabbed her hip, pointed at the top step, and said, “Right there!” She looked to where I was pointing, then at me, and grinned, “My! Aren’t we feeling adventurous!” “You’ll never know.” I grinned back. We spent the couple hours exploring positions and possibilities, taking into account the structure and layout of the top landing of the stairs. At one point we heard a distant shriek and she stopped to ask, “Was that you?” “I don’t think so.” I told her, “At least not consciously.” When I stayed for dinner the next weekend, my girlfriend’s mother noted, “The Smiths next-door say the whole neighborhood got Witnessed last Saturday. Did you see them?” “I was here all day.” My girlfriend shrugged, “Nobody rang our doorbell.” Years later, I overheard my girlfriend’s\* father saying, “The Smiths asked me how we keep the JW’s away, but I have no idea why they don’t come around any more.” –G! \*By that time, we had broken up, but we’ve always remained friends. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/95 "2014-08-19T20:59:12Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > To get dressed in private? Yeah, but you can’t see what you’re doing! ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/96 "2014-08-19T22:50:29Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > I helped my girlfriend stop the JW visits and she never knew it. I was visiting her when she was home from college for the summer and her parents had gone camping for the weekend. As I drove down her street I passed a couple middle-aged ladies who were pulling bibles and pamphlets out of the trunk of a car and handing the pamphlets to a girl who must have been around kindergarten-aged. I figured they’d arrive at my girlfriend’s place in about an hour. > > I continued driving and parked in front of my girlfriend’s house. As I approached my girlfriend’s front door I looked up and noticed I could look through the window above the door and clearly see where the stairway from the foyer met the second floor. It wasn’t visible from the street, but if you were following the little cement walkway from the driveway to the door you could look up at just the right moment… > > I knocked, she answered the door wearing only a T-shirt, and I handed her the spiffy calculator she wanted to borrow for some courses she was planning to take in Autumn. Then I leaned in close and said, “How long until your parents get back?” > > “Two days.” she grinned at me, then turned and led the way into the house, “Where do you want me?” > … Am I the only one who wondered why this submission didn’t start with: Dear SDMB Forum, I never I’d be writing to the Forum, but this really did happen… ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/97 "2014-08-19T22:55:32Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I wouldn’t harass someone ringing my doorbell to sell newspapers or asking me to sign a petition or offering a quote on a new driveway even though each of those people would be bothering me to answer the door just the same. So why reserve some special “treatment” for another guy asking me about stuff I’m not interested in? Just say “no” nicely and close the door. It’s called manners. The reason I would consider this different is because I legitimately believe the JWs are a harmful cult. The guy who is going door to door selling newspapers or whatever knows what the deal is. To me, it is sad that there are JWs who really don’t know a lot about the history of their organization and the devious things the JWs have done to their followers. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/98 "2014-08-19T23:26:55Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I notice that several posters criticize the Witnesses because of their policy of "shunning, " as it’s usually called on this board, practiced against former members. > Why any person should object to this–it’s plainly expressed in Pauline letters–is beyond me, unless your philosophy is that all people are good and right and it’s wrong to shun anyone. I want to make sure I understand your view correctly. Are you saying that you don’t see anything wrong with stories like these: > [@](#): > > I was disfellowshipped at the age of 16 for drinking and “hooking up” with the elders daughter … basically being a common teenager. My whole family turned me away - I was homeless from 16 - 18. I was able to create a great life for myself as time went on but haven’t spoken with my parents since I was 16. I’m now 31 and I have no clue who they are. > [@](#): > > I was publicly reproved as a young teen, then [disfellowshipped] at 20 and fervently returned to meetings so that I could get my social and family life back. Only after I was reinstated did I start to think, “If I’m spiritually sick… shouldn’t this be the time that I get EVEN MORE help and assistance and support?” Especially considering that I was young, pregnant, getting married, moving… I needed my family more than ever and they treated me so poorly. I often cried myself to sleep. What kind of loving God would allow that to happen in his organization? > [@](#): > > Many times I was unable to spend any time with, or talk on the phone with, my little sister, who has Down’s Syndrome and cannot just stand up for herself to my family. My JW family is keeping us from each other. > > The usual fanatical shunning comes with the explanation that it is for them a preparation for my eventual death at armageddon. My family loves to throw the shock and horror death talk tactic alongside the “everybody misses you”, and “YOU know what to do” to see us all again. They make sure to always have a condescending tone, as if my life is pointless and futile, and my opinions and individuality mean zero…unless I carry the brand JW. > > It takes everything in me to not react to them like a crazed woman when they come onto me with that predictable mentality! I usually end up in tears after we have any conversation. > > I feel very passionately about this subject, it is absolutely an emotionally abusive tool!!! I have grown to Hate and Abhor the Jehovah’s Witness Religion with all my broken heart. They have stolen my family, they have stolen some good friends, they have created a perfect nightmare for any honest, good-hearted person [Taken from this collection of stories of people being shunned](http://jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/short-shunning-experiences.php) My concept of God includes charity to others, not rejection and hurting others. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/99 "2014-08-20T00:38:53Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I want to make sure I understand your view correctly. Are you saying that you don’t see anything wrong with stories like these: > > [Taken from this collection of stories of people being shunned](http://jwfacts.com/watchtower/experiences/short-shunning-experiences.php) > > My concept of God includes charity to others, not rejection and hurting others. Those poor oppressed drinkers (“normal”? In a pig’s eye!), and unwed mothers…how dare anyone reproach them? :rolleyes: Your third paragraph puzzles me. Do you mean the Witnesses hated someone who had Down syndrome? I used to know a Witness family with a son like that… ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774/100 "2014-08-20T00:44:16Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Those poor oppressed drinkers (“normal”? In a pig’s eye!), and unwed mothers…how dare anyone reproach them? :rolleyes: > > Your third paragraph puzzles me. Do you mean the Witnesses hated someone who had Down syndrome? I used to know a Witness family with a son like that… Kicking someone out of their church and then kicking a 16 year old out of the house is far from ‘reproaching’ them. And here I thought the church I grew up was legalistic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-evil-for-me-to-give-jehovah-witnesses-handouts-from-jwfacts-com-when-they-come-here/695774.md?page=6)