...ooohhhhhh yes....
Oh yes, we've run into the JW alright. As I've mentioned elsewhere, my wife and I are learning ASL (my wife is far better than me, and she interprets the sermons and songs at our church on Sunday mornings).
Anyway, we found out recently that the local state association for the deaf was having a function at a local amusement park last week. Since it was open to the public, we thought we'd go and see if any of our deaf friends and acquaintences might be there. Also, we figured it could be good for practicing ASL.
The day at the amusement park was fun, and we did see a few of our friends and acquaintences. As we were leaving, a woman and a man walked up to my wife (I was standing back a ways with our kids), and they started signing to her. Not thinking anything about it, my wife started signing back. Apparently they asked her if she had a church, and my wife replied that we did, and that she signed at our church. The man and woman were surprised at that, because they didn't realize they were signing to a hearing person. Anyway, they never told my wife who they were, but they gave her this great big bag of videos and books and told her that she could use the videos and books at her church and to learn more sign. My wife could see that they were religious videos of some sort, and assumed that they were Christian videos. When we got in the car and my wife started to show me what they had given her (at that point my wife was thinking "Oh, how nice those people were!"), we realized every single video had "Watch Tower Society" as the producer. We knew that "Watch Tower" was the name of the JW magazine that they try to force you when you're walking along the street, so I told my wife "wait a minute, I think this stuff is all JW". Sure enough, one of the videos was about Jehova and why worship MUST include the name Jehova, otherwise it's not authentic (in other words, only their particular brand of faith is the "true faith").
JW folks have some rather strange beliefs IMHO. Due to the way their translation of the Bible reads (their Bible was translated in the 1950s), they're not allowed to accept blood transfusions (although some will use blood products like plasma). They're also not allowed to get involved in many social and political issues (makes you wonder exactly how they're living up to JC's call to be "the light and salt of the earth"). They won't serve in the military, and until recently wouldn't serve alternative military roles (reserved for conscientous objectors)--they'd just go to jail instead. Their "elders" also judge them based on how many people they witness to on a regular basis. That's why they go door to door. Their elders keep track of how many times they've witnessed, and helping others within their community is not considered a form of witnessing or ministry. So they're both extremely inwardly focused, but also coerced into going out and trying to convert strangers. They also have made a series of false predictions about the 2nd coming of God. Their most recent was in 1975. As an outsider, it's probably unfair for me to say, but it seems to me that they have basically ignored all traditions of the Church in favor of inventing a new faith in the early 1900s that their leadership calls "more faithful to the early Church". Everyone is entitled to their beliefs, I just wish they'd leave me alone once I tell them that I'm not interested, or already a Christian.
