Our On and Off-Board Encounters with some JWs

[jschwehm]

Hi Gang:

We have had some JWs come and do the hit and run on this board. I have to say that the willingness of my Catholic brothers and sisters to engage such ones is admirable. I was also impressed with the respectful way in which you asked questions and the like when clearly the assertions made by the JWs who have posted here are very offensive to us.

However, the JWs that use the hit and run technique on our board are really not interested in dialog and and really have no respect for us or our beliefs. Former JWs are particularly hated by these JWs and so they really refuse to speak with people like me.

In fact, I just received an email from one of our more famous hit and run JWs. In this email he accused me of lying. He then said that he disabled comments at his website because too many *Catholics * were leaving messages that contained foul language and that ‘while the use of foul language is common among Catholics it is not common among JWs.’ (Not sure where he got the data to come to these conclusions by the way.)

He told me that I was like a dog that has returned to its vomit since I left the JWs and became Catholic. (Notice how Catholic Beliefs and practices are considered the equivalent of vomit by him.) He told me that I must like being Catholic now because Catholics do not go from door to door like JWs do and so now I am spiritually lazy like most Catholics.

Remember also that this particular individual is a former Catholic. This is one of the reasons why my wife and I helped to start The Fellowship of Catholic Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. Our goal is to assist Catholics in learning their faith so that they do not fall prey to anti-Catholic cults like the JWs. As you can see, once a person joins a group like the JWs it is extremely difficult to have an intelligent conversation with them since the hatred and prejudice against the Catholic Church that they are taught by the JWs is so strong.

We also did this because individuals coming out of the JWs are shunned and many have not even been able to speak with their JW relatives for decades and are all alone in this world. (I have had instances of JW parents disowning and throwing minor children out on the street due to the children rejecting the JW faith.)

Some of these former JWs do have an attraction to the fullness of the Catholic faith, which is a miracle performed by the Holy Spirit considering the anti-Catholic bias they have been exposed to in the JWs. However, many in the Church (through no fault of their own) cannot help these people as they have some rather unique problems. You guys might find the following article interesting:

old.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=29470

Please pray for this apostolate. It is really a difficult job but my wife and I have seen so many miracles. Please pray for people like our famous hit and run JW friend because it was not that long ago that I was like him. I was filled with the same hatred of the Catholic Church as he is as was my wife (who by the way left the Catholics to become a JW but is now Catholic again) mainly because of the lies that the JWs tell their members about the Catholic Church. But through God’s grace and the prayers of my Catholic relatives the Lord brought me and my wife home.

God’s blessings to you all,

Jeff S.

 

[Damascus]

Jeff, you need to tell the mods about a poster here that says things like that to someone via whatever the means. I suggest you forward the offensive E-mail to a Mod ASAP and also try to find out which hall this guy is at and forward it to his elders.
Along with all his posts here.
You have and deserve respect here on these forums and by anyone who comes in contact with you through this forum.

This poster needs to be banned.

 

[yessisan]

Jeff, I’m sorry these people come to you like this. That just shows you that they are not who they claim to be. You should know this very well since you were a JW before. As Damascus said, report him. Tell his elders and then he’ll listen. He’d be so mentally beaten up by them for even posting on these forums that he’ll never do it again.

You of all people are truly the nicest one toward the JWs who come to CAF so there is no need for them to attack you this way. This ex-Catholic is just trying to get his anger out on you and each and every one of us here because he cannot express himself in any way in that unhappy religion, or should I say CULT.

 

[jschwehm]

Hi Damascus and Yessian:

I did not post this so that you guys could feel bad for me. I get some nasty emails through my website from time to time and I am a big boy and can take it.

What I wanted to point out was how difficult it is to dialog with a true believing JW and the tragedy that many of the true believing JWs were raised Catholic. In fact, when my mother became a JW (she was a Missouri Synod Lutheran) it was the Catholic side of the family that became JWs and not her Lutheran relatives. I attribute this to the terrible catechesis of the past decades which of course apostolates like Catholic Answers, Catholic Exchange, EWTN, Relevant Radio, and others (including the Catholic Ex-JW Fellowship) are trying to change.

I just thought you guys who have never dialoged with JWs before might like to know what it is you are up against and how important prayer is in helping you and your JW friend.

Jeff S.

P.S. Yessian you might like the following article that I wrote on Confession. Here is the link:

old.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=32083

 

[dawgfan]

It’s so very sad that it has turned nasty now.

Miracles do happen though. There’s a lot of saints in heaven that were once persecutors of the faith.

 

[dawgfan]

Jeff, you need to tell the mods about a poster here that says things like that to someone via whatever the means. I suggest you forward the offensive E-mail to a Mod ASAP and also try to find out which hall this guy is at and forward it to his elders.
Along with all his posts here.
You have and deserve respect here on these forums and by anyone who comes in contact with you through this forum.

This poster needs to be banned.

Somehow I get the feeling he’s not going to return (to post anyway). There’s too many apostates roaming around

He told me that I was like a dog that has returned to its vomit since I left the JWs and became Catholic. (Notice how Catholic Beliefs and practices are considered the equivalent of vomit by him.)

That reminds me. I noticed this morning when I looked in my backseat that my dog must’ve ate something disagreeable with him when he was in my car last night with me (assuming he wasn’t under the influence of an evil demon). I wish he would’ve returned to that before I saw it. I’ve got to go clean that up after work. At least it wasn’t anywhere near my bible which was on the backseat too. He is a good Catholic dog. I had him blessed by the priest.

 

[Damascus]

Jeff, you are doing a good job and I can tell you that your work has really planted seeds in my mothers mind for sure. Now, when I get some cash CAF and YOU and a bunch of people that have helped me will get it. I need at least another 6 months or so before I can do that.

Prayers, and a fight for you and your work is all I have right now.

But I will go to town in any event. And hopefully the money thing will be much better soon.

 

[Damascus]

I have to come up with the 4,000 for catholic pre school, and its draining.

 

[Cardinalsong]

Hi Jeff–

Thank you for the JW info and God Bless you for your love and compassion for them

Anyway, this may be a question I can post to your site but I have 3 JW’s that I work with. We don’t get on the topic of religion but I know it may come up someday. They are all very kind to me although we haven’t had any conversations of a religious nature. Just the usual kind of daily work chit chat. My question is although I myself cannot make someone to convert to the Catholic Church, how so I get the ball rolling so to speak? They already know I’m a Christian and love the Lord but whether or not they know about Catholic, well I don’t know.

I know I can’t get up on my soapbox or anything but is there a more subtle approach? I love them all very much and I grieve for their souls on a daily basis. Any (name removed by moderator)ut or direction would be great.

*BTW, I’m on the journey to the Catholic Church in whom I love very deeply. As my profile says “Catholic wannabe” which can always be disussed on another thread. So technically I’m a non Catholic but I’ll be home soon

 

[Cardinalsong]

Jeff, I should have checked out your site first. Wow, I had no idea what former JW’s go through in order to leave & become Catholic

No wonder our hit & run JW poster acting the way he (or is it she) is. Oh my prayers are with this person as well as my JW friends and you, Jeff and your family

 

[yessisan]

Jeff, thanks for the link on reconciliation. I really liked it! BTW, I really love what you are doing to help these JWs. I just hope my husband will be one of them one day. I know it’s hard for JWs to leave the WBTS, but with people like you, the path is less rough…

 

[Damascus]

There are a bunch of phonies out there that are “cult experts” that you can hire to kidnapp and “deprogram” these people by force if you have the trump.

Once upon a time when I had the trump, I considered it. (was not a Catholic then!) and wanted to interview these so called pros. Guess what? they were as full of BS as the WBTS

At least Jeff is legit!

 

[dawgfan]

Jeff:

Or anyone else here? Has anyone tried to followup on the authenticity of the newspaper article our friend mentioned in his post? I’ve never heard a JW mention this before nor have I seen anything in Awake or the Watchtower. The skeptic in me thinks that if this were true, they missed out on a good propaganda push.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=123722

From what I’m found its from Canberra Sunday Times (Australia) August 21, 2005 by author Markus Mannheim.

Not that anything in that supposed article should do anything to shake our faith, but it certaintly speaks volumes to how difficult it can be to dealing with the indoctrinated members of that corporation if Benedict has family members trapped in its snares also.

 

[dawgfan]

Jeff:

Or anyone else here? Has anyone tried to followup on the authenticity of the newspaper article our friend mentioned in his post? I’ve never heard a JW mention this before nor have I seen anything in Awake or the Watchtower. The skeptic in me thinks that if this were true, they missed out on a good propaganda push.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=123722

From what I’m found its from Canberra Sunday Times (Australia) August 21, 2005 by author Markus Mannheim.

Not that anything in that supposed article should do anything to shake our faith, but it certaintly speaks volumes to how difficult it can be to dealing with the indoctrinated members of that corporation if Benedict has family members trapped in its snares also.

I have managed to find someone who claims to have had a .pdf file emailed to them from author of said article. I now have the .pdf file. If anyone is interested, you can PM me and I can email it to you.

 

[jschwehm]

Hi Damascus:

I have actually done an intervention before with Mary Alice Chrnalogar. She is a very devout Catholic and is one of the few cult interventionists left in the world. Her book “Twisted Scripture” is awesome.

If you want to learn more about her and what she does, check out the following podcast. Here is the link:

catholicxjw.blogspot.com/2006/05/characteristics-of-religious-groups.html

For those who cannot afford to have her come out and help. Mary Alice will evem coach you so you can do your own intervention.

You can contact Mary Alice through my website if you like. Here is the link:

catholicxjw.com/interventions.html

Jeff S.

 

[Will_Pick]

Hi Gang:

We have had some JWs come and do the hit and run on this board. I have to say that the willingness of my Catholic brothers and sisters to engage such ones is admirable. I was also impressed with the respectful way in which you asked questions and the like when clearly the assertions made by the JWs who have posted here are very offensive to us.

However, the JWs that use the hit and run technique on our board are really not interested in dialog and and really have no respect for us or our beliefs. Former JWs are particularly hated by these JWs and so they really refuse to speak with people like me.

In fact, I just received an email from one of our more famous hit and run JWs. In this email he accused me of lying. He then said that he disabled comments at his website because too many *Catholics *were leaving messages that contained foul language and that ‘while the use of foul language is common among Catholics it is not common among JWs.’ (Not sure where he got the data to come to these conclusions by the way.)

He told me that I was like a dog that has returned to its vomit since I left the JWs and became Catholic. (Notice how Catholic Beliefs and practices are considered the equivalent of vomit by him.) He told me that I must like being Catholic now because Catholics do not go from door to door like JWs do and so now I am spiritually lazy like most Catholics.

Remember also that this particular individual is a former Catholic. This is one of the reasons why my wife and I helped to start The Fellowship of Catholic Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. Our goal is to assist Catholics in learning their faith so that they do not fall prey to anti-Catholic cults like the JWs. As you can see, once a person joins a group like the JWs it is extremely difficult to have an intelligent conversation with them since the hatred and prejudice against the Catholic Church that they are taught by the JWs is so strong.

We also did this because individuals coming out of the JWs are shunned and many have not even been able to speak with their JW relatives for decades and are all alone in this world. (I have had instances of JW parents disowning and throwing minor children out on the street due to the children rejecting the JW faith.)

Some of these former JWs do have an attraction to the fullness of the Catholic faith, which is a miracle performed by the Holy Spirit considering the anti-Catholic bias they have been exposed to in the JWs. However, many in the Church (through no fault of their own) cannot help these people as they have some rather unique problems. You guys might find the following article interesting:

old.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=29470

Please pray for this apostolate. It is really a difficult job but my wife and I have seen so many miracles. Please pray for people like our famous hit and run JW friend because it was not that long ago that I was like him. I was filled with the same hatred of the Catholic Church as he is as was my wife (who by the way left the Catholics to become a JW but is now Catholic again) mainly because of the lies that the JWs tell their members about the Catholic Church. But through God’s grace and the prayers of my Catholic relatives the Lord brought me and my wife home.

God’s blessings to you all,

Jeff S.

They all use Matt 7:6 ("Do not give what is holy to dogs, * or throw your
pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn
and tear you to pieces.) Put them on the spot and they will hit you with Matt. it is how they are taught,pay it no mind

 

[Lurker]

Every day when I go to catch the train to work, I pass by a group of JWs in the station. I generally make a quick sign of the cross for them when I go by. They’re all very friendly and have helped me with my spanish quite a bit. I just am not sure how to really approach them.

 

[Marilena]

In this email he accused me of lying. He then said that he disabled comments at his website because too many *Catholics * were leaving messages that contained foul language and that ‘while the use of foul language is common among Catholics it is not common among JWs.’ (Not sure where he got the data to come to these conclusions by the way.)

He told me that I was like a dog that has returned to its vomit since I left the JWs and became Catholic. (Notice how Catholic Beliefs and practices are considered the equivalent of vomit by him.) He told me that I must like being Catholic now because Catholics do not go from door to door like JWs do and so now I am spiritually lazy like most Catholics. Jeff S.

what malarky for the jw to state that Catholics use foul language! i know quite a few Catholics that don’t use foul language, as well i know some jw’s that use foul language. as a matter of fact, i was subjected to some of their foul language in the past. so its “common” among Catholics? baloney! he needs to get his head out of the sand! what an atrocious statement to make!

perhaps he is angry that you left the falsetower and found freedom in Christ Jesus which is something he is obviously not doing. if he ever comes out of the falsetower and remembers you, i can guarentee he might write you and apologise to you for his terrible comments, if not then he was to puffed up with pride to say sorry. yup, tell him you do like being Catholic! tell him the reason why you like being Catholic!

Spirutually lazy? what utter hogwash! baloney! i have never seen you spirutually lazy. that is such a crock! he is biting at you because the society teaches him to avoid people who have independent thinking because that is a danger to the society because the members might be exposed to freedom and the society cannot control free thinking individuals, so what do they teach? they teach hatred of all other religions
and tell their members to avoid bad associations so that they
can stay under the control of the watchtower organization.

they in effect teach intolerance of others, and that is what this person is doing to you, spouting off garbage and making claims he has no right to. just ignore him Jeff. he has nothing valuable to say to you. like you said, your a big boy.

tell him this, the truth speaks for itself, and the truth stands, lies only get your society a ticket to hell.