Talking Points with Witnesses?

[adf417]

adf417, You have my sympathies, I have tried and tried and tried, at times it is absolutly heart breaking, and being my wifes family not my own I try to keep relationship going for my wifes sake, however I hvae had to draw the line when it came to the conversion of innocents i.e our child.
All I can say is keep trying, keep praying, keep learning and keep reminding them that your love for them is unconditional.

Amen brother!

 

[Church_Militant]

Did anyone look at the stuff on JWs posted up in the Ask an Apologist forum?

• Are They Awake on the Watchtower
• Distinctive Beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• The God of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• History of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• More Stumpers for the Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Strategies of Jehovah’s Witness
• Stumpers for Jehovah’s Witnesses

 

[WitnessSpouse]

I even attended the odd meeting at the Kingdom Hall when we visited them or they visited us and discussed what to me was just an endless lecture about phantasmagorical Adventist speculation topped off with a good dose of DEATH TO THE NON BELIEVERS but as time went on and they realized that I was actually well informed about the Catholic faith and had been schooled in Catholic education and new my bible particularly the gospels and new testament very well and that I practiced my religion to best of my ability well did things change, they did everything to split myself and my wife up, to them I had become the devil incarnate. Now as you say even small talk is strained and difficult.

MGM,

I really haven’t attended the “odd” meeting. I reluctantly went to the “Assembly” when my wife was baptized. My feeling was that it was a “sales” meeting reinforcing the propaganda of attending 5 meetings per week, and how if the meetings weren’t attended you would “fall away and be destroyed at Armageddon!”

Recently my mother-in-law was disfellowshipped and my wife’s relationship with her has been strained, to say the least. Since that happened my wife told me that my mother-in-law had was among those who had “counseled” her to divorce me because I was “never going to come into the truth!” I was a bit shocked by this, but with the rocky road we traveled through her conversion I don’t push it. (although I would like to know who else made this suggestion to her???)

Every encounter with witness relatives or their friends doesn’t have to be a forum for religious discussion. When I know that I am going to be in a social gathering with JW’s, I pray that if there are those among them that have doubts about the Watch Tower teachings, then they may seek me out, and that the Holy Spirit strengthen me to give effective testimony of God’s Word and his work in my life through the Catholic Church. If no one does, I just try to have a good time, but I have actually been approached twice at social gatherings and I have had very positive discussions with JW’s. (I have also noticed that I get invited to fewer social gatherings, perhaps some of the elders are on to me??)

My prayers are with you and your wife’s family.

Pax

 

[WitnessSpouse]

Did anyone look at the stuff on JWs posted up in the Ask an Apologist forum?

Church Militant,

Yes, I have read a great deal of this information, repeatedly.

It is all good information; however, the real need for some of us is dealing with their beliefs “IN OUR HOMES” rather than just “AT THE DOOR.”

While of course prevention is the best medicine, some (like me) were not very vigilant (or prepared) for this blitzkrieg (for lack of a better term) upon their family. While this was no one’s fault but my own (for not properly teaching and edifying my family), it is still done, and I must deal with it daily. I study and pray constantly for strength and in thanksgiving that I still have my family with me.

Many families don’t weather the storm and divorces result. My storm is still raging, although the tempest has died down of late, and I still have a lot of distance to cover to bring my bride into the fullness of truth. Dealing with the WT within a family, especially within a marriage, can quickly deteriorate into an emotional argument where any opposition to beliefs becomes an attack on the person. (Especially, if the word “CULT” is used.) Unfortunately, this has happened with me to the point that I am convinced that if my bride is to wake up, then someone else will have to “shake” her! That is why I constantly pray for her to encounter someone who will show her the truth about the Watch Tower.

The real blessing in all of this is that my faith is stronger now than ever. I have learned to be more loving in my interactions with JW’s (as opposed to confrontational). There are so many comments on what to say to “make them go away and never return,” but many of these tactics simply reinforce what they are taught to expect. (Sorry, if I seem long-winded, but the catharsis helps.)

It is difficult when they are locked in to WT sources to tell them about their religion, but are able to use Catholic (misquoted, usually the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia) and anti-Catholic sources to attack our beliefs. [It is helpful to respond that the Encyclopedia is not a statement of beliefs, the CCC (which, strangely enough is rarely quoted by them) is. It is often good to respond “Can we research what the CCC says about it?”]

In dealing with a Witness within the home or within the family, we must understand that the don’t only see the argument, they see the consequences. In the short term, being ostracized by the social world that they have allowed themselves to be surrounded by; and in the long term, being destroyed at Armageddon for displeasing Jehovah.

I do appreciate the references to this or any material that will help!!

Thanks again,

Peace