Watchtower Organisation literature in my church today

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

I never thought of a Church as Public property. I could be wrong but I have always thought that Church property was private. Owned by the the Diocese or Parish. If that is the case In the USA the 1st amendment would not come into play also you( the Parish) could have them removed from the Church. It may be bad PR, And not a very Christian thing to do. No sure who that would play out across the pond, but I would think that private property Laws would come into play on Church owned Property as well.

I think you did the right thing in just removing the magazine and throwing it away. You know it may have been left there by some one that attended the Mass or one Prior to that one. If that is the case that the very least they are getting to see the worship of God and be in the Presents of Christ in the Eucharist. If they continue to do this you never know they may start to ask real questions and find the truth.

 

[RobHom]

what memories those pictures bring back!! LOL

You’re giving your age away…

I know what you mean though…bell-bottoms and all!!

 

[anon52328184]

You’re giving your age away…

I know what you mean though…bell-bottoms and all!!

i know i am! and don’t forget the go go boots! LOL

 

[xixxvmcm85]

Nope. They were in the wrong.

It’s a public building. Unless they are loitering, or making a public nuisance of themselves, you can’t throw them out.

I may be showing my American ignorance, but since when are churches public buildings (except for maybe the case of a church being the nationally instituted church, which the Catholic Church ISN’T for England)?

Why CAN’T the priest tell them to leave and inform them that the authorities will be called if they persist on leaving their property inside the PRIVATE Catholic Church?

 

[Sublime_Prince]

Yes JW’s can be really in your face and do things without any invitation thats their style.

I would confront them and tell them how you feel. I would be strong with them and give them a strong rebuke letting them know you do not approve of their tactics. I would tell them there are more courteous ways to tell people their message.

 

[Ruthie]

Get in their faces? Great way to show them how Christian we are.

Remember that they really believe that they are trying to save us from something bad. If we respond with rudeness, that just confirms them in their opinion.

Let’s pray that every contact they have with Catholics will bring them closer to the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church!

Ruthie, sister and aunt to 3 JWs

 

[Chris_LaRock]

So, after a few months of being lazy and missing Mass, I went to reconciliation and recieved at Mass straight after.

In between the end of my confession and the beginning of Mass, i noticed the watchtower organisation (I won’t call them Jehovah’s Witnesses anymore as I don’t believe they witness for Jehovah) had left a copy of ‘‘Alive!’’ in the pews, so I took it outside, tore it up and placed it in the bin. After Mass I took it up with father, who promptly dismissed it and said ‘‘Not much we can do’’.

Am I wrong to be annoyed about what they’ve done? Is there anything I can actually do about it aside from monitoring the church 24/7?

That’s really strange!

JWs are forbidden to even step foot inside a church, lest they be disfellowshipped. And many are too afraid to since the Watchtower tells them they will be posessed by demons.

 

[Yerusalyim]

That’s really strange!

JWs are forbidden to even step foot inside a church, lest they be disfellowshipped. And many are too afraid to since the Watchtower tells them they will be posessed by demons.

Doesn’t apply if they’re leaving literature. I’ve seen this type of thing before…almost as annoying as the Jack Chick junk left in bathrooms. Whenever I come across JW literature in public I collect it up…sometimes even read it for a grin and giggle, then throw it away someplace where it won’t be found.

Here’s an idea to counter they’re leaving literature in Churches…make photo copies of old Watchtower articles…things like the story of the black man that turned to a white man…aluminum foil causing cancer…emphasis on the 1975 date…emphasis on organ transplants being a sin (they aren’t any longer) etc and leave them in a KH if you can (probably not) or on windshields in the parking lot.

A friend of mine once decorated the Kingdom Hall with Christmas lights…funny…but I don’t recommend that.

 

[Nine_Two]

It’s a public building. Unless they are loitering, or making a public nuisance of themselves, you can’t throw them out.

Actually someone can throw anyone out of any building for any reason as long as it doesn’t violate discrimination laws.

 

[Rence]

Nope. They were in the wrong.

It’s a public building. Unless they are loitering, or making a public nuisance of themselves, you can’t throw them out.

In Chicago, I always thought Catholic Churches are private property? Our Sisters and Fathers would have collected them all and threw them away, and if confronted, would have said, that it was a Catholic Church and items of heresy were not allowed. They’d have to leave them outside somewhere…

Am I mistaken about Churches being private property?

 

[geometer]

So, after a few months of being lazy and missing Mass, I went to reconciliation and recieved at Mass straight after.

In between the end of my confession and the beginning of Mass, i noticed the watchtower organisation (I won’t call them Jehovah’s Witnesses anymore as I don’t believe they witness for Jehovah) had left a copy of ‘‘Alive!’’ in the pews, so I took it outside, tore it up and placed it in the bin. After Mass I took it up with father, who promptly dismissed it and said ‘‘Not much we can do’’.

Am I wrong to be annoyed about what they’ve done? Is there anything I can actually do about it aside from monitoring the church 24/7?

Its like when your cat brings you a dead mouse. He doesn’t mean any harm, he doesn’t know that you don’t like dead mice.

 

[Vasian]

Am I wrong to be annoyed about what they’ve done? Is there anything I can actually do about it aside from monitoring the church 24/7?

Tell your priest that in fact something can be done.
Call the JW City Overseer, and request that they make an announcement at all kingdom halls in your city to cease the activity of their publishers leaving tracts in your church.
This activity is actually frowned upon by the WTS as it makes far more enemies than converts.

 

[jmcrae]

In Chicago, I always thought Catholic Churches are private property? Our Sisters and Fathers would have collected them all and threw them away, and if confronted, would have said, that it was a Catholic Church and items of heresy were not allowed. They’d have to leave them outside somewhere…

Am I mistaken about Churches being private property?

We have recently been told that we can’t put up “No Trespassing” signs around our church to keep teenagers from loitering in our parking lot (and scaring away potential parishioners), because it is, in fact, considered to be like a public park - we aren’t allowed to turn anyone away, unless they are actually committing a crime of some kind.

 

[Rence]

We have recently been told that we can’t put up “No Trespassing” signs around our church to keep teenagers from loitering in our parking lot (and scaring away potential parishioners), because it is, in fact, considered to be like a public park - we aren’t allowed to turn anyone away, unless they are actually committing a crime of some kind.

I’ve never heard of that. But Chicago and Alberta are different. A “no loitering” sign would cover loitering. Many places have them, not just church parking lots. Even grocery store chains and mall parking lots have those signs up, and they’re enforced. And a “no soliciting” sign for inside the Church would cover the material being brought in. And if for some reason it doesn’t, just throw it away, or burn it.

We have a burn pile, and that’s where all the JW material goes (along with other stuff of course). I didn’t realize they’d just keep coming back to leave more Next time, I’ll give them a choice of either keeping it or me sending it to the burn pit.

What I really wanna do is tell them to put me on the ‘no visits’ list. But I think that would offend my JW-friend. However, I might hand them some Catholic material in exchange.

 

[Fidei]

Ive seen a recent publication of the WTS “6 myths of Christianity”. This by far (for me) is the most bashful literature they came up with, it focuses on Immortality of the soul, Trinity, and Marian devotion.

I bet the JW organization wouldn’t survive if it stopped bashing the CC church because, as far as i know, their nervous system is to “dirty up” Catholicism to gain converts…tsk2

 

[Nine_Two]

We have recently been told that we can’t put up “No Trespassing” signs around our church to keep teenagers from loitering in our parking lot (and scaring away potential parishioners), because it is, in fact, considered to be like a public park - we aren’t allowed to turn anyone away, unless they are actually committing a crime of some kind.

As a fellow Calgarian, I’m guessing you misunderstood the person who said that. One of my first jobs when I was fresh out of High School was doing security, and one of the sites the company patrolled was Lindsay Park, which is a city owned Public Park and which is off-limits (with signs at the access points) between certain hours.

A Church is considered Public Access, Private Property. With this classification you can’t tell certain groups they aren’t allowed (although you can close it to everyone), but you can specifically kick out specific individuals. This is in contrast to a Private access space where you have to approve entrance to each individual for them to be legally allowed in (ex. your home).

So essentially having general no-tresspassing (not time restricted) signs at a public access space means you’re sending two different messages, which means in the eyes of the law the “no-trespassing” command is rendered void.

If you have people you don’t want hanging around you basically have to tell them all to go away on your own, you can tell them to never come back, which is legally binding, however you have to be able to prove you told them that specifically.