My New Neighbors in Sin City
Apparently my new neighbors won't all look like Tony from Who's the Boss or Cliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show. No, my new neighborhood's claim to fame is being the home to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Over 3,000 Jehovah's Witnesses live and work at the Watchtower headquarters. The group moved to Brooklyn in 1909 and has been growing in prominence and size ever since.
I must admit that I don't know much about this group/religion/sect/whatever. Growing up, I remember they freaked me (and my sister) out when they would come proselytizing to our front door. My sister and I also found it strange that the neighbor girl's mom (who was a Jehovah's Witness) would go on vacation instead of celebrating birthdays and Christmas.
Multiple real estate brokers told me that the Jehovah's Witnesses really do influence the area. They can be seen coming out of the subway each morning and leaving each evening, conservatively dressed and always heading to and from their headquarters near the Brooklyn Bridge. From what I have read online, the group is not super beloved in the community because they have wanted to buy up large chunks of property and don't patronize the local businesses. As one newspaper said, "In New York City, America's capital of hedonism, the Jehovah's Witnesses stand out like prudish parents at a toga party."
I will be very interested to see if this is much ado about nothing or whether you can really sense their presense in the neighborhood.
posted by Erin at 7:44 PM
13 Comments:
if you take a brooklyn bound subway that goes via the manhattan bridge (not underground) you look into several of the J.W. buildings...some floors are FILLED with filing cabinets...only filing cabinets...while other floors are creepily empty.
"not signing this for fear of retribution" ?????
From what??? So there are empty floors. HMMMMMM, if it was something that they didn't want anyone to see, they could have purchased blinds. Or is it a plot to trap someone, leaving those windows uncovered, oooooooooo!!!
At times I have to laugh, just enough facts to be true, but then twisted to sound ominus, just like the tabloids.
People need to get a life.
They have daily tours of the facilities. I have taken them myself and you will be impressed at the organization and efficiency of this Bible publishing and preaching organization. Don't miss it. Don't be shy. Just call them up, find out the time, and take the tour. You'll be amazed.
-Steve
BibleStudentSteve@yahoo.com
they called one of my best friends once and she asked them questions and debated with them for 2 hours until the guy on the phone said that his boss said he had to get off the phone! Guess they have a "2 hours to convert or you're lost" rule?
Maybe I will have to take the tour...you know, a get out and meet the neighbors kind of thing! Can I bring my camera and post pictures on the blog? Kelly, I will ask lots of questions:-)
I agree that "not signing this for fear of retribution" sounds totally sketchy. If this is "fearing retribution in WI," DON'T FREAK ME OUT LIKE THAT! You know I scare easily:-0
They are slowly selling off their assets in Brooklyn. They are not a growing religion. On the contrary, according to their own pubblications, they are dwindling.
If you have children, be sure to keep the Jehovah's Witnesses far away. They have a huge problem with pedophilia within the group and they still encourage these pedophiles to go door to door.
Check out this web site for the latest court cases against them. www.silentlambs.org
C'mon guys - PRINCE is a JW, so they can't be all that scary. Then again, have you seen his last video? ;-)
I found this list of other "famous" JWs:
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_jw.html
I'd definitely take the tour. If you're firm in your own beliefs/morals, I think it's always a good thing to try to understand the point of view of others, even if you don't agree with it.
At least then you can tell us if it's as scary/creepy as the picture on this post. *Yeesh!*
Well that list probably doesn't contain enough notable names for Adam Sandler to write a JW version of his Hannukah song. Nor do the JW's seem to have the star appeal of the Scientologists. But an interesting list nonetheless. President Eisenhower was once a JW...who knew!
It's amazing that people believe everything they hear or read without checking it out for themselves....sad!
Well said Pritilata!
What Erin doesn't remember about the jw visits to our house, is that I had a stack of eye-catching Christian tracts as well as "Smile Jesus Love You" pencils that I would offer to the jw when they rang our doorbell. I think it really caught them off guard.
Funny how the jw stopped coming to our house....
Love, Mom oxoxxo
Very good point Pritilata! Every religious organization is made up of people, that is imperfect people that claim to be affiliated with that religion. That doesn't mean that they are truly what they say. Anyone ever heard that story about the 3 little pigs, the wolf in sheep's disguise...?? Ever think that there are people that use a particular organization (religious or otherwise) as a crutch or just something to be associated with. What a person should look at is what values and standards that orginazation upholds. For instance, JW's do NOT condone or allow sexual promiscuity, that includes pedophilia. But that doesn't keep everyone that claims to be a JW from commiting this grave sin. It is not hidden or covered over as some try to portray. As stated before, people should look into something more thoroughly before drawing conclusions. Not just basing their conclusion on heresay...
MOTHER! You are right, I don't remember that! I am horrified (but a little amused too!) I guess it was a mutual exchange of views.
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