The Day I Stopped Slamming the Door on Jehovah's Witnesses
And How That Journey Shaped My Approach to Being at PRIDE
It Started with Colby
It’s always fun in an oh-yeah-I’ve-been-there sort-of way to see someone younger go through a growth process you’ve been through yourself. That’s how it felt to me earlier this week when I read an article by
entitled: Not Sure if I'm Proud of What I Did at PRIDE Three Years Ago.Colby did an awesome job of keeping the suspense going about what it was that he did. But that’s not my point here. In fact, I need to issue a spoiler alert, just to be safe. I’m going to tell you what it was he did, and then I’ll tell you my story about a similar journey and what I learned.
If you like suspense, go read his story now and come back. (Or, just enjoy this short clip from Greenville Black Pride 2025.) Either way, I’ll wait….
A Disclaimer and a Spoiler Alert
Let me begin by saying that I’m not writing this to suggest what I think Colby should have done—not at all. I’m not trying to school him. I don’t want to come off as “holier than thou” in any way. I’m just sharing a memory that was triggered when I read his story.
So first, let me quickly summarize Colby’s journey. In 2022, he was having a good time marching in a Pride parade with members of a church he planted and pastored. It was not his first time at the Pride parade, but it was his first time walking, rather than driving behind the group in a decked-out van.
What he did, the thing he’s not sure if he’s proud of, was to flip a double bird at the conservative Christian protestors chanting and yelling in opposition to everything Pride stands for. He went on to talk about his progressive Christian stance and some other mitigating factors. And then he moved on to some conclusions about love and fear and Jesus flipping tables.
All good stuff and worth the read.
Reading what he had to say triggered some memories and reflections of my own journey in response to people I disagreed with, although not the queer community or their opponents in this particular instance.
No, what first came to mind was how my reactions have changed over the years in response to Jehovah’s Witnesses. In particular, the ones who come a-knocking.
Fifty Years of Persistence
I don’t remember Jehovah’s Witnesses coming to our door when I was growing up. My first memory was being at my then-boyfriend’s house and watching my late-ex-mother-in-law, Helen, turning a pair of them away. She was a Methodist, a science teacher, and an avowed evolutionist. She had no time for their “creationist nonsense.”
Thus began my own infrequent contact with these persistent missionaries. For a long time (decades) I turned them away brusquely, dismissively, all but slamming the door in their faces. Then I got curious and looked at a few of the Watchtower pamphlets they handed me. Eventually I grew to turn them away sympathetically. By now, I was a minister myself, so I would tell them that.
Then I attempted to hand them a copy of a modern-day addition to my denomination’s (Community of Christ’s) canon of scripture. A modern-day teaching. They refused to even touch it. Like it would burn them or something. Or at least earn them a stern lecture. I didn’t see them for several years after that. (I imagined a list of addresses with a big red line drawn right through mine.😱😜)
But then, finally, I grew to admire them for the way they were living out their faith. Despite the wide, choppy ocean between our beliefs, I was mindful of the sacrifice they were making for what they saw as the truth. And, in a way, it was nice to know they were concerned about my eternal future, although I personally wasn’t the least bit concerned about it.
Perhaps I was a teeny bit influenced by the fact that a good friend and former co-worker of mine had passed away. It was only at Jim’s funeral that I discovered he had been a Jehovah’s Witness. Perhaps my admiration for Jim and the kind of person I knew him to be helped to soften my heart.
In any case, I tweaked my standard response. I still told them of my own religious association. But I also asked questions and looked for common ground. And I praised them for their dedication to living out their faith.
Here’s My Thinking
After all, they are just responding to the call they hear. In my view, that alone is praiseworthy. Jesus railed against spiritual apathy and lack of commitment in Revelation 3:16: “So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (NRSVUE).
I have gotten to the point where, even though I don’t see things the same way as Jehovah’s Witnesses at all, I can recognize that they at least are not lukewarm and apathetic. (And I’m not sure I can claim the same for myself. At least as far as missionary zeal goes.)
What’s interesting is that my new approach seems to be a bit startling for them—unexpected and disarming. They go away smiling, happy with our conversation, and apparently thinking I’m an okay person.
I actually used this approach during my first Pride experience in 2023. But in that case, it was just a matter of speaking quietly to a guy handing out flyers near my congregation’s booth—which happened to be at the northernmost end of the event. Not that he left after our conversation or anything. It’s not like I changed his mind about the issues. Actually, I don’t really know what happened with that guy. But we ended our conversation on friendly terms.
At Pride this year, on my way back to my car, when I saw a guy just outside the Pride perimeter delivering a clearly conservative speech, blue-tooth microphone in hand, I decided I was just too tired from a long day to even attempt a discussion. It wouldn’t have been as easy as last time, I rationalized. This guy had a crowd.
Food for Thought
I don’t know that the type of conversation I’m describing would have been at all advisable in Colby’s situation. He was just marching by in the parade, after all. And the opposition wasn’t one guy, it was practically an angry mob.
No, I’m not giving any advice here. Just food for thought.
And one more thought. Maybe it doesn’t apply, but any time I think about progressive Christian vs conservative Christian views, I think about the places where Paul talked about not being a stumbling block for those whose understandings are different, those who—and I hesitate to even quote this—“do not yet have the necessary knowledge.” (See Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8.)
I don’t want to be anyone’s stumbling block.
Colby ended with a quote from Vaclav Havel, and I will do the same.
The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.
I invite you to join Colby and I in exercising your power to reflect.
What’s Your Take?
What are your thoughts on talking to those with differing viewpoints? What has been your journey or experience?
Let me know in the comments.
Know someone who needs to hear this message? Please share or restack.
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