I received a handwritten letter the other day from a Jehovah’s Witness. From the envelope, the purpose and contents were unclear; the return address as well as mine were handwritten. Of course, the return address is a JW hall in Harlem, approximately thirty blocks south.
It’s a friendly letter, succinct and to the point. Important information to share, and our work is not commercial. There’s an expression of hope someday soon I will be able to speak to it personally.
Perhaps this is how Jehovah’s Witnesses solicit in an urban environment? I’m more familiar with them going door to door; that happened to me in college, as well as to a friend around that time. In a city full of apartment buildings, though, access to front doors of homes is challenging, and in some cases might result in legal action. So, I suppose writing letters makes sense, and the handwritten approach certainly caught my attention in a way that a mass flyer would not.
Yet, I’m wondering: how did they get my mailing address? It is addressed to me by name, not “resident” or something similarly generic. Certainly, in this age of information processing, innumerable sources of mailing addresses are available, but just how did they come by my information? Was this a one-time transcription or is there a database owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses?
I don’t know very much about their theology, other than that they don’t celebrate birthdays or several other holidays, including those based in mainstream Christian traditions. I take that they’re a more austere sect, and from the pamphlets are focused on bible study.