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Candidates for elected
office have numerous ways at their disposal to
influence others to vote for them. Conventional
methods include radio, television, and printed
page. But nothing can compare to the effectiveness
of the method Jehovah’s witnesses have used for
many, many years – namely house-to-house
visitation.
Jehovah’s witnesses
take no credit for using the method, since it is
not original with them. They follow the examples
of apostles who preached from house-to-house more
than nineteen centuries ago. The apostle Paul used
the same method when he said, “I did not hold back
from telling you any of the things that were
profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from
house to house.” – Acts 5:42; 20:20 NW
As a child growing up
on Guam,
I saw candidates for public office canvas villages
in hopes to garner support and votes. They would
park down the street and with supporters in tow,
or sometimes alone, they would walk up one side
and down the street visiting residents, and asking
for their support in the upcoming
election.
Less and less
canvassing was a method of preference in the 80s
and 90s, as candidates favored the electronic and
printed page to convey their political messages.
Much like the clergy of Christendom, having long
remained wedded to the pulpit, they entered into
the homes of the people only by means of radio and
television. More and more candidates looked down
on the house-to-house visitations as a method of
need by those who did not have the financial
wherewithal to pay for billboards, broadcast or
publications to reach voters.
But time and again,
they would resort to the use of house-to-house
campaigning as a way to demonstrate they were
“working hard” for their right to serve the people
and that they were in touch with the electorate.
Recognizing what the
Apostle Paul and other first century Christians
knew, house-to-house visitations was a more
effective way to reach and teach people. By doing
so, they maintained a personal relationship with
the householders.
As one Catholic
priest, John A. O’Brien admitted in the 1957
publication of Our Sunday Visitor,
partially quoting, under the heading
“St. Paul: House-to-House Salesman,” O’Brien
had this to say: “St. Paul capitalized on
contacts everywhere to win souls . . .”
Loosely applied to political candidates in the
house-to-house visitation during modern times, it
can also be said that, “candidates for elected
office capitalize on contacts everywhere to win
votes…..”
One reason, which may
have given rise to the growing number of
“undecided” voters on Guam, is the less personal
and highly extensive use of broadcast and printed
page campaigning. Candidates gave up the personal
touch derived in the house-to-house visits for the
mass media exposure, creating a large gap of
undecided voters. Broadcast and printed page
campaigning is more costly, but preferred because
it promised the ease in campaigning and reach of
the greater number of people in their homes or
cars, captivating them with a 30, 60 or 90 second
commercial. As a result, the practice
financially burdened those running for a seat in
the legislature or Adelup, pushing campaign costs
into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This
practice may have also been directly responsible
for limiting the number of interested persons
running for elected positions to those who are
willing to incur the cost of campaigning, or
garnering financial contributions to pay for
campaign expenses.
Now, after all these
years, what do we find? The return of the
house-to-house visitations!
On our way home this
evening, my daughter MaileAna and I spotted Vice
Speaker Frank Aguon’s truck parked along side a
curb at the entrance of the subdivision. Its’ the
first time we’ve seen Aguon’s truck here, and I
immediately understood the implication of the
truck’s presence. “Why is Senator Aguon here?”
Maile asked. I replied, “Ai adai these senators
act like Jehovah’s Witnesses during campaign
season, going house-to-house.”
As we descended into
the subdivision, we looked around trying to spot
Vice Speaker Aguon, and saw him talking to a
householder in the second cul-de-sac. Soon after
we got home, my husband Bob said, “Rlene, the
senators are at the door.” I asked who was at the
door and MaileAna said, “Uncle Ben, Auntie Lou and
Uncle Rory.”
As I approached the
front door, I said, “Uncle Ben?” and from outside
Speaker Pangelinan and Senator Lou Leon Guerrero
acknowledged their presence. I told them what I
told MaileAna concerning Aguon’s truck, and they
all laughed and acknowledged the appearance of
their actions and its value.
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Democrats Call
Front (L-R)
Senator Lou Leon Guerrero, Joshua Tenorio,
Speaker Ben Pangelinan, Bob Steffy and Senator
Rory Respicio. Back:
Spencer |
I asked Spencer to
grab my camera so that I could follow the Jehovah
witness look-alikes walking up and down the
street. We did not see Vice Speaker Aguon anywhere
along the way, but the others were having a great
time although as you can see in the following
photos they were glistening from the
humidity.
The
senators paired up in teams:
Team 1: Speaker Ben
Pangelinan, Senator Lou Leon Guerrero and Rory
Respicio.
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Glistening Democrats Team 1 &
4
(L-R) Senator F. Randal Cunliffe,
Speaker Ben Pangelinan, Senators Lou Leon
Guerrero, Rory Respicio and Tina Rose Muna
Barnes. |
Team: 2: Senator John
Quinata and Toni Sanford.
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Door-To-Door
Senators Toni
Sanford & John Quinata pose as they leave
one house and head to the next at Nimitz Hill
Estates. |
Team 3: Senatorial
Candidates BJ Cruz and Judy Guthertz.
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Knocking on Nimitz
Doors
Democratic hopefuls retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice, Benjamin J Cruz and Judy Guthertz
knock on a Nimitz Hill home hoping to gain
support in the upcoming
election. |
Team 4: Senator F.
Randall Cunliffe and Tina Rose Muna
Barnes.
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Visiting Residents
Senators F.
Randal Cunliffe and Tina Rose Muna Barnes talk
to John Maher while going door-to-door at Nimitz
Hill Estates,
Piti. |
The house-to-house
method or reaching people has withstood the test
of time and there can be no disputing its
effectiveness. The irony is in recent times, the
clergy of Christendom have been instrumental in
having the witnesses arrested for engaging in the
house-to-house visitations. Partially quoting a
Watchtower publication on the matter, “This has
caused the witnesses much loss of time and
involved them in costly court battles.” Battles
that in many lands, “such as the Supreme Court of
the United States, have repeatedly ruled that
house-to-house preaching is not commercial
peddling but is entitled to the same consideration
shown to preaching from the platform or
pulpit.”
Now, all these
centuries later, we find Catholic and Protestants
alike are taking to the streets in their effort to
reach people. By a strange and bitter irony, the
door-to-door visitations fell into disuse among
Catholics and have been taken up with enthusiasm
by the sects, especially those on the fringe.
. . . The sect, which has made the most
systematic use of the house-to-house method, is
Jehovah’s Witnesses. - Watchtower
Magazine
There is scarcely a
home on Guam, in any village, or island in
Micronesia, which has not been visited at least
once by the emissaries of this strange sect. The
result? They have achieved by far the greatest
increase. The success has been felt by Church
leaders and many faithful have placed crosses or
signs on their doors at the encouragement of
Catholic priests to indicate to all evangelizers
that the home is a Catholic home.
Do you suppose with
the return of door-to-door campaigning that Phil
Flores (Republican Party Chair) and Mike Phillips
(Democratic Party Chair) will support the idea
that card-carrying members of their political
parties paste on their front doors signs that
read, “This is a Republican Home!” Or, “This is a
Democrat Home!” That would be a remarkable sight.
Welcome all
door-to-door visitations enthusiastically. You
never know who will drop by or how important their
message will be to your future.
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