Why only Jehovah's Witnesses come knocking on your door?

[Tammy]

I don't think I have ever had any other 'religion' come knocking......why is that?

[Renee in NC]

Lots do - Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists (really!), and Mormons, just to name a few.

 

Nobody knocks on doors in our neighborhood, though! Well, maybe the cops or social services!:lol:

[HRAAB]

In our area, we have many more LDS knocking on the door than Jehova Witnesses. We also have non-denominational Christian going door to door occasionally inviting people to their church.

 

Janet

[wulfbourne]

I have. We have many Mormons in this area. They go door to door.

Mormons and JW are really big on going door to door to spread the Word. Mormon's have their young adults go on missions just for this purpose. Basically all their men 18-21 are expected to go for 2 years, women go if they are not married by 21. (at least that's what one of them told me) I've never minded too much, they're always very nice. Those are the only two we get knocking on doors in our area, but I've had other tracts left on my door, or car winshield.

[stripe]

Different religions place different levels of emphasis on proselytizing. For some, like those who are Mormon and Jehovah's Witnesses, going door to door and active/aggressive outreach are a key part of the faith. (Various pseudo-religious cults are also known for this, but that's another story.) Others, like Jews, have been traditionally almost anti-conversion (and thus uninterested in seeking converts), although this has changed in recent times. Others do outreach and education in other ways.

[athena1277]

I think there used to be lots more door-knocking a generation or 2 ago. I think it just doesn't produce very much "fruit" these days. For all the work put into it, there are so few results, that most have focused on other ways to reach the lost.

[homeschooltoone]

I've got alot of visit from many different religion. I guess living in the city people just assume that you need saving.:)

[clwcain]

There is a particularly aggressive Baptist church up the street from us. We see more of their folk than we see of JWs or LDS.

 

The thing I find so amusing about the Baptists is their church's "slogan", if you will: "Old-fashioned church! Just like it used to be."

 

To a Catholic, such an assertion is either deeply offensive or highly amusing.

 

This particular Catholic finds it highly amusing.

[Zoraida]

For the past 23 years at our home only Jehovah witnesses have been coming to the house. Just this summer two teenage boys who are Mormans have been making monthly visits.

 

I don't mind the Jehovah witnesses visiting. The Jehovah Witnesses usually show up around the first of the month when their Watch Tower magazine comes out. I usually take the Watch Tower magazine and give a dollar or two as a donation to whoever is at the door. Than I throw the magazine in the trash. The Watch Tower magazine is the most anti Catholic magazine I have ever come across.

 

I do have a problem with the two pimply Morman boys that show up though. They are extremely pushy and opinionated. They showed up two weeks ago. I don't know what I did wrong - but I think I upset them and got rid of them for good. They were talking about baptism and whether I as a Catholic believed that the Catholic Church had the rights to only allow priests to baptize people. I told them that I didn't know where they got there information from but priests were not the only ones within the church who were allowed to baptize. I told them that any lay person in the church were allowed to baptize other people. I said that if someone were laying in my front yard and were requesting baptism before they died, I could run into my house and pour water over their heads and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The one boy that was doing all the talking gave me a shocked look and quickly excused him and his friend from my front porch and practically ran to their bicycles.

 

For me, this was slightly disturbing because I didn't intend to upset them and I'm not sure what I said to upset them. I only told them the truth.

 

Blessings

 

Zoraida

[myfunnybunch]

We usually get more LDS then JW too. We're on a nice street that feeds into a smaller neighborhood, so we get them walking through fairly often.

 

The nice thing about homeschooling, they get it. I open the door, and say, "Hello. I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of school right now." They always ask, "Is there a better time for us to come back?" and I say, "No thank you."

 

And that's that.

 

Except every once in a while, a very polite young man (only the LDS guys, always the young men) will ask, "While we're here, is there anything we can help you with?" and I am tempted to ask them to teach math or wash the car. Except they might actually DO it. :lol:

 

Cat

[Melinda in VT]

I do have a problem with the two pimply Morman boys that show up though. They are extremely pushy and opinionated. They showed up two weeks ago. I don't know what I did wrong - but I think I upset them and got rid of them for good. They were talking about baptism and whether I as a Catholic believed that the Catholic Church had the rights to only allow priests to baptize people. I told them that I didn't know where they got there information from but priests were not the only ones within the church who were allowed to baptize. I told them that any lay person in the church were allowed to baptize other people. I said that if someone were laying in my front yard and were requesting baptism before they died, I could run into my house and pour water over their heads and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The one boy that was doing all the talking gave me a shocked look and quickly excused him and his friend from my front porch and practically ran to their bicycles.

 

For me, this was slightly disturbing because I didn't intend to upset them and I'm not sure what I said to upset them. I only told them the truth.

 

 

He was probably just a very new missionary who didn't know how to handle it when you countered his information. Or perhaps he grew up in a very Mormon area and is a bit shocked at the idea of women baptizing.

 

I don't think anything you said would be shocking or disturbing to an older Mormon or one who has had more contact with people of other religions. (Although I must confess I didn't know that in an emergency any Catholic could baptize until very recently.)

[Lovedtodeath]

For the past 23 years at our home only Jehovah witnesses have been coming to the house. Just this summer two teenage boys who are Mormans have been making monthly visits.

 

I don't mind the Jehovah witnesses visiting. The Jehovah Witnesses usually show up around the first of the month when their Watch Tower magazine comes out. I usually take the Watch Tower magazine and give a dollar or two as a donation to whoever is at the door. Than I throw the magazine in the trash. The Watch Tower magazine is the most anti Catholic magazine I have ever come across.

 

Please don't do that. They will only come once a year or so if you stop saying that you want the magazines. :lol: They think they are being helpful providing them to you when they come out. We are not coming to your door for the donation, but to encourage others spiritually. My main goal is to read a scripture to the person who answers the door.

[unsinkable]

There is a particularly aggressive Baptist church up the street from us. We see more of their folk than we see of JWs or LDS.

 

The thing I find so amusing about the Baptists is their church's "slogan", if you will: "Old-fashioned church! Just like it used to be."

 

To a Catholic, such an assertion is either deeply offensive or highly amusing.

 

This particular Catholic finds it highly amusing.

 

I laughed at the billboard at a Christian church that read "It's OK to eat meat on Friday." Gotta reach out to those Catholics who really want chicken wings on Friday in Lent...

[Renthead Mommy]

Living on base, they can't go door to door, but I've gotten cold calls doing the same thing. I'm not sure what chruch it was from. I was sort of surpised at that.

 

Living in outside a base in middle Georgia we'd get the JW. One spring a man and a boy came to the door. The man starts telling me about how "in this special season" and all. He said "special season" about 3 times, and finally I couldn't help myself. I sort of had mess with him. He never actually said 'easter', just kept alluding to it. I looked at him all serious and said "You mean passover? Because we're jewish."

 

That man's eyes about popped out of his head. He just about ran down my front walk, aplogizing and telling me how they've made a terrible mistake. :blink: I guess they didn't run into many jews in middle georgia!

 

From then on I've always just told them we're jewish and they always seem to stop their little prepared speech, say okay and have a nice day and leave.

 

We're not even jewish, well techinally my husband is half jewish. But that day just struck me as so funny, his reaction and all. But really, if i wanted to know more, I'd come looking for you. You don't need to come looking for me.

[Vida Winter]

The JW's used to come knocking at my door and I am very hard to find. But then we had an incident, and I will respectfully decline to share what happened. Let's just say that they think we are too depraved to venture back here because they haven't been back.

[stripe]

I think if you don't like their magazine and find it offensive, don't donate to them.

 

The last time I was visited by a JW, he seemed sure I wanted one of their brochures in a different language (he suggested one). They seemed to have predetermined ethno/religious profiles. Two ladies disappeared into my very religious (non-JW) neighbor's house for a while.... I wish I knew what happened in there.

[LG Gone Wild]

I laughed at the billboard at a Christian church that read "It's OK to eat meat on Friday." Gotta reach out to those Catholics who really want chicken wings on Friday in Lent...

 

 

:rofl:

[Audrey]

The JW's used to come knocking at my door and I am very hard to find. But then we had an incident, and I will respectfully decline to share what happened. Let's just say that they think we are too depraved to venture back here because they haven't been back.

 

Dh calls them trespassers. I haven't minded the very rare visits from JW's to our farmyard. I tell them "I'm not interested, thank you." They say "have a nice day" and so long, s'all right.

 

However, we had an incident, too, but it involved our very large dog and having to lend one of the trespassers a pair of unsoiled pants.

 

Don't worry, no animals were harmed in the incident. :D

Edited April 1, 2009 by Audrey

[Kate CA]

Living on base, they can't go door to door, but I've gotten cold calls doing the same thing. I'm not sure what chruch it was from. I was sort of surpised at that.

 

Living in outside a base in middle Georgia we'd get the JW. One spring a man and a boy came to the door. The man starts telling me about how "in this special season" and all. He said "special season" about 3 times, and finally I couldn't help myself. I sort of had mess with him. He never actually said 'easter', just kept alluding to it. I looked at him all serious and said "You mean passover? Because we're jewish."

 

That man's eyes about popped out of his head. He just about ran down my front walk, aplogizing and telling me how they've made a terrible mistake. :blink: I guess they didn't run into many jews in middle georgia!

 

From then on I've always just told them we're jewish and they always seem to stop their little prepared speech, say okay and have a nice day and leave.

 

We're not even jewish, well techinally my husband is half jewish. But that day just struck me as so funny, his reaction and all. But really, if i wanted to know more, I'd come looking for you. You don't need to come looking for me.

 

So now I want to know why it would matter if you said you were Jewish? Is there some sort of code that means "run away" if you hear that faith mentioned? I am kind of cracking up. If they are there to convert folks, why do Jewish folks get a pass? :D

[ladydusk]

We had the JWs today, too. Hawking their "Jesus was really killed on this day" thing (service? class?). They seem to show up once a year right before Easter here, and they were just passing out invites to this event. I took his paper and he went away without an arguement. In the past, we've also had some Baptists (or maybe a non-denominational credo church?) who wanted to argue me into not driving the 1/2 hour to our church. We're decidedly paedobaptists, so this was pretty annoying. No LDS though.

 

My question is why do they always come during the daytime on weekdays where they'll find no one home or SAHMs? And it is always at naptime and wakens my kids. [sigh]

[dangermom]

Except every once in a while, a very polite young man (only the LDS guys, always the young men) will ask, "While we're here, is there anything we can help you with?" and I am tempted to ask them to teach math or wash the car. Except they might actually DO it. :lol:

 

Cat

Yup. They totally would.

 

For me, this was slightly disturbing because I didn't intend to upset them and I'm not sure what I said to upset them. I only told them the truth.

 

They were probably just startled to find out that anyone at all can conduct a Catholic baptism. For LDS folks, priesthood authority is very important, and baptism is one of the sacraments that requires it. I was completely blown away when I found that the Catholic version is different. Not in a bad way, just it had never occurred to me and was quite startling.

 

 

We get Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses mostly.

[Renthead Mommy]

So now I want to know why it would matter if you said you were Jewish? Is there some sort of code that means "run away" if you hear that faith mentioned? I am kind of cracking up. If they are there to convert folks, why do Jewish folks get a pass? :D

 

I don't know. I mean that first day, I was just messing with him. He was so set on the whole "in this special season" bit, I don't think it would have ever occured to him in a hundred years that other things are 'special' in that season! I think he just didn't know what to do with that info! LOL!

 

But then this was also middle Georgia and then Texas. Not exactly a melting pot of religious choices.

 

Truthfully I found both places to be a very 'us against them' mentality. Either you are the right kind of christian (their kind) or your wrong. We need to either convert you to the right kind, or stay away from you.

 

I should note, I don't mean just the JW were like this, but the religious people in general.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Renthead Mommy

[Pamela H in Texas]

So now I want to know why it would matter if you said you were Jewish? Is there some sort of code that means "run away" if you hear that faith mentioned? I am kind of cracking up. If they are there to convert folks, why do Jewish folks get a pass?

 

The idea is simply to share the Bible with people and give ALL people the opportunity to learn about God and his Son because of John 17:3 and Matt 24:14.

 

Most Jews that I've met have been impressed that many of our beliefs about GOD and many other topics (condition of the dead, soul, etc) are very similar to their own. Of course, we still do have a BIG difference in that we believe Jesus is the Messiah.

 

BTW, I very rarely name a holiday and definitely wouldn't do so in public. I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me or JWs in general. I do say "upcoming holiday" or "this time of year" while in service. And "Easter" is "a very special time of year" for *JWs* because of the Memorial of Jesus Christ commemorated on Nisan 14 (April 9th after sundown this year)...it replaced the Passover. We try to invite as many people in the world as possible (most congregations here have about double the number of members visit but in other countries, the number of non-members following Jesus' command outnumbers JWs greatly).

 

As for the OP...I'm not sure why other religions that use the Bible do not follow the specific command and model of the organized preaching work. It's definitely a grand undertaking but 1st Century Christians didn't hesitate to follow Jesus' steps closely (1 Peter 2:21) so we don't either.

[Crissy]

I don't think I have ever had any other 'religion' come knocking......why is that?

 

I am regularly visited by Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. Just last week a young couple from a local Baptist church stopped by to advertise their Easter service.

All of them have been lovely people.

[Lovedtodeath]

I find your experience about Easter and the Passover really strange, because growing up I learned more about the Passover than I did about Easter.

 

This is my guess: We go back to houses where people have shown interest previously. He might have had your address written down with a short note to invite you to the memorial of Jesus' death, and then was very surprised to find someone Jewish and didn't know what to say (because it was a surprise).

 

Jews do not get a free pass:

 

Matt 24:14; Matt 28:19, 20 both mention "all nations".

 

The reason we go from door to door is that Jesus sent his disciples door to door (by twos).

 

As for the time, well, we have been trying to get more to go out in the evenings, but that wouldn't be convenient either would it? Most Witnesses go out on Saturday morning, but if I am home on Saturday morning, I'm not answering the door; I am probably not dressed yet. :lol: You can always adamantly tell them not to come back during the day and they will do their best to abide by your request. Really.

[5knights3maidens]

We are Christians that attend a Baptist Church. Our Youth Group goes out every week and invites people to church. They give out tracts and invite people to church.

[KarenNC]

Coincidentally, today we received a two page handwritten letter including a tract from, apparently, a Jehovah's Witness who goes through the phone book and writes to a different name each day trying to convert them. At first I thought it was an April Fool's joke (though I had no idea who would do this particular sort of thing), but the return address inside is a Kingdom Hall in the area and when I did a bit of searching online I discovered that this is a strategy that is used when they don't expect to find folks home or are prohibited from going door to door in some area. I suppose it must be the not expecting to find folks home in this neighborhood, because we have had one come to the door a couple of months ago. He seemed a bit nonplussed when I said our pantheon was currently full, but we'd be glad to discuss thing further if we had any openings in the future (we actually are polytheists).

 

We don't get a lot of visits from any of the groups around here and didn't in our old house, at least not like it was a number of years ago. I get mostly mailings from local Baptist or nondenominational churches, religiously-based emails from folks who have my email address for entirely different reasons and the occasional computer-generated call from a religious group trying to get me to espouse their political view on some particular issue.

[Lovedtodeath]

He seemed a bit nonplussed when I said our pantheon was currently full, but we'd be glad to discuss thing further if we had any openings in the future (we actually are polytheists).

 

I would have absolutely no idea what you were talking about. You'd be glad to discuss it if he attended your pantheon?:001_huh:

[KarenNC]

I would have absolutely no idea what you were talking about. You'd be glad to discuss it if he attended your pantheon?:001_huh:

 

He did ask, "Did you say pantheon?":) Guess that's not an answer they get often.

 

We are polytheists. We follow (and believe in, obviously) a pantheon of Gods (ie a specific group of multiple Gods), not just one. We are quite satisfied with our relationship with our Gods and are not looking for a change (adding the worship of any additional Gods) at this time. While absolutely true, I admit the way in which I chose to express it was a bit tongue-in-cheek.

 

Is the letter writing to random names campaign something new or just something I haven't encountered before, btw?

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, yeah, I knew you were a polytheist, but I had no idea what pantheon meant.

 

We have maps of areas that we volunteer to cover. It isn't random. This way we try to get to everyone some way or another once per year or every other year. Someone would have gotten your area and decided that a letter was the best way to reach you, either because they have not talked with you or because it is not a good idea to knock on doors in your neighborhood.

 

Like I explained earlier, if someone is calling on you once a month or so, it is because they feel that you have expressed interest in either discussing the scriptures or reading the literature. We don't randomly knock on doors, and neither do we cover the same area that often.

[dalynnrmc]

I think if you don't like their magazine and find it offensive, don't donate to them.

 

The last time I was visited by a JW, he seemed sure I wanted one of their brochures in a different language (he suggested one). They seemed to have predetermined ethno/religious profiles. Two ladies disappeared into my very religious (non-JW) neighbor's house for a while.... I wish I knew what happened in there.

 

We get mostly JW's here, though where I lived as a kid we had mostly LDS. The JW's here balk and freak out when they see we are white. :D This last time, the lady was apologetic and said that all of her materials are in Spanish, and dug and dug until she found a pamphlet in English. She seemed very proud of herself and handed it over. :tongue_smilie:

 

The first time it happened, right after we moved to town, the ladies standing outside simply said, in their broken English, "You no-speaka Spanish?" to my 6' tall 280lb hubby. He said, "Um, nope." They said, "Okay. No, ah - no. Bye, bye!" And left. It was hilarious. :lol:

[KarenNC]

Okay, yeah, I knew you were a polytheist, but I had no idea what pantheon meant. We have maps of areas that we volunteer to cover. It isn't random. This way we try to get to everyone some way or another once per year or every other year. Someone would have gotten your area and decided that a letter was the best way to reach you, either because they have not talked with you or because it is not a good idea to knock on doors in your neighborhood.

 

Like I explained earlier, if someone is calling on you once a month or so, it is because they feel that you have expressed interest in either discussing the scriptures or reading the literature. We don't randomly knock on doors, and neither do we cover the same area that often.

 

Don't know, maybe he didn't understand me. I thought I was pretty clear that we were not interested, especially as I refused the literature and closed the door after my reply.

 

The person who knocked on the door couple of months ago (it wasn't last month, but has been within the last 6) was a man, the one who wrote the letter (on loose-leaf notebook paper) a female. The letter made no reference to any previous contact, just "Each day I try to share a few words of encouragement with a neighbor" and lots of verses. I found it interesting that the Kingdom Hall return address that was given in case I wanted further information is one that is quite far from our area (two towns away), with at least two Kingdom Halls that I know of which are nearer--one only a couple of miles from our neighborhood. Maybe they are just not as organized in our area for some reason?

 

At any rate, my husband is considering writing back to clear up any misunderstandings about our level of interest, so hopefully that will take care of the situation. Discussion of comparative theology is one thing, and something I greatly enjoy. Proselytization is another thing altogether and a total waste of their time in our case.

 

I do at least give them credit for being willing to do this face to face rather than papering my windshield or leaving Jack Chick tracts littering every available surface like some groups.

[Tree House Academy]

In the 30 years I have been a Baptist, I have never been to a church where they knocked on doors. Well, during VBS, they did it to invite the neighborhood kids since they couldn't afford, at the time, to put it in the paper. Other than that, never. How odd. Baptists are different in different parts of the country though, I know that.

[Penelope]

Around here, the JW walk in my neighborhood and knock on doors every 1-2 months. I tend not to answer the door when it is just the kids and I at home in the morning, homeschooling. I have only answered the door to them once and explained we are Christians. I don't think I seemed interested and I see them going up and down the streets here, not just to our house. I have never lived anyplace where they visit this often.

 

I have been in Baptist and Presbyterian churches that went door to door, not only to invite to services and VBS, but also evangelizing (this was when I was growing up so I wasn't doing the evangelizing myself). People just don't go door-to-door for anything as much anymore. Remember all the salesmen? Just don't seem to get them.

[Lovedtodeath]

Hmmm... maybe I am mistaken about the frequency. That's the way I have always done it.

 

What is unique about the Witnesses is that every member around the world engages in witnessing.

[Spy Car]

Hmmm... maybe I am mistaken about the frequency. That's the way I have always done it.

 

What is unique about the Witnesses is that every member around the world engages in witnessing.

 

When the Witnesses were in my neighborhood recently, they skipped our house. And I was so ready to discuss "the ransom" :lol:

 

Do you think if I once told them I was Jewish (which isn't true, and I'm not sure that I did, but I'm not entirely sure that I didn't) do you think they crossed me off their list?

 

Bill (who live pretty close to the Jackson family)

[Lovedtodeath]

When the Witnesses were in my neighborhood recently, they skipped our house. And I was so ready to discuss "the ransom" :lol:

 

Oh, too bad! I would have loved hearing all about it! I am sure you would not have gotten very far, as they would not have planned to spend all day at one house. :tongue_smilie:

 

No one gets crossed off for being Jewish! I thought I already explained that. :glare: In fact, there is a tract specifically using only the Hebrew scriptures for Jewish people who might have a spiritual need.

 

I'm not going to tell you how to get crossed off, that would be cheating!:lol:

[Spy Car]

Oh, too bad! I would have loved hearing all about it! I am sure you would not have gotten very far, as they would not have planned to spend all day at one house. :tongue_smilie:

 

No one gets crossed off for being Jewish! I thought I already explained that. :glare: In fact, there is a tract specifically using only the Hebrew scriptures for Jewish people who might have a spiritual need.

 

Sorry, I missed that part.

 

I'm not going to tell you how to get crossed off, that would be cheating!:lol:

 

I was going to offer them tea. Do you think they would have begged me to let them leave? :lol::lol::lol:

 

Bill

[Lovedtodeath]

LOL!

[Jenny in Florida]

We are quite satisfied with our relationship with our Gods and are not looking for a change (adding the worship of any additional Gods) at this time.

 

We get JWs and LDS folks pretty regularly in my neighborhood. I'm always polite but say pretty much the above straitforwardly and right away.

 

"We already belong to a church where we're very happy. Thanks!"

 

They nod and smile and walk away. No big deal.

 

It drives my husband nuts, but I appreciate they're worried about my soul. I'm not interested in making changes, but I understand their motives are good.

[KidsHappen]

I have lived in many parts of the country and I have had both JWs and LDS come to my door. I have never had any problems with the LDS but have had two incidents with JWs. Any time someone knocks on my door and I decide to answer it, if they immediately launch into some spiel about something, I politely tell them I am not interested and close the door. This applies to solicitors and religious people as well. Twice now I have had JWs come to the door and start to tell me about their religion and when I told them that I am not interested, they argued with me. WE don't get many of either were we live now,

[SherryTX]

I am pleased to see that there are current JW's that have explained why they go, etc.

 

I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for several years, and very much involved with the door to door service. Here is how things are done: each congregation has a territory map, and they careful section out the map on to territory cards. A "publisher" (one that goes out in service), asks for a territory card and has a certain amount of time to complete canvassing and knocking on every house in that territory. They have little forms they fill out, marking down what happens at each house. For example, not at home, not interested, took a track/magazine...they may note if they are welcomed to come back for a return visit as well..etc..

 

ANYHOO - they turn the territory card in, and (depending on the size of the area that congregation is responsible for) that territory may not be worked for a few more months.

 

Here is the thing: when the territory is turned in, if there is anyone in that territory that CLEARLY states: please do NOT come back to my house again. CLEARLY - they will mark that address down as do not visit. Every now and then, they make check the name on the mailbox, or some other evidence (without being invasive - say if they notice the family moving out and new people moving in during future work in the area) that you have moved, should not be going back to that house.

 

So if you really don't like talking to them BE VERY VERY VERY CLEAR. Ask them to specifically mark your address down as DO NOT CALL. The congregation I was in was very good about respecting this.

 

When I moved down to TX, we moved right around the corner from a Kingdom Hall. I got a visit once the first year, and I was polite and let them know my mom was a Witness so I knew where to get any literature if I wanted. They were very polite. My mom came for a visit, made fast friends at the local Hall (and good for her - her religion is important to her and I respect that), and as soon as she left - the visits INCREASED. She asked the local elders to visit and encourage me. I finally had to state very VERY clearly PLEASE do not come back. In the past 3 years, they have only been back once - and it wasn't an elder, but someone else.

 

Anyway - that is how you get them to stop coming. And, depending where you live a "No Soliciting" sign doesn't mean much to many JWs, because they don't view it as soliciting, so perhaps a NO EVANGELIZING something to the effect would be better.

 

We don't get Mormoms in our neighborhood, which is weird because I see them all over town. I wish they would stop by - just once. I want to see if they are local or not. And ask how they like riding their bikes in the Texas summer heat hahah.

 

What I HATE the most though - is all the churches that leave religions cards and ads on my door. No wait - what I actually hate the most - when a local church has the nerve to address religious advertisement to my minor children. They are allowed to by lists of kids names and their addresses from the school unless you go and tell the school IN WRITING that you do not want this. (Of course, this is somewhere in very fine print buried in the school handbook that is about 75 pages long). I sent an email complaining to the principal and another directly to the church telling them "hands off my kids".

 

Anyway - one last thing - don't take the mags if you are not going to read them. JWs pay for these mags out of their own pocket, and no genuine one I have ever known wants to "place" one just to mark it down. It isn't easy going door to door. Just be honest and tell them you are not interested. It saves you a future visit, from having to throw something away, and from letting them think you are a potential bible study.

[Karenciavo]

We've had JW and Catholic believe it our not, I even had a Catholic witness to me in a supermarket parking lot. The term I hear in many evangelical protestant churches these days is "relational evangelism." It's not door to door, more like live your life and quietly evangelize as God sends people into your life.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Is the letter writing to random names campaign something new or just something I haven't encountered before, btw?

 

I find it interesting that it is assumed to be "to random names." EVERYTHING JWs do is EXTREMELY organized. If I were to do letter writing, I would write letters to people in the territory I checked out that hadn't been home in the two times I tried in the last couple weeks or because a letter writing territory was given to me due to my inability to go out in service for another reason (health, mult chem sensitivity, etc). Our congregation also has phone territories for our area.

 

As for being happy with their own religion--MANY people are. But many people are not. They either haven't found a path to be happy with, believe there is possibly a reason to consider another, or whatever. And really, the Jews and Pagans and such in the 1st century included many people that were happy with their religion also. Many were not convinced to consider what Christ's disciples at that time preached and taught. So the disciples went to the next house, the next town, etc.

 

Contrary to what people believe, we do NOT go out to convert other people (and the process for conversion for those who choose to is involved). We follow the admonition to preach and to teach. From there, it's completely between God and the person.

 

ETA: JFWIW, most of the information in Sherry's post is correct. There are some things that aren't true, but that could be something like how long ago her experience was or something.

 

Oh, and someone mentioned the time they call. When this is really depends on your area. Saturday morning is the biggest time people go out in this country, but we have a pretty strong group on Wed and Fri mornings and at least some in all 3 afternoons. Of course, some people go out just about every day as it works for them (between work, children, other responsibilities). If you don't mind visits, you might outline naptime as a bad time.

Edited April 2, 2009 by 2J5M9K

[Elizabeth Conley]

The want you to join. It's as simple as that.

 

Most groups that proselytize have "salesmen" who do door to door. Expect them to be like all salesmen. Buyer beware. The most dangerous ones will NOT be truthful about how much time, energy and sanity belonging to their group will cost you.

 

I strongly urge you to study any group BEFORE they get in your front door. Only let them in if your research indicates they're your cup of tea. Most are harmless, but many are devastating to their members quality of life.

 

All of them have key phrases you can say that will cause them to politely leave and never knock on your door again. If you firmly tell a Morman "You and your message are not welcome here.", he or she will not return. They'll write you off as hopelessly "lost", but they'll leave you in peace.

 

Don't fancy you'll sway them to your point of view. Arguing theology or philosophy with any of them is extremely unproductive, and only plays to their fantasy that you will convert to their group. Unless you simply relish debate, don't bother.

 

Blessings,

 

Elizabeth

[HRAAB]

Since we're on this subject, can a Jehova Witness answer this question: why do you have your young children do the talking? The first time this happened, I though it was just that particular family. But since it has happened several times? Father or mother with child. Child does all the talking. Or is this not the norm? I understand your wanting to train them, but couldn't that be done by observation? I'm speaking of younger children, probably 9 to 12.

 

And I will add that when this happened, I gave my usual 'no, thank you', but they kept right on talking. Now, with an adult I would say something like, I said no, I don't think I should have to say it twice. But with a child, I felt it put me in awkward position. So I ended up looking at the adult and saying 'I already said No' and not responding to the child. I felt I was being rude, and I didn't want to be, but the child kept right on going.

 

Oh, and we mostly have LDS, not so many JW.

 

Janet

[Pamela H in Texas]

Children follow Jesus' footsteps closely also. Why would they NOT follow what Jesus says for Christians to do?

The other thing is that children WANT to. They often are "like little children" mentioned in the Bible. They fully believe and they don't hold back their dedication. I mean, if you believe, you would follow your faith, wouldn't you? That would be the case whether you were 7 or 107.

 

Of course, children still have to learn things also. I'm sure that the parents are able to redirect the children later, "remember when that lady at the 2nd house said 'no thank you?' You can say ______ in that situation. And here is why...." Even adults give each other feedback such as "I like how you..." and "I might have used this scripture in that situation." My daughter has said to me, "I thought you were going to say ______ when that man said XYZ. That is one of your favorite scriptural points."

[MamaSheep]

...Except every once in a while, a very polite young man (only the LDS guys, always the young men) will ask, "While we're here, is there anything we can help you with?" and I am tempted to ask them to teach math or wash the car. Except they might actually DO it. :lol:

 

They almost certainly would; they're supposed to do a certain number of hours of service. Put 'em to work!

 

...I do have a problem with the two pimply Morman boys that show up though. They are extremely pushy and opinionated. They showed up two weeks ago. I don't know what I did wrong - but I think I upset them and got rid of them for good. They were talking about baptism and whether I as a Catholic believed that the Catholic Church had the rights to only allow priests to baptize people. I told them that I didn't know where they got there information from but priests were not the only ones within the church who were allowed to baptize. I told them that any lay person in the church were allowed to baptize other people. I said that if someone were laying in my front yard and were requesting baptism before they died, I could run into my house and pour water over their heads and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The one boy that was doing all the talking gave me a shocked look and quickly excused him and his friend from my front porch and practically ran to their bicycles.

 

For me, this was slightly disturbing because I didn't intend to upset them and I'm not sure what I said to upset them. I only told them the truth.

 

 

As a Mormon, that sounds like an odd reaction to me too. They are supposed to be more polite than that. Please let me apologize on their behalf for any upset they may have caused.

 

All of them have key phrases you can say that will cause them to politely leave and never knock on your door again. If you firmly tell a Morman "You and your message are not welcome here.", he or she will not return. They'll write you off as hopelessly "lost", but they'll leave you in peace.

 

They don't write anyone off as "hopelessly lost". They do note down that you prefer not to be called upon if you ask them to (though the paperwork has been known to get lost on occasion when missionaries are transferred--sorry). We do want to share our message with anyone who wishes to hear it, but we have no desire to be obnoxious to people who don't.

[Lovedtodeath]

The children who talk at your door have chosen to do so out of love of God and neighbor. Preaching is an integral part of our faith. I was one of these children, and I know that it would be a devastating blow to not allow them.

 

(FWIW I have not always been a Witness. I decided to leave for a time, so I can understand when people are not interested, I wasn't either... it wasn't a good move on my part, so I came back.) There have been many people whose response was "not interested" that have quickly or not so quickly changed their mind and these people are so thankful that the Witnesses still tried to share something with them.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Lovedtodeath

[Julie in Austin]

I wish they would stop by - just once. I want to see if they are local or not.

 

If they have nametags on, they are not local.