to be afraid of the Jehovah witnesses?

[Carrierpenguin]

Tonight a pair of Jehovah witnesses turned up on my doorstep. I was a bit thick and didn't realise who they were. They duped me into speaking to them for a couple of minutes and thrust a magazine thing in my hands as I closed the door, they said they'd come back. I did tell ask them if this was a 'religious thing' and they said they were christian, I said I'm a C of E church goer.

I'm worried that they are going to come back and hound me forever more now. Aibu?

Some of these stories are hilarious, some quite alarming. I was perturbed by the JWs as they knocked after dark and despite my 'no cold caller' sign - I had thought it may be my elderly neighbour needing help. I really disliked the way they made out they were Christians and disguised the jw part, even though I said I was c of E. I realised only once they'd gone and I looked at their leaflet.

I will be asking to go.on their no call list if when they return.

im a cm and one day i had christmas music playing with our windows wide open(right next to the front door).

the door bell rang and one child shouted...
its MY daddy
another said NO its MY daddy
the other one said .....NO NO NO its my daddy

I said... Its noones daddy its just the postman.

the look on the JW faces when i opened the door was priceless!

they do a LOT of harm to those in their cult who struggle to get out. And of course the no-blood thing, while good on the evolutionary scale, is terrible for children that lose parents. It has happened.

yes, ask to go on the no-call list and shut the door. Alternatively you can try 'great, we are two short for our satanic ritual, come on in!'

Sorry to hear about your sister NinePeedles. While I agree with the right to choose in medical situations I don't like how another JW will race in to 'help' them with their medical choices nurse .

I'm qualified in a couple of the more 'woo' therapies. It practically makes me a witch. They don't like witches. Add in a dash of paganism and they don't visit any longer.

I've had friends who are JW and I agree that they can be lovely people individually. I just can't agree with their religion or need to push it. Since turning woo they avoid me

I generally find them very kind and polite people. We get them frequently calling in our area and I always just say I'm a Roman Catholic - they have a very poor conversion rate with RC's!

I think they often very good people, who mean well, but are very misguided / brainwashed.

I tell them thank you but I'm not interested and then they go away. Much as I do with double glazing salesmen, chuggers, and other cold callers. They don't bite!

How do you get on their no call list?

I just asked them to take me off of their list and they actually wrote in a little book, probably wrote heathen against my name !

The Christmas Day thing is a bit of a 'tactic' as they know people will be home. It's also a good way to get the attention of anyone who's not enjoying the festivities by presenting them with reasons why you're not supposed to enjoy it. And people who are lonely.

They are just the same as any group of individuals, some are lovely and kind,(especially the women ime) some aren't quite so lovely but make it their business to seem so, and some of them are awful and arrogant but put on a good show anyway.

All of them are easily persuaded by not very convincing 'literature'.

I actually have the impression a majority of them aren't that keen on the door-stepping themselves, but they are, if not forced exactly, then heavily pressured into doing it. They often just want to place their mag so their numbers look good at the end of the month, without meeting with too much aggression, and back to base for tea and cake.

Every one I've ever met likes a drink.

If they place a mag then they will write you down as being potentially interested but it's really less to do with hassling you and more to do with being able to show they are making progress and have some ongoing 'goals' in their evangelism.

They are unlikely to be anything but pleasant if you tell them no thank you. If you look up your local Kingdom Hall and ring them you can be added to the no call list.

My late and lovely FIL would have invited them in,made them a cuppa and
talked the arse of them about the benefits of living in an anarcho syndicalyst society.As a life long card carrying Communist he just loved the sport of proselytising.and had long ago run out of locals to bandy words with.We miss him greatly.Ah the look on the poor bugger's faces when they realised that there was no escape.

I always invite them in for a chat and a bit of a debate. I really enjoy it. Sadly, they seem to have given up on me. I think I've got a reputation as a timewaster.

They have to do the door knocking thing, and half of them don't believe a word of it, but if they don't play the game they get disowned by their family and it's hugely controlling and abusive. So I'm polite to them when they come to the door (used to have a Kingdom Hall on our street so regularly!) but tell them I'm an atheist who loved my blood transfusion. I don't like it when they bring kids and they are prepped to talk direct to my kids, I'm less polite then.

I think its a bit off to say things like "them" as though speaking of every JW, as with everything there are different personalities etc.

thursday I know of someone, Mum JW, her daughter chose around the age of 13 not to be, she was not disowned, there was no pressure from the Mum or other JWs there are no issues within their relationship at all.

I was in the kitchen when dd (aged 7) opened the door to them. She was very charming when they started talking about God, and asked them in. I was impressed with her manners, but they didn't leave us alone after that until we left the country They are definitely NOT Christian by any normal, theological reckoning.

It's only when you're a baptised JW who either leaves or gets 'disfellowshipped' that they do the whole shunning thing.
DH was one as a teenager but luckily left before being baptised so his sister (who is still one of them) is allowed to talk to him.

I think the disfellowshipping thing only applies if you have been baptised and then reject the organisation, if you choose not to follow the religion before becoming fully involved then you could still potentially change your mind so it is not as harsh. You would always be welcomed back.

If you turn your back on it having once been fully a part of it, I believe it is rather different.

People are only using 'they' as a shorthand aren't they, not really in a disparaging way, as JWs are coming to your doorstep representing an organisation, not themselves as individuals.

There is though, much less space for individuality in how they express their faith than, for e.g, C of E. You wouldn't have one JW thinking homosexuality was ok and another not, they would all be in (public) agreement on that. There's much less room for individual interpretation.

Friend used to open to door and say come in we having a seance. He was studying for a levels at time.

Just say no.

I once dated an ex-JW who explained to me a lot about how JWs work. He also explained how JW analyse and interpret the Bible. Some of it was really interesting.

I think one of the reasons for shunning those who have left or been disfellowshipped is to prevent those within the organisation (which they call 'The Truth' ) being influenced by those who have negative things to say about JW beliefs. It is key to the maintenance of their brainwashing that current members aren't forced to think too much or to examine their beliefs independently.

Anyone who knocks on my door with a view to telling me how ignorant my views are and how right theirs are is met with a very firm "fuck off". There's just no need. Believe what you want to believe but don't disturb me at home to tell me about it.

Very different to the experience of friends of mine. For which I am glad.

I believe my ex was disfellowshipped for some reason or other. We once met one of the Elders and he walked over to the Elder, very pleasant, and said hello and the Elder just turned his back on him and walked off.

How do the senior/leaders JW's explain 'shunning' people who decide to leave to each other?

Why would they feel the need to do it?

They call it 'bad association'. JWs are meant to avoid bad association with naughty people like ex JWs as it is a slippery slope and might be a way for Satan to get a hold of them.