To refuse to take the Watchtower and send Jehova's Witnesses away with parish magazine?

[Elasticwoman]

They said: hey, you've got to take a Watchtower, it was a deal!

But I welshed on it.

Was I unreasonable, and what do other people do when the God Squad come to their door trying to sell God to them?

As a baptist version of Christian, I have an interesting time with them, given that they don't believe I actually am a Christian because I'm not one of JWs. Hey ho. If you don't want to take the stuff, don't take it. If you do, be prepared for them to come back and ask how you liked it.

If you're really not interested, say so, and they'll mark that down and not call for a long while. They will call again at some point, though, to see if you've changed your mind (it does happen) or to see if someone else lives there now.

It also depends on how many congregations there are where you live. We have quite a few, and they 'work' our patch quite frequently, and might have separate records.

UQD, I would doubt they're outside praying - they're more likely to be writing your response on a record card so they know what response to expect from your household.

I tell them I am Jewish or Muslim and they go away.

Probably what happens to you already UD. They'd pray for you and look all pitying at you, probably try to teach you.

Jw's don't believe in hell, so that's probably where that came from.

i think that 'brainwashed' isn't really an ambiguous term.

i think the prevailing culture at her home is mis informed.

We don't get many JW round here. There are some who come round about once a year I think.

I prefer to answer the door in my "Say you love Satan" t-shirt.

I've had some conversations with them, I do admire their ingenuity with regards to getting a chat started. "Do you worry about your children playing outside", "crime" etc. They asked what I thought God thought about the world today and whether those people needed Him in their lives. I said, I'm sure God doesn't need me to tell him how His creation is going. And how do you know that all those kids don't go to church every sunday?

I simply tell them that I'm not interested. If this does not work I tell them that had my parents been JW I would have died shortly after birth and politely shut the door. That usually works on the 1% who don't leave at my first attempt.

PMSL HappyDaddy.

I went to a strict CofE school between the ages of 5 and 11. There was one boy in my year at school and he was JW. He wasn't allowed to take part in any of the stuff outside the classroom, and if we had certain people in to speak or teacher was teaching about other religions, he had to sit at a table outside the door, doing work!!

So I don't think they are that up for learning about other people's faith/religion.

HorseyWoman, pretty much.

I hate it that they call so early on a weekend morning so that I have to answer the door in my dressing gown. They then proceed to look at me as though I desperately need "saving". I tell them, politely, that I am not interested and I then feel disturbed and vaguely guilty for the rest of the day. What is it about that creepy look that they all give you and where the hell (sic) do they buy their clothes and shoes ?

I hate it that it's usually a Sunday!

I don't like anyone trying to give/sell me unsolicited stuff on the doorstep, be it the Watchtower, lucky heather, double glazing or J-Cloths.

They all get a polite but firm 'No thanks' from me.

My DP can't summarily dismiss anyone, not on the phone, not on the doorstep, not even a JW! We have got a drawer in the hall chest full of the things he has bought from those sad people with their tales of woe. When Onetel or Toucan (or anyone else flogging something) phone, we tell him it's for him! Oh how we then roll around laughing as he finds it impossible to say no. He once even invited Anglia windows to give us a quote . I worry what might happen if he answers to the JWs.

I always take it, say "Thank you very much. I am Catholic", they go away and I recycle the magazine.

I've never been hassled and both sides have always been polite.

OOh, I see Catholicism mentioned a lot on here. Are JWs scared of us or something?

tellusmater, they often have articles about Catholic belief in their mags.

The JWs round my way are all really sweet looking old ladies and the occasional suited, bespectacled young man who stands sheepishly behind them smiling inanely. They hardly seem threatening. Then you give them an inch...and they pounce. Church of the Latter Day Saints are the same - they actually pounce on people in the street where I live under the pretext of asking the time or for directions or something...then out comes that little booklet. I have been followed down the road by a Latter day saints woman calling 'Shalom, my sister. I pray you see the error of your ways' after telling them I was Jewish. I'm not even Jewish, and I was bloody offended!

Ah. Perhaps I should read it before I recycle it next time. What do they say?

I tell you something else that p!sses me off: when I am merrily minding my own business, shopping around town, and some street preacher is standing with a bill-board attached to himself, resiting parts of the Bible, in a loud and obtrusive manner. The board usually has some crude message on it about out greed (thus, spending habits) etc. Why should I have to be preached at when I am minding my own business or in my own home? I have a brain and a mind of my own, and will seek these things out if I want to. Grrr.

Tellus, oh, the standard catholic criticism - praying to Mary, using statues and that. But mostly they use a tack of criticizing RC (and any other Christian) involvement in blessing troops in wartime, and they're quite fond of the old 'priest-child-abuse' stuff. Which is a tad hypocritical given that they're not exactly whiter-than-white in that are themselves..

How dull. Same old same old.