Fed up with Jehovah's Witnesses calling at my door

[Sparkleandfizz]

I am fed up of having Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on my door. I mean each to their own, but you don't get people from the church of England knocking on your door trying to recruit you. I just think it's out of order that they go around trying to recruit people into some weird cult.

I watched my Grandmother tell them very firmly we were Catholic once when she was babysitting us. They apparently never come back after that.
We are not Catholic. But I have always used that line and only ever had one visit at any address I have ever had. They literally seem to cross you off if Catholic. Or Grandma and I have just been lucky?

Tried that, they genuinely don’t go away!

My friend has a sign that says 'Fuck off or you'll be the one needing witnesses.'

Rude

It’s very common for recruits to be vulnerable. They are often lonely , isolated, struggling or from other countries. They have a large African and Asian intake. Lots of Eastern Europeans.

You can buy door stickers from an online store 'fleabay' which warns people that cold callers, will be reported.

The cold calling stopped when I placed 2 on my front door.

I

That seems unnecessary.

We used to get this with Mormons. I was always polite but firm, didn't work, one day DH (AuDHD) answered the door he was talking to them for ages, genuinely interested in their beliefs in his own interrogatory way and they never came back! Now I send him to deal with any door knockers

My male housemate in university in the 90s
once invited a pair of JW Men into the house once. My housemate was wearing his pants and open dressing gown and sat there drinking a Stella whilst watching babe station. He used to get quite bored when the rest of us went home for the weekend so they filled a bit of his time.

Not sure what they were thinking, they probably thought they could convert him!

That will just confirm all their preconceptions

There’s a man who had too much time on his hands.

This. I once went out with someone whose parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses and the kids were basically forced to go door-knocking. So I treat them with compassion and respect because they don’t necessarily want to do this at all.

I treat them exactly the same as any cold caller ( double glazing, broadband I've never heard of, Reform canvassers) a polite no thank you, not interested and close the door. It takes seconds.

Do they still call it ‘Pioneering’?

I’m not sure. He was staunchly anti after his childhood experiences and only told me how much he hated having to go door to door.

I always take the leaflet, though.

They usually say ‘Jesus loves you’, and in my head I say ‘he’s got a funny way of showing it!’.

Yeah, Jesus never loved me much either. If evidenced by my childhood!

/very lapsed Catholic, here.

I can imagine. It must be awful for the children.

What were his parents like with you?

I worked for a law firm, and i was one of the only other members of staff who was full time, as the other women were job sharing.
Which enabled them to do the door knocking shenanigans when they weren’t at work.

I had never met any JWs before I worked there, and i thought it was a bit of an odd way to live your life; particularly not celebrating Christmas or birthdays.

They were all lovely women, and never tried to convert me. They knew I was Catholic, so maybe they thought I wouldn’t be swayed, but, i dunno.

V lapsed here, too.

If you watch any of Lloyd Evans various podcasts the worst thing about the door knocking as a child was when the door was opened by someone you were at school with.

He's quite interesting on what it was like to grow up a JW. He said he always felt a bit special if someone was rude because that meant he must be right.

I'm going to put my hand up as lapsed RC, although I think I was brought up lapsed, we rarely went to mass.

I remember going to confession with my dad once (and I don't remember going another time with him), I went to sit in a pew and my dad hissed at me, "genuflect", I said what, he repeated it eventually he said "curtsey". I would have been getting ready for my confirmation but I don't think I had heard the word before.

I know a lovely woman who is a JW.

I feel sorry for her lovely children.

I abhor any religion that's more like fascism.

If they think there's any chance at all that you're a possible convert then they have to keep coming back. You have to be firm. You might even have to be rude.

There was a famous court case here in Melbourne where someone invited them in for a chat and served them hash cookies with their tea.

I know it's wrong but I do still giggle at the thought of a pack of stoned JWs.

ETA: found it, they were Mormons but still. Shouldn't have been such little piggies and eaten so many!

www.mormonstoday.com/991219/D2Cookies01.shtml

Yes they do.

Mormons have been known to order cider in the UK not knowing it is alcoholic.

I watched something ages ago about some people who left 'high control religions' and them not being prepared for 'outside' life.

So they wanted to get drunk but didn't know how. What should they buy? How much should they drink of it?

Another one left the Amish (he is allowed to visit his mother as long as he wears Amish clothing) and had discovered the glory of a microwave oven.

He put potato in to cook, but realised there was a 'pizza' button, so he pressed that because he had tried pizza and liked it, and was shocked his potato didn't turn in to a pizza.