What is your reaction to Jehovah's Witnesses calling?

[Posey]

We have a regular visit from one, he's been calling on and off for months. We are always friendly, I find him quite interesting but have no intention of becoming a JW. I think he probably knows that but he still calls.
My friend's mum, a very devout Christian, invites them in and they debate etc for an hour or more!

What do you do?

[Feistybird]

my dad used to invite them in for debate. But I have no time for 'cold' callers whether JWs or anything else.

[SoupDragon]

Tell them that I do not agree with their beliefs and shut the door. They once told my mother she "could repent" for having allowed me to have a life saving blood transfusion when I was born.

[emmawill]

I used to have a dog that was very good with dealing with Jehovah witnesses!!!!

[Blu]

I say 'My way of looking for better things in our world is not the same as yours, thank you for calling, goodbye'

[misdee]

i say 'hello doris/tim/whatever their name is, how are you, yes my parents are fine. cant talk now, catch you later'

[mumatuks]

The J.W around here actually thank you for opening the door!!

I'm always polite but say we don't feel the need for religion in our lives thank you.

DH's friend had a religious group calling in his area and they were writing down house numbers that didn't answer and they would call back on purpose. They got a telling of by the police as if their book had gotten in to the wrong hands, Burglar Bill and his mates would have known that No8 are out between 10am and 2 pm.

[bubblez]

my parents brought me up as one....

im not one nemore.. thank god (no pun intended) :)

as a jw i always hated going door to door...sorry to all the jw's that love it, it's just my oppinion..

and i just tell them sorry not interested bin there, had the t-shirt, burnt it, dont intend to get another one thanx..

[misdee]

i was one as well bubblez.

[cece]

I have many happy hours hiding from JW at the the top of the stairs, with my mum and my sister.

My mum went to school with the lady (a small town) and didn't want to offend her by sending her away LOL

[Pruni]

Same way I deal with any door-to-door sales people. I am not interested, thank you.

[Radley]

I tell them I'm an atheist and shut the door.

When dh (6ft 1", 18stone, covered in tattoos and a skinhead) was living at home, he once answered the door to them stark naked whilst eating his breakfast and just glared, didn't say a word.

They never went back, wonder why.

[bubblez]

really...

i wondered if i should own up :)

so wos i the only one who hated that whole preaching thing...

[alicemama]

Please don't all jump on me at once.....! lol
I am a jw and don't get me wrong going door to door is not my fav thing in the world.
I know some that will keep going even when people have said thet they're not interested but i just politely leave. Everyone has freedom of choice and if people are not interested then thats fair enough.
tbh even when people are rude to me it doesn't bother me, in fact find it quite funny...don't know why!

[Furball]

The last ones, I said 'Look I don't go knocking on your door telling you what I think you should believe so don't do it to me!'

I quite often get people asking if they can read me a passage from the bible. Just how many people I wonder actually say yes?

[alicemama]

I never get anybody in anyway...or is everyone hiding at top of stairs! lol

[intergalacticwalrus]

I ask them if they had a nice Christmas

Seriously, I was stalked by a JW couple for a year. They haven't been round for ages, but I used to hide in the kitchen when they knocked on the door, and I'd sit in the lounge with the curtains drawn and the TV on subtitles on the days I thought they may call. I was pg when they first started calling, and they kepy pushing stuff through the door about babies dying etc. Just what I needed to hear

[TinyGang]

Genuinely interested here...why does their belief wish them to do this? Does cold calling religion actually work, I wonder? I daren't ask when one knocks, or I'll be there forever.

When we get them, they are all immaculately turned out. They assemble at the top of the road and methodically bang on every door, getting turned away at every one. Why do it?

[tahira]

My friend's mother is a JW who told her that the more people resist, the more determined they get.
My mum always used to pretend she couldn't speak English. Once, she didn't recognise the guy who came round every weekend and asked him what he wanted-he was shocked to hear her speak perfect english. Luckily, after that, he never came back!!!

[Tommy]

I had a chat with 2 women at the door once but I didn't find their theology particularly convincing (I am theology graduate!)and they weren't very good at aruging their point - just kept repeating their opening sentence. TBH, I woukdn't mind having a theological discussion on the door step but I think they should be better at it!

[WigWamBam]

TinyGang, according to the JW lady I used to chat with, they do it because they believe that JWs are the only ones who will be saved, and genuinely want to make sure that as many people as possible know the truth as they see it, so that they have the opportunity to be saved.

I just smile and say "no thank you" - I've never yet had anyone try and put their foot in the door or try to keep me talking. They usually just thank me for opening the door, and leave.

I was at one point a Christian (very much lapsed now), and about ten years ago I went through a phase where I almost found faith again. I had actually got a Bible on the window sill when a JW came, she spotted it and asked if I had a faith, and I invited her in. She was pleased to have someone to talk about the Bible with, and never once shoved her beliefs down my throat. We just talked about what different passages of the Bible meant to us, compared the language of the two different versions, and I found it quite pleasant to hear someone else's views.

It was actually looking again at the Bible with her that finally convinced me that Christianity of any persuasion is not for me - but even that didn't offend her. She still makes a point of coming to see how I'm doing whenever she's in the area - she's a lovely lady but knows that I'm not interested and has never mentioned faith again.

[Bugsy2]

I'm very cautious about who I open the door to, so I always yell through the door in my witchy voice "Who is it?" and if it is anyone selling anything, promoting religion or any of the zillion other things that seem to trek to my doorstep on a daily basis in London, I just don't answer the door!

[TinyGang]

Oh I see..thanks wwb, I always wondered. Sounds like you met a nice lady there.

Ours are always polite too and not pushy. But they do keep coming back every couple of months and we go through it all again.

[MrsBadger]

Thing is, if you really believe that the news you've got will save people's souls, you have to tell people about it.

It's like telling someone who genuinely didn't know that car seats exist and that they save lives.

(Not saying that I believe they're right, just that I can see why doorstepping is important to them.)

Personally I favour the convert-by-example method but not sure how efficient that is either...

[sansouci]

I smile, say no thank you very firmly while closing the door. If they insist, I tell them my dh & dc are Catholic. That usually causes them to scuttle away sharpish.

[sansouci]

Too bad about your loss of faith because of the bible, WWB. It was written by human beings who had their own interpretation of things. It's definitely possible to be Christian but not to take the bible too literally.