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Now for the point. Last spring break, this two women and little boy came to me door. I answered, the one of the women came up to me. She asked me that common question, "What one thing can rid this world of all its suffering." I said God of course, smiling. Then she told me I had a beautiful smile. So I decided to listen to what they had to say because they seemed nice. I told them I was a Seventh Day Adventist (A Protestant religion somewhat very similar to Messaonic Judaism). She told me when she was a child she went to a SDA church. Then, she going on about reading these bibical verses I memorize since the age of ten! At this point, I'm thinking "I told you I'm a Christian, you are obivously recongize my branch of Christianity, so leave me the •••• alone!" I'm trying to enjoy my spring break and this trio is trying to convert me. Finally, they leave handing me this religious propaganda. Now, two months later, in May, they come back. But I was at school. Everyone says I have the body of a 20 year old but the face of a thirteen year old. Couldn't they tell I'm a teenager!!!! So, I continue to ingore. Now, this week, while I was shopping with my mami, they come again, giving this book with a Post-It attach. The lady explained how she came back a few times, but was unable to contact me. She gave me this verse John 3:16 (I memorized that verse when I was four!) and told me God cares about me. I know that! But the strange thing is I told them I was already in a religion and if they looked inside my house while the door was open, they would see those framed bible verses that you can buy at Holy Land (in Orlando) for $50. The scary thing is she added, "I'll see you soon". I want a restraining order. Seriously!!!! What should I do?????

By Waffle (Waffle) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:11 pm: Edit

Tell them to stop following you once. If they follow you again, after you've said no, then they are stalking/harassing you and you should go to the police.

What's Jehovah's witnesses anyway? Whatever they do, it is probably not a valid religion, since even the name Jehovah is a misnomer.

By Jlq3d3 (Jlq3d3) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:35 pm: Edit

I live in Los Angeles. My neigborhood is like 50% Jewish, yet they keep coming. I dont get it. They come every single month to the same houses, even after they have been rejected. Isnt that innefficient and just plain rude? It is usually on a Sunday, and like there are 15 of them walking with black bags around my street, slowly and laughing. And then even if you tell them no thank you, after you close the door they drop their literature in your mail box.

By Daffodil22 (Daffodil22) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:39 pm: Edit

I had a group of Baptists come to my door once. (It's the most prominent religion where I live.) It was so funny though, I was nice to them and listened to their spiel, then said, "Well, I'm Catholic". Which is true. They looked at me strangely then backed away from my porch so fast! It was like I said "I'm a cannibal" or something!

By Daffodil22 (Daffodil22) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:40 pm: Edit

Btw, they have never returned.

By Cornellhopeful (Cornellhopeful) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:49 pm: Edit

Waffle, Jehovah's Witnesses belong to the Watchtower Society. It's a "Christian" church. They differ from traditional Christianity in many ways, and have their own special translation of the Bible. They don't accept blood transfusions, and believe that only 144,000 JWs will go to Heaven, and everyone else will either live on earth or be destroyed. It's a pseudo-Christian religion, and they regard all other Christian churches and beliefs as false, pagan, etc.

By Asianalto (Asianalto) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:50 pm: Edit

I think that part of the religion is spreading the word, so that even if you reject them, they're carrying out God's work by coming back in hopes that you will have seen the light. Something like that?

By Mrbesch (Mrbesch) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 02:20 pm: Edit

The whole Jehovah's Witnesses sect is not much more than a Christian cult. They go around trying to convert whoever they can by whatever means possible. Instead of letting the values of the religion do the converting (because they're arbitrary and largely designed to scare people), they will use any method possible to get someone to join (though many other churches have- Christian missions serve the same purpose). Luckily, since I live in a Catholic hotbed (I am Lutheran, officialy), they don't waste their time coming to many houses around here, though I do know a Jehovah's Witness (funny aside: she would get really mad if someone said she was a Jehovah's Witness. There shouldn't be anything to be embarrassed about, right?....) and I see Mormons walking around. I like the Mormons though. They don't bother you with literature or anything, but if you wanted to know about the LDS church, they'd give you some pamphlets.

Simpsons quote (from the ep where they got a new doorbell while homer and bart were driving a tractor trailer)
Marge- We need someone to ring our new bell. Look, here come some Jehovah's Witnesses!

JWs- You know what, I'm getting sick of this. Let's go find REAL jobs! (they toss literature to ground and run off)

By Jenesaispas (Jenesaispas) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 02:38 pm: Edit

That was a good Simpsons... but it went like this:
Marge: Anyone? Anyone at all?
Lisa: Oh! Milhouse is selling seeds, and he's coming this wa-- Oh, the birds got him.
[Milhouse staggers past the window, attacked by birds]
Milhouse: Ow! Oh! Not the face!
Marge: If your father were here, there'd be process servers, repo men, and bounty hunters to beat the band.
Lisa: Hey! People are coming! I think they're Jehovah's Witnesses.
Marge: Yes!
[cut to outside the house. A young man and woman walk up, and the man goes to ring the doorbell]
Noreen: Wait, Marvin, I just had a thought. Maybe we're bothering people by trying to change their religion. What if we don't have all the answers?
Marvin: You're right, Noreen. Let's go get real jobs.
[they walk away, discarding their pamphlets as they go...cut to the inside of the house]
Marge: Hmmm ... I would have feigned interest.
Source: http://www.snpp.com/episodes/AABF13

Oh, and an effective way to rid yourselves of those pesky Jehovah's Witnesses is to try to convert them. It really does work.

By Poison_Ivy (Poison_Ivy) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 03:05 pm: Edit

"JWs- You know what, I'm getting sick of this. Let's go find REAL jobs! (they toss literature to ground and run off)" I wish they would just do that.

"Oh, and an effective way to rid yourselves of those pesky Jehovah's Witnesses is to try to convert them. It really does work." Great idea. I'm going try it.

By Sticksandstones (Sticksandstones) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 03:16 pm: Edit

i live in an apartment so they dont come here but if i ever had a Jehovah's Witness at MY doorstep, you are right, i'd try to convert them. Get into a fierce religious debate. MUAHAHAHAHA. A friend I had was a Jehovah's Witness but its not like he tried to sell me his religion, we never talked about the subject

By Gidget (Gidget) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 04:39 pm: Edit

The Jahova witnesses used to come to our house all the time and drive us nuts so finally my freind caled one time ( she lives up the street) to warn us not to open our doors to the Jahovahs. ... My sister and i got changed into all black and I wore this black cape i have and put eyeliner all over my eyes and awnsered the door holding this huge old book we have... when they asked if i had a moment I said I was in the middle of a ritual but they could come in and join if they like--- they left quickly-- haven't seen them since.

By Crazylicious (Crazylicious) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 04:58 pm: Edit

Cornellhopeful: "believe that only 144,000 JWs will go to Heaven, and everyone else will either live on earth or be destroyed."

sounds very calvinist to me... pre-destination anybody?

didn't michael jackson used to be JW?

anyways, i don't get any JW's visiting my house (gated community)and i personally don't know any. i do pass a JW witness church though on the way home from school. it's interesting to learn more about this "pseudo-christian" religion.

By Magoo (Magoo) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 05:02 pm: Edit

wow...im waiting for a JW witness to join this thread.

yeah, i would have to agree with you all...i don't really enjoy the philosophy of trying to spread your beliefs around because you think that they hold more validity than someone who is jewish, catholic, or athiest...i guess its ok to talk to some one about your beliefs but going around harrasing people is kinda rude.

yes, MJ was a JW...and so is PRINCE...or the artist...whatever he is now.

By Jenesaispas (Jenesaispas) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 05:24 pm: Edit

Try using this logic on 'em:
What I don't understand is if only 144,000 are allowed into heaven, then how can there be more Jehovah's Witnesses than that living in the world just TODAY. Currently, there are over 15,000,000 living JWs. (Source: http://www.adherents.com/adh_rb.html) Hmm... that doesn't really make much sense. What's the point of trying to get conversions if they're all condemned to hell anyways?

By Chavi (Chavi) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 05:29 pm: Edit

First ask them how many Jehovah Witnesses there are in the world (there are several million, don't remember exactly). Then remind them that their religion teaches that only 144,000 of them will go to heaven, and ask why you would want to join a religion where the odds are so slim? BTW, Michael Jackson was raised a Jehovah's Witness.

By Geodude666 (Geodude666) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 06:04 pm: Edit

Wow, i didn't know JWs visited everybody's houses, i thought it was just mine, lol! Does anybody else find their literature quite amusing? especially the pictures, which are very corny. Anybody have any other suggestions as to how to stop them from knocking on your door?

By Cornellhopeful (Cornellhopeful) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 06:10 pm: Edit

Yes they believe that only 144,000 select people(Jehovah's Witnesses) will get to reign in Heaven with Christ. However, everyone else who is saved will experience paradise on earth. That's how they make up for the rest. Also, there is no Hell, if you aren't saved, you get destroyed.

By Smhop (Smhop) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 06:31 pm: Edit

A restraining order? My word, they won't hurt you. I suggest you politely tell them it makes you uncomfortable, and ask them not to return. Or else, have a parent do so.

By Hayden (Hayden) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 08:34 pm: Edit

JW's are an interesting cult. They were against WWII; but instead of being truly pacifist, they actually were known on many ocassions to attack people in uniform.

Being rude to them when they come to your door is actually a good thing for them, since they are told that the more they suffer rejection, they more God will reward them.

The Bible they use is not a normal "translation". Although people have discussed which version of the Bible is the best for centuries - and anyone who has tried translation can sympathize with the arguments! - the JW Bible simply makes stuff up. One of their beliefs is based on the placement of a semi-colon (i.e., that the Angel Michael was Jesus), which is kind of intersting in view of the fact that the oldest versions were written in languages that didn't use semi-colons.

You want to definition of Hell? It's finding yourself in an assigned airplane seat, next to a JW. . . . . . for 5 hours . . . . . . . I was ready for the End Times, believe me !

By Waffle (Waffle) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 08:57 pm: Edit

It seems to me then that JW is bogus. Beliefs based on a stupid semicolon? Come on. Why would you try to convert people when it's clear that they don't want to. It would be terrible for me to say, "convert to Judaism or you'll be destroyed." You just don't do that.

Judaism rocks, we have the Fonz!

By Techieguy (Techieguy) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:04 pm: Edit

Why are some of you describing exclusively JW's as a cult? All religions are cults. Saying JW's are wrong is just as truthful as the JW's saying you are wrong.

By Demingy (Demingy) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:05 pm: Edit

"Why would you try to convert people when it's clear that they don't want to."

I've asked that question about many a religion (not just Jehovah's Witnesses). Ironically enough I have two friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses and I have never had a JW proselytize to me, although we have had some interesting religious debates.

Unfortunately from what I've heard from other people who have, sometimes (most times?) politely telling them you aren't interested isn't enough and you have to be rude. I would say that you should try to tell them politely that you aren't interested before you're rude to them.

By Demingy (Demingy) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:06 pm: Edit

Techieguy, I can't believe that someone else has actually said that! You are the only other person I know who acknowledges that.

By Craigk10 (Craigk10) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:32 pm: Edit

My sentiments exactly Techieguy.

By Hayden (Hayden) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 10:31 pm: Edit

Calling the JW's a cult is not "describing exclusively JW's as a cult", as Techieguy put it. It's just that the thread seemed to focus on them.

You last posters are right in one sense - all religions are cults in the sense that they focus on rites and cultivate certain beliefs and behavior. But the more modern use of the word is used for religions like the Davidians, and the JW's - where the leader leads by basically saying "I'm the leader and I said so" instead of actually furnishing some level of evidence such as, oh, I don't know - coming back from the dead, maybe?

By Iplayoboe (Iplayoboe) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 10:58 pm: Edit

We had the JWs come to my house twice that i remember. once when i was four or five, in the summer, and all i remember is my mom grabbing me and my brother a year and a half my junior and us leaping into the pantry. our pantry has a slatted door and faces our side door, so i could see the people at the door, and i remember them knocking at our door for like 20 minutes (it was prolly 5, i was little...) and i remember that it was fifty zillion degrees and all i kept thinking was (well, first off, mommy, why are we in the pantry?) why dont these people just go dance in a sprinkler? the other time, we saw them coming, they were the only people i could think of who would wear wool suits in july, and we just laid flat in the kitchen til they went away.
so anyway, thats just my amusing anecdote..
poison_ivy, my advice to you is to tell them, the next time you see them, that you are considering their views and that you would like time to think about it. ask for their contact information, and tell them that you will contact them if you want to know more.
and if that doesnt work, tell them that youve converted to animism and are too busy erecting a shrine to ants in your back yard to consider them
or stick with my first point... its not technically a lie, you are considering their views, u just consider them wrong or annoying or whatever.

By Voodoochile (Voodoochile) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 11:42 pm: Edit

I think you should just be persistent in telling them you are not interested. They will get tired after a while.

That or get large viscious guard dogs. Either way should work.

By Invisible (Invisible) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 03:57 am: Edit

Meh, trust me, we're not a "cult" and I don't go around preaching to anything that breathes or moves. I dunno what other JWs do around YOUR areas, but in my neighborhood we just leave you alone if you don't want to hear us. Anewho, about 50% of what you guys think is pretty...umm...off (esp Hayden..wtf?). So yea, if you haven't figured it out already I'm a JW so you can ask me anything. Even though some of you are MEAN *ouch* I'll try to ignore that. Just trying to set the record straight.

By Etsrep78328 (Etsrep78328) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 09:34 am: Edit

Invisible: Can I have a free home Bible study? Explain to me how you arrive to the year 1914 when Jesus reigned as King in the heavens.

By Sticksandstones (Sticksandstones) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 11:42 am: Edit

Invisible...
1.Is it true JW's don't celebrate birthday's?(my friend who is a JW told me this)
2.Is it true JW's dont celebrate Christmas the "traditional" way?(Again, my friend. He said JW's just have a nice supper or something.)
3. So...only 144,000 people in Heaven?

By Invisible (Invisible) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:08 pm: Edit

1.Is it true JW's don't celebrate birthday's? Yes, this is true. Actually, we don't celebrate most holidays. The only thing we do celebrate is Easter and the Last Supper.
2.Is it true JW's dont celebrate Christmas the "traditional" way? Actually, we don't celebrate Christmas at all. Don't get me wrong. We believe in Jesus Christ, we just don't celebrate Christmas because we don't beleive that december was when he was actually born.
3. So...only 144,000 people in Heaven? Yep. No real predestination. Your picked basically as you live (ie. your acts on Earth determine this.) Bit hard to explain cause ppl always ask that surely more than 144,000 have been faithful. Yes, they have but they can't rule in heaven

Oh and estrep(#)s, it's a long story, so if your honestly interested in knowing, here you go:: http://www.watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_10.htm

By Poison_Ivy (Poison_Ivy) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:17 pm: Edit

i have to dispute that one belief. we christians are not saved by acts alone but the grace of God.

Sorry, but JW sounds superficial to me. It's like a point system. The more points you get a chance in going to heaven. God wouldn't limit his love to 144,000 people. Now, there is the whole 144,000 tribes but... that's different.

My relatives don't celebrate Christmas either because of that reason. It sucks.

By Invisible (Invisible) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 12:49 am: Edit

Well, not really. We believe that soon there is going to be an end to this world and the world will be perfect. As in it will be a large paradise and people will live happily. To all their own I guess, heh.

By Techieguy (Techieguy) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:11 am: Edit

I use to get JW lessons by some JW's. They were really nice people. When I told them I wanted to stop learning they were nice about it.

I've never been approached by two people at my door though.

By Cornellhopeful (Cornellhopeful) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:11 am: Edit

Just so people understand clearly, JW's believe that only 144,000 people will go to Heaven to reign with God. The rest of the faithful who are saved will reign on Earth, when it becomes a paradise. So, even though you might not go to Heaven, if you're saved you will live in paradise on Earth. All others will be destroyed(JWs don't believe in Hell).

I'm not JW, i'm Catholic, but I know A LOT on many religions and practices.

By Anglophile (Anglophile) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:31 am: Edit

Stop being disrespectful to JWs. Yes, it does provide hours of entertainment to make fun/point out the silliness of other people's religions (one of my favorite pastimes actually), but keep in mind, they aren't going door to door to be annoying. They sincerely believe that they are doing good and saving people from a horrible fate. No, no one should press their religion on others (ahem evangelical Christians), but treat people with compassion. And as for debating/trying to persuade them with 'logic' to reject or rethink their beliefs-- it's a complete waste of time and energy. Personally, I think I would be very depressed if I believed most of the world was doomed. Techieguy, Craigk10, and Demingy-- Bravo! I recommend a book for everyone interested in this thread (it's not offensive, but brings up some interesting points):
When Religion Becomes Evil : Five Warning Signs by Charles Kimball

Don't let my post hinder the discussion--just one girl's opinion.

By Built_Tough (Built_Tough) on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 11:19 am: Edit

I was also raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I still attend the Kindom Hall regularly. This religion may seem too strict to others but my religious beliefs and teachings serve as a protective barrier from many potential problems and things that would harm me in the longrun. People there are very friendly and will help you anytime you need it. I can honestly say that JW's are generally really nice people, even to strangers. I mean, who would come to your door on a Saturday morning in a hot suit and tie and heavy bag to talk to you about God when they make NO money from it and drive their own cars (gas money) and spend their valuable time trying to tell people about God. I personally do not try to force my religion on anyone, and that's not what our religion is about. It's about preaching God's word to others who want to listen. No JW should force you or impede your home in an attempt to "convert" you. That's not what it is about and if they do that where you live they shouldn't.