It's been years since we've had them call on us.

I’ve been debating joining. All that walking door to door would have to be a good cardio workout.

I’d do Mormon but I like alcohol and caffeine too much and I couldn’t get used to the temple garments, even if they make you invincible.

Growing up, I used to laugh when they would come knocking and me Dad, a Nazarene preacher, would invite them in to discuss the Bible. I dont remember any of them staying for more then 15 minutes or so. Always left really questioning their own believes. 😎

Not their type?

My grandmother would do the same thing. By the time she got done with them they couldn’t wait to leave.

Ron

The temple leader here shot hisself yrs ago

Best to answer door naked and invite them in. They never come back.

Could be why that dude shot hisself now that I recall 🤔🤣

It's that time of year.

We'll start seeing them soon here.

I don't mind them

Mostly old black ladies around here from what I can tell.

For some reason JW's were the fastest growing religion in Africa at one time.

Some here, but occasionally they'll bring a younger one alone with them.

Good number of Asian JW's around here as well but I've never been door knocked by them.

Another great Christian outfit...always showing up to help at fires, floods, hurricanes etc. Snork.

Living half a mile down a gravel road is the best JW repellent ever. Rough on their feet, even in those sturdy walking shoes they all wear!

I worked with one for several years. One day after the 4rth of July celebration in our small town he had gotten a ride to town with me and saw his son helping clean up the city park. He chewed that boys butt something awful for taking part in cleaning up after the celebration. He told me they do not honor the flag or country. I have held that against him since.

They don’t like the Easter bunny or Santa clause some odd ppls

I had an uncle that was a Jehovah’s witness !

I don't recall ever talking with a JW member. What is their religious ideology??

L.W.

2 quick stories of JW
1,I was maybe 18 ish,2 of the lads knocked on the door and I answered
OOhh ooohh you guys are those Jehova Fittnes people,,
I did 3 jumping jacks then a few squat thrusts,,they just slowly backed off the porch.
2 following summer
My brother answered the door having just got out of the shower(wet hair and just shorts)
I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist,snuck up behind him and said"come on baby ,lets get back in the shower"

They didn't stick around

I won't listen to a word they say. When I read the bible , I ask God to give me wisdom so I know what he is trying to tell me.. I dont even listen to our pastor much . The reason is , they are men... Men can be very foolish and wrong about many things. I ask God to give me wisdom when I read the bible. If he doesn't give me the wisdom to understand , then who's fault is that if I dont understand. Therefore, I rarely listen to men, and never to women.

Don't stop at my gate

Not interested

Tell them you're an apostate and they'll never return again.

I don’t usually have patience for them. Same with most religions. Recently I had a real young JW come to my house and I was shocked. I didn’t think they still made them young. I know they’re out there calling themselves JW but to have a young one dress up and go door to door and put up with uninterested people all day and do the real work seems kind of unusual. I’ve always seen the old timers do that. I decided I wanted to talk to this kid. It was a real good discussion that lasted over an hour. Not a whole lot of talk about Bible junk, but we did talk some about that, the stuff I wanted answers to and he did try. I told him he can come back anytime. It was pleasant on both sides I think.

They stopped at my place ONCE years ago and insisted that I take a copy of their "Watchtower" magazine. I did but then insisted that they take a magazine of mine in exchange. There was no way that dude would even touch the Penthouse I tried stuffing in his chest.

This good advice^

I had one knock on my door this morning. My 2 german Shepherds were going crazy at the window. She left a paper that had no reference to her denomination. The pups did their job.

They are not worshippers of Christ

comerade is exactly right. If you read their history it is laughable.

They're one of the Millerite sects. Not the craziest, that title goes to the 7th Day Adventist, but a close second.

My two biggest problems with them is they insist on separating their member from everyone, even their own family members, who are not of the same sect, and their reliance of prayer in place of modern medicine.

They used to stop here and try, I was cordial but uninterested.
One Saturday I was working on something and in a mood,
4 of them showed up. Ask the usual questions, I told them we go to church,
but they wanted to question me more. I calmly and quietly told them we weren't
going to talk about it, they could leave. They kept wanting to talk about it.
Stayed calm, "I ask you to leave once, I'm telling you to go now. Please leave."


They haven't been back in 20 years.



Mormans?
Sane deal until they woke me one morning after a graveyard shift.
Beating on the door we don't use, I met them in jeans, no shirt or shoes, on the side of the house. Didn't get loud, or curse. They also persisted past my patience.
Firmly told them to leave, and they did.
Haven't seen them in a long time either.

2 of my cousins one's a preacher are Jehovah when family members die, they come to the wake, but they will not go in a Catholic Church for the service. When we were kids out playing with our new toys from Santa their kids got none you could tell they were hurt and jealous.

Just give us your address and time you’ll be home. We will make some calls and send some to your home!! Thank us later!! LOL!

Only 144,000 will go to heaven. Do the math, millions of JW's over the decades and only 144,000 of them have a shot at heaven?? They're nutty.

Had a conversation with one years ago. He informed me that Easter was a from a pagan religion. I said “ Oh! You’re one of the Jehovah False Witnesses aren’t you? “ Kinda sent him into a new orbit. Last one I have seen.

GreggH

Haven’t seen one around here in a while

wabigoon;
Good evening, I hope that you and your fine family are all well tonight.

Way back in the day I worked with a couple that were professing JW's and all I can recall being different about them was they didn't observe Christmas or Easter.

There are some doctrinal differences for sure though, one of which is they use a translation that interprets the sixth Commandment as "Thou shalt not kill" and not "Thou shalt not commit murder", which is a huge difference in my view.

As mentioned in other posts, I grew up in a pacifistic church and that was one of the reasons I left the church in my teen years.

When I started attending again in my early '20's, it was not at a pacifistic leaning denomination, as apparently my wiring doesn't lean that way.

Anyways a wee story about them visiting and the pacifism.

One hot Okanagan summer day when I was much younger and somewhat more inclined to stir the pot for the sake of stirring, a pair of them came to our apartment where we lived then in the town south of us. One was a younger lady and one older, it could have been a mother and daughter but that's a guess at best.

They wanted to talk to me and I said I'd grab my Bible quick, did that and in fairly short order opened up the 10 Commandments to see what their version said.

When it came to the 6th Commandment, I stopped them and said, "Wait a minute, does that mean no killing whatsoever?"

The older lady assured me that it did.

I asked her, "Even if someone attacks you? Say you defend yourself and in the process kill your attacker, is that wrong?"

She assured me with even more conviction that it was wrong and she would meekly submit as instructed...

Then I looked at the younger lady first, then at the older lady and asked, "Well if someone attacked this young lady and you defended her, and they died in the process, that's still wrong?"

Again she most assuredly and vigorously said it would be wrong and she would not protect the young woman in any way.

Then, being me and all, I turned to the young lady and said, "Well if I'm there, I'll kill them deader than yesterday, sleep like a baby after and be ready to meet God in the morning...."

That sorta ended the visit right then and there..

I do believe the young lady was grinning a fair bit more when she left than when she came.

As a husband and father, I'm entirely prepared to defend my family with whatever means and to whatever end might come of it, so that's where they and I diverge in our beliefs.

All the best.

Dwayne

Made me laugh out loud!

When we bought our first house one of our neighbours was J.W. The husband was raised in that religion and his wife who was raised R.C. who changed to his religion. Turned out he didn't follow it but she did. They were some of the nicest people we've ever known, we even vacationed with them a couple of times. The woman never pushed her religion to us although she would answer questions if asked.

One time a minister from our church (mainstream) was at our home. My wife asked a question somewhat in reference to something our neighbour had said. The minister turned into a raging bigot and told us what terrible people these J.W.'s were. It ended up with me telling the minister to leave our house before something was said that couldn't be taken back. I think that was the point in my life when I turned away from religion. Other factors were involved but this may have been the greatest.

It is unfortunate that people can't just live and let live. There are reasons why religion and politics are subjects to be avoided.

Jim

It's not just Christmas or Easter.


Growing up, I was good friends with the kids in a JW family.

Our little grade school had parties often.
Mom's would do birthday parties, there were holiday parties,
a picnic type thing that lasted all day at years end.


For every single one of those, with 5 kids in school, Mom would swoop in just before the fun started, and take them home.

Thanks for sharing Jim. I knew and worked for a handful of JW’s through the years and all in all, very nice folks. They usually stick to themselves, but I am a handyman in demand and when you work for one, they refer you. Would I marry a JW? No. A hot Mormon gal? Maybe . I went to high school in a small town and the Mormon girls were very nice and well behaved. But that was 50 years ago. Back to JW’s is they don’t celebrate Christmas because Jesus didnt do anything yet. They don’t believe in blood transfusions because it’s considered the “ Eating of Blood”. That’s about all I know.

Neighbor told my wife her husband said “she could out talk a Jehovahs Witness!” I just love quaint country sayings. Some good misguided people who don’t read the scriptures themselves. Don’t believe in Christ as a part of the trinity and Messiah. Hitler put them in concentration camps along with the Jews. The 144,000 gets me too. The math doesn’t work. Now a funny story involving JWs.
Youngest son at age 3, was left in LR watching Sesame Street while the wife took her bath. A door from LR to bedrooms and bath left open. Wife would bathe then streak to the BR to put on her clothes, then back to RR to blow hair and put on makeup. Well, she finished her bath and was ready to streak to the BR and she heard adult voices that weren’t on Sesame Street! Randy had heard a knock on the front door, pulled a ladder back chair from the kitchen, unlatched the front door and invited 3 JWs in! Wife had to call him to her shut the door, streak to bedroom, get dressed and go out wet hair and no makeup to send the 3 JWs on their way. She wasn’t as nice as she usually was either. He is now a pastor with a DR in front of his name and still is razzed about the time he invited 3 JWs into home. He still invites them in and they don’t tarry long after being questioned about their beliefs and why they believe what do. One visit is enuff. I had a young black nurse that worked with my doctor. He helped me with prescriptions and we became friends. Loved to hunt and fish and I gifted him tackle and hunting gear. He was ingrained in JW beliefs. I tried to get him to read Bible for himself and let the Holy Spirit help him understand not depend on elders. Fine young man and family but lost. Still worry about Ralphand his family.

That's mighty white of you, Alan. I do not know how to show my deep gratitude.

L.W.

They have their own 'translation' of the Bible, called the New World Translation. It's not a translation at all. They took the real Bible and made something like 3000 changes to 'prove' their beliefs. They said the changes were corrections in the earlier translations. They change the meaning considerably. They have never revealed who did the 'translating'. There's no evidence that it was done by someone who was fluent in ancient Hebrew and Greek. If these guys were for real, they'd be proud to tell us what scholars made all those 'corrections'.

We have them show up here about once every couple of years. They never stay long as I've never been one to make them feel overly welcome. I'm not going to change their minds and they certainly aren't going to change mine so why waste time with them.

My fishing buddy in Utah is Mormon. We always have to leave 30 minutes early so he has time “to get the good beer” in Idaho.

Sorry I took a shot at ya! The devil made me do it! LOL!

Two contract electricians we use at work are journeyman electricians and JW. The only time their religion is ever brought up is when another trade is making fun of them. They’re great sports about it, good guys, great electricians. I’d hire them to do work anytime.

“You know why those two didn’t work last weekend? They were out of town at a doorbell ringing convention…”

No harm, no foul, Alan. But you've got to look out for that devil dude. He'll get you in trouble every time.

L.W.

Both Christmas and Easter were adopted from pagan holidays by the Christian church. No harm in that I suppose. Most likely made it easier to convert pagans as they didn't have to go underground with their celebrations.

After a generation or two the former pagans forgot all about their ancestors religion and the connection to the solstice and fertility festivals.

At Christmas time I wish my atheist family and friends a "merry solstice".

They stop by here once in a while,black ones and spanish ones.
I just say I'm not interested and they leave. Same,to me,as the replacement window guys,or the Travelers that "noticed" my roof needs to be fixed or my driveway sealed.

I heard that was a thing many long years ago. It had to be sometime between 1965 and 1968. Some weird preacher type and I was on my way home from work getting off a graveyards shift. His rants were sometimes the only thing that kept me awake as I was working at the Post Office at night and on the water front days. Anyway he was going on about how easter is a bastardization of the name Ishtar. He did make a pretty convincing lot of points to what he was saying. Dunno if he's right but I have heard the same said elsewhere.

Don't get me started on JWs and Mormons. Never had much truck with JWs but my first wife was Mormon. 'll just let it go at that.
PJ

That and they don't vote, should find another country as far as I'm concerned.

I have friends and family that are JWs and I'm familiar with the doctrine. They believe that their reward is resurrection in an earthly paradise, not heaven. The 144,000 are the one's that are called to serve God in heaven. They believe that the only way to salvation is through Christ, but do not believe in the Trinity. Jehovah is God, Christ is his son, and the Holy Spirit is separate as well. They don't believe in a fiery, torturous Hell. In any case, the one's I know are nice, pleasant people, but they keep mostly to themselves and don't get involved in politics or "worldly" things. When anyone is kicked out, the shunning is complete unless they decide they want to come back.

What is the story behind no windows?

They are like Amish in that they work and don't cause any trouble. It doesn't bother me that people who don't pay attention to politics don't vote. Could not care less if they pledge or salute. Some people aren't into chanting and group think.

Huh?

They say it's cheaper to build the building without windows, or so I'm told.

Now that I think about it, the church in my neighborhood doesn't have windows, but a big one downtown does.

That's what most people don't talk about, They are good people and i love how they teach their children to live an exemplary life and be respectful and kind. They may be off on their teaching about Christianity and the spirit things. But i love that they speak well, dress well and they study the bible, They are the only sect of Christians that take evangelism seriously.

That’s true. A lot less labor. Plus the price of the window. Drywall guys like no openings. I did piecework siding when I was about 25. We made the money on big blank walls. We had to trim out around the windows which took time .

Enjoy the fruits of freedom, but dont participate.

You think most voters are into chanting?

One time someone asked me this question and as a joke I said, "So no one sees them sacrificing chickens." He went around telling people that JW sacrifices chickens.

I have no knowledge of JW sacrificing chickens.

Years ago I was spending time in Mexico and JW came around. I said no hablo Espano. They would give me literature and magazines to read. I guess they thought that I could read Spanish.

My Granny would sic her dog on them. She said that ole Ben chased one woman into her car while biting her on the azz. It's a wonder they didn't sue her over that. Unless maybe they don't believe in lawsuits.

Not laughable in my view but sad and controlling.
My wife was a former cradle Jehova's Witness.
I have had a chance to read their bible, which is chocked full of changes and omissions.
The belief system began by one man, and it wasn't Jesus and in the 1800's a less than stellar individual.
A bit of a huckster.
Her Mother is still and Elder in the local branch, and causes copious problems for her Christian children and grandchildren.
Although she is not supposed to have any contact with any of us.
We are Catholic, and as an example would remove our religous items from the house like crucifixes, rosary's, bibles, refuse to say grace, stand with honor for our National Anthom etc.
They willing accept all the healthcare, Canadian pensions, senior care etc. from living in Canada but not to utter a thankyou. Is this just be our perseption
Jesus teaches us to forgive these people and we should, not to judge and we can...but man it takes massive effort because I have seen the pain caused by this cult, primarily the children and it is there for the childs lifetime.

A coworker got home after plowing roads all night, barely got to sleep when the doorbell rang, his high school JW buddy was standing at the door with his Bible.

Some of the women "missionaries" are kinda hot.

They get together to build churches, start with a foundation and will have a service within a week.

God created the seasons and he created fertility. Why should they not be celebrated? it's just that the pagans do their celebrating in ways that are unacceptable to the Lord. They're worshiping the sun and earth and their movements instead of the God who created them.

I rank them right up there with people who have tried to con me into selling Amway.

what is shocking to me is that they don’t celebrate their own birthdays, they don’t celebrate New Years.
And they don’t believe there’s a supernatural world around us. They also don’t believe miracles can happen(only Jesus and his descriptor can do that). They also don’t do blood transfusion, They rather die.

Years ago, some neighbors started selling Amway, and trying to con people into buying into their program. We got invited to some kind of function that they were having to promote Amway, and when we didn't go, they more or less quit speaking to us. I guess I didn't help the situation much when I told them just exactly what I thought of the Amway rip off.

Had a buddy that had two sisters all JW's so to say. One day I was waiting on him to get home and one came and got me to go downstairs and fix something. Got down there the other sister was necked. The other one pushed me over to her and said let's all do it. Me being a 15yr old boy said no way your dad and brother will kill me. But before I could get that out they had me striped. These girls had done this before. We had a lot of fun for a few years until they moved.

This sounds like one of those Penthouse stories.

Gave them the full Canadian experience.

That is true. I will say the ones I know are extremely nice people. My mother secretary was one. One day I got on a knock on the door and it was her. She didn't know where I lived it was just by chance, well...I couldn't turn her and her husband away. They stayed for about an hour and it was definitely an experience to actually hear it from them instead of what you read or hear 2nd hand. Yep, God is the only thing to be honored in their world. No flag, country, etc.

I know for a fact that Roman Catholics chant. Methodists also. Baptists not so much. Many schools and churches have their assemblies saluting the flag and chanting the pledge of allegiance which Amish and JWs are opposed to. When I am at church or any other place where there is saluting, pledging, chanting, or responsive readings (Methodist) I just keep my hands down and respectfully listen but otherwise don't participate.

I enjoy the fruits of freedom and have done serious work in this country since I was about 15 yo. But my love for this country is not unconditional.

Only Greg does.

My daughter was having trouble with a couple JV's that kept stopping by after being td nicely to stop.

Door bell rins and she looks out of the kitchen and see the same two that had come the week before. So she straps down to her underwear and bra and answers the door, she said the look on the JV's face was priceless, all they could do was look at their shoes and shuffle around while they talked. It was so comical that she could hardly hold back her laughter.

They haven't come back since!

Growing up in the '50-'60 those that called at our door were predominately caucasion, fast forward to the last several years they're all black. No longer going door to door, dressed in their Sunday finest they stand on street corners offering their religous tracts to passing motorists.

Don't think those street corner ones all dressed up are JW, they are some kind of Farrakhan Muslim mess, all with suits, bowties and shaved heads. I asked one for a pamphlet once just to see. Of course I he wouldnt give me one, just a snarly look from the guy.

I only know one used to be white JW. He left after many years, finally saying it was some kind of cult.

Don't answer the door, and if you do then close it.

Had some a few days ago it took em a few minutes but they finally figured out that no one was gonna answer and left

I agree many religious zealots chant, you inferred that voters chant.
I have a lot of respect for the amish, not so much for the JWs.

Do you vote?

Yes, I am a chronic voter.

In my mid-twenties, I had two HAWT JW girls about my age, knock at my door. I answered just to see what they were about.


Long story short, after I whipped out my comb and combed some chest hair up and out the neck hole in my shirt, I nailed them both at the same time.

- stxhunter

ran into two this morning in town. Nice short conversation. Was invited to Good Friday services in the town over next week. Nice chat. And they moved on.

Problem is people don't want to have conversations these days. God forbid anyone disagree with their thoughts.

of course at the end of the conversation if they won't leave... thats when it gets dumb.

And in a way thats really the way it should be. But we do put country and flag close to the top.

I grew up in the Methodist Church in North Arkansas. We were regular attenders. I never heard anyone "chanting." We moved to Little Rock in 1957 and joined a large Methodist Church there. I never heard any chanting there, either. I've not been to any Church in many years, other than several funerals and weddings. I don't know what goes on there now.

Maybe "chanting" in the Methodist Church is regional ... or a "new" ritual. (???)

About the only "chanting" I've ever done was chanting "Go Hoggies, Go Hoggies, Go Hoggies," rooting for the Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas. Didn't work too well most of the time.

L.W.

Easy Peasy... Open your Bible to John 1:1. Have them open their bible to John 1:1. Ask them why Jesus is a little "g" god in their bible versus the big "G" God in your Bible... Can't agree on who Jesus is? Got nothing to discuss. Hit the bricks...

What about those responsive readings that Methodists do? Isn't that chanting?

Most excellent, non chanter I presume grins

I vaguely remember that. But it was the congregation reading various responses from a book in answer to whatever the preacher was reading. No chanting, just reading aloud. I'd forgot all about that. As I said, it was a long, long time ago.

My sister-in-law is a Methodist and goes to church religiously. (Pun intended. ) I'll have to ask her if they still do that.

L.W.

I don't know if it's true but I heard that it's because they got tired of fixing broken windows. They're a target for rock throwers.

Yes, Mahdists have responses reading

Very true but they are not honoring God because they deny his Son Jesus Christ.

Never understood the whole patriotic thing for a country that's weaponized nearly all of its pieces. The ground is a place to live and the flag a piece of cloth. I just never gave a shìt becausei didn't ask to be here or anywhere. And that's not saying anything bad about those that don't agree with me.

It's a good thing those 56 brave men that signed the Declaration of Independence didn't feel as you do. You didn't have a choice to be born here but you sure do have one to stay.

My thoughts as well.
I am proud to be an American and feel pretty fortunate to be here, even if there are things I don't like.

Amen