Jehovah Witnesses

[Still Kate]

I guess this follows on from Rowan CedarWolfs' post ......

Yesterday morning, Millie was being a little Moo and Liam puked on me twice when there was a knock on the door ..... I opened in replendent in old dressing gown and slippers (!) with Liam and a bottle in my arms, covered in regurgitated baby milk, and Millie following close behind with marmite round her face ..... and there's two inocent looking old ladies clutching copies of the Watch Tower.

Now maybe its my baby brain right now .... but...... to see two smiling faces at that point in time wasn't too bad. AND they didn't mention God or the Bible once, just asked about Millie and the baby, coo'ed a bit and asked after me and my health.  Thrust a Watch Tower magasine at me and went on their merry way.

Maybe I do definately need to get out more!!!!

and the quick retreat was more than likely due to the rancid smell of baby milk !

[Gryphon]

Actually, I have found the best way to get them to go on their way was to be nice.They rarely bother me when they ship the kids to witness into the neighborhood twice a year.  

[Lark]

Oooh, you may be on to something here.  Rancid baby milk as an evangelist deterrant!  Could there be a market for it?

Seriously though, I'm with Gryphon on this one.  While proletyzing might be abhorrent to us it is a vital part of the practice of some religions.  I try to respect that when they come to my door and to be polite with them.  It costs me nothing to greet them with a smile and accept their literature.  And it may keep them from coming back since they already consider me a success.

-Lark-

[RedRonin]

Last time I had the opportunity, I accepted their Watchtower, gave them a copy of the War Cry and said "let's swap."  Then I shut the door.

Way back during the marriage to X2, a pair of bluehairs showed up at 7:30 on a SATURDAY FRIGGIN MORNING knocking on the door.  This drove the elkhound and chow into a barking frenzy, which brought me out of a sound sleep.

I didn't respond well.  The dogs got their exercise, though.

[Shadow]

Yep, Rottweillers, black and tan and look good on lawyers and obnoxious fundies who can't even show the common decency of waiting until a reasonable hour to knock on your door.

Now I have a great dane, and she barks loud enough for three dogs. They're usually halfway down the driveway by the time I get the door unlocked. :twisted:

[Zenon]

One time I surfed to the LDS website and made the mistake of accepting their free Book of Mormon offer...  I got the book and all, it was a nice edition... but then in a week or so a couple of mormons came knocking on my door  8 IN THE MORNING ON A SATURDAY...  I was in college then and I used to spend my friday nights having a good time until late, so I was in no mood that morning and told them I was not feeling well.  Apparently they noticed I was from a latin american country so the next time they sent hispanic mormons!  I told them I was on my way out and that I didn't expect them to come...  The third time I did not answer the door and waited for them to go away.  Lucky for me, they didn't bother to come back again.

[mermdotcom]

My sister-in-law suspects that her local LDS church thinks she and her hubby are going to hell or something because they come knocking on their door at least once a month, even though they've been told repeatedly that she and her husband have their own church and are not interested!

[Rowan]

Well, it's not like the missionaries themselves have much choice in the matter... did you know that every male mormon has to leave home when they're nineteen to be a missionary for two years?  They don't get any choice about where they go, either.  I mean, I just can't imagine.

Yeah, I know WAY too much about Mormons because I just watched a two hour documentary on them.  

[mermdotcom]

Actually, the don't HAVE to, but it's encouraged to the point that they might as well!  My ex was LDS, and his parents went ballistic when he told them he'd decided not to go on his mission.  They blamed me because I wasn't Mormon, even though I was encouraging him to go if he felt called to... but that's part of another very long story!  In any case, the fact that he didn't go didn't negate his membership to the church; when he was killed in Iraq in September, the Army put the Mormon symbol on his grave marker.

But no, they don't have a choice on where they go - basically they are sent where they're "needed".  Language skills factor in (i.e., if you're fluent in Spanish, you'll probably wind up in a Spanish-speaking country), although they provide language training as well.

What makes my sister in law's situation so funny is the fact that they knock on her door FAR more than any of her neighbors - and she lives in an apartment!

[Rowan]

That is funny!  Do you know why?

[Zenon]

From what I know, the mission is not obligatory.... but the "serious" mormons look down on the ones who don't go.

[mermdotcom]

Rowan, I have no clue!  My sister-in-law thinks it's because she's in an interracial marriage (she's white, hubby's Filipino), but she tends to blame everything negative that happens to them on other people being racist, whether that's the case or not!    I worry about that girl's blood pressure sometimes.  I never got the impression that racism was a problem in the Mormon church - they always seemed to accept everyone with open arms.  If anything, at least at my ex's church, they could be overly nice to the point of borderline creepy!

Zenon, that was exactly the impression I got!

[Jennie]

Umm... racism might be more of a problem in the Mormon church than you think. They didn't accept black members until the late seventies, so there may still be a bit of prejudice remaining.

Bright blessings,
Jennie

[mermdotcom]

Maybe so... I can really only speak for the Mormon church in my home town, and they were all very accepting of everyone.  That may have been more representative of the community than the church itself though.

I just take most of my sister-in-law's accusations with a grain of salt.  She's very much the activist and seems to look for reasons to be offended!

[Zenon]

Mormons nowadays are very open to everyone...  or maybe they're just nice to me because I'm married to one?