Do you open your door to religious solicitations?

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Just the other day, I had a solicitor at my door, knocking at 10 a.m. (Sunday) with his Bible in hand, and two 5 yr old children at his side. I opened up a side window in the house to talk to him from behind, and he asked if I would like to read a bible verse of the day with him. I refused, and he gave a glare at me as if I said something wrong. I don't care who it was, I'm not going to open my door to strangers with all of the home invasion robberies happening nowadays.

Anyone care to chime in?

[mawilson 2,133]

Do you open your door to religious solicitations?

I open it. I see a religious solicitation. I close it.

[^_^ 5,021]

I call the cops on Jehovahs. Solicitation is illegal here.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Before I was married, I enjoyed sparing with the various religious neophytes that showed up on occasion. After my fiancée and bride showed up, I let her have the honors. After a couple of months, I finally ran them off, with threats to call the authorities if they ever showed up again.

[chri'stina 190]

I actually had people ring the door bell today at 10:45 which is not so early, but me and my son were not all the way ready yet. I don't like random stop by-ers. I was scrambling to get more ready to be able to run to open the door, or peek out first, when I heard our porch door swing open again like they were leaving. I peeked out the window and saw two ladies with I assume bibles in hand. I won't open the door usually if I don't know who the people are or didn't know they were coming ahead of time.

But I had that same issue with a neighbor knocking on my door last week. I went into another room and avoided answering cuz I thought he was a salesman at first. I had peeked but not well enough. lol. Me and my son had gotten home not long before and saw him outside and waved. So since he knew we were home, was coming to drop off something. Which is funny since I rarely talk to them . He had just wanted to give our son some coloring books his kids had for years and never used. I saw him walking back to his house and then went out with Kavi to say oh sorry, hey. So today I thought, uh oh what if I ignore the neighbor again! But it was religious people.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

I call the cops on Jehovahs. Solicitation is illegal here.

Where is "here"?

[^_^ 5,021]

Where is "here"?

private property - condo/townhouse complex. not public streets.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

private property - condo/townhouse complex. not public streets.

In Watchtower Bible and Tract Society v. Village of Stratton, the Court struck down an ordinance that made it a misdemeanor to engage in door-to-door advocacy—religious, political, or commercial—without first registering with the mayor and receiving a permit.1313 “It is offensive to the very notion of a free society,” the Court wrote, “that a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so.”1314 The ordinance violated the right to anonymity, burdened the freedom of speech of those who hold “religious or patriotic views” that prevent them from applying for a license, and effectively banned “a significant amount of spontaneous speech” that might be engaged in on a holiday or weekend when it was not possible to obtain a permit.1315

source: http://law.onecle.com/constitution/amendment-01/59-door-to-door-solicitation.html

[^_^ 5,021]

Cops have showed up and asked them to leave and they have. It works. Now maybe they don't know the law and that's fine, please don't tell them.

[mawilson 2,133]

In Watchtower Bible and Tract Society v. Village of Stratton, the Court struck down an ordinance that made it a misdemeanor to engage in door-to-door advocacy—religious, political, or commercial—without first registering with the mayor and receiving a permit.1313 “It is offensive to the very notion of a free society,” the Court wrote, “that a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so.”1314 The ordinance violated the right to anonymity, burdened the freedom of speech of those who hold “religious or patriotic views” that prevent them from applying for a license, and effectively banned “a significant amount of spontaneous speech” that might be engaged in on a holiday or weekend when it was not possible to obtain a permit.1315

source: http://law.onecle.com/constitution/amendment-01/59-door-to-door-solicitation.html

Private property, man. You can ban whatever you want on your private property, including free speech.

The US Constitution only says that the government may not limit free speech - private corporations

can, and indeed, do limit speech.

Case in point: this very web site.

[TBoneTX 46,071]

In response to the original question: I try to avoid answering the door at all, but the missionaries usually return. I finally told some particularly persistent ones (LDS) that Mrs. T-B. & I were firm in our faith, that I appreciated their dedication, and that their efforts would be better spent talking with other people. They replied, "Awesome -- thanks!" and they left.

When non-LDS members come by and offer literature, either about their church or religion itself, I thank them for their interest, state that we're already firm in our faith, & politely suggest that their literature would be far more meaningful to other people.

There's no need to be defensive or defiant, I've found, because these people all mean well, si man.

[Danno 1,228]

Just the other day, I had a solicitor at my door, knocking at 10 a.m. (Sunday) with his Bible in hand, and two 5 yr old children at his side. I opened up a side window in the house to talk to him from behind, and he asked if I would like to read a bible verse of the day with him. I refused, and he gave a glare at me as if I said something wrong. I don't care who it was, I'm not going to open my door to strangers with all of the home invasion robberies happening nowadays.

Anyone care to chime in?

I've actually had more visits from these groups selling magazine subscriptions.... they are way more persistent than any JW.

Ken it seems to me your bigger problem is you live in an area where you are afraid to open your front door.

[scandal 951]

I'm still waiting for the day Publishers Clearinghouse comes knocking on my door with one of those big million dollar checks.

That's the only solicitation I'm in favor of.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I do not entertain any door-to-door salespeople no matter what product they're selling. And yes, I know that the religious crowd doesn't consider itself a salesforce but to me that's exactly what they are.

[Jenn! 918]

I've never had any religious solicitors here in the U.S. Interestingly enough, the only time I ever had JW's show up was when I was living in Italy.

Also, there were many Mormons in Italy. I used to see them often at the American food store.