Do you open your door to religious solicitations?

[tmma 467]

JW ( with all due respect) are the worst!!!!! I told them I was not interested, I was polite ( they are lucky I spoke to them, let alone opened the door) and they told me that I was damned to Hell!!!! They still left a Watchtower under the door mat.

LDS are at least polite and don't curse you eternal damnation.

Our local Baptist Church is the most persistant. I told them to leave their God out of it, and I'll do the same.

Im not bothered by them any more since I installed ' keep the red flag flying' song on my doorbell. Advertised our security system, posted a rabid dog sign and nailed a pvt property, no solicitation sign on our house.

**edit...There is an exception for PCH

Edited November 24, 2010 by tmma

[BishopM 114]

I used to open my doors to them. However, I got tired of hearing them tell me I was damned and that I would die in my sins (Paul - the wages of sin are death)...so I usually don't answer the door nowadays because most of the time the people speaking have only a scant/cherry-picked knowledge of the Bible...and no real experience with God I appreciate their efforts, but it is simply wasted at my door.

I heard some good advice many years ago from a man of God. He simply advised me that if I want to stop sinning, then I have to stop thinking of myself as a sinner. To me, that made so much logical sense! However, this advice flies in the face of 'most' Christian teaching, especially Protestant teaching which goes the opposite direction and insists that we constantly acknowledge our sinfulness <ugh>.

As a Catholic, we too have great prayers, but which I also feel don't help people break away from sin:

1) The Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

2) Hail Mary: Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of they womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

I love these prayers and say them daily, but I had to change them in order to try to stop my 'sin-cycle' (for lack of a better term)

1) The Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.

2) Hail Mary: Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of they womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

So, anyways, I guess this has helped me some...more than some folks at the door banging to tell me I'm going the hell!

[^_^ 5,021]

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.

I never get any door to door sales people. The only people I ever see at my door are Jehovah's (and that too, not in a few years).

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I open the door with my shotgun pointing right at them. It works every time.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

I open the door with my shotgun pointing right at them. It works every time.

Can you do that in Arizona?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Can you do that in Arizona?

Nah, I was being facetious.

[SuperDuper! 230]

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.

Danno, you are WAY off base (again).

The issue here IS not having to be pestered by strangers knocking at your door. And YES, the bad guys can be in YOUR idyllic village, and come to your door to rape and pillage, disguised as a bible salesmen.

Engaging strangers who initiate contact with you, be it on the street or at your front door in these uncertain times, has total downside, and no upside. Can you understand this, Champ?

So implying that Ken lives in a bad place or is afraid...Well, that gets a Big Boing! Award.

Edited November 25, 2010 by Boing!

[JoannaV 174]

I hate answering the front door. (If Publishers Clearing House ever come they will probably have to phone first!) I was trying to be a "good" housewife and answer the door. At our apartment it was generally maintenance or tv salesmen. Initially at our house we had neighbours give us apple pie but really there is no reason for anyone to come by without telling us first. The Jehovah Witnesses woke me up the other day (my husband forgot to shut the gate when he left) and I scrambled to answer the door. After that, I'm not going to answer the door again. There is no obligation for a homeowner to answer the door. We now always make sure to shut our gate and no-one should be coming up our driveway unless they are expected. I like to feel safe in my own home and for me safety involves being able to avoid people

[Amby 490]

My neighborhood never gets anyone except for the few kids who live here (I think there's 4-5 younger kids) going around and selling stuff for school.

I hate answering the front door. (If Publishers Clearing House ever come they will probably have to phone first!) I was trying to be a "good" housewife and answer the door. At our apartment it was generally maintenance or tv salesmen. Initially at our house we had neighbours give us apple pie but really there is no reason for anyone to come by without telling us first. The Jehovah Witnesses woke me up the other day (my husband forgot to shut the gate when he left) and I scrambled to answer the door. After that, I'm not going to answer the door again. There is no obligation for a homeowner to answer the door. We now always make sure to shut our gate and no-one should be coming up our driveway unless they are expected. I like to feel safe in my own home and for me safety involves being able to avoid people

I love it!

[Ken y Leidys 20]

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.

My immediate area is fine. I don't like advertising what's inside of my house is the problem.

[mawilson 2,133]

Can you do that in Arizona?

Can't you do that anywhere, 2nd Amendment and all?

[TBoneTX 46,071]

A solution to unwanted solicitation is to post one of two signs, or perhaps both:

NO SOLICITATION, PLEASE (this means you).

And/or:

These premises guarded by Smith & Wesson.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

True story - many years ago a male friend of mine who slept in the nude was woken up by someone ringing his doorbell at 9 am on a Saturday morning. People who knew him knew never to call before noon because he was always out late on Fridays. Anyway, annoyed at the doorbell because it kept ringing, he decided he would open the door 'as is' thinking that whoever was bothering him this early on a Saturday morning deserved what they 'got'. So, he did. A Jehovah Witness man was there on the porch with a 5 years old or so girl. The man appeared shocked but instead of turning around and leaving, he reached his hand over and covered the little girl's eyes then proceeded to give his religious speech! My friend just looked at him for a minute as the man gamely tried to 'sell his religion', and when it appeared he wouldn't shut up and leave, my friend said, 'I'm not interested'," and closed the door in his face.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Seems like whenever strangers come a calling, it happens to be when I am cleaning one of my guns. Hmmm

[peejay 327]

It must be a cultural thing, but my wife used to open the door for anyone and everyone that came knocking. And I stress the "used to". It took me a while to train her in the American way, but she finally got with the program after many mishaps. It took some time, but I finally trained her to look through the peep hole in the door and recognize who to open the door for and who to act like nobody was at home.

She would open the door for salespersons and religious missionaries, but was too polite to tell them to get lost. Instead she would come get me when the going got tough and then scurry off to hide while forcing me to deal with it. Needless to say I was not happy with this since I told her not to answer the door in the first place if she doesn't know who it is.

I finally cured her of this silliness by pushing it back on her. I told her, "You opened the door...you deal with it". It ain't my ballyhoo. It didn't take long for her to get with the program after that.