Most of my family and I resigned from TSCC 4 months ago. It was "all quiet on the western front" up until 3 weeks ago. Now the JW's are knocking on our door. We have a "no soliciting" sign on our front door. It's different sets of people and they always park their car across the street and walk over directly to our house; no one else. When we don't answer the door, they leave their magazine. The first time, we answered the door and were polite and told them that we just got out of a religion and are not ready to join another one. Is it possible that news spread in our "ward" that we resigned and someone decided to sick the JW's on us?

An overzealous JW grabbed the back of my jacket when I was getting on the bus to work. Yup! It didn't matter what I said or how I tried to dodge them. People waiting for the bus are TRAPPED, I tell you. TRAPPED. Once a week, they'd drive up in their van and park in the 7-11 parking lot behind the bus stop. The missionaries changed, but the religion didn't.

They had a deep bullpen.

They came to our house one Saturday morning about 6 years ago. My wife answered the door. She was polite but declined their invitation to "learn," but took their Watchtower and said goodbye.

That one incident of her not being "pushy" has led to 6+ years of at least one Saturday a month visits. I started answering the door, and telling them flat-out that nobody in the house had any interest whatsoever, and they were not welcome to return. Didn't matter. They'd still come back the next month. I threatened to call police (didn't follow through, silly me). I refused to answer the door and would just stand behind it and shout "go away!". I called the local kingdom hall and told them to stop sending people to my house. Nothing worked.

They came by again two Saturdays ago. They always ask for my wife (I'm convinced they think I'm preventing her from accepting them, even though she's just too nice to tell them to f*ck off and I'm not). I answer the door, refuse to take their materials, tell them my wife does not want to talk to them, and they are not welcome, so go away and don't come back.

They'll be back again next month. I have no doubt.

If there's anything worse than mormons, it's JWs.

ificouldhietokolob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They came to our house one Saturday morning about
> 6 years ago. My wife answered the door. She was
> polite but declined their invitation to "learn,"
> but took their Watchtower and said goodbye.
>
> That one incident of her not being "pushy" has led
> to 6+ years of at least one Saturday a month
> visits. I started answering the door, and telling
> them flat-out that nobody in the house had any
> interest whatsoever, and they were not welcome to
> return. Didn't matter. They'd still come back
> the next month. I threatened to call police
> (didn't follow through, silly me). I refused to
> answer the door and would just stand behind it and
> shout "go away!". I called the local kingdom hall
> and told them to stop sending people to my house.
> Nothing worked.
>
> They came by again two Saturdays ago. They always
> ask for my wife (I'm convinced they think I'm
> preventing her from accepting them, even though
> she's just too nice to tell them to f*ck off and
> I'm not). I answer the door, refuse to take their
> materials, tell them my wife does not want to talk
> to them, and they are not welcome, so go away and
> don't come back.
>
> They'll be back again next month. I have no
> doubt.
>
> If there's anything worse than mormons, it's JWs.

When they persist answer the door in this way
"Hi come in. We are just about to start our naked sex pary. You are cordially invited to get naked and join us!"
I believe that you will no longer be bothered by them.

thedesertrat1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When they persist answer the door in this way
> "Hi come in. We are just about to start our
> naked sex pary. You are cordially invited to get
> naked and join us!"
> I believe that you will no longer be bothered
> by them.

I certainly appreciate the humor in that :)
It's just...I can't stand there and lie to them. Even for a joke that might produce my desired result. It's a personal failing...

Offer them Mormon tracting materials in return.

Do something extremely weird, enough to make them embarrassed to never want to come back again. Cameras are another option so you can see who's at your door and decide to answer or not. You can also open the door, then shut it when you see it's them. This last one is okay because you've tried everything else including being polite. Strangers who don't respect your boundaries are not worth any of your time.

You too?

My "No soliciting" sign works for everyone but the JW. When I pointed to the sign through the storm door, they'd say they're not soliciting anything. I told them oh yes they are.

When I wasn't home they'd leave little tracts in my mailbox.

Since I added a "No Proselytizing" sign verbiage to my door front that has worked thus far. Someone else here has said even that didn't work for them. Apparently these JW are respecting *that* sign, just not the other one.

They are a nuisance!

Hi AmyJo,

That someone would be me. The police in my area told me I had to spell out who I did not want knocking on my door. They told me it was not enough to say "No Proselytizing", I had to add "Especially Jehovah Witnesses". It's been working quite nicely.

A couple of weeks ago my husband was picking up leaves in the front yard. A couple of JW's passed by the front yard. They started talking to him about the usual BS. He interrupted them and said, "Please go read the sign on the door NOW." They both went up to the door, read the sign, looked at each other and whispered something. They turned and looked at my husband and proceeded to walk off the property without saying anything.

It seems to have finally worked. YIPPEE!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2018 03:59PM by rosysam.

I haven't told my JW story in a while, so here goes:

I stopped by our old family farm years ago during Springtime, and my brother said the JW's came up the driveway and started their spiel as he was working on a tractor; they opened one of their little booklets that had a picture of a happy family out in a green flower-filled utopia (you've seen similar), and the guy said "Wouldn't you like to live like this?"
My brother gestured toward the orchard in full bloom, with a beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds, 72 degrees, birds, little bunnies hopping around--and said "You mean like this?"

The guy said "You've got a point."

They never came back.

Sometimes it's good to live in the country.......

I've mentioned this before, but when I lived in a small southern Utah town the JW that was always tracting my street was a guy named Joseph Smith. Oh the irony.

He was right up his alley lolol.

Unless you ask them and they confess.

If you want them to leave you alone, you'll have to tell them and be firm about it. Perhaps tear up their material and throw it at their feet or use a harsh tone and say, "This is my property. Don't come back."

You could also contact the Kingdom Hall and say you want to be on a no contact list.

You have a 100% right to determine who may or may not come into your yard. You don't owe these people special privileges. They want something from you and you don't want to bother with them, so don't do it.

I've never had problems with them.

I treat them respectfully and take their booklets, say I'm not interested, and they go on their merry way.

I think that some of them have no more desire to be out there than I have to let them in my home.

I am polite and it takes less time to deal with them (for me) then the Mormon Missionaries.

Probably because I am a Never-Mo living in the Morridor.

That has been my experience too.

just like many Mormon Missionaries. But it's their duty to go out there and preach to the unconverted, and they do it.
And like the missionaries, they submit their tracting reports to headquarters and get credit for it.
Whether you convert is secondary; the important thing is that they tried.

Try flying a flag and decorating your house for each holiday.

Since both are prohibited by them they may leave you alone.

I love living in a closed community for this very reason alone. If anyone comes thru soliciting, someone calls the police, and they come thru and patrol the area.

It stopped the JW's a long time ago, and have never seen the Mormons come thru.

To the OP, your mistake might have been saying "The first time, we answered the door and were polite and told them that we just got out of a religion and are not ready to join another one." My guess is they saw that as a major opportunity--"Wow, they just LEFT a religion! We'd better prepared them for when they ARE ready to join a new one!"

They used to bug us all the time too some years ago. I was always polite, but it wasn't until I told them "My husband and I are Catholic and have no interest in joining any other religion" that we finally stopped. hearing from them. Maybe you should just lie next time and say you decided to re-join your old church. How would they know otherwise?

Yes, I would say (from my personal experience as a JW) that this is the main reason for the continued calls. They would definitely see that as an opening - that you were religiously inclined but at a crossroads. You didn't definitively state you weren't interested in religion.

Too, as I've also said myself, telling them you're disfellowshipped will solve the immediate problem in that those JWs will leave immmediately. However, it may cause a more senior person ("elder") from the congregation to start coming by (they are leaders and allowed to speak to the shunned). Also, it's a lie and hie, you've said you won't do that. For me, it works because it's true (I was dis'd due to the mere fact of choosing to leave, not out of punishment for breaking any rules, except the one that says you can't leave).

Flying the flag wouldn't be likely to get them to stop. They don't believe in doing it themselves but it wouldn't scare them away, despite the teaching on not being political.

It's too bad they're so aggressive in some locales. The last I knew the teaching was to only seek out those who are interested. Those in my area are quite peculiarly reticent to approach passersby on the street, as they used to do. Now they just stand with their magazine rack and seldom make eye contact or say hello. I have inexplicable twinges of what feels like jealousy that they have it so easy when as a very shy teen I was taught by JWs that I had to approach people on the street and offer them the magazines. People didn't like it then and like it even less now. It was torture for me to have to do it. They do expect their people to go out every week. Kind of wrecks your weekend. "Service" (door to door or street work) on Saturdays and Kingdom Hall on Sundays. And my biggest job was to find a husband. I managed to avoid marrying a JW. :)

PS: They record that you took a magazine. That, to them, indicates potential interest. It's a big step forward from the many doors where people just shoo them away. You may think that taking a magazine gets them to leave quickly, and it may at that time, but it can increase their visits as they think it's an opening. You have to refuse the magazines/leaflets and not engage in discussion. Even saying "I have my own religion" does not make it stop. They just see that as another opening - if you are religious they're one step ahead of things compared to dealing with an atheist, in their eyes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2018 04:08PM by Nightingale.

Thanks everyone for your replies and stories; they're good and also funny! We did just decorate our yard for Halloween a few days ago and so far, haven't seen them yet. We have a ghost and a wonderful pirate flag; maybe now they'll beware! :D

My advice is to answer the door with the cellphone video running. Ask them repeatedly what one has to do to get the JWs to stop coming. Tell them that you tried to be nice. Tell them that you have told them bluntly that you are not interested. Tell them that you contacted the Kingdom Hall. Then ask them again, "How can I get you guys to stop bothering me!?! What is it that I am doing wrong? How can I get the visits and harassment to stop?”

Tell them that you are going to post it on YouTube to get advice from others on how to get Jehovah’s Witness cult members to stop bothering you.

Do it each time and tell them that you are going to post their faces and their harassment on line so that everyone can see.

I've heard that the following works really well with JW's. If you tell them you used to be a member, but have been disfellowshipped, they are not allowed to speak to you.

Get some pamphlets from the local blood bank or blood drives and give it to them the next time they come by.

Go by your local blood drive or blood bank to pick up some fliers and hand them out when they come by.

The JWs used to show up every few months. They stopped coming by after I said, "I'll listen to your message if you'll listen to mine."

If you tell them that you are a former JW that has been defellopshiped they will leave immediately and never return. They are not allowed to talk to you.

valkyriequeen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is it possible that news spread in
> our "ward" that we resigned and someone decided to
> sick the JW's on us?

Not likely. I think the JWs found out you left one religion and decided to peddle theirs. That much, yes. But I don't think mormons pushed them to do it. I can totally imagine cults trying to recruit each other's disappointed clients. It's what lots of businesses do. Telephone, utilities, cars, trash food, religion. Different products, same marketing.

The JWs seem increasingly aggressive/desperate in my area of late. I wonder if they are being hit by the same problems that Mormon missionaries have, where members are going inactive or leaving their church, and outsiders have no interest.

...yep. Some of the "hit squad" JW's that are sent out to harass members are trained well. Intimidation, threats, guilting, etc. So in some ways, JW is worse than LDS. My friends marriage and life was purposely destroyed by these freaks, as if to show others what not to do.

JW's usually stop by my house once each December, sometimes once during the summertime also. Never see them the rest of the year. I'm polite at the door, take the pamphlet and they leave. Last December when they stopped by said something about me showing interest the last time the stopped by (last year). I told them I was just being polite. During the conversation they asked if I was mormon, I told them I was former but now agnostic borderline atheist. As they were leaving wanted to show a short video (something inspirational proving there's a god) from there tablet. They then left. It sounded like the were giving up on me. We'll see if they stop by in December.


I have worked with several JW's over the years. We always got along fine. We've had friendly respectful discussions on religion,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2018 09:34AM by Redneck Wonderland.

Next time, o, I'm so glad you're here. I need help with this thing. I cant get it open to change the batteries. Would be so kind as to help me? (As you hand them a dildo and batteries)

The flag idea worked for us and our neighbour across the street.
They also saw our car with my husband’s military decal and my patriotic stickers
I watched them through the blinds, They looked st our house, talked to each other, skipped our house, and our neighbours

The last time I had the JWs visit, I had the flu. Not a pleasant memory. I would have been better off staying in bed.

Live on a farm in a sparsly populated State.
We would get JW's coming by from time to time.

Then, we got another dog. This one is very territorial and is half Blue Heeler - a breed that herds by bites at the heel of cattle. He does the same to people.

JW's came by and ignored the sign that says Don't stop, dogs that Bite. The guy got nailed three times getting to the door. There I talked with him and informed him it would happen every time they stopped. Nothing to do with him or the religion - but a deterrant to the "midnight riders" in the area. Thieves that come in the night. We talked a few minutes and I escorted him back to the car where the younger boy was and two women. Informed them it would be smart to take us off the list for their safety.

Have not seen them since.

Also, two instances of the dogs going nuts middle of the night. One the Blue Heeler had a swatch of levi material in his jaws as a car was driving away fast - with the lights off.

Some from out of State tell me we'll get sued one of these days. Our local sheriff laughs at that one (he's been bit twice - so now calls ahead if he wants to stop) and said "get the trespassers in front of a jury of local farmers and they'll probably give your dog a medal". A lot of thievery going on and most neighbors do what we do - dogs visible. Even if they don't bite they scare them away.

Would have geese as they make a lot of noise if people stop by - and geese do bite. HARD - but we don't like walking through goose crap.

I live on rural acreage tucked away in the woods and never see them anymore. They were obnoxious as hell when I lived in town though. They started visiting my office, I told them it was a place of business, and take a hike. They actually did so, so maybe they know better than to mess with commercial addresses? No idea.

One funny memory from my youth: we lived way off the beaten path. We can home from a vacation and had found they (I'm pretty sure it was JWs, but it could have been another nutter cult) had jammed so much printed material crap, they managed to unlock the door. (I assume it was the same mechanism of opening a lock with a credit card.) My father called the Kingdom Hall and I listened to one of the longest streams of profanity I think I ever heard. ;)

I go into lutheran mode and tell them plain and simple that this is not a place worthwile doing any "works".

I have had at least 3 sets of JWs visit, and I always let them in.

All three involved exmo husbands.

They all leave quickly when I tell the 'exmo husbands' they can find the truth of any religion really easy. Just pray and don't even think of going to church until they receive a miraculous affirmative answer.

Most exmos tend to agree with that approach, their wives not so much.

As with Mormon visitors, just say what you believe, and eventually you get to things they don't want to hear.

I like to ask them why god doesn't have time to help little kids who are being tortured and raped. Maybe he is spending too much time at their church.