So what do you tell them when they come to your door?

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Anniemart, I am never one to turn down prayers! And I thank you for wanting to offer them for me and for Nikki, my JW visitor. I would love for her to return to the Catholic faith. She told me that the reason she left was because she started questioning why she didn’t know much about the Scriptures. That she wasn’t being taught as much as she wanted to know. And that, when she started reading her Bible more, she felt that her studying was leading her away from Catholicism to where she is today. But, when we get together, we jump from passage to passage, taken out of context, to support the Witness beliefs. When I point that out, she tells me that, at their meetings, they do more in-depth study. Well, that’s fine, but to me, they use the pick-and-choose method to try to convince others to join them. I just feel that anyone can support just about anything when they pick passages as though they’re choosing something from a menu. They choose only the “good parts” to make the whole look more pleasing.
 
You’re absolutely right. My cousin, who attends a non-denominational place of worship (I think it Pentacostal though) but was baptised a Catholic, has tried for years to get me to “see the light.” She would rattle off verse after verse to prove her point and I’d just sit there thinking surely there is much for me to learn. Well, I never took her up on her offers to attend and about a year ago, armed with my recent full reception into the church, I was able to refute her comments with the same scripture she’d quoted.

Wow! she didn’t have an answer other than to suddenly become very nervous. I suggested we discuss the readings her pastor used and learned that he actually follows the cycle of the Church. ( He also was baptised Catholic but left the Church as a teen.) When I pointed out to her the readings, she got up, hugged me and kissed me and said she’d be back next weekend. I hadn’t seen her until just the other day and we had a good time but the subject of Our Lord never came up. My instinct told me that she had stayed away this long because of our differerences. I still pray for her and her pastor…🙂
 
I haven’t had any Mormons/JW in a long time but back before we had kids I could waste hours and hours of their time. They’d just come back for more. I’m not sure but I think maybe the JWs figured out I was actively trying to tie up their time fruitlessly.

You can string 'em along for quite some time though, so they aren’t out preying upon the vulnerable.
 
spec110 said:
What do you guys tell the J Witness when they come to you’re door? I remember once I was asked if I believe in Jesus and if I’m ready for the apocalypse and I just responded with ‘‘I believe in Jesus. He’s with me and walks with me daily’’ Once I said that the guy just looked at me funny/scared and walked back slowly and left 🙂 I never saw him again after that! hahaha!
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Of course, NOW that I’m better catechized and have faith on fire, it’s crickets at my front door! Well, I plan on turning the tables on them. They have been taught/programmed to be on the offensive, placing you on the defensive. I will sit with them and advise them that I am very concerned about their souls. Since both Mormons and JWs deny the Divinity of christ, neither group can be called Christian. This will shock them.

However, if you deny part of Christ, you deny ALL of Him. There are many good tracts at CA on dealing with them. A friend just gave me Beginning Apologetis 2 by Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham. When you read of the histories of the Mormons and JWs, it is almost unbelievable that these faiths ever came to be, let alone persist!

Turn the truth on them. It is our responsibillity to tell the truth. It is theirs, having once heard it, to respond.

Christ’s peace to all.
 
I have a small sign beside the door, next to the doorbell. In English and Spanish it says: This is a Catholic home. We are not interested in propaganda of other religions or sects, Thank you..

If the visitors insist on ringing until I respond, I ask which language did they not understand. Since we get about an equal number of JW and LDS solicitors in these two languages, it usually stops them short.

When the city insisted that a new guide be installed in my breaker box, they said it should be in more than one language, so it was posted in English, Spanish, German and Latin. Haven’t had to go that far with JWs.
 
Thanks to some info from some folks here I compiled a double sided tract debunking many of the Watch Towers ideas.
One side even uses their own translation to contradict their beliefs.
Only problem is they won’t accept them.
But that’s okay. The next time when they leave my yard to go assault my neighbors I’ll try to run out to their vehicle, which is usually parked nearby, and slip the tract on their windshield. Kind of like how they leave their tracts stuffed in the crevice of my front door.
I can’t do that with the Hispanic JWs because they specifically come to my house and leave my neighborhood immediately when I finish with them. But that’s okay too, cause I took care of them and they won’t be around for a while…and I did it in a charitable manner.
 
The last visit were Jws a father and son team. I allowed him to read his scripture. He went on telling me how great Jehovah is in creating and healing , I agreed with him commenting I stared at his confident son, and said Oh yeah did you know only God can forgive sin and raise the dead, the father agreed Quickly I responded did you know its recorded in scripture that Jesus raised the dead, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind , and even the wind and the sea obeyed him. Not to mention he gave his life for us in death and had the power to raise it up again in the resurrection. Well his son did not get to hear the last part the father put his hands over his ears and walked off.
And there was a mormon team before the Jws. They went to my back yard were they saw me cleaning and began to share about the feeling one gets when one reads scripture, I told them I was Catholic and they began the Great Apostasy bit, I was very tired and hard at work, so I responded Who is it that is lying to you about that, are you calling Jesus the Lord a liar, Jesus promised to be with his Church till the end and the nether world will never prevail against his Church, go and do your research on your own, this is public information that the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ is still here for 2000 yrs.and will continue to be here until Jesus returns for her just like he promised. They left and never returned.

struggling but keeping the faith
 
My grandmother used to chase them away with a sweeping brush, which I think was not a good thing to do…but they havent come for years now.
 
I simply don’t answer the door. For all they know, I’m hooked up to my iPod and can’t hear them knocking. My kitchen window is just a few feet away from the front door, and I keep the blinds drawn most of the time because people can see in from the street. But one warm summer day, I had the blinds up a few inches and the window open, and wouldn’t you know, the missionaries came to the door (I think it was the Adventists this time). When I didn’t answer, they came to the window because they could hear that I had the TV on. Imagine their surprise when they peeked in and saw me standing there at the sink washing dishes, wearing only a t-shirt and my underwear (I was home alone). I told them that this is why I didn’t answer the door. They were so embarrassed that they left, and that was the last I saw of them. 😃

My favorite JW story comes from a friend. They aren’t Catholic and she is into some New Agey stuff, so they have crystals and other related things around the house. They also have a Bengal cat which likes to hang from the screen when the front door is open. One day the JW’s showed up. When she opened the door, the cat jumped up and was hanging there. She looked the JW’s straight in the eye, and in a very somber tone of voice warned them: “You should know that I am a witch and this [pointing to the cat] is my familiar.” Those JW’s couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and they never came back.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
 
C’mon guys and gals. Why can’t we show a little compassion and friendship to these door knockers. They are people like we are, and they are all brothers and sisters in Christ like we are. They may have difference of opinion in their respective religions, but that doesn’t mean we should demean or be abusive to them.

You know, by being polite to them we can better show them that we are true Christians who respect others even if they don’t agree with us. Let’s not slam the door in their faces - but rather, let’s be frank with them in a polite way and, if you want, just tell them you want no discussions about religion with them. Then politely exuse yourself. Kindness goes a long way. They are not our enemies.

No offense to any of the posters on this subject, I just thought it was necessary to recite the golden rule “Do unto others ans thou would’st have them do unto you”.
 
SeanTom said:
C’mon guys and gals. Why can’t we show a little compassion and friendship to these door knockers. They are people like we are, and they are all brothers and sisters in Christ like we are. They may have difference of opinion in their respective religions, but that doesn’t mean we should demean or be abusive to them.

You know, by being polite to them we can better show them that we are true Christians who respect others even if they don’t agree with us. Let’s not slam the door in their faces - but rather, let’s be frank with them in a polite way and, if you want, just tell them you want no discussions about religion with them. Then politely exuse yourself. Kindness goes a long way. They are not our enemies.

No offense to any of the posters on this subject, I just thought it was necessary to recite the golden rule “Do unto others ans thou would’st have them do unto you”.
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Agreed. We live out in the sticks, but one day a couple of JWs showed up on our doorstep. Well, my wife is a very gung-ho apologist for the Catholic Church and these two JWs just had no idea who they were tangling with. Calmly and sweetly, she took them apart. You know that the sword is sharp when your head does not fall off your shoulders 'till later. Their heads stayed on until they got to their car, but she had turned their arguments upside down. They have not been back since. But, she did it with great charity.😃
 
Being married to one (a JW) has made it easy for me. The last time I had JWs come to my door, it was the week we moved in to our new house, when my husband was in the hospital. I was gathering up some stuff for him to read while he was hospitalized. Because the hospital was 1 hr away from home, I was in a bit of a hurry. And actually, his 8 yr old JW niece was with me. I heard the doorbell ring and I looked through the window from upstairs and saw a man in a suit and a lady. My first thought was “JWs”. And yes, they were. They had invitations to their assembly on their hands and I asked, “Are you going to the assembly?” The man looked surprised and said yes and asked how I knew. I told them I was married to a disfellowshipped JW and was on my way to the hospital to see him.

In a way they were happy I was married to a DF’d JW. They asked if I had ever begun studying the bible with him or anyone else. I said yes but that I had to quit doing that since I was a very devout Catholic. They were mostly surprised at the fact I said I was a Catholic, so they asked how DH and I dealt with the religious differences and I said we didn’t. They looked at me like, “Huh?? A JW not talking about Jehovah?” Probably thinking that’s why DH was DF’d. They asked if I minded their asking why we didn’t talk about religion, so I said because every time we spoke about religion, we ended up in arguments and we had decided to not speak about God at all at our house and keep it a neutral place. (Just to clarify, it’s religion neutral. we don’t keep God out of our house, we just don’t talk about Catholicism or JWism).

That’s the last time I’ve had a JW knock on my door (other than DH when he can’t find his keys to open it). 😃 I don’t know if it’s because I said he was DF’d or because I’m Catholic, or because DH was reinstated and now my house counts as a JW house for them.

The time before that (while we were living in an apartment), a pioneer and her husband came on New Year’s day and saw my nicely decorated Christmas tree and looked surprised as heck. They were from my husband’s congregation so they were surprised to see that in my house, especially because I was “studying” with this pioneer and she had never seen any Catholic things in my house until she saw my tree. That’s the last time they came to my house. Other times after this occasion, she called my cell and I told her I was not interested in their religion.

The lady didn’t stop calling until the time DH was reinstated (he was reinstated about a month after his hospitalization)… she and many others asked if I was happy this had happened. I said it plain and simple, “No, but I am happy for him because that’s what he wanted, but I’m concerned for his soul”. I was fed up with them asking that so when the pioneer’s husband asked me why I wasn’t happy, I said I didn’t want to go into details. She never bothered me again.

Edited to add: this lady pioneer used to come to my apt. every week with her What doe the Bible Really Teach book and I always had cookies and tea/coffee for her and her publishers. I was never rude to them. Maybe they thought I was rude the day I told them I wasn’t happy DH was a JW again.
 
SeanTom said:
C’mon guys and gals. Why can’t we show a little compassion and friendship to these door knockers. They are people like we are, and they are all brothers and sisters in Christ like we are. They may have difference of opinion in their respective religions, but that doesn’t mean we should demean or be abusive to them.

You know, by being polite to them we can better show them that we are true Christians who respect others even if they don’t agree with us. Let’s not slam the door in their faces - but rather, let’s be frank with them in a polite way and, if you want, just tell them you want no discussions about religion with them. Then politely exuse yourself. Kindness goes a long way. They are not our enemies.

No offense to any of the posters on this subject, I just thought it was necessary to recite the golden rule “Do unto others ans thou would’st have them do unto you”.
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Well, as I said in an earlier post, I do not ignore the bell, nor do I shut the door on them. They have been invited into my home. I meet with Nikki on a weekly basis. Part of it is curiosity and part of it it to dispel the JW’s obvious misconceptions of my Catholic faith. I am not only learning about their faith, but feeling stronger in my own. So, it is beneficial to me in a way they couldn’t have expected. When I challenge them on something, it’s always with a smile and an expression of hope that they will not be offended, but really take my words to heart.
 
Housemonkey,

If most Catholics, as the one mentioned in your posting, are familiar enough with Scripture and can have replies ready to hold a meaningful conversation with those who come to the door, that is well and good. But lets face it, most Catholics are not prepared to hold an intelligent conversation with a non-Catholic who has just come from a couple of years training before being sent out to evangelize, and that is were the problem lies.

Actually, if one can handle it, the conversation can be a rewarding one for both parties. But one has to be very careful not to be trapped in an area of Scripture which he or she can not comebacjk with appropriate answers as to why he or she is Catholic and able to explain why we believe what we believe.

But in either case, we should be receptive to all who knock on our doors and handle any given situation with tact and politeness.

One thing I found out is that most of those who knock on our doors have had specific training - not in all of Scripture, but only in certain parts of it which they can use against Catholics, or others. It is part of their trainiing to memorize certain passages and use them when they are evangelizing. This is where they have the advantage. If any of you have a deep understanding of Scripture, you will find out that you can quote several passages that they are not familiar with, and that makes them uncomfortable.

So, be careful not to be trapped - but be friendly and keep the conversation in an area where you feel comfortable in your discussion. Once the conversation gets out of your area of yuour knowledge, that is the time to politely let them know that the conversation is finished. If you don’t know certain answers, be honest with them, but that doesn’t mean that you have to let your guard down. Just tell them that you are a Catholic and have all assurances that you are in the right faith for continuing your journey to God’s Kingdom.

Hey, they are people just like us - only in most cases they take their evangelizing more serious, and are very prepared for it by the prior schooling received before sent out in the field. For this reason, they, in most cases, have the advantage.

Courtesy and politeness will overcome. To be rude would not be Christianlike, and that would only give them the wrong impression of how a Catholic/Christian should behave.

Peace.
 
We live in the country of (Northern California), so you have to walk alot to just get to the next house. We have had maybe 3 in 13 years. I don’t think they want to work that hard to convert people
 
SeanTom said:
C’mon guys and gals. Why can’t we show a little compassion and friendship to these door knockers. They are people like we are, and they are all brothers and sisters in Christ like we are. They may have difference of opinion in their respective religions, but that doesn’t mean we should demean or be abusive to them.

You know, by being polite to them we can better show them that we are true Christians who respect others even if they don’t agree with us. Let’s not slam the door in their faces - but rather, let’s be frank with them in a polite way and, if you want, just tell them you want no discussions about religion with them. Then politely exuse yourself. Kindness goes a long way. They are not our enemies.

No offense to any of the posters on this subject, I just thought it was necessary to recite the golden rule “Do unto others ans thou would’st have them do unto you”.
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Exactly!! Some people here (myself included) have family or friends caught up in this cult. I have no problem with anyone criticizing their religion or trying to “witness” back to them but c’mon people…opening the door in the nude :eek: , turning water hoses on them :eek: , and all other sort of nonsense. How is that being a good Christian witness to anyone especially to people (like the JWs) that really need to learn about the true nature of Jesus? How would you react if you knew someone that was your friend or family member being subject to some of the actions so far in this thread?

Sometimes it feels like for every prayer I say for all the JWs I know to meet someone who will be a true witness for Jesus to them is counteracted by some person that feels like its necessary to do some stupid act they think is cutesy. This doesn’t help the salvation of the person doing these actions or the salvation of the JWs at the door.
 
spec110 said:
What do you guys tell the J Witness when they come to you’re door? I remember once I was asked if I believe in Jesus and if I’m ready for the apocalypse and I just responded with ‘‘I believe in Jesus. He’s with me and walks with me daily’’ Once I said that the guy just looked at me funny/scared and walked back slowly and left 🙂 I never saw him again after that! hahaha

good times!
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Tell them they are not one of the 144,000 because the 144,000
are Jews and virgins from the tribulation period. If the Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only true witnesses for God, and if the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an organization came into being in the late nineteenth century, does this mean God was without a witness for over eighteen centuries of church history?🤷

QUESTIONS FOR JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Why did Jesus not address the Father as Jehovah?

Was the church without a witness for 18 centuries?

Doesn’t Isaiah 43:10 refer to Israel?

Did Philip use Scripture or an organization to lead the Eunuch to Christ?

Why were the Bereans told to search the Scriptures?

How can the Corinthians be Christians when there was disunity among them?

According to John 5:39, 40 is knowledge of Scripture sufficient for salvation?

Must the church go house to house?

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses being obedient to Acts 1:8?

Does it say in the Old Testament that Jehovah is God?

Why do Romans and Hebrews say the universe was created through Jehovah?

What do Greek Scholars say about Colossians 2:9?

Who is Jesus in Zechariah 12:10?

Why does the Watchtower Society insert the word Son into Acts 20:28?

Doesn’t Titus 2:13 prove Jesus is God?

Wouldn’t a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew be needed to translate the Bible?

Why was a spiritist cited to support the New World Translation?
 
dawgfan said:
opening the door in the nude :eek: , turning water hoses on them :eek: , and all other sort of nonsense.
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When they knock on the door at 9:30 AM on a saturday morning, and I’m not dressed I answer the door however I am… The bloody cleaver from chopping meat for the day’s stew was in hand because I had nowhere to safely put it down. I was mostly behind the door.

But they were genuinely scared, and it stopped them from coming back.

There is no sin in causing the minions of Satan to go away, provided one harms them not and has no intent to deceive; I had none. They drew some very wrong conclusions.

There is grace in teaching them truth… but at that time in my life, I was in no position faith-wise nor intellectually to challenge them, as I was just finding my faith again.
 
Fisher, you have posed some interesting questions. I have added them to many other pages that I have printed from this website. Pages that explain better than I can as to why Catholics believe as we do. I have very little hope that my JW visitor will read the material, but I’m giving it to her, anyway. If she is moved to read any of it, it may help her to realize that she should never have left the faith.
 
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