Someone just knocked on the door and I am livid!!!!

[MelessaG]

The "famous magazine" explains it all. I was once a door knocker for a different religion. I would never go into someone's backyard for any reason uninvited. (for my own safety in addition the their privacy) However, when I first moved here, the "magazine" churchgoers saw me pull up in my driveway (there were, at the time, about 4 completed homes on this street), so they all walked into my driveway and surrounded my car until I came out. They were all women and children, but I still felt very intimidated and angry. I'm not sure what methods they are taught for proselyting, but they aren't the same ones my church teaches. I wish people wouldn't lump us together. Actually, the ones from my church dropped by to visit the day we brought the baby home from the hospital. They were uninvited and I was less than pleased. I have four kids, that's plenty of daily company for me.

 

[MelessaG]

The "famous magazine" explains it all. I was once a door knocker for a different religion. I would never go into someone's backyard for any reason uninvited. (for my own safety in addition the their privacy) However, when I first moved here, the "magazine" churchgoers saw me pull up in my driveway (there were, at the time, about 4 completed homes on this street), so they all walked into my driveway and surrounded my car until I came out. They were all women and children, but I still felt very intimidated and angry. I'm not sure what methods they are taught for proselyting, but they aren't the same ones my church teaches. I wish people wouldn't lump us together. Actually, the ones from my church dropped by to visit the day we brought the baby home from the hospital. They were uninvited and I was less than pleased. I have four kids, that's plenty of daily company for me.

 

[Disney Doll]

If it is someone I do not wish to speak with, I do not open the door. I do not feel I owe any stranger any explanation as to why I choose no to talk to them.

If that same group of people left my fornt porch and went around to my back yard, I would call the police, as my backyard is fenced in and I would consider that trespassing.

I have very little respect for or desire to learn about any religion that has to be sold door-to-door.

 

[SeaSpray]

Well, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, so I'd like to comment.

First of all, MsKanga, when we are out and see ANY property with a "NO TRESPASSING" sign, we don't go on that property. Period. I don't doubt that you do have a sign on your property, but possibly they didn't see it. We (Jehovah's Witnesses) are told not to go on any property with a NO TRESPASSING sign, unless of course invited there by the propery owner. On behalf of whoever was at your door this morning, I apologise. (I'm assuming they were Jehovah's Witnesses, since you mentioned the magazines. lol) I don't know why they would enter your property in the first place, let alone proceed to your back door. This is not something that Jehovah's Witnesses normally do, or should do.

Secondly, there are a LOT of people out going door to door, which have been mistaken for Jehovah's Witnesses. There are groups of people out there who *claim* to be JWs, but who are not. It's hard for someone who is not familiar with our religion to really know for sure. As a general rule, we go door to door in our *own* towns, and often surrounding towns, but never far from home (unless visiting with another congregation).

Thirdly, we do like to engage in conversation with people of *all* religious backgrounds, so I'm not sure why someone told pjlla that they wouldn't want to listen to her/him speak about his/her beliefs for 10 minutes. LOL

And lastly, here is the reason why we do go door to door. It's based on what Jesus told his followers, and doing what his disciples did in the first century:

"And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus." (Acts 5:42).

There are other scriptures, too, which further show this command given by Jesus, but just wanted to explain specifically the "house to house" part

Anyway, I don't/won't debate my beliefs, and I absolutely acknowledge everyone's right to their own beliefs, but I just wanted to comment on what was being said. Again, I apologise for any aggravation or inconvenience, but Jehovah's Witnesses do have excellent reasons for what we do, and we do care about our neighbors and the world in general.

 

[Mskanga]

Actually that made me think and this is the reason why. Our mailboxes are a mile away from home. Most of the time I just pick up the mail when I get back from somewhere, but every now and then my oldest stays home while I go to pick it up and for the five minutes that takes, she's home alone, everything locked but she's home alone. She would have had a stroke if this happened to her on those five minutes. All because those people are insisting on what they want to do.

 

[cheyita]

SeaSpray - kudos for speaking up so eloquently on behalf of your faith.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Look, I don't think going to the back door was right. What I thought was wrong was that she answered the door and then threatened these people. In some states that would be considered an assault.

MSKanga said you didn't want to be responsible if your dog attacked but then you threatened the people with a dog attack. I don't get it.

Seaspray, I think that JW or any other religious order that goes door-to-door deserves to be treated with common courtesy. And I understand why. Believers are not supposed to hide their light under a bushel, right? Also we are to be fishers of men. There are lots of biblical passages that back up why people spread the word.

 

[totalia]

I'd be really mad too.

I've repeatedly told the religious groups in our area to go away. They STILL knock on the door. I'm not polite to them anymore. I open the door and then slam it in their faces with a curt "Get the **** off my property before I call the cops."

I figure, if they can't get the point after 50 times of politely saying go away, they aren't ever going to get it.

No one has the right to peddle their religion on me. I have my own thanks.

And I really don't appreciate being accosted on the street about it or when I get off the bus having a religion person standing there at the downtown stop waiting to hand out fliers, or worse.

No one has the right to do those things and I don't care if your religion says yours supposed to spread the word or not. If I wanted to bloody well know about your religion, I'd ask you.

Oh and we do have no soliticiting and no tresspassing signs. I once got told that they don't matter because the religious groups don't consider what they are doing as soliciting or tresspassing.

I do have to ask what makes them think they had the right to go into the backyard though. I often put my cat outside with her halter on, what if she had slipped it and got out? Or what if a big dog was back there to bite them? Or little kids playing. The backyard is as off limits as the house.

 

[luvwinnie]

I'd be livid too. I cannot stand being interrupted at home by either telemarketers or ANYONE coming to the door unless it's my family. And to come to your back door was just pushy and rude! I mean what if you were home sick or giving your child a bath or just napping? No one should be interrupting you like that. Do you have a fence? We keep ours locked.

 

[Mskanga]

SeaSpray you don't have to apologize for anything anyone else did but I appreciate it anyway.
Yes they were JW and I understand that not all of them are like these two people , thank God. I understand they went to an extreme that they shouldn't have but as you said , for their own safety first , they shouldn't come on to a property that is listed as private or no trespassing.
I know that if my daughter had been home alone today while I went to pick up the mail , she would have had a stroke.
We know wonderful JW's who are nothing like the ones I have seen today , we respect their beliefs and they respect ours and that's the way it should be. In no way shape or form does this mean that I have anything against them or you, I simply felt that these two people crossed the line today. BTW my post are really visible at the beginning of my driveway, can't miss them unless you are blind, lol.

Jassmine, I did not threaten with the dog, the dog was in the backyard in her runner. What if the dog got lose and bit attacked one of them? Would they make me responsible for it? That's what I told them. A German Sheppard when you are trespassing on their territory is not something they should underestimate....

 

[Planogirl]

I don't answer the door as a general rule. Anyone we know will call first and unfortunately the neighbors keep to themselves around here.

If someone entered our backyard, I would be stunned! I wouldn't even enter a family member's backyard, it just isn't done here.

 

[JayBee]

Originally posted by Mskanga

I know that if my daughter had been home alone today while I went to pick up the mail , she would have had a stroke.

Just tell her not to answer the door when you are not there-and she won't have a stroke.

 

[Hillbeans]

Personally, I hate when salespeople or "solicitors" some to our door. I also hate when our phone rings at dinner and people don't take "no" for an answer. Sometimes my phone caller ID shows calls at 8 am that are obvious sales calls. Granted, i'm up at 6:00 most days and at work, however I think calls before 9 am are completely rude.

I respect anyone's religion that states they should go "door to door" and spread God's word, however I think people should have the right not to answer their doors and shouldn't have to deal with these people walking around to any open door or garage.

 

[MinnieM21]

Originally posted by JayBee
Just tell her not to answer the door when you are not there-and she won't have a stroke.

But I remember when I was younger and people would knock at the front door, it would freak me out. Maybe because when I was younger I actually did have someone who was selling something come around to the backyard when my parents weren't home. I almost did have a stroke.

 

[barbeml]

Religious types who go door to door peddling their ability to "save" me or seeking money are beyond offensive to me. We have very clear "No soliciting" signs posted in our neighborhood, but that has never stopped the Mormon youth who come by every year. Once, two of them lied about who they were when I asked "Who is it?" through the door and then tried to push their way in.

 

[decker96]

Someone earlier posted that a polite no thank you suffices to get religious people to go away. That is not entirely true. There have been a few times that religious groups have come to my door and even when I've said, POLITELY, that I'm not interested, they still don't stop talking or trying to hand me literature. One time I tried to close the door and the women on my front step, STUCK HER FOOT IN THE DOOR so I couldn't close it and then continued to try to give me her pamphlets!!!! I could not believe it!!! I opened the door wide and slammed it shut as hard as I could and she pulled her foot out at the last second otherwise I probably would have crushed it. So, now I'm like MsKanga, I don't answer the door if I can tell they're from a religious group.
Coming up to your back door when you didn't answer in the front is totally unacceptable, no trespassing signs or not, in my opinion. I would have been livid too and probably would have given them the same response, although we don't have a dog! LOL!

 

[JayBee]

It is really quite simple-I don't answer the door if a stranger is there.

 

[WDWHound]

Originally posted by totalia
No one has the right to peddle their religion on me. I have my own thanks.

And I really don't appreciate being accosted on the street about it or when I get off the bus having a religion person standing there at the downtown stop waiting to hand out fliers, or worse.

No one has the right to do those things and I don't care if your religion says yours supposed to spread the word or not. If I wanted to bloody well know about your religion, I'd ask you.

Actually, they do have that right, its called free speech. You have the right to tell them to go away, ignore them or press charges if they don't leave you alone after you tell them to go away. They have the right to speak, no one says you have to listen.

I have never understood the anger that many people have about this sort of thing. I am a Christian (Methodist flavor). We dont do the door to door bit, but I have had lots of people come to my door to tell me about their faith. I recognize that their intentions are good (in most cases they really are concerned about the welfare of my soul) and that they are trying to be true to what they feel their faith calls them to do, so I try to be polite and tell them I am not interested. In the very few cases where this has not worked, I simply shut the door on them or walk away and ignore them.

Now in the case the original poster talked about, the people were out of line as soon as they went to the back door. I wouldn't have yelled or screamed, but I would be firm that they leave my property at that point. The same would be true if I had a clearly visible "no soliciting" or "no tresspassing" sign.

I find nothing offensive about someone trying to share their faith with me or even mild efforts to convert me. Whats the big deal? At worst its a minor annoyance and sometimes I learn something new. Its only the rare case were someone goes overboard (like going to the back door) that I might get annoyed.

 

[poohandwendy]

What if the dog got lose and bit attacked one of them?

Actually, I would check your locals laws on this one. In most areas, you are absolutely and totally responsible for keeping your dog under control at all times. It is your responsibility to ensure that your dog CANNOT get loose and attack anyone.

I totally agree that these people were in the wrong for going to your back door. However, I would be very careful about making mention, to anyone, that your dog ''could'' get loose and attack. Those words could bite you in the behind if it ever happens.

 

[tonyswife]

I don't like it when anyone comes to my door unannounced. If I am not expecting company or service of some kind, I do not open the door if I do not recognize the person knocking. There are a lot of scary stories out there about women who have been attacked, raped and killed by people posing as all manner of soliciters. I am home alone with my toddler and infant all day, I'm cautious.

If someone came to my slding doors in the back of my house, I would have been livid as well. I would have called the police. I frequently walk about my house braless, even sometimes shirtless because I certainly do have an expectation of privacy in my own home. I often leave just the screen door, drapes wide open on the sliders. Luckily we have a fence.