Back in the UK I often get the JWs calling round. Not a problem.
I've just had a short trip with a small group of people and at the end of it, a cute girl who was on the trip handed me a leaflet and asked me to read it if I had time. I gracefully accepted it and smiled back. Some Methodist church in Washington... They too were on vacation. I mean holiday. They declined alcohol, but otherwise looked perfectly girl next door types.
My first experience of contact with US church people. Maybe I should have cards made up promoting my local pub...fine ales, log fires, darts, doms & pool. Muddy dogs Welcome. Free newspapers, good conversation, and pretty barmaids. I wonder how they would react?
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One of life's little inconsistencies, that members of religious groups have unquestioned liberty to 'spread the good news' - even to found their own schools to pass the nonsense to the next generation - but expressing the contrary view, that the world would be better with more rationalism and less controlling supernaturalism is 'giving offence' and being a 'strident atheist'.
I like the sound of your pub, though, LL.
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That's the good thing about living 'up here', .. an absence of knockers (on door) and no JW's in the 4.5 years we've lived here.
Used to get 'em at our previous owses, would even engage them in con-versation quite often but, when they told me that goD put the water from 'the flood' at the N & S poles, and that the rainbow is a sign to mankind that 'he' would never flood the earth again, I began to wonder if they were on a stronger strain of weed than Ll.
:o}
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I have my own religious beliefs.
I also have a penis.
I choose not to take either out and wave them about in public.
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You say that now...........
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The Jovies are pretty active in France, too. Round here they are known to target Brits. Starting a debate on fairy stories usually discourages them. I'm with WDB.
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MH has just made me think, in 34 we have not had visitors for the last 3 years. Before that they were regular visitors. Not sure that they targetted Brits, although they all spoke good anglais.
Maybe there is an X on my gatepost now? They certainly never received a cordial welcome.
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I simply asked them if they had a little black book of addresses they didn't disturb and asked to be included.
They've only knocked once since, when I angrily pointed out they weren't welcome. They replied they were checking I still didn't want them knocking. I told them I'd let them know when I did.
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I stepped out with a JW girl many moons ago. She was OK...certainly did all the right things (ahem ). Her parents didn't seem strict and never mentioned religion to me.
I saw the door knockers coming up our road a few years ago. They're a regular bunch...all fat Caribbean women. I popped out and parked the car 6 inches from the gatepost at the boot end with the front bumper against the side of the front bay window. I went back in to finish the paper and, blow me, if one of them didn't climb on the car bonnet and rap on the window for my attention.
I gave her the fickle finger of fate....I didn't like her behaviour !
I wonder how many converts they get in a year by door to door means.....'none' springs to mind....speshly round here where every other house is Muslim !
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My desk-mate at school for a while was JW. It got him off morning assembly, I was quite envious.
He couldn't accept the geology bit of geography lessons in the third form - you can't have rocks that are millions of years old when the world was only created 6,000 years ago.
Ever the mediator, I think I suggested that maybe God just created some old rocks, but I don't recall that it resolved the objection!
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I've always been willing to listen to JW's, and I've always found them to be nice people, here in Cornwall.
When we lived up at Warleggan, on the Bodmin Moor, a family of three used to visit my isolated cottage quite regularly, the Boy (Daniel of course) was very well brought up and his mum was a 'looker', I used to comment how nice she looked today, Ken wasn't best pleased about that, Ken was a retired London plod, but Cornish bred.
When we moved to Bodelva, next to the Eden Project, I used to get a couple of guys visit me on a regular basis.
One had MS so he couldn't get out of his car, I used to go sit in the driving seat, while his friend sat in the back. Every single time I asked any question, the guy in the back would have the answer already marked out in his bible.
I use to accept their little booklets too AND read them, as they often contained some interesting articles.
But, as I often say ... I believe in everything, and nothing.
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>> I believe in everything, and nothing.
The Witnesses have their own Bible, with significant differences from the others. Catholic and Anglican bibles differ too, although the Catholic church doesn't make much song and dance about the Bible itself. The American Protestant churches do though, in no uncertain fashion... the term 'Bible-thumping' is very apposite.
It seems to me that people turn to religion to evade the cold rationality of real present-day life. Childish and gutless.
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One day I shall get round to reading about the "ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421"
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.
^_^
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They are not welcome at our house. The missus has put a notice in the porch. Salesmen too.
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The mother of a kid I knew used to do the rounds for the Jovies in the area where I grew up. I now blush to say we used to wait till she was knocking on doors and then let down her bicycle tyres.
My friend's parents were Jovies and they really, really didn't do Christmas for his kids, the miserable bleeders. I hope they got what they wanted, wherever they are now - but I rather think they were doomed to disappointment...
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True story, I swear.
Years ago a good friend of mine got a visit from an attractive young Jehovah or similar type when his wife was at her regular weekly bingo with his mother. He quite fancied her so he feigned interest and invited her round at the same time next week and it became a regular thing, with her thinking she was converting him. Even when she had to reject a few minor advances she kept coming back, then one week he went out to the kitchen on the pretext of making a cup of tea and came back in stark naked and in an obvious state of excitement, thinking that might do the trick. She left immediately as you can gather, making it plain she was not "That type of girl".
The very next week she was back on the doorstep again to continue her conversion attempt...but this time she had a male companion with her. This was the moment he had to make it plain he was not "That type of bloke".
You could get away with that sort of thing back then as women felt they had to put up with it. Today it would be a question of how many years you got.
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Chuckle. It's rude to point!
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When I left London I took a temp rental house in the local town here in South Devon. My wife was heavily pregnant at the time and one morning we were expecting the midwife for a last check before the due date.
The doorbell went, I answered it, two ladies of middling years... I assumed they were the midwife and her assistant or something like that and just said "Hi, come in".
They looked a bit surprised and didn't seem to want to.
Then I saw a lady parked across the road, struggling to get a heavy bag out of her car and looking across to our house.
Then I noticed the copy of Watchtower in the two ladies hand....
I just burst out laughing and told them I thought they were the midwife... they looked at me as if I was mad..and cleared off sharpish.
Never saw them again, I assume I got put on the local nutter's list.
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>> True story, I swear.
>>
>> Years ago a good friend of mine got a visit from an attractive young Jehovah
>> or similar type when his wife was at her regular weekly bingo with his mother.
>> He quite fancied her so he feigned interest and invited her round at the same
>> time next week and it became a regular thing, with her thinking she was converting
>> him. Even when she had to reject a few minor advances she kept coming back,
>> then one week he went out to the kitchen on the pretext of making a
>> cup of tea and came back in stark naked and in an obvious state of
>> excitement, thinking that might do the trick. She left immediately as you can gather, making
>> it plain she was not "That type of girl".
>>
>> The very next week she was back on the doorstep again to continue her conversion
>> attempt...but this time she had a male companion with her. This was the moment he
>> had to make it plain he was not "That type of bloke".
>>
>> You could get away with that sort of thing back then as women felt they
>> had to put up with it. Today it would be a question of how many
>> years you got.
Shouldn't this be in the terrible old jokes thread.
;-)
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Welcome to our church - WillDeBeest
