I just put a "No Solicitation" sign on my door-will that keep those relgious nuts from bothering me?

[LynneSin]

I love my house but one of the annoying features are the religious crazies.

Every weekend without fail someone is knocking on my door insisting I start attending their rinky-dink church. I'm not sure about your city but our city - every abandon house/office space seems to be popping up some crazy named church that thinks since they exist all the neighbors are just dying to attend. Why they stop on my street is nuts because most of the people attend the big Catholic Church that is a block away (and those people NEVER go door to door).

So I invested 99 cents on a nice "No Soliciting Sign" - seriously, are these religious crazies obligated to respect that and if they don't can I call the cops on them to get them to stop bothering me?

[freshwest]

1. Hope it works better than the 'do not call' list did.

[Kali]

2. no that won't work - they think those are for sales people

and they don't have enough self-awareness to know that is all they are too

you need one of those circle with a slash "NO" stickers that has a picture of missionaries and a cross, somebody will post it soon, I am sure (I'll look but I am slow) found some

generic xtian





specific Mormon

[Incitatus]

6. omg

Thank you for posting those.

:hi:

[freshwest]

10. 'they don't have enough self-awareness to know that is all they are too' is so true!

But the one they're really selling the most is themselves. And they want you to agree, so THEY won't be going to hell!

[rug]

3. No Girl Scout cookies for you.

[LynneSin]

7. I've got 82 trillion coworkers selling girlscout cookies at work

so that area is covered!

[Phentex]

4. Mine adds "unless you are a Girl Scout" and it has worked!...

Most people glance and turn around or they don't even come up to the door.

It sounds old and crotchety but I just got tired of salespeople and scammers.

[Incitatus]

5. lol, no nt

[mreilly]

8. I hate to sound extreme but...

... I don't answer my door any more if I don't know the person. PERIOD. If it's not a Jehovah's witness then it's someone selling something - usually scam-related. I had a guy come around selling magazine subscriptions a little while ago. He seemed OK and I thought it might be nice to get "Boy's Life" for my son since I enjoyed that as a kid - but then the bozo blew it by immediately putting me down for a 3-year subscription at $71. No "Do you want 3 years?" No "How long do you want the subscription for?" Nope, he just immediately tried to screw me and I canceled the transaction and sent him packing.

I got fed up after that, thinking "Why should I be at someone else's mercy for this crap if they knock on my door; why should I listen to some spiel, sales pitch, sob story or some other crap? It's my freaking house, and I'm not going to be made to put up with that when I'm home!" There is no reason whatsoever to buy something from a stranger at your door, and as for charity contributions we do enough of that on our own, I feel.

The way I see it, in this day and age of ubiquitous cell phones, if someone needs help they can likely call for it themselves. Yes, if I see a flaming wreck and someone knocks on my door to get help of course I'll assist, but otherwise I just ignore the door-knockers. If one gets persistent I'll just yell "We don't want anything!" and then tell them to leave on their own or with police assistance if it continues.

[LynneSin]

13. Yes but the problem is this - I can't see who is at the door without...

walking downstairs and looking through the peephole. I mean it could be someone who I would actually like to see. A few times I have opened the door and if they are holding pamphlets I just slam the door shut without saying hello.

What really annoys me is I'll get these visits early Saturday or Sunday morning when I would rather be sleeping in.

[TorchTheWitch]

41. put up a sign that says you are a day sleeper

and people should knock or ring at their own peril.

I never answer the door. Anyone that knows me knows that I don't appreciate surprise visits and they need to call first to see if it is ok to come over. I find it rude to just pop in on people and would never do that myself. You never know what you may be interrupting. I could be sleeping or sick or in the bath or sitting on the toilet or having sex or on the phone or just don't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment.

Everyone has a phone attached to them these days. How hard is it to call first? It's just bad manners to just show up at someone's home unannounced and expect them to stop whatever they're doing for you. I think that's just really selfish behavior. This is especially bothersome to me because I'm a small woman living alone in a rather bad neighborhood. Anytime someone knocks on my door when I'm not expecting anyone especially at night it's frightening. I don't even have a peephole and there's no way I can see who is at the door without actually opening it, and there's no way I'll do that, ever. I don't even want to stop what I'm doing and go to the door in the first place, and if some asshole wakes me up knocking on my door that REALLY pisses me off. The jackasses that have the nerve to keep knocking when I haven't come to the door deserve to be shot... there is a deep reason I did not answer the door after the first knock!

I'm going to have a sign made that says:

"1) If I don't know you get off my porch.
2) If I do know you and you didn't call first I no longer know you (Refer back to #1).
3) If I do know you and don't like you, run."

[RedCloud]

9. This may help too...

http://www.amazon.com/Deceptions-Myths-Bible-Lloyd-Graham/dp/0806511249

But I wouldn't buy it until I read the very latest review...;)

[RedCloud]

11. What chickens! They did not even publish it...

[LynneSin]

15. I'm not anti-Christian. I'm a church goer myself

I happen to go to the local Presbyterian church, a really nice one about 8 blocks away.

I'm sure this is common in most urban areas, but these unaffiliated churches tend to pop up alot in the cities. Now I'm all for supporting the lil guys but I have alot of distrust for these churches. A church with an affiliation (ie Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc.) means if there is questionable activities at least you have an authority to go to. I think some of these churches really are more like some mail-order pastor decides to create a non-profit church and see how much money he/she can rake it from the locals. Their churches tend to be placed in houses & office buildings that were probably abandoned for a bit of time - usually not any kind of church like building. Just seems a bit fishy to me, but that's just my 2 cents.

[HopeHoops]

12. No. "My dog is an athiest - AND HE'S HUGE AND MEAN!"

THAT sign will keep them away.

[hobbit709]

14. I used to have a sign in Headhunter font

all the letters are made of bones. It said
"IF YOU'RE HERE TO PREACH OR PRAY
IT'S BEST IF YOU JUST GO AWAY"

A friend of mine keeps an assortment of skulls on her porch. That deters a lot of them.

[hunter]

16. I usually let the garden gnomes have their way with them.

My own little clan of Gernumbli gardensi are especially foul mouthed and sacrilegious.

They tend to bite too, often with hilarious consequences...

Have you ever seen a couple of Jehovah's Witness afflicted by a sudden urge to sing and dance like Madonna? Yes, that Madonna...

wikipedia

[Optimus_Prime]

17. Speaking as an ex-Jehovah's Witness

Nope, that won't happen.

They'll still keep on coming.

They have monthly hourly quotas to meet (no joke).

[LiberalAndProud]

26. How does one become and exJW?

Ignore me if this is too personal, but I am fascinated by these kinds of accounts. I am intrigued to understand the process of stepping away from faith outside of my own personal experience.

[Optimus_Prime]

31. It's never easy becoming an ex-JW

This is because the religion is all or nothing. Their entire social network (friends and family) revolves around the religion. You're discouraged from having any close relationships without anyone outside the religion because they're "bad association". This includes friendships and dating.

I began having doubts about "The Truth" (this is how Jehovah's Witnesses refer to their own religion) in high school. Who cares if someone believed in something different than I did? They were still good people and I knew that. However the religion could not and did not allow for this distinction.

Without going into the entire story (and it's a LONG one), I eventually stopped going to church meetings. I essentially faded out. It's weird to think about because there was a time when I left the church doors, not knowing that THAT would be the last time I ever stepped foot inside the building ever again. To this day, I still can't pinpoint the exact time and day.

Essentially this "fadeaway" is how my family is still "allowed" by the church to talk to me. I never officially resigned from the church. To my knowledge, I'm still considered an "inactive" Jehovah's Witness. However, if I ever decided to officially renounce the faith (this is called "disassociation"), my family would most likely limit contact with me. The fact that the Jehovah's Witnesses are so LEGALISTIC in how they deal with dissenters is tantamount to emotional blackmail. This is one of the MANY reasons why I have never looked back since leaving this mind-controlling cult when I was 17.

[LiberalAndProud]

33. Thank you for sharing that.

Do you still believe, then, in the context of a more liberal belief system? In other words, would you still identify yourself as a Chrisian and a Theist?

[Optimus_Prime]

35. Actually I don't

I'm currently a proud atheist and have been one for quite some time.

The way I see it is that atheism is the default position that everyone is born into.

No one is born with an inherent belief in a particular god or religion. Rather it is something that is taught to them, indoctrinated really. It is entirely circumstantial and arbitrary which religious tradition you are eventually taught.

Everyone in the world is in fact an atheist. Humanity no longer believes in 99.9% of all the gods and religions that have ever been worshipped in history. We no longer believe in Thor or Zeus or Ra or Ba'al or Quetzalcoatl. The only difference between me and other religious people is that I go one god further.

[LiberalAndProud]

36. Congratulations.

I had more of a conversion experience myself, rather than a fading away. But I find myself moving now into the antitheist realm as I begin to explore religion from outside of the belief system.

[sarge43]

46. So far I got them to stay away.

A couple of years ago one showed up which should have alerted me as they tend to travel in packs. As I always do I began to politely explain hubby and I are retired military and unless we renounce our citizenship or are convicted of a federal felony, we can't be J-Ws. She got an ugly look, said "Oh government service" (hostile tone), damn near spat on the ground and flounced off. Okey dookey.

The next time the pack appeared about three months later, I told them what happened and said they were no longer welcome. Further told them if another J-W comes on our property again, I'll consider them trespassers and call the police.

Haven't seen any since. A shame because with that one exception they seem nice albeit a tad weird people.

[TZ]

18. Uh no. My association bars solicitors and has that posted

Doesn't stop them. Rules don't apply to them ya know. I just rarely answer the door

[BlueIris]

19. Covering your house in gay pride/pro-marriage equality stuff would probably work better.

Just a thought.

[LynneSin]

20. Are you kidding me? They'd probably be there by the carful trying to save my ass

Some of these groups like to "Pray away the gay"

[krispos42]

21. Check out my avatar

;-)

[RebelOne]

22. I usually let them go through their spiel about Jesus

and waste their breath, and then I tell them, thank you, but no thank you. I am an atheist. Usually, they go away. If they don't, I just close the door in their faces. I had a Rottweiler who would sit at the window, and when they saw her, they would not come to the door. But unfortunately, I had to send her to doggie heaven last July.

[NightWatcher]

23. try one that says "Caution: Nudists Inside. Salesmen Beware"

[Taverner]

24. Let me suggest this sign...

[lumpy]

25. Hasn't worked for us. Seem people don't the meaning of the

word solicitation.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. They don't know what "No Solicitors" means.

Whether they are JWs or actual salespeople.

I had to explain to a woman why you don't answer the door to people you don't know.

I told her about felony rape cases i had taken down in court.

some girl in an apartment would have a guy knock on her door late at night, say he had to check her air conditioner or some such line of bull, force his way in and rape her.

It could happen at any time of the day or night. I don't return phone calls either if someone does not leave a message.

[Old Troop]

27. I doubt that it will be effective. Those folks don't see themselves

as solicitors, rather, they are doing God's work.

[applegrove]

29. I read the abridged and friendly version of the old testament a decade ago. I'd just

tell them that I'd read it and such religious types would leave me alone.

[Redstone]

30. Just answer the door nekkid (like I do) and they'll go away. Of course, that

doesn't take into account that your nekkidness is very likely not as unattractive as mine is, but even so, it might fluster them to the point of making them go away.


Or tell them, "I am a Rastazobrastian, and our religion demands that we slay all unbelievers." (Works best if you have a sword in your hand.)

Redstone

[oneshooter]

32. Put the sign up, then answer your door with a shotgun in one hand........

Point to the sign with the other hand and shout "Are you a complete IDIOT or can you just not READ! Then slam the door. Works for me.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Hotler]

34. There is guy down the street from me with a sign...

on his door that says"If you are selling religion I'm not buying.".

[Brickbat]

37. Try these signs instead;

[nolabear]

38. Maybe an upside down crucifix.

Pentagram? VooDoo doll in a glass case with a "In case of Jehovah Witnesses Break Glass" sign?

[BiggJawn]

39. "People who believe in Hell Deserve it"

Sign on my door, doesn't work.

[HipChick]

40. I open the door, tell them I'm a witch..

see how it goes from there

[tabbycat31]

42. I tell political canvassers to ignore no soliciting signs

[sakabatou]

43. No, because they believe they're not selling anything

You should get this instead:

[JitterbugPerfume]

44. the last time a Jovie came to my door

I was ready for her. I knew she was a jovie because she had on a peach colored shirtwaist dress that was ugly in the 1960s when it was made.Her hair style matched the dress in ugliness ,and the guy in a polyester suit with enough oil in his hair to supply a small country for a year was carrying a white bible


I opened the door and before she could say a word I said

I AM AN ATHEIST


she said Are you sure?

I said POSITIVE

she said can I leave some literature

I said NO

They scuttled away to my neighbors house where they gained entry.

That was a couple of years ago . They must have put a hex on my property because they don't
stop here no mo'

[JitterbugPerfume]

45. I realise this would be a different story

if i lived in a city instead of the boondocks of northern Indiana

[felix_numinous]

47. This worked for me:

No Solicitors
Including Religious Solicitors



Good Luck!!! :)