Posted on 06/18/2007 8:34:53 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
If you live in Southern Arizona — whether it's in an apartment, trailer, house or ranch — you should expect a knock during the next three weeks.
It doesn't matter whether you rent or own, whether you are in Oro Valley or Sahuarita, or whether your house is high on a hill surrounded by a wall and a mile from the road. It doesn't matter whether you are in a gated community or a retirement home.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are pledging to personally deliver you an invitation to their regional convention in July.
On Friday, Tucson-area Jehovah's Witnesses began a blanket knocking campaign to all of Pima County's 1 million residents. Witnesses living in outlying Southern Arizona communities, including Douglas and Bisbee, are planning a similar campaign.
Of course, you might not be home. Or you might shut the door before they get a chance to speak, which happens to them on occasion.
But the local Jehovah's Witnesses say that's OK. They just want a chance to invite each and every local resident to attend their upcoming regional convention, which is titled "Follow the Christ" and will be held over three weekends at the Tucson Convention Center beginning July 6.
"We don't gauge success by positive response," explained Rob Soler, a U.S. Postal Service employee and local Jehovah's Witness elder.
Soler, who is 40, has been sharing his faith by going door-to-door since he was 5 years old. Jehovah's Witnesses spend an average of nine hours per month knocking on doors. The campaign to reach all Southern Arizonans in three weeks will likely double those hours, Soler estimated.
About 6,500 Jehovah's Witnesses live in the Tucson area, and all who are physically able will be doing the door-to-door campaign, said Gerry Wilhelm, another Tucson Jehovah's Witness elder and the news service coordinator for the local group. Witnesses who go door-to-door are called "publishers."
"You could probably find 50 families in a morning with this particular campaign," Wilhelm said. "On a typical Saturday morning we prefer to have longer discussions. This campaign will be shorter visits."
Adherents believe each Witness should share God's word in the Bible, which is why they go door-to-door around the world offering biblical literature. They read a version of the Bible called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, published by the legal corporation under which they work, the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.
The Witnesses tried a similar personal invitation campaign for last year's convention and guess they reached about 85 percent of Pima County's households, which in the 2000 census numbered nearly 330,000. This year they are aiming for 100 percent.
Neighborhood leaders seem to accept their plan. "In my neighborhood, who knows what is going to be on the other side of the door? It could be a surprise for them," said Amphitheater Neighborhood Association's Rick Wicinski. "But I think they are great people. I've had no problems with them. I have my own personal beliefs, and I always explain that to them — everyone should." Similarly, Vista Del Monte Neighborhood Association president Katy Brown doesn't anticipate any problems in her neighborhood.
"Though, people don't necessarily like door-to-door knocking — it's a stranger thing," Brown added.
When a small Ohio town tried several years ago to regulate the door-to-door proselytizing, their lawyers argued that it was reasonable to consider "the right of homeowners to security, privacy and peacefulness in their homes." However, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2002.
The door-to-door ministry is protected by the First Amendment, said Carl Raschke, a professor of religious studies at the University of Denver who has written about and studied the Jehovah's Witnesses, and classifies their house-to-house visits as "high-powered sales."
"One thing I will say about them personally — I experienced this when I was very young — is that if you give them an opening and invite them in, they are persistent and aggressive in getting their message across.
"From my own experience, if you give them an inch, they'll take at least two."
Soler says the publishers are respectful. They never knock on residences with "no trespassing" signs, and in gated communities and nursing homes, they always seek permission before entering, he said. If someone isn't home, they will leave an invitation in a discreet place that's not visible from the street, he said.
"When people let us know they are busy, we just move on. We're not going to stick our foot in the door or anything."
Although the Witnesses believe their eternal salvation depends on their publishing, they do not believe that anyone's response to them is entirely their responsibility, said David L. Weddle, a professor of religion at Colorado College who wrote about the Jehovah's Witness faith for the 2004 Encyclopedia of Protestantism.
"They wholeheartedly believe in personal freedom, including anyone's right to refuse to listen to them," Weddle said. "They have nothing to sell and are forbidden by their own beliefs from engaging in any political activity. They come with no motive other than to persuade people of the truth of their teachings."
Weddle says the only other group in the U.S. that regularly uses door-to-door calling as a method of spreading its message is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The difference is that Mormons expect only young people for a limited time in their lives to engage in such missions. Door-to-door publishing is a requirement for all active members of the Jehovah's Witness faith who are physically able.
They have a strong motivation to share their message. At Armageddon, believers will be resurrected and have everlasting life in a paradise on Earth, they say.
"Part of our job is to make disciples," Soler said. "But we also believe, living in the last days, that we're doing warning work. We're giving an opportunity to let people know about the end being close. It's up to the individual to respond to that. … We really feel like we owe that to our neighbors."
Though Soler says he's had some scary situations with dogs, he says door-to-door ministry is not as discouraging as one might think.
"You'd be surprised how decent people are," he said. "We have pleasant conversations almost every morning we're out."
I’ll be suprised if they show up in my neighborhood. They’ve been skipping the old Mormon settlement for as long as I’ve lived there.
My dog loves unannounced/unwelcome visitors. :)
I don’t live in AZ, but I don’t mind them coming by. Not that I invite them in but we seem to find other things to talk about. I can think of worse unannounced visitors. I recall one JW lady who was pretty hot too. (i’m probably gonna pay for that.)
That wasn't my experience, but I only knew one lady. She was a black lady named Pollyanna, and that was such a mind-blower to me that I said, "Come on in!" Because I had to know more about her just on the basis of that alone. She was very nice. She came by three or four times over the course of a year, and I'd have her in, give her some ice water (because it was really hot and humid), and we'd talk. She never got anywhere with me but it's fun sometimes to talk to someone from a completely different walk of life.
Time to answer the door naked again...
Any fresh news on the Pyramid?
I always tell to come back on their birthday.
I love it when JWs or the Mormons show up at my door. I invite them in and ask them to study the Bible with me. I take the opportunity to share the Gospel message with them, using Scripture.
The same thing always happens, though. They always have a pressing appointment to attend, and bug out quickly. They always say they’ll follow up to arrange further Bible studies, but never do.
I always hold out hope that one of them will see the Light of the Gospel.
As do I. I've done that for the past 20 years. No matter where I've been stationed...it seems that they only visit once.
When I was in college I used to call the number to have them stop by because I was interested... only I would give them a friends name and address.
Well if folks do not want to attend the “convention” and mass baptism they can always wait for the Mormons that would never invite them into the temple but will baptize them after they are dead.
Personally I never open my door to anyone
2Jo 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed:
Just talking about the blood of Jesus Christ is usually enough to make them move on.
They give the usual “our bible is from the most accurate manuscripts” declaration. IIRC, their version has deleted Isaiah 9:6, among others. They also don’t agree that the “Alpha and Omega” in Rev. 1 is Jesus Christ.
They refuse medical blood transfusions, even in life threatening instances, as if their blood is sinless and pure; ignoring the scripture: “..flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”.
Nice people, but they need the truth.
i don’t worry about them these days...there are too many heretics and heresies within the church to concern myself with those outside the church.
And I, as well.
More than once, I’ve walked after them into the street waving my Bible, saying “but it says here...”
I have sometimes greeted them with an invitation to pray. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” They usually wince. If they look like they need some full theological engagement, I’ll recite the Nicene Creed. I’ve actually had two leave. Funny, that...
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