SELLING RELIGION DOOR TO DOOR: JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

It is not my habit to be rude to anyone.  A few weeks ago two women came to my door.  The peephole showed me pamphlets so I knew what they were about.  I chose to open my door and speak with them.  While there is no one who can talk me into believing the Bible, that does not prove their is nothing I can be taught.  I was interested in what these two women might say to my challenges to their religion-speak.  We exchanged views and they left as unchanged in their views as I was in mine, though it had (surprisingly to me) been an interesting exchange and, like all have previously been with super religious people, I come away from the talk marveling at how someone can have so much faith in something I can't believe.  I envy their leaving so much choice to faith but would feel powerless and naked if I tried to emulate that faith.

A few days ago one of the same women knocked on my door.  She was accompanied by a younger woman than before who, through her stillness, was clearly 'breaking in'.  I was pleased to see the familiar face..  I explained that I could not find the passage she had wanted me to read so I she gave me a new one.  She remembered our conversation as she told me that it was good to question and that the Scriptures tell us that.  Part of my feedback was that I could not understand why I need confirmation from the scriptures that it was okay to ask while yet there were no answers to my questions.  Going on to say to them that the Bible was not helpful to me, that I didn't need the Ten Commandments from it as I followed them on my own principles.  I do nothing to hurt people; and try to follow the laws of my country, state, and city, while making no promises that I didn't intend to keep, and live by the Golden Rule..

Later, in relating this visit to another, I was informed he would have slammed the door on them, they would have been told get off his porch.  He seems to have little time for ideas not his own.  This is the antithesis of the way I live.  I listen to all people's ideas (at least once) and am constantly rethinking my own views, though at my age I pretty much know in what I believe and how I choose to live my life. There is no understanding for me as to why one would choose to do door-to-door attempts to educate people who do not solicit the teaching.  It was not necessary to suggest how wasted I see their lives when they could be doing so much to help people who needed it, wanted it, and would benefit from it.  Nevertheless, I will continue to respond to people who are doing their service to their church whether it is Mormon, Unification, Jehovah's Witness or any other.  If they think they have the answer, they must face someone who feels the knowledge of another truth.  The difference between us is that I don't have to leave my home to do it! I do not need to prove to God, through people not in contact with a God, that I live as I choose, think as I choose, and fear no negative consequences in their 'after-life'.

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AT MY DOOR

At 10 AM my doorbell rang. As I expected no one, I looked through the peephole and noticed two women holding leaflets. They shoved a leaflet in my hand as I opened the door and began to talk to me in pleasant and polite tones. I stopped them mid-sentence to let them know that I respected their right to their beliefs but that I did not share them. I told them I had met a Congregational minister recently whom I respected for his sharing that the Bible should not be taken literally and other aspects of religion as most people practiced it. I found it refreshing to have spoken with someone who, I felt, understood my questions and didn't try to convince me otherwise.

The conversation went on to my challenging these women about the Bible having been written by men; we have no proof that it was written by God through mortals. I shared that I did not believe in Genesis as described in the Bible, I believed in evolution, and that I do not think man is the highest power but, whatever that power may be, man was not made in its image. We played a bit with their disagreement that the Power might be a something rather than a someone.

Admittedly, I often perversely engage in these discussions because it has always intrigued me that people can so quickly believe that which is unprovable. Not to belabor the description of this contact, when asked I told them that I had more than one copy of the Bible in the house, had read much of it and have not changed my opinion of the words in the book for more than 60 years. I said I live by the Golden Rule, follow the 10 commandments and believe myself to live as a better person than many who sin and go to church for absolution only to go out and commit the same sins over again, taking no personal responsibility for their behavior.

After a several minute chat to a Mexican stand-off, to my surprise, both women thanked me for my courtesy in listening to them, despite my difference in beliefs. They said they thought I was a nice person to have been friendly to them as many people just slammed the door in their face. I mentioned I would never be rude to any human being who had done me no harm. I wanted to tell them I thought they were wasting a potentially good life but figured my opinion was worthless, showing only my own prejudices. I wished them more success in their day than they had with me and they smiled and said they considered their interaction with me a worthwhile stop.

When they left, I wondered what had happened in that meeting. Clearly their age and racial difference suggested we must have had and led very different lives. I shared that I wish I believed in prayer and God but had learned that my life is dependent solely on my own decisions and actions. This elicited a smile of approval from both women. My understanding that 'God helps those who help themselves' brought yet another smile of approval. It was clear that whether we believed the same story book or not, our life values were quite similar. It is unlikely we would become enemies for believing differently since our outward behaviors to fellow man and the world is no differentiated by religion. In all, I found it a very worthwhile 29 minutes near the start of my day.