Oh boy. Ironic that this question was posted because I have been having this problem a lot lately. I am a major JW magnet. Not sure why, I guess I look like I need to be saved? I have tried numerous things in the past. Everything from inviting them in, trying to have a two way discussion with them, realizing that's not possible, to politely saying no and closing the door, to hiding in my house and not answering the door. The funny thing is, I have MANY JW's in my family. My mother is one, all my aunts and uncles are, and most of my cousins. So I am MORE than familiar with the religion since I spent my entire childhood in Kingdom Halls. My latest problem is here at my house that I bought a year and a half ago. They are relentless. I mean relentless. The same group comes almost every week, but at least every other week. One problem is that I cannot see out of that side of the house. There are literally no windows. I keep meaning to install a peephole but haven't yet. Times when I've ignored a knock I've regretted it because it turned out to be an important delivery, etc. I have no way of knowing who is at the door until I open it (that's another reason I want a peephole, because that's just scary). Anyway, this latest group of Witnesses just won't take no for an answer. My problem may be that I am too polite. I think they see it as hope and continue to pursue me, even though I think I am pretty clear when I tell them that half my family are Witnesses, I'm more than familiar with it, but I'm a devout Buddhist and firm in my own beliefs, etc. They come anyway. I don't even mention that I'm Buddhist anymore because they use that as an opportunity to tell me what's so wrong with that, even though I would never dream of telling them the problems I have with their religion.
I went to take a picture just now of a sign I made and hung on my door last week, but I couldn't get a good shot because it's laminated and the spot light is reflecting off it. But it says: "Please Do Not Disturb (I'm already disturbed), and Please Do Not Leave Literature (The trees need saving more than I do)". My hope is that this will be a humorous but effective approach, but I have to wait and see. I've even asked my aunt, who I am very close with for her advice. She's a Witness. I tell her what I say and how they keep coming back, and she says they should not be coming back and that it isn't a good example of how Witnesses should act. So I don't know what else to do. And they usually come very early when I am asleep and I hate being woken up from a sound sleep and answering the door in a bathrobe when I live alone, but I am always afraid I will miss someone important. Anyone who knows me knows that I really do enjoy various beliefs, I love that we all have our own cultures, beliefs, etc. I genuinely DO respect their beliefs. I just don't appreciate the knocking every other week. If it were different people each time I could say "Well, they didn't know, it's okay" but it IS the same people every time (although sometimes it's the same Elder with different newcomers). I look at them honestly and nicely and say "PLEASE, you really need to stop knocking. You're waking me up, you startle me with the loud knock, I live alone, please just stop". And they literally ignore me and say "Well, funny you should mention that, because this latest issue talks about sleep deprivation and what you can do about it". It's so frustrating because I don't want to be rude, but they aren't respecting my privacy and REPEATED requests not to knock.
