Jehovah's Witnesses face gunfire at 'Catholic home'

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I kinda wish some non-Christians did it.. I'd love to have a Jew, Buddhist, Hindi, or a Muslim knock on my door. I think there's no better way to learn what someone believes then from them themselves... However, it's not really cool to sit down next to someone in the lunch room or standing next to them in the grocery line and say, "Ok, tell me about your religion..." But then, world religions is kinda my fascination.

Sorry, but it seems to me the religious stuff is obfuscating things in this case. It is a shame the man got arrested for harassment, because well... Let us null the religious stuff. There are two women in your house, And they don't want to leave. What exactly do you do? That is an invasion of your home. And it does not matter what the reasons they had to invade your home or what reasons you had not to want them. It does not change that it was an invasion. Shooting a gun is disproportionate retribution, but the article mentions nothing about the guy aiming at them when shooting the gun and they were no injuries. I'd say firing a gun to scare invaders away is one of your few resources to defend your house.

You feel free to go door to door trying to convert people. But if the people that live in the house, leave, for god's sake.

There are some lame comments in the pages of that article. "I've had Jehova witnesses come at my home blah blah blah". Sure, me to, but they don't enter my home and when they are at my door and I ask them to leave they leave. What these two specific witnesses were doing was invading homes of people they knew did not want to be preached and staying after being told repeatedly to leave. It may be legal to knock doors, it is not to invade property.

Last edited by Vexcalibur on 02 May 2011, 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would agree.. but the article doesn't say they were IN his house.....


They came to the door. The husband was not in the home. He went into the home, got a gun and fired shots as the women walked back to their car....
Yes, they should have left when asked... Hell no, he didn't have a right to threaten them with a gun.... and I'm sorry.. pulling out a gun and firing it is a "show of force" and is threatening.

It is threatening and a show of force because you need to defend your home.

Even if they stay at the front of your door yelling stuff at you it is at the very least harassment.

You are right the article didn't specify if the women were inside the house. Note that it works both ways, there is no indication they stayed outside the house. I noted this though:

"The police took pictures of the bullets in her yard".

Helps me conclude the preachers were inside the yard, which is already part of the Catholics' property.

Last edited by Vexcalibur on 02 May 2011, 11:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree.. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can be a little pushy with their cute little uniforms and tasty treats.. Next time they try to sweet talk me when I've said no, should I just fire a shot into the ground to scare them off?

You are trying to put a cute face on theoretical invaders so that it looks less wrong to invade.

Boy scouts and scout girls usually leave if they annoy you, and if they don't, then you can yell at them or something and they will be scared. They are kids after all.

A car parked inside your yard tough is pretty much harder to handle, how do you make a car go away of your property? Asking them gently surely didn't work. A car is staying for 10 minutes inside your yard. Really, that is not nice. Cars are dangerous tools and I would not like to have to deal with an unwanted car myself. It is easy to destroy other people's stuff and bodies when you are inside a car and the people aren't. In fact, once you realize that the witnesses were in a car, it also shows that the man was in no way aiming at them. It is absurdly easy to shoot a car, so clearly that was not the intention with the gun fire.

If it was a car of black people with loud rap music, the man wouldn't have been arrested. But surely because the car had preachers we have to assume that they invading a person's property with a car is all right and good business.

Last edited by Vexcalibur on 02 May 2011, 11:32 pm, edited 6 times in total.

I believe a good deal of problems in America could be solved if people watched Sesame Street daily. I am sure Big Bird or someone else told you to never open your door unless you knew the person. That way, it avoids the situation where the block turns into Messwitme Street with the guns going off while Simon Soundman is nowhere to be found.

First they're home invaders, then parked in the yard... There's nothing that says they were in the yard. I've never had a JW park in the drive, they've always parked at the curb.. But whatever.. if you think it's logical to shoot at unarmed people because you don't think they're leaving fast enough ... Perhaps your should post signs outside of your home.. Rational people who don't want "intruders" do that. God forbid he go inside his house and lock the damn door.

I am not saying that I think that the women were in the right. They SHOULD have left when asked.. However.. to call them INVADERS is ridiculous. To shoot at them is psychotic.

The yard was wrongly used as a word but assuming the stuff found in the article is true. The car was clearly in the Catholics' property. In their driveway. The article states that the bullets fired to the ground near the car were found in the Catholics' yard. Only explanation is that the car was inside property. Or that the article is failing to explain things.

And the gun fire was excessive, but I am not sure what else could they have done. If gently asking to leave is not enough then what would you do? To call it psychotic is out of line. Psychological issues are an explanation because he was going through tons of stress but that is not the same as he being a psycho.

On top of that, the guy is being arrested for terrorism? Harassment, misuse of arms, and many other charges make sense. But terroristic threats? Seriously?

Even if there were people at your door and not in your property if they don't leave after you ask and stay in front of your door preaching it is at least harassment. If an ex boyfriend would do that it would be enough for a court order, apparently preaching makes you immune to those things.

By that same token, if the churches were doing there job, I wouldn't be repeatedly annoyed by religious people knocking at my door at 8am on Saturday morning twice a month trying to hand me leaflets or wearing white shirts and ties asking to come inside my home.

F*** all that. If I want you, I will come find you. I do not appreciate people coming to my door, especially not that time of day. I absolutely do not appreciate strangers asking to come inside my house, with my child inside, at this day and age. And furthermore, all of these comments about it being so uncommon for JW's to behave that way is comical to me. Only half of them that ever came to my door took a "no thank you" as an answer. The other half stubbornly tried to continue a conversation and/or pass me leaflets through the screen door. None of them seemed able to understand what "no soliciting" means - and the ones that didn't respond to the polite "no thank you" got a door slammed in their face. And that's mostly because I don't have a garden hose, and don't own a gun. I do, however, own a black dildo, and that's a damned good idea for next time.

Seriously. Why do you need to recruit? Really? Are you building an army?

I agree, terrorism is also ridiculous. And, I would have no problem if he had obtained a court order... however, posting "No Trespassing" or "No Soliciting" signs would probably be a wise first step... Even a "I Don't Want Any Of Your Damn Religions" sign...

The article states that he first started yelling from across the street, ran into the home and got the gun... WHY the women didn't leave then? I have no idea... it was improper on their part.. And yes, that would be harassment. I just feel that maybe he should have taken his wife inside, closed and locked the door, and called the police... If the police didn't respond, I'd see more of a reason for the desperation of resorting to the gun. I just don't find his progression of actions to be rational or excusable..

That would be nice. What ever happened to the Hare Krishnas? They were kind of big in the '60's but I haven't heard of them since, and I don't think they went door to door even then. I would like to know more about them. I also wouldn't mind if some sufis (Islamic mystics) came by, but I don't they go door to door either.

I am afraid it is only Christians who do that, taking “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” as a personal command forgetting that the gospel was fresh news when that was first said. I don't think there is much hope for anyone else doing it.

If muslims wen door to door, more people would probably pull guns and barricade themselves than accept tracts.


No because most people want them to come back when they have money to spare or are off their diet. The girl scouts make cookies that I'm always tempted to spend money I shouldn't on and bust my diet. Same with the boy scout popcorn!

Sadly, you're probably right about the effect of Muslim doorknockers.

Good point.. Having been a Cub Scout mom... I've acquired quite a need for the chocolate caramel corn.... s'yummy..

I've gone out in service most of my life and I have never heard of any witnesses knocking on doors at 8 in the morning. In fact we meet for field service on Saturdays at 9:30am and don't actually start until 10. When you say we come knocking on your door at 8am on Saturday morning you're perpetuating one of the many lies people say about us.

^^^
If a solicitor came to my house at 8am they would definitely get marched off my property at the end of a garden hose!