I guess I could have told them on the first day that they were probably wasting their time. However, Jehovah's Witnesses get credit for knocking on doors and giving out their message. It helps them get to Paradise.
They probably starting coming about eight years ago. Frank was nice guy who liked my dog, and I didn't mind listening to him. He would read little passages from the Bible, and I didn't say much. He had retired from Pepsi-Cola, and I had worked briefly for Pepsi in the 1960's.
In January of last year Frank suffered an aortic aneurysm. Whether he elected not to have surgery or it wasn't possible, I don't know, but Frank passed away. I went to his memorial service at the Kingdom Hall.
After that, Frank's friend Peter started coming to the door. Peter was far more intense than Frank. When I didn't respond properly to his message, he started warning me about my fate. I told him that the Bible needed to be interpreted; that you couldn't accept every word literally. Gradually our relationship deteriorated.
Last fall, we agreed that Peter wouldn't come to my house anymore. His partner tried to object, saying that she would rather argue with me than have the door slammed in her face. Peter overruled her. He said that what I meant by "interpreting" the Bible was "twisting" it.
I once asked Peter if all Jehovah's Witnesses thought exactly the same way. He assured me that they did and what was wrong with that? I thought about freedom of thought and respect for the opinions of others, but didn't press it.
I was concerned that although my next door neighbour had never witnessed to me, he is a Jehovah's Witness, and maybe our relationship would be damaged. We didn't seem to speak for awhile. He came over last week to ask a favour, though, so I guess we're still getting along.
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