OPINION: Until something out of the ordinary happens, we don't much notice some things around us, like traffic, noise, tides, scenery, the routines of life.

Take religion. It's been here in the form of distinctive buildings and collective consciences much longer than any of us.

Our responses range from personal commitment to disavowal, the latter by more than half the population these days.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Jim Tucker would like to wander around an advertisment free Pukekura Park.

As far back as I can remember there has been a particular reminder of religion that has knocked on my various front doors and asked me politely if I wanted to engage. My response has been to decline, in earlier days without reciprocal politeness.

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The knockers, unfailingly a pair of well-dressed young people, have retreated with no expressions of exasperation, no heavy sighs, just a blank kind of friendly smile that told me nothing about what motivated them to take such trouble to approach me.

Way back, their accents were often American. The vision they unconsciously offered was not one backlit by halo-like light but of a long air flight and possible homesickness for places I'd learned about in movies and TV dramas depicting small-town America. What in god's name were they doing here?

Which was exactly the point. A quick refresher online reminds me that Jehovah's Witnesses take the first part of their brand from a belief that the name for God is rooted in ancient writings like early versions of the Bible that refer many thousands of times to "Jehovah".

If you're curious about this, search "Jehovah's Witnesses" on the internet and marvel at their website's high quality video using graphics in a very modern way to tell the story of their origins, which go back to an American preacher in the late 1870s.

According to a Wikipedia entry (author listed vaguely as "Wikipedia contributors") Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and for refusing military service and blood transfusions.

"They believe destruction of the present world system at Armageddon (the final battle between good and evil) is imminent, and the establishment of God's kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity.

"They prefer to use their own Bible translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, although their literature occasionally quotes and cites other Bible translations."

It's this last that interests me because of something out of the ordinary that happened in Pukekura Park when I was there on one of my regular walks to marvel at its pristine beauty, especially in spring.

The words "Learn Bible truths" sprang at me from the top of a book rack on wheels, one of two parked hard up against the covered seat at the main lake's boat landing, a focal point as you reach the bottom end of the lake. The seat was empty, so the racks appeared unattended.

I was surprised because I haven't ever noticed advertising in the park before, other than the district council occasionally alerting us to upcoming events.

Was this advertising? It was certainly promotional, the racks filled with various Jehovah's Witness publications promoting their take on the Bible, their religious views and how to learn more by attending their meetings.

I took a photo, then did a circuit of the lake and pondered. Was what I'd seen a harmless bit of evangelism or had some line been crossed? A lot of young children roam the park with their families – were they a vulnerable target for what people like me regard as propaganda?

I went back. This time I noticed a young couple sitting out of the sun at the foot of the nearby band rotunda. I asked if the racks belonged to them, and if so did they have council permission.

The young man approached with a smile and told me in a Kiwi accent that they did, and that it wasn't commercial advertising because they weren't asking for money. Only souls, I thought to myself.

I asked one of the park's staunchest guardians, Adrienne King, who heads Friends of Pukekura Park, what she thought: "I personally have a problem with advertising in the park, and even took offence to the bridge lit up with sponsorship last summer. It should be a place free of advertising."

NPDC communications manager Jacqueline Baker says: "In a nutshell, Jehovah's Witnesses aren't breaking any laws/rules and while we don't give them permission, they don't need it. We have been talking with them."