Something has been popping around my head for quite a while now, and I thought I'd share my thoughts with you guys....

So often, I see people get mad and angry at missionaries and other evangelist-types who walk up to people in the street and ask them if they want to hear the good news about *insert saviour-deity here*. And of course there are those guys that knock on people's doors with the same motive. I've seen and heard of people who have no tolerance for these types of people. They just want to be left alone with their own faith (or lack of faith) with nobody to intrude on their lives.

Now, I do fully agree and support a person's desire to have this outlook if they so wish, but for me, it does not make sense for me to get angry at someone for wanting to share their faith with me. If someone wishes to share their beliefs with me, whether it be a Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Buddhist or Hare Krishna (the four main groups that I have been stopped by in my life), I have always enjoyed taking the time out of my life to hear what they have to say. I want to learn about their specific brand of religion, and why they feel their view is the right one, and I enjoy debating my own Faith with them and argue my own point of view to them.

So am I alone in this? I would guess not, going by the many replies I have seen by people that all say they would much rather people not impose themselves on their lives, so I was just hoping that people could open up a discussion about some of the reasons people don't like being stopped by *insert religion here*. As said, I enjoy the time to talk to them. In some ways, I guess you could say it's a little like real-life UM.......

Thoughts/comments?

Regards, PA

if you choose to not believe and someone continues with it, disrespecting your choice, thats wrong. the purpose if general concern and a desire to help you shouldnt get angry. i agree, if someones polite about it, be polite back.

It's not sharing though when they come around again the next week and the week after that and so on, then it is them trying to cram it down you're neck.

I had one lady who was nice and she tried to convert me I thanked her for making the effort to try and save me but that i did not see myself in need of saving. She was the only real nice person I had come knock on my door and actually chat to then go on her merry way and accept that i am happy as i am.


On the other hand there are others who STILL come around and try and chat to me about God and they are horrible people, They come again and again trying to convert me they ignore what i have to say and just babble on about what a lost lamb i am and i will end up in hell if i don't accept Jesus and God into my life.

It's ok to share if someone is willing to listen it's wrong on the other hand to keep trying to share it if the other person does not want it.

if somenoe is doing that, its wrong. no doubt. but you cant let this bring up feelings of anger against everyone who brings you the message. you have the right to not listen if you dont want, so people need to respect that

I myself used to be this way. I did not want to hear anything concerning Faith,Religion,Belifs. I would be short and cut them off..I guess the reason for my actions at that time was I didnt want to hear it..But nowI do enjoy talking with different ppl in person only though to question them and to gain insight.As one involved in Outreach Ive crossed many many ppl who are the same..they dont want to even be bothered with ppl knocking on their doors maybe kinda like I was. to them its an Introsion.bothersom an invasion of the heart..

Well, there is that issue, chaoszerg. I guess maybe I just have never come across someone who continually came around week-after-week. Most people here, if you say "no, not interested" they leave you alone. Though i usually have a chat with people...... but then again, people rarely come door-knocking at my place......... Thanks for the input, I get what you're saying

I live next to a church so I tend to get many visits from them lol. I don't mind when it is a person who is willing to really share to exchange their view then receive somebody else's, but I have no time for the ones who just plan on doing all the talking then giving me the you are a lost lamb i will pray for you routine.

Well, I can honestly say that, since I grew up hearing the pitch, I don't really care to hear it from anyone, anymore. In fact, I could probably give it better than they could.
And just because I have Marilyn Manson pounding out of my car speakers, or I am going in to a casino, or I am chain-smoking while sucking down beer like it is going out of style and making open comments about the attractiveness and uses of certain females doesn't mean I need saving, which seems to be the evangelicals reflex, it means I am living and loving life, and thereby honoring whatever gave me life more than a life wasted in preaching.
I just want them stop, think about whether or not I look like a receptive audience, and then move along. Don't make me listen and I won't say something to offend. Seems like a simple enough exchange.
And I do agree with you about one thing, PA, it is sometimes fun to talk to them. I get a huge kick out of melting my dear old fat mother's brain by arguing religion with her. She keeps trying, even though she knows she can't win, God bless her. LOL.

Lol i dont get angry with everyone who tries to convert me. I just get angry at the ones who want to talk but wont listen.

Since I have left the Christian religion, I actually welcome faith peddlers. The last time I had a visit, a very nice lady drove up, got out of her car, and asked if I would like to hear about the "truth of God?" I smiled and politely, sincerely, asked ... which God would you like to discuss--Zeus, Mithras, Osiris, Jesus, Allah--and how do you know you are worshiping the true God? She immediately turned, got in her car with a scowl on her face--not so much as a "thank you for your time"--and drove off. And that has been the extent of my experience.

Kindly,

Sean

LMAO. Bet she didn't move as fast as the Jehovah's Witnesses did the time they came to the front door just as my dad was test firing his hunting rifle in the back yard. Never seen Grannies move so fast.
Happiest memory of my childhood.

Are they your real thoughts about your mother? Glad to see the family love, there. Unless you're being sarcastic......

One time a Mormon stopped me in the street, asked if I wanted to hear about the truth of Jesus Christ (as opposed to the Truth of God, which leaves open the response you gave). I responded, "yeah, sure I'd like to hear the Truth of Jesus Christ. Would you?"

I am not defensive when it comes to discussing religion. I think its about a measure of respect. I don't associate with people I don't respect.

If someone comes to my door preaching I might discuss it with them and pat them on the back and send them on their way.

I think a lot of times people will "preach" when they think they've found "the answer" I don't think its exclusive to religion.

I think its more about reconfirming it as the truth to themselves because if its helpful to them and they convert someone who agrees it kinda makes it "more true" so it galvanizes the person's own faith.

I find that if I simply reconfirm it to the other person it tends to satisfy them.

Ex. "It sounds like you really have found something that's made a huge difference in your life"

or "It seems like you are very happy in your devotion to living a life in Christ's example!"

That tends to make people happy. Even with Islam "Wow you have a very interesting perspective, I love the sound of the prayer....its quite beautiful"

And its important that you aren't fake about it.

But if someone comes to you and says "I've found the answer" and you say "No you didn't, you are just deluding yourself"

then people tend to fight for their beliefs.

I think its sad when people have to tear down another person's faith because they are insecure about it for some reason.

Of course I'm being sarcastic. It is how my family shows affection. I call her my fat old mother and she calls me the eldest of her idiot children. LOL.

When I lived in Los Angeles we used to get the door to door salesmen quite often, but now I am in the middle of nowhere so not so much now. I understand that on their behalf they feel that they are really doing the right thing and trying to save souls, so I always cut them some slack.

Most of the time I would just politely thank them for their time and say that I was not interested and that would be it. We had the jehovah witnesses and the mormans who would ride their little bikes around town so I might offer them a glass of water before they went on their way and a few took me up on the offer. I have had a few times when they would show up when I was bored and would offer that if they wanted my time, then they had to agree to allow me equal time for rebutell...they would always agree. The funny part was that most of them had their spiel that they did, and couldn't really deviate without showing their lack of knowledge on the subject. For every John 3:16 type message they would offer I could counter with a Leviticus which they would have no comeback to.

I always wonder if I ever inspired a conversion away from their religion...

For the most part we get to choose when we want to do things... go shopping, watch a movie, mooch on the Internet. I might choose to discuss religion one afternoon, if the mood takes me, and that's fine... I go find someone who wants to talk to me, like my sister, and we talk - we have a two sided conversation where neither of us is looking to convert the other one. I don't want strangers turning up at my door, when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner, asking me if I want to discuss my personal faith with them, when their only reason for doing that is to change my belief system to match theirs. They're not visiting to find out all about Deism... the conversation always turns back to whatever they're peddling and how it would suit me more than what I currently believe. And they leave, saying they understand you're firm in your beliefs, and then show up two weeks later wanting to discuss the same thing all over. And some of the callers we've had have been fairly rude about Deism actually.

If I want to discuss religion I can come here, speak to friends and family, or go to a church... there are plenty of them to keep me occupied. I don't need to discuss anything with complete strangers on my doorstep.

I don't get a whole lot of this where I live, with two exceptions.

I do get JW's and Mormon's at my door, maybe once a month. Mormons more frequently than JW's because there's a Mormon temple a few blocks from my house.

The young men who come to my door are always very nice, super polite, I just let them know that I'm not interested in changing my faith or beliefs, and I generally offer them a bottle of water (since they walk or ride their bikes) and let them know they're welcome to stop by anytime and then I wish them a good day.

Other than those two groups, I don't think I've ever been approached by someone wanting to share the Word. If I have, it must have been such a non-event that I don't even remember it.

I have been hassled by Greenpeace people looking for donations... they're rarely ever polite or gracious. But that's something else entirely.

We have NEVER (from a religious standpoint, so not counting vacuum cleaner sales guys) had anyone come to our door who wasn't a Mormon or a Jehova's Witness, and they are all very kind and considerate. Usually we let them know we are already saved and that's all it takes. For several years we had next door neighbors who were JW's and the husband and daughter would come over about once a quarter to talk, and we would usually exchange views for a while and that would be it.

I get a JW that comes by my job every other Tuesday. We chit chat about how we are feeling, price of gas, things of that nature. He drops off his books, which I accept with a thank you (I do flip through... sometimes there is something interesting to read) and he goes on his merry way. Almost a year now and religion has not come up a single time. Nice enough fella though.

I hope this wasn't meant in response to my thread. I'm always happy to find out about someone's religion and to have a healthy debate about it. I was only talking about who has the burden of proof in that debate.

Although maybe it wasn't, in that case, sorry for the mistake

-KBA

so if the KKK , made up of 'christians' , was wanting to preach to you , share thier beliefs as it were on your front porch you would be alright with that?

how about westboro church. ? would you want them too ? where do we draw the line ?

don't accost people. it's rude. just like telemarkerters. that's what evangelism is. religious telemarketers.


if I tell someone I don't believe 'jesus' existed in the biblical sense and then they get flustered and start trying to convince me otherwise don't I have the right to say " don't go away mad , just go away?"

so many christians claim they are sick of hearing about gay rights AND vote to exclude them while being very vocal. can't I say the same about preaching christians?

lots of religions don't feel the need to 'recruit' but understand a person comes to faith and belief on their own and we don't live in a vacuum. Most people who 'find' their faith do so on their own questioning and research, not because someone stopped them in the street or bothered them on a Sunday morning.

Actually I enjoy the chances I get to hear and speak to all types of people who are actively trying to vonvert me to their faiths. Sometimes it's a pitched battle of the wits, sometimes it is a friendly banter that actually makes friendships.

I'm evangelical in my beliefs but I've met quite a few interesting Jehovas witnesses this way. We start talking religion and before you know it we become friends. I 've had a chance to speak to unificationists as well as a few muslim and jewish friends although the latter weren't actually trying to convert me.

out of curiousity - how many have had JW followers knock on your door only for you to pretend no one was home ?

and aside from hearing they hide pedophiles kinda like the catholic church does ,

Twisting the truth is not considered as lying by Jehovah’s Witnesses according to their literature:

“While malicious lying is definitely condemned in the Bible, this does not mean that a person is under obligation to divulge truthful information to people who are not entitled to it.” -Aid to Bible Understanding, pages 1060-1061

Video of a Jehovah’s Witness elder ‘twisting’ the Truth in Court

http://www.watchtowerinformationservice.org/?p=338&cp=2

I am always polite about listening and am genuinely curious about what they believe and why they believe it. Rather than being annoyed, I appreciate the fact that they want to help save my immortal soul from some great eternal suffering. Regardless of what I already may or may not believe, just the fact that they are trying to help me out in accordance with their beliefs means they are pretty good people. On the other hand, if they come back repeatedly, things tend to get ugly.

No no, it wasn't your post that sparked this thread. It's been on my mind for a while, and while I had read a post that convinced me to start a thread, it was not your post.

If a KKK member or the Westboro church tried to preach to me, I'd listen to what they had to say and then add my own input. I would only resent their points if they came across as rude and harassing, in which case I'd be annoyed at their discourtesy, not at their preaching.

As for the telemarketers, while they can be annoying (extremely so at times), I don't take it out on them. They are just guys working in a call centre trying to earn a living just like everyone else. If there is fault to be made, it is the fault of the company that wants to sell you the product, not the sales-people. They're the ones who are scrounging a living getting abused. As such, I don't see it as a "religious telemarketer". A telemarketer has no personal investment in their sales pitch, apart from the desire to earn money (which they could do cleaning toilets instead, if they really felt like it). A religious person sharing their faith is there for a specific purpose. They are not just "doing their job". They are personally invested with their subject and find what they are telling you of vital importance (the matter between life and death - literally).

We don't get them here at the moment, but a few years back we lived in a flat where the JWs used to come around every weekend. I was unwell one week, and my husband asked the JW who had buzzed our flat to stop because I was sleeping. The JW then buzzed again, so hubbie went to the door and asked him to leave because I was unwell and the JW was disturbing me by buzzing our flat. Anyway, the intercom buzzed again, and when hubbie went to the door six more JWs had showed up to aid the first one and began telling my husband that he had no right to insist that this one young man didn't buzz our flat. Hubbie repeated that I was unwell and they were disturbing me. They weren't interested. At that point hubbie told them to bugger off. They then wanted to argue about hubbie's lack of civility. Hubbie actually had to threaten to call the police to get them to go away. They came back every week, but we never answered the door again. I had no idea they ever showed up in gangs.

My problem whit this preachers its that they choose the most bothersome moments to preach. Be a saturday or sunday morning when i just only want to sleep, or a Sunday night when i am leaving a disco whit a nice girl how was focused enterly on me and one of them appear to warn us about the grave dangers of premarital sex (it actually happen, an small group of evangelist in a van waited half a block of a very popular disco to preach the people a saturday at 6 am).

I know of one Mormon and one Jehova's Witness that changed after a long discussion with me.I'm not sure about a Roman Catholic priest that decided to sit beside me on a long bus trip.He was quite inquisitive,and I do believe that he learned a lot...including how to not "judge a book by it's cover".


...

As far as the original post goes,I used to be quite patient and very polite to those who came by my door or stopped me on the street.In the case of one Jehovah's Witness (the one mentioned above),we sat and talked for a good 7 hours,after which he went to check on some of the information that I had given him.I saw him once more in a store parking lot where he told me that he had left that religion and started doing more research into different religions in order to find a way that suited him better.

If one approaches me in a polite manner with the intent of discussing religion,I will be patient and polite,but if they show me that they aren't willing to give me time in the discussion...I will switch into "Evil Puppy" mode and show them no mercy.They never come back after that.

...

A quick funny story:

Back in the early 80's,some friends and I were into playing Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy role-playing game).For a few of our get-togethers to play,we would show up dressed as our characters.One evening as we were waiting for one of our number to show up,some Jehovah's Witnesses showed up to the house.One of my friends was dressed as an assassin and had been putting some fake blood upon a knife when the doorbell rang.Imagine the surprised looks upon the faces of the Jehovah's Witnesses when they see someone in leather armor opening the door with one hand while holding a bloody knife in the other.

Well...the JW's still managed to attempt to interrupt us to talk about religion,when our late gaming partner arrived.He came walking from a block away wearing his garb.Noticing the JW's standing in front of the door,he quietly walked up and stood behind them...brandishing a huge sword (which fit him because he was just over 6 feet tall).As the JW's continued to see if we would let them in to talk to us,the "Assassin" says to them "I don't think my friend would enjoy that very much"...as he points behind them.The JW's turn to see this huge figure in black armor raising his sword.They all screamed as one...and ran as fast as they could down the two residential blocks to their vehicle.They never came back to that neighborhood (which most of the residents thanked us for once they found out why a bunch of screaming JW's were running past their homes).

They were lucky they didn't show up the next month during Hallowe'en.

I...am...diying........ : lol:

I have to write that to my next D&D meeting.

I can't help it I'm falling off my chair just laughing at some of these stories.

I used to do street evangelism and I also belonged at one time to the church drama group who would do sketches. I must honestly say that those were good times and as far as I remember we got our message across quite well using those methods.

I don't remember any instance where people were put off by our message and the methods we used.

They don't bother me. Depends on how I feel, if I feel like talking I'll sit on the porch and have a chat and some tea. If not I politely send them on their way. They do seem to catch me at bad times though. Sitting in my underwear or naked watching the race and sucking on a beer.