to think that people shouldn't knock on doors 'selling' G(g)od ?

[ohtowinthelottery]

Have just spotted a small group of older ladies touring our estate, knocking on front doors. Have seen this sort of group before and they are usually calling to tell people about God and distribute their magazine.

Before I get flamed, I was brought up in a very religious family and went to church every Sunday for many years - although I have lost my faith over recent years. I have no objection to people having religion of any kind and am very tolerant of peoples beliefs. I have on many occassions had friends offer to pray for us when things aren't going well and I don't mind (not sure if thats because I think it will do us any good or if its just because it lets them feel they are doing something positive).

Anyway, these ladies have just rung my doorbell and then knocked on my door. I have (probably for the 1st time in my life) not bothered to answer the door to them. I generally open the door to anyone (double glazing salesmen, Chuggers) and allow them their 2 minutes, before politely telling them "no thanks, not today". But this particular group just irritate me. I think my judgement is partly clouded by a particular group who knocked on my door many years ago on a lovely sunny morning and started off by telling me "What a lovely spot I lived in, with a lovely house and how lucky I was". I had, just months before, given birth to a baby who was severely disabled and was feeling far from lucky and certainly wasn't feeling like I had anything to thank God for. I was so stunned by what they said, I just smiled politely, said "not today" and shut the door (before bursting into tears).

There are 3 churches in the village where I live, and I am well aware that if I want to find God, then I can go there. I appreciate that these ladies are probably not from the local CofE, Methodist or Baptist church, but nevertheless, If I wanted religion, it is not difficult to find

So should this unsolicited practice be stopped - especially if they are going to start off by spouting something about how lucky people are when they know nothing about individuals circumstances and make 'judgements' that are incorrect?

exoticfruits - but you could argue that all sales callers, including those selling religion, take advantage of exactly those people who aren't so adept at getting rid of them. Is that a moral thing to do?

It doesn't really matter if it is moral-it is obviously worth their while and so they will continue to do it. I was pathetic until I saw this friend and it is so easy-I wish I could show you because it works every time! I cut straight through the waffle with 'are you Jehovah Witnesses'- and no thank you, close the door.

exoticfruits - I know it can be easy, I'm (now) very good at it too!

But I didn't used to find it so easy, a few years ago I was conned out of a tenner on my doorstep by a drug addict with a sob story about not having his bus fare home to see his mum.

There is something about being put in the position of having to tell someone to leave you alone, at your own front door, which makes you vulnerable if you somehow aren't at full strength, so to speak.

I agree that it would be better if they didn't call but they do and will continue, so you need to learn to handle it.

Yes - there's no such thing as a free lunch, and that applies particularly to those who literally beat a path to your door.

And for the avoidance of doubt, that includes those who do it for religious reasons. They want something from you, be that validation, compliance, your 'soul', or in some cases just hard cash.

I think you're rather missing the point, exotic. Most of us are perfectly capable of saying "No thank you" and shutting the door. It's the fact that they have taken upon themselves the right to knock in the first place that's so galling.

Would you feel the same if I started knocking on doors hoping to find a Christian in order to say - "Good morning! Have you heard the good news? Your god is complete fiction and absolutely nothing will happen after you're dead other than decomposition of your body! Have a nice day! Oh and please read this copy of The God Delusion".

You'd be on here so fast screaming about "militant atheism" & "intolerant, strident atheists".

Religious beliefs are personal. And some of us would rather that certain people kept them that way. Showing up on people's doorsteps whenever you feel like it is simply not acceptable.

A friend has something like this stuck to his door. They don't tend to knock for him (and seeing their faces if you happen to be by the window is priceless!). If you have a blood donor sticker or something on your door the JW at least are unlikely to knock again.

Otherwise a discussion can be quite interesting at times. My Granny tends to start with "If Adam and Eve had 2 sons, where did the next generation come from...". There are plenty of contradictions in the bible to get a fairly entertaining debate going. Not to mention the morally repugnant bits (slavery, rape etc). She has had a lot of fun with these debates.

They don't knock for me any more, not since I answered the door wearing fairly little with my then GF behind me. I think I'm seen as a lost cause now

My dad tends to reply to any Jw who knock on that his belief on doing something for the good of man is being a bl

Oops blood donor, saved many lives through that and that's his belief so if they knock on his door they'll be preached that

I must admit I have been prone to a bit of "JW Baiting" in the past. My favorite was the time an Elder knocked on the door with a much younger guy & I got the impression that the older guy was training the lad in how to evangelise at the doorstep.

Anyway I decided to have a bit of fun, and the Elder was stupid enough to start on the "Headship" doctrine which is where the man is ALWAYS the head of the household & therefore makes all the decisions etc. I started drilling down about this including questions like what if the woman is the breadwinner, what if the man in significantly less intellegent than the woman or mentally disabled etc.

The Elder started to flounder around here, and when I started on the advantages of the best qualified person to make a decision (e.g. whoever does the gardening to choose the lawn mower type thing) the lad started to get interested & asking questions. I managed to move the subject on to meritocracy in other religions & the lad started to ask where he could find out more - sudden look of horror on the Elder's face and excuses to leave right away. Damn I enjoyed that!

I'm not missing the point- the fact is that it is a free country and you can't stop people knocking at your door- therefore you need a method of dealing with it, even if it is only not to answer.
You can put up a notice for no cold callers but they are still free to ignore it.

In short YANBU to think they shouldn't knock on doors but unrealistic to think they will stop.