To feel angry about religious shouty people in city centre

[AliceKlar]

I can't understand why Christian/Evangelist 'preachers' (They are always in normal clothes so no idea if they are actually preachers or just random believers) are given permission by the council to stand on a busy street in the city centre and yell about being saved and letting Jesus into our lives etc.

I have nothing against anyone believing in whatever they choose, or even Jehovah's Witnesses going door to door, because you can say no and they go away. In the city centre though there's no escape, especially for the people working inside the shops nearby which often have open door policies. It really makes me annoyed for some reason. Does anyone else find this unreasonable? If people want to hear about Jesus and the Christian religion there are churches that will be only too pleased to help.

I don't think they are given permission. Anyone can stand in a city centre and rant away (as long as it's not hate speech). You could stand beside them and discredit them - I've seen that a few times here (Glasgow city centre). I do agree it's annoying when you can hear them from your office though.

There's one who stands in my local high street yelling about hell and eternal damnation . It does make me wonder what the point is, everyone just thinks he's a fruit loop, I would be very surprised if he's ever actually convinced anyone to convert.

Would you prefer if they were there just shouting about the virtues of a free good chimney clean or is it the religion+shouting aspect that bothers you?

Oh right. I just assumed they'd have to have permission Agent in the same way that buskers do. Somehow this makes it even more annoying that they can choose to stand outside a shop or other workplace and rant away for ages and no one can stop them. And if you can stand next to them and discredit them, it just surprises me that i've never seen anyone do that.

Would you prefer Alice that we didn't have freedom to practice our respective religions?

I find it more offensive to be accosted by chuggers and the blokes selling Sky packages, who just won't believe that Sky doesn't operate where I live, same for those dual fuel energy companies. You trade in Belgium then do you?

I actually find it quite aggressive, I don't understand why they don't get told to move on. Always the same nutters in my city centre. Also have a few hanging outside our local supermarket with leaflets saying 'ask us about the creation' . Yes, because on my way to picking up my shopping chocolate, I'm going to be suddenly converted by your nonsense....

You should come to my home town in N Ireland, you'd love it. The hell and damnation and end of the world preachers are out every Saturday. When I was a child I truly believed that I would never get to be an adult because I heard so often that the end was nigh.

Giveme I'd rather no one stood in the middle of the street and yelled away about any subject. And to be fair, I've not heard anyone yelling about anything other than the Christian religion. I have absolutely nothing against any religion, but I can't understand why people are allowed to shout loudly about it for hours in a busy city centre.

There was a regular in Dundee for a time. He was American I think. I remember someone asking challenging questions of him. He wasn't great off script.

treacle you must have been so relieved and amazed to make it to adulthood after that.

I don't think it's all that different to a butcher shouting on a market stall to passers-by or a badly playing busker in a tube station, annoying but they are all just trying to 'sell' their product.

I used to go to a church where part of gaining/reaching your membership involved having to do this sort of 'evangelising'.

I never made it that far though because I was one of those annoying people who kept asking the awkward questions.

I've often wondered about the legality of it too. Once had some JW friends who told me the reason they stand around in city centres with the bookshelf things is because they're not allowed to approach them. I dont know if that was the churches rules or the councils though if that makes sense?

Scaryteacher no I believe people should have the freedom to practice whatever religion they want. Just not for hours in the city centre. There are churches, mosques, temples, synagogues. That's what they're for. If everyone decided to shout about the tenets of their various religions in the middle of the city centre, you could literally be fighting your way through them all to get into H&M.

Alice I was! I can still hardly believe I'm here, in my 40s. My mad aunt actually told her own children that they'd never get to be adults because the Lord would take them first. They're in their 60s now and are very bitter about how their childhood was impacted by it.

They are mentally unwell and should be treated as such, imo.

I think I'm with scary on this- far better that we live in a country where people do have the freedom to express their beliefs.
Anyone is free to stand heckling them if they wish!

There are great YouTube videos of people in Glasgow challenging/debating/winding up these preachers. I think the American guy mentioned above features quite heavily.

I agree with you OP. People should be able to go about their personal business without being accosted in the street by religious nuts, chuggers, sales people etc.
I respect their right to believe what they like, but they should respect my right to not have it foisted on me.

PhilODox but if everyone with beliefs did that the city centres would be full of shouting, ranting people. Where do you draw the line? Do you have a rota - Christians between 9-11, Jews 11-1, Buddhists 1-3 etc? And what about the freedom of the people working in the surrounding shops not to have to listen to all this shouting? Don't they have the right to freedom to go about their jobs without having to listen to it for hour.

treacle I'm not surprised your aunt's children are resentful. That's bound to impact you big time to be told that :(

Aderyn that's exactly my stance.You believe what you like but if I want to find out about Christianity, Buddhism etc, I'll do it myself, calmly and quietly. I don't want someone screaming at me about it.

Birmingham is deadly for that.

On the pedestrian crossroads outside the bullring, there's one stall for Muslims who have the Koran being recited in Arabic on a (offensively) loudspeaker system who are 'matched' by evangelical Christians with megaphones wandering back and forth preaching Hell and damnation with random preachers without megaphones also giving out about Jesus Christ further up the street.

Some Sundays, The Salvation Army band shows up with God's go-go dancers rattling their tambourines.

It's an absolute cacophony.

YANBU
Council here has policy to move them around otherwise the same staff have to listen for their whole shift
I'd like the shouting banned totally though, it's awful. Then people complain high streets are dying - last time I was in the high street as well as being assaulted by noise I got approached by a religious group and chuggers. I have to deal with it at work - central London - so hardly going to suffer it in spare time!
I feel for you op.

It does.

i had the same, and it meant I had no investment in my future. No real point in trying at school, of course I was expected to behave, but actually listening and trying to learn didn't really happen. I also had no concept of adult relationships, tie that in with the belief that men are always right and to be obeyed and you have a disaster.