Religious preachers shouldn't be shouting and screeching in the street..

[Theblacksheepforever]

I was out with my children today walking down the high street with my two children, reception age DS is autistic and my other DC is a little baby.

A religious preacher with fliers who we hadn't noticed - started shouting at the top of her voice about God and jusgement day as we walked past her. It scared DS stiff and an hour long meltdown ensued. I was annoyed.

My child aside, does anybody else think this shouldn't be allowed? It's antisocial and technicallg illegal given that shouting and screaming in the street is contrary to section 5 of the public order act, so why is this allowed?

AIBU?

@amicissimma

We have had a outbreak of charity funder-raisers ('chuggers') in a bit of our town where I walk backwards and forwards quite a lot.

If I haven't responded favourably to 'Hello, miss. You look friendly' on the first, second, third and fourth approach, or yesterday, or the day before, why would they think I'd suddenly set up a Direct Debit on approach number 278?

They're quite intrusive - come right up to you and run round so that they are looking directly in your face. Repeatedly.

These peeps plague one of our local towns. You avoid eye contact with them knowing full well they are watching you walk in their general direction but they collar you anyway with their cringe-inducingly cheerful "Hello! How are you today?". If you miss one, one of their nineteen colleagues will pounce out of nowhere.

If there are only one or two, wait until they have pounced on other unsuspecting shoppers before making a mad dash straight through the middle of them but for God's sake don't make eye contact and look like you're in a mad rush even if you have hours to kill.

Just give me a leaflet on why I should donate to the charity you're supporting and bugger off. I KNOW they are just doing their jobs, bless them, but I'd rather parachute naked into a thousand cacti than give my bank details to a total stranger in the street.

Yabu

There are so many nuisances and sources of unwanted noise and behaviour in the streets that preachers are a small part of it and they are harmless, though annoying. Some people are very intolerant of anything to do with religion but will tolerate plenty of other things. I am very intolerant of noise but I know that and I have to put up with it.

"That may be so, but they still have to learn how to deal with things and cannot expect everyone else to tip toe around them."

My son (severely autistic) deals with noise like that by shrieking, hitting and biting himself which tends to upset or annoy other people who obviously expect him to tip toe around them.

@Sleepyblueocean

"That may be so, but they still have to learn how to deal with things and cannot expect everyone else to tip toe around them."

My son (severely autistic) deals with noise like that by shrieking, hitting and biting himself which tends to upset or annoy other people who obviously expect him to tip toe around them.

Well said Sleepy.

My DS responds similarly to yours, so I know you get it.

That poster must have been living under a rock for her supposed 60 odd years on the planet to not have come across any severely autistic people who struggle with noise, or is she just another ignorant and clueless person on the thread talking out of their back passage 🤔

The majority ( just) is yabu but your tone has got increasingly bitchy to anyone that does not agree with you.
Its city life, modern life and part of dealing with a child who struggles in this way.
Far better to put your anger into dealing with strategies, solutions and resilience.
Your child is going to be in contact with thousands of noisy, disruptive, abusive people and situations.
Has it occured to you that the individuals shouting in the street may have their own neurodiverse issues? Yet you show no empathy for them.

That was my comment, and I have never in the whole of my 60-plus years seen anyone distressed because they couldn't cope with the screeching

Neither have I, but I've learned enough from posts by parents of autistic children on MN during the last 15 or so of my years to be able to understand that this may happen to them and sympathise with the OP. Do you have to have personally experienced something in order to be able to have a shred of empathy?

The majority ( just) is yabu but your tone has got increasingly bitchy to anyone that does not agree with you.

Have you actually read the posts I'm responding to? I'll speak to people with the same degree of decency they choose to speak to me with thanks.

I'm perfectly polite to polite people.

In terms of who is most disturbing - chuggers are the worst and I would also like to ban anyone selling anything door to door. The local Plymouth Brethren just stand in suits with a bible and quietly talk about God and tend to hang back against the side of a wall so it is not very intrusive at all.

@Xenia

In terms of who is most disturbing - chuggers are the worst and I would also like to ban anyone selling anything door to door. The local Plymouth Brethren just stand in suits with a bible and quietly talk about God and tend to hang back against the side of a wall so it is not very intrusive at all.

Not a fan of chuggers but never had one telling me I'm going to hell.

In the people I see I can never really hear the religious preaching anyway and if I do it tends to be God loves you rather than fire and brimstone. I prefer allowing free speech even if it words with which I do not agree.

I don't know if they're preachers but you often see them in city centres. It's not something I'm I liaten to but it's the price we pay for free speech and democracy. There are lots of things I see out and about that upset me but are perfectly legal so I just have to learn to live with them. Is it right that others have to curtail their legal lifestyle because others find it upsetting? I personally don't think it is so I just suck it up. And I'm afraid that your son has to learn the same. He, like all of us, will have some behaviours that others don't like, does that mean he shouldn't go out where he can annoy people? It's sad that he was upset but he will be upset by many things in life.

"He, like all of us, will have some behaviours that others don't like, does that mean he shouldn't go out where he can annoy people?"

But that is what people expect. In my experience people are not tolerant of things like shrieking, rolling around on the floor and self injurious behaviour in people with severe disabilities and expect people who those things to stay away from public places.

@Dairymilk50

And people with kids can't walk past also? It's exaggeration here OP is not in an enclosed room with the church preacher.... it can be annoying for a matter of a minute literally and then the church preacher is out of sight surely.

Causing distress really you see lots of disorderly behaviour in public places all the time. I would just move away promptly with my child.

Comparing a church preacher to someone with mental health is not remotely the same scenario! It's annoying at times yes but to imply they are similar to someone with mental health is wild also.

This

They are very interesting issues as to what people should be able to do on the street - walk naked, be totally covered including their face, walk 10 a breast blocking the way, noisy mobiles, eating in public or in school uniform (used to be banned for secondary school children), eco warriers glueing themselves to things left right and centre and much else. I see in Ireland Russian supporters have taken to driving in long lines down a motorway displaying the Russian flag in support of Putin (and in London I think there were anti Israel supporters driving down Jewish streets as a provocation last year).

In general I want freedom to prevail and those of us who hate all this stuff never mind so many people are able to retreat to our own homes away from it all. I believe London Underground has a new campaign to stop men looking at women or staring which is going a bit far. A cat can look at a Queen as they say.

But that is what people expect. In my experience people are not tolerant of things like shrieking, rolling around on the floor and self injurious behaviour in people with severe disabilities and expect people who those things to stay away from public places.

This is exactly my point. I hate going to the supermarket and hearing screaming children, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. I think I have sensory issues so it causes me quite a bit of irritation - very similar to the person shouting in the street. But I don't think they shouldn't be allowed to go out in the same way as the op is proposing preachers shouldn't be allowed to preach. We all live together as a society and we have to tolerate other people's behaviours as they have to tolerate ours. People can think or want others to stay away, I've no argument with that. But there shouldn't be a law to enforce it.

@Nightlystroll I absolutely agree. You sumed it up beautifully.

I think there's a very significant difference between disturbances caused by children and/or people with various specific issues vs adults who are deliberately shouting using scary words. It sounds as though the preacher was all too literally trying to 'put the fear of God' into passers by. Such people are also not comparable with the milder forms of preacher mentioned on this thread.

I'm not in favour of bans but I sincerely hope the woman who upset the OPs child realised and moderates her tone and/or volume. Her current approach is both unkind and liable to be counterproductive.

YANBU. I’m not religious and I agree that other people are entitled to believe in what they want to believe in, but I don’t like walking through city centres and hear them screaming about it but yeah as PP said, I guess they are entitled to their free speech as long as they aren’t pestering people about it

There are lots of things I see out and about that upset me but are perfectly legal so I just have to learn to live with them. Is it right that others have to curtail their legal lifestyle because others find it upsetting? I personally don't think it is so I just suck it up. And I'm afraid that your son has to learn the same.

The chances of him "learning" to tolerate people shouting at the top of their voice within arms reach of him is extremely unlikely. He's severely autistic.

Let's take him out of the equation as it's clear a number of posters don't care about small children with autism being terrified. Nobody, regardless of whether or not they're vulnerable, should be frightened by people shouting in the street.

There is just no need to shout at all. It doesn't bring the positive attention they want anyway, it makes them seem unapproachable.

Quite. I haven't seen anything that you say which suggests street preaching should be banned. We've had plenty of mentions of people who manage to do it considerately. I'll add the small bunch of Jehovah's witnesses who stand in a particular place every Thursday morning with a few posters, and say nothing other than 'good morning' unless you choose to talk to them.

I don't think the OP sounds bitchy or unhinged and I think she has every right to ask the question. It sounds like an alarming and avoidable incident.

I voted YANBU since I have heard street preachers shouting all sorts of sexist and homophobic crap, also have received abuse from one in particular for being 'promiscuous'. He continued shouting at me all the way down the street with his loudspeaker.

I agree with the principles of free speech and don't think evangelists should be banned, but I've witnessed plenty crossing the line into hate speech or abuse. Different part of S London.

I have also heard plenty spreading messages that are much more positive, regardless of whether one believes.

Suppose the problem is that the bible (and most religious texts) is pretty varied and colourful and includes a lot of messaging that has now been rendered unsuitable for broadcasting in this way by legislation on inclusion and hate speech. Perhaps churches should be reminded that they do not operate outside the law.

It seems it's a dangerous time to be a woman in certain parts of America.

"Screeching " is a silly exaggeration, as you know. And no, I'm not religious.