For feeling awful about throwing away this letter?

[aperolspritzbasicbitch]

Just received a letter through the post (addressed to us, not by name - just address) from a Linda. She's a Jehovah's Witness and is wanting to spread the word.
It's handwritten, and postage has been paid so I would imagine she's gone to a lot of time, effort and expense to send all these letters out.
I have zero interest at all in what the letter or enclosed leaflet say, but feel awful at the idea of throwing it away!
Am I being a fanny? Or would you also feel a bit of guilt - like it's akin to spitting at poor old Linda in the street?! 😅

We get one every few months, straight in the bin. They must expect it really but prefer to them knocking on the door although they do tend to be very polite.

More fool her for wasting her time trying to convert you to her faith!

You should feel no guilt

I'm a Pisces and would feel any guilt! I shut the door in their faces when they're still talking so a letter isn't going to make any difference!

If you knew how many young lives they have fucked up you wouldn’t be sorry 😡

Bin it. Linda believes you are going to hell if you don't convert, if that makes you feel less sympathetic.

Linda is trying to recruit you to a cult. In the bin with her!

It’s ‘handwritten’ by a computer - bin it and forget it - unless of course you feel a calling to join them

What on earth else would you do with it other than throw it in the bin? Set up a pen-pal scheme? Frame it and hang it up over the mantelpiece?

It's literally a letter from someone who is trying to recruit you into a cult, ffs.

Standard practice from the JWs, @aperolspritzbasicbitch, don’t give it another thought.

We live in a hamlet.
One day two ladies knocked and they were Jehovah witnesses. They’d come a fair way so I invited them in for coffee whilst making it plain that I didn’t want to chat about religion.
All went well.
Two months later one of the women arrived with her dh.
We began to get the religious spiel and I closed it down.
Covid came and they turned up in the pouring rain but I refused to let them in obviously.
She breezily said oh I’ll message next time, save a wasted journey.

We swapped numbers.
What a stupid mistake on my part.
Long pieces of scripture at least once a week, calls to discuss God.
I firmly asked her to stop.
She sent a nasty message.
I blocked her.

There is no halfway house unfortunately.

😳 what the fuck?! Did you give them a big fuck you message, I would have. Sorry about your DH

I spotted pieces of paper left on bus seats. When I looked they were Bible references. To be fair I think if God wanted me to join her happy band she would find a way to let me know directly rather than relying on some unknown god botherer trying to recruit me through random acts of littering.

It’s 2024 God, get digital dear.

It's nothing like spitting at someone in the street. I made the mistake of engaging once when I was a teenager. They showed up at my house every week for months until I started hiding from them. Eventually they didn't return. I felt very pressured and at time anxious for their return

They used to leave their stupid leaflets in our local butcher shop. He used them to mop up spills and wrap stringy bits of beast in before binning.

It is "written " on a computer using a font that looks like handwriting.

(DS had a "handwritten " letter just before his 18th birthday last week. It was from Jacob Rees Mogg asking for his cote).

It’s likely printed to look like handwriting.
Don’t be fooled!

Are you serious or just having a bit of fun?

I’m not in the UK and we get those letters here to. It’s junk.

It’s not. Sadly.

Throwing it away I think I fine. Some people would send it back to them with a rude note, I think is out of order

Is there an address on it?

If there is, cross through your address on the envelope, write return to sender with their address and stick it in a post box unless Post office doesn't return things any more. In which case recycling bin.

Are you really sure it's handwritten?

It's the snail mail equivalent of spam email and should be dealt with as such.

Before the widespread advent of emails and texts I would receive a few like these through the actual post. "God wants me to pass this on"; "I lost everything on 9/11 and need help", "Bad things will happen to people who don't write and send this message to ten other people" (chain letters) "I need help transferring my wealth from Nigeria - please help for a percentage of the money" (419 scammers) etc., It's largely the same script as the online scammers - very often using religion as bait/inducement.

My DM is scam-savvy generally, but VERY severely religious (a whole other thread there) - so very vulnerable to those who approach with "greetings in the name of our precious lord Jesus" or similar wording. Twice last year she invited total strangers to sleep overnight at her house because they mentioned her local church. 😠

I understand why you feel guilty, given that someone has "taken the time to write". But please don't - if Linda exists, she is doing it in service to her 'church' and that's her choice. You didn't ask her to write to you. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Leave it somewhere where it might be picked up, like the reading room of your local library. Guilt gone.

Put it in recycling, don’t give it a second thought.