To just shut the door on religious door-knockers, with no comment?

[BeanQuisine]

I used to smile and say "I'm not religious", but a friend pointed out that this still confers some degree of social legitimacy on their absurd intrusion into my life.

I decided that a better tactic, when it becomes clear that a doorknocker is peddling religion, is to just silently close the door in their face.

Wondering how many people here agree that this is a reasonable response to unreasonable intrusion, and how you choose to respond to these people.

Me too! Followed by a comment on their covering up child abuse and poor treatment of women. They don’t tend to rush back. I don’t give a shit if they think it’s rude, I think it’s bloody rude knocking on my door peddling their batshit beliefs!

Or doorcams 😂

If they think you ate already religious they tend to give you a miss next time

I once said "no thanks we've got enough religion already" they looked confused and asked what I meant, I told them my mum was CofE, my day Catholic, my brother Unitarian and was Pagan (only 2/4 was true) they never knocked on my parents door again, even when they were trying with the neighbours.

True, for every 99 that say no, there is perhaps one lonely person keen to talk or someone interested in God and so the JWs job is done.
It’s like charities never asking for donations because most people don’t want to give money. But the few that do make the difference.

Maybe if you’d talked to someone whose vulnerable parent had been sucked into this cult you wouldn’t see them as being benign.

Your souls were all duly saved then 😄

It's like chuggers in shop doorways. When I worked at Coop, they were terrible for it. We had an older chap who was polite and if people said they weren't interested he shut up then we got young ones and before anyone piles on it's relevant because it was always young ones who would get very vocal who would shout "so you don't care about whatever it was. I did actually tell a few of them to stop saying that, apparently it's part of their training so I asked if they got any extra donations when they did it, seems not so why do it ? Just pisses people off.

I feel the same about dragging kids around ,even more so in hot /cold weather and trussed up in formal clothing when they would be so much happier in the garden or on the floor playing with lego , poor kids.
My 3 dogs sent them off from my door last week ,they didn't even knock just put a pamphlet through.
I missed the chance to tell them i would accept anybodies blood if needs be , i like gay people and i am a feminist so they probably wouldn't want me.
Their strange ideas absolutely fascinate and horrify me at the same time.

They skip our house after DH tried to have a conversation about science with them.
Saying you are Catholic also makes them then and run.

That is completely understandable. I'm so sorry for your loss and I hope you're getting some support caring for your daughter and that she's able to experience some happiness in life still, and that you are too.

Life really is unfair, it's situations like this which really make me wonder how anyone can believe in a god.

Why open the door in the first place if you’re just going to shut it in their face?

They don't come here anymore after our NDN (the size and personality of Shrek), chased them up the street with a baseball bat, after they woke him after a Nightshift.
To be fair to him, he has several signs up, including ones about his Hells Angels club.

I completely disagree with their beliefs on blood transfusions and on taking children out evangelising.

Anone seen the film Heretic? it stars Hugh Grant who certainly has a novel way of dealing with two Mormon callers

I have a sign the says,
"Nah, we good,
No Soliciting"

And a door wreath that says, "If you're pizza, Amazon, or Joe Burrow, we're home."

We still occasionally get people knocking. I just ignore them.

I resorted to putting a blood donor sticker and it didn't deter the JW's

I do the same with cold callers, just put the phone down, no explanations or sorrys

My children have decided being brought up as a JW wasn't for them. I respect them, we all have free will.

They are my children and certainly part of my life, one of them still lives with me.

Some of the comments on this discussion have been so wrong/false....

I’m coming back to this one. A polite but firm way to deal with chuggers is to say ‘I never do anything on the doorstep but if you’ve got a leaflet I’ll read it.’ (For some reason they never have one). And then say goodbye and shut the door.

I’d seriously recommend getting into the habit of saying this, and if you’ve got older relatives encourage them to do this rather than engaging with anyone on the doorstep.

So many rude responses here. I have no interest in listening as I have my own faith, but I have the upmost respect for people who give up their time and face such abuse to save people. You may not believe this, and that's fine, but their belief is that they are helping you get to heaven and have a responsibility to do this. How hard is it to at least say "no thanks"??

I don't understand why they're still trying to convert people. All the righteous ascended to heaven on the day of judgement in 1914 like they predicted, everyone left behind are the sinners with no chance of redemption and their damned offspring.

It’s rude to evangelise. It’s rude to knock a door without being invited. It’s rude to intrude on someone’s time. It’s rude to insert yourself and your beliefs uninvited.

But here we are…

So if it was someone selling double glazing would you say no not interested or just close the door in their face? They too are intruding on you but are just trying to earn a living so do they deserve your manners over people spreading the word of their religion? It costs nothing to be polite and just because you aren't interested doesn't mean others aren't so they are going to continue their mission regardless in the hopes of reaching those that they can help. I'm not religious either but sometimes the religious door knockers can be the only adult conversation I get so a polite I'm not religious and then a bit of chit chat does wonders for my mental health.
I hope you reconsider your stance on this, it would take you a few extra seconds out of your day to be kind/polite and surely that's what the world needs right now

I would have assumed that she was writing the address down as a 'do not return', actually. As I can't imagine that the poster would have said anything that encouraged them to come back.

Really weird behaviour on the part of the pp.

Yes… it’s the lonely, vulnerable people doorsteppers of all sorts prey on. I don’t think any of it is ‘socially legitimate’.

When I answer the door it tends to be something like I'm not interested. If you really dislike their visits put up a sign saying no visits. Or say I have not invited you to call, you are unwelcome. Or quote scripture Matthew 10:14
(And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet)

Why the lie though?