How to handle unsolicited religious callers?

[allthingsinmoderation]

I am working from home today ,well working from my bed due to a broken ankle.
I had a sleepless night due to discomfort and not in the best mood.
Just had 2 women knock (very persistently) at my door, so i struggled down stairs and was greeted by 2 smiling gurning stepford wives dine up to the nines asking me "How due you view the future"?
i was discombobulated from lack of sleep i think and almost entered into a discussion about world events but something about them was weird and i managed to blurt out that i was busy working, they were undeterred and went into a full religious speech. i stood my ground and and maintained that i didnt a have time to discuss,they wanted to make an appt to return and i felt pressured .
When i tried to evade,they pressed further.They werent rude or impolite just doggedly persistent and unnervingly odd looking.
After a while (felt like forever) they thrust some pamphlets into my hand and left.
AIBU to be annoyed by the intrusion?
Or should i be more tolerant?
How is it best to handle these people?

That's exactly what I did do! I said no thanks and closed the door, and often look back on it and laugh - I mean, who would possibly say yes, please do, I would love you to come into my house and give me a short presentation about the antichrist?! 😂

Someone once told me that if you have a sign, there is some law about harassment. I haven’t looked into that to see if it true, and I’m not sure how it’s “policed” but I can honestly say the knocks on my door have gone down to zero from a few a day ( apart from one group who don’t understand the wording).

I have never had Jehovah's Witnesses come to the house, but a few months ago, Mormons knocked on the door, and they were very polite. They did ask if they could speak with me, and I had nothing else on, so said yes. We talked at the doorstep. I figured they were either JW or Mormons, but they didn't identify themselves immediately.

The first thing they asked me was if I was worried about the future, and mentioned something about God, and I thought "Ok, let's just be honest here" and I was.

I asked them why should I be worried about the future, if it's all part of God's plan? I said, wasn't it especially clear in the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle (among others) that we were exhorted to trust in the Lord? And that it is not our place to question the Lord's purpose, and so what was there to worry about? (I know my theology).

They seemed surprised, and just kept going on about being worried about the future, and what about all the things from Revelation. I just kept saying that the Bible is clear that it is not for us to judge and we should trust that God has a plan for us. In the end, we had to agree to disagree. I'm not bothered by it, but they didn't seem to have any clue what I was talking about. They also seemed not to know much about what's actually in the Bible except Revelation.

I wonder if they'll come back, or maybe they've decided I am a lost cause. I found it quite entertaining.

OP, if you don't want to talk to them, just say "no thanks " and close the door.

You should have signed up to their religion there and then, quit your job knowing that God will look after you, leave home and go and live in a commune with them.

I open the door and they say hello and I just say goodbye and shut the door 😆

I can always tell from the look,of them.

So ‘Are you Jehovah’s Witnesses?’
If yes, ‘Then I’m not interested, thank you - and please don’t call again.’
And shut the door.

However I still remember my American BiL (born Jewish but atheist) when we were discussing such unwanted callers.
I said, ‘Presumably they’d just give up straightaway if you told them you were Jewish.’

He (very nonchalantly, ‘I just tell them to get the fuck out.’ 😂

Same way as you handle other cold callers or charity muggers.
‘I’m not interested thank you.’

Just a no thank you works fine.

I just look on the ring camera - if I need to I speak via that and say I’m not interested. No way I’d be getting up and going to the door on crutches. They only waste as much of your time as you allow them to.

Just close the door! You don’t owe them anything!

Ring Doorbell

Get a Ring doorbell.

Are you the same person who posted about the Jehovah Witnesses earlier this week?

They believe that 177,000 people can enter heaven, only.

My dad asked them why they are trying to convert others if it reduces their chances to enter.

That made them think about things and they never showed up again.

Or, just say, not interested, thanks. Or, just don't answer the door.

Or, have a "no soliciting" sign put on the front.

Or, listen to what they have to say.

So many options.

Because I’m an awkward bugger, I say ‘can I ask a question before you start?’ They usually say yes and I then ask ‘what’s your position on same sex marriage and abortion?’

They usually scarper at that point.

I just say “No” and close the door.

I have a very simple way to deal with these type of things. I don’t answer the door

I also don’t answer my phone if it’s a withheld number or a number that’s not recognised. They can leave a message

Tell them you're either a Catholic or Russian Orthodox.

Watch them do 100 metres in under ten seconds.

Camera and motion sensors on the porch. I say no thank you from upstairs.

Years ago some Jehovah’s knocked on and my brother answered the door. They asked if he believed in life after death and he said “what like zombies and shit”? I was sat at the top of the stairs howling while he wound them up a corker! It took about 5 years before they knocked on again!! 🤣🤣

My cousin did something similar once. In the end they had to walk away 🤣🤣

When DDs were small and we were at my folks’ house, a pair of JWs rang the doorbell, but we were all in the garden (high summer) and didn’t hear it. There was access to the back garden from the front, and this brazen pair had the nerve to come into the back garden to approach us.

My DF asked what they thought they were doing,
‘Oh, well, you didn’t answer the door, and we heard the children, so…’

DF was more or less incandescent at their cheek - he could never stand JWs anyway. As he would have put it, he tore them off a (very icy!) strip!

You say “ step back and don’t come back” and close the door.

How awful and how dare they!

I also work from home so my car is in the drive making that obvious. A salesman repeatedly and loudly knocked on my door and disturbed me when I was in a meeting and then had walked off by the time I got to the door. He must have seen me open it and by the time I got back upstairs to my office he started knocking again! I was effing furious and let him have it.

Now I don’t answer the door unless I’m expecting someone (all parcels diverted to leave in my safe place). I also have a sign on my door saying “no unsolicited calls”. It does seem to have worked.

"How do you view the future?"

"One that doesn't include you"

Close door. Nobody who is happy to go unsolicited door knocking can claim you are being rude

'No thank you, I'm an atheist, goodbye'. And close the door.