Religious visitors to your door

**Thomas Hepburn** · 07-22-2010 09:35 AM

I had a couple of these last week that came to my door.
If you had this happen to you what would you do. Either;
a) Warmly welcome them in for a drink.
b) Keep them outside and discuss the universe with them, challenging their ideals.(even if it's raining!)
c) Keep them outside but be hostile towards them
d) Tell them to go forth and multiply.
or
e) Another response.
It will be interesting to see what others here would do or react. I will only tell you how I reacted at the end.

**Olympia** · 07-22-2010 09:47 AM

We have had a few here and in other places we have lived. I tell them i have my views/ideas on religion and they have theirs. They are very different. I do not push my views upon others as they should not push theirs upon mine. One time a gentleman became so heated he stated i was ed and i was taking my children with me... Now that provoked a response that was less then kind from me, However... I asked him his address so that i could show up at his door and push my views/ideas onto him.. That ended it right there...
I do not invite them into my home... But then i do not let anyone in my home i have not invited.

**sungoddesschelsy** · 07-22-2010 09:51 AM

Personally, I inform them of my beleifs before they can tell me about theirs. Then ask them if they would like to convert, and when they say no then I say thank you and goodnight then close the door. my boyfriend on the other hand loves to have as much fun as he can with these people... he's invited them in and poked holes in their religion, once he opened the door and handed them a bible then shut the door and that was it.

**rcoreyus** · 07-22-2010 11:23 AM

How about A+B. Invite them in, and have a polite, discussion about their beliefs. I really enjoy talking about religion, but my beliefs are rather outside of the mainstream.

(according to the bible, what did Satan do that was evil......)

**WildChild** · 07-22-2010 11:35 AM

Depends on my mood. I have engaged some in lengthy discussions and had them start questioning their beliefs. There was one witness that happened with and thereafter they always sent someone with her, out last discussion she was going on depression meds. Nice belief system when if drives you into depression.

I've offer to read their stuff if they'll promise to read mine.
Or I've been known to say that I don't want any today thank you.

**Thomas Hepburn** · 07-22-2010 12:13 PM

..........Interesting. This is a serious question (although I've done it kind of tongue-in-cheek) because I want to know if the majority of people feel and act as I did/done. And therefore whether these people always have the same responses from the public's doors wherever in the world they operate.

**SaharaJim** · 07-22-2010 03:24 PM

I am a practicing Roman Catholic. If that doesn't stop the conversation...then I politely inform them that my relegion predates their's and I see no reason to convert to their jonny-come-lately beliefs. If they are educateded enough to understand the "issues" of the "reformation". Then we can "agree to disagree". Generally they are not "formally educated" on religeon and there is no point in being "rude". I wish them a "good day"...by which I mean "GOOD BYE".

**ItsASecret** · 07-22-2010 04:54 PM

I love to let them know that I am an atheist as well as only science is what I go towards. They really do not like the science part for some reason, one young lad told me I would burn with the devil for taking that route and I told him yeah well I like to be warm. But them coming to my door and interrupting me during my dinner to hear them preach about how happy go lucky their life is with the Lord...no thanks. I could care less about how passionate you are about your beliefs, I do not nor will I follow that same path so get off my front step and get off my property.

**Little** · 07-22-2010 06:50 PM

Last time this happened, by the time I heard the knocking over the dog barking ... they had decided they didn't want to come in or talk. Good riddance.
In my opinion, it's a form of harassment. I've ranged from threatening to call police (I lived in a public university's apartments, funnier because my unit was full of Muslims and non-Christian Asians who hardly spoke English) to blasting hard rock before answering the door. I always send them away without speaking at length. I have no interest in any religion that requires proselytizing, and have especially no interest in learning about that religion from its followers. My one exception is the Church of LDS - and when I want to know more about them, I have a good friend who humors my curiosity.
On a pleasant day, I either tell them thanks for the pamphlet or that I'm Catholic (I'm not.) There's just something about Catholicism that really does the trick, though. It might not work so well if I lived in the North, but here in the South, it's off-the-wall enough to make them back off.

**KMonte85** · 07-23-2010 06:53 AM

I've never had to deal with them personally - they always show up when I'm out so I come home to find a pamphlet shoved in the front door. I prefer that, it takes a lot less time to take the pamphlet and throw it in the recycling than it does to shoo off the religious zealots.

When I was a little kid, my mom would see them walking up the driveway and say "OH CARP! THE JEHOVAHS WITNESSES ARE HERE AGAIN!" then pull the blinds, lock the door, and hook the doberman pincher up to his lead then quietly let him out the side door (the leash was long enough for him to get around the house, but not long enough to reach the visitors) - that usually did the trick.