How do non religious people handle this?

Question

How do you handle when a mormon or someone comes to your house to preach in the middle of a much earned dinner? Yesterday,I hear a knock at the door,I'm cooking dinner,I stop,open the shades,and there's the mormoms with nametags stating who they are,I looked at them,shut the shades,and walked away.LOL,I know I'm gonna burn in hell,but,right now,especially right now,I can't handle someone preaching to me,and even though I wasn't alone,I NEVER open my door to someone I don't know. My SO thought it was rather hilarious that I left them standing there,so,I wondered what everyone else would do in the same position?

For the poster who considered me rude,and uninformed,I went to a Christian school,I personally know Mormons,and know about thier faith as well. I am NOT uninformed,and I don't care if the president was at my house uninvited,it's MY right NOT to open the door!! Especially to TWO men that I have NO clue about. I'm certain you can buy a name tag that says anything at any place that makes them! Just because their nametags said they were Mormon,didn't mean they weren't axe murders!!

Answer 1

If you're in a territory being canvassed regularly by Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and the like, you need some off-putting strategies. Try these in any combo you like.

A) Have a sign made up that you can put in the window when you're not into seeing these people. It should say you're dining and will not answer the door.

B) Put out a sign that says Beware of Dog. Have a recording of a viciously barking dog near the door that you can switch on when needed.

C) Nail a voodoo fetish to your door. That REALLY spooks the Witnesses.

D) Hang a mezzuzah on the doorjamb. None of them want to get into Scripture with a Jew. They come up short every time and that's hard on their egos.

E) Prominently display a CATHOLIC translation of the Bible where they can see it through the window. If they catch sight soon enough, they'll never even ring the bell. Catholics spook 'em ALL. Added benefit: they'll pass the word around and pretty soon NONE of them will darken your door.

BTW: shalom, pax vobiscum, salaam aleikum are good greetings. Just use them correctly. It wouldn't do to say shalom, for instance, while there's a star and crescent flag over your door. Or pax vobiscum in conjunction with a mezzuzah. Get the details right. Convince 'em they're wasting their time. After all, they've got quotas to meet. They don't want waste their time. Give them a reason NOT to use that time on you.

Answer 2

Well, first of all, if you're non-religious, you're not going to burn in hell, so put your mind at ease!

Secondly, I would probably have done the same thing. Or, I might have opened the door long enough to tell them I'm not interested in their prevarications and closed the door again after telling them to leave.

My suggestion: post a no soliciting sign on your door. That way the next time someone comes to your door you don't know who is there with the express intent of bothering you, you can tell them to take a hike or you'll call the cops.

Answer 3

First, I'm agnostic but it doesn't give me a right to be rude to someone who does believe, Mormon, Catholic or other religion. Second, I've read the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon and other religious texts. If you're not informed, you can't make a decision about your religious stature.

What you did was rude and inconsiderate. I can understand not wanting to open the door to someone you don't know but you shouldn't put down someone for trying to spread the word, which is what all religious texts encourage. A simple, "I don't have time to discuss the matter with you." or "I'm not interested in discussing religion or politics." would have done and you would appear to be a better person... regardless of religious affiliation.

Answer 4

Lol!! I would invite them in--for some reason, though, most of the time they don't come to my house. Maybe they feel the raw polytheistic energy that emanates from my dwelling or something. One lady that I did talk to had her daughter with her--a big mistake for that lady, believe you me, because I think I planted enough seeds of doubt in that child's head to create a future heretic in that family. I love debating with them the merits of their religion versus the merits of my freewheeling philosophy of "God" being everyone and everything in the universe. I don't blame you for walking away--it's rude for people to come knocking on your door when they know it's most likely dinnertime.
But if it happens again, you might as well have some fun with them. Act like you're extremely paranoid, ask them if they're part of the "detatchment" sent to watch you, tell them they won't get your eggs to make alien babies, anything crazy. You will get the biggest laugh and the Mormons will never come to your house again.

Answer 5

Go to the nearest office supply store and get a nice looking sign that you can place on your front door that says "No Soliciting", or custom order a plaque that could also say, "No Soliciting... and that means YOU!" It could match the door knob or compliment the shape of your door so that it doesn't look unsightly.

For those of you in apartment dwellings, ask permission from your manager before putting such a sign. These days, more times than not, you WILL get permission.

Answer 6

I KNOW it is no the first time in their missionary life that someone has done that too them! I was a missionary for two years and opening the shades and walking away was extremely tame compared to sicking the dog on them, or pulling a gun, knife, club on them, or even opening the door and berating them with every cuss word in the book. Believe me what you did was about "Par for the course".

Answer 7

You were definitely not rude.

My experiences with different missionaries, including later days saints et al., are that there exactly two ways to deal with them without losing your own dignity.
1. Ignore them - exactly like you did. Pretty easy, but they might come back.
2. Tell them that you are not interested in changing your creed. This might be harder. I have multiple tried and true versions of what to do:
* Be well prepared and tell them about all the stories of strong females the bible contains. You might want to start with Tamar the daughter-in-law of Juda, include Deborah the judge, and Rahab who gave shelter to two men of the choosen people. Don't forget the apostle Johanna. This works especially well with all kinds of evangelicals.
* Turn the tables and tell them all about your choosen creed; ideal choices to frighten them are Catholizism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or Wicca. They don't like to be on the receiving end of proselytizing.
* Ask them sweetly if they change their religion like their underwear. If they answer no, ask them why they expect you to do so. If they answer yes, ask them why you should follow them if they don't know themselves what is the right creed.

If you don't mind your own dignity feel free to threaten, abuse or embarrass them as you like. They will get the message.

Answer 8

Invite them in and say that the others joining you for the wife-swapping party/satanic sacrifice ritual/neighbourhood mud-wrestling championship/pyramid sales seminar will be arriving shortly.

If they actually want to stay despite this, then excuse yourself, exit via the back door and call the police, telling them that your house is being burgled and the suspects are still on your premises. If you really hate Mormons, you could spice this one up by calling the Homeland Homeboys and tipping them the wink that a terrorist call is plotting something awful in your living room...

Answer 9

I don't know why you think you would burn in hell because you didn't open the door to Mormons (or anyone else). I don't think much of people who try to force their religion on other people. Open discussions are fine.

Answer 10

I sneak a look and then hide or just ignore them, before now they have been at the window waving to me! What is all that about. A friend of mine has tipped a bowl of old washing up water out of the window upstairs on cold callers. She said "That steadied them"