How to politely tell a JW that you want nothing to do with their religion?

Question

I have a friend / business associate who does not stop talking about his religion. I like him and work with him on occasion. I have researched the watchtower society and want nothing to do with that. I have printed information off the internet and gave it to him, pointing out the points that I think prove his religion is something to be avoided. I have told him that I am glad that he is happy with his religion, and I repect that, but that he also has to respect the fact that I am happy with my beliefs.
Honestly, I have tried to be polite and not insult him.
Just today he decided to introduce me to another man who is a jw as well. That man started talking about the same things.
Really, how do I stop this politely? Do I just get rude?
I want to treat everyone with respect, and I feel that I am not getting respect back.
I believe that everyone has the right to their own beliefs.
This situation is very disturbing as I am being witnessed to at work.
Help me out here please.

I apologise for not including this info.
I am self employed as a builder. My friend is also self employed and we have joined on several projects. I really don't think the religious harrassment route will work as we are our own bosses.
Thanks for all the good answers.

Answer 1

If it's happening at work, first thing is to tell them in no uncertain terms that you're not interested, without giving a reason "why", or trying to rationalize, explain, or defend your own beliefs. The "why" is not the issue.

Then tell them that proselytizing is not appropriate workplace conduct, and if they don't stop you'll be forced to report it to their manager/supervisor/Human Resources department, and see how that goes.

Good luck...

Answer 2

Perhaps your employer has a policy about harrassment or discussing religion/politics at work. If so, remind your friends that you have politely asked them several times to refrain from talking about their religion with you. Inform them of the policy and that you hope you will not have to enforce it.

If there is no policy, kindly but firmly stop them right away, reiterate your request to be left alone, and say you do not feel religion is an appropriate topic for work. Then either change the subject, or excuse yourself to get back to work.

If that doesn't work after a few times, you will probably need to get more firm and less kind.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Man, they are tenacious, aren't they? I'm friends with a couple whose son married a JW; now the son has converted and is trying to convert them and the rest of the family. They can't risk alienating him for fear of never seeing their grandchildren again. It is a terrible situation. Never marry outside your religion, kids!

I'm afraid I can't be very much help here. I think it would be better to continue to emphasize how happy you are with your current beliefs rather than how his beliefs are deficient, which will only encourage him to explain them even more, and try changing the subject when he starts up.

Answer 4

First thing you need to do is tell you HR manager.
If that does not work, you need to be rude. plain and simple.
Is it not rude for them to constantly hound you about God?
Ask them about the thousands of sexually abused children that have been hushed within the society, and the abusers themselves being protected by the watchtower. Ask them if the know that the founder of their religion was an alcoholic womanizer. Ask them about Armageddon and why they have re-dated it so many times. Ask them why they cultivate a culture of fear in order to keep membership up.

Answer 5

I feel you by being nice to him in your respect is giving him the wrong message and therefore leading him on.Be F I R M ,they are trained to respect your interest if it is there.There is more that you may not be including in your preamble,for example is it lunchtime or on some break ,travel time on job.

Answer 6

Be direct and to the point. Something like "I am not interested in discussing this issue. I understand that it is very important to you, but please do not bring it up with me again". If he persists, mention that such conversations are totally inappropriate at work, and that you will address the issue with his supervisor if he insists on discussing the matter. Good luck.

Answer 7

i know they are persistent and its very nice and you obviously have a lot of patience to have dealt with this so long....i had a similar problem with them and the thing that made them go away was i first asked them about their leadership and why they rewrote the bible in their own terms (you probably already know about that) and are living in secret and will not reveal themselves...they didn't like that but came back once again and i didn't like it but i became very firm with them and told them i did not believe in their religion and had very politely asked them to respect mine and that they were being rude, aggressive and insensitive and that if i wanted to 'burn in hell' because i did not believe what they wanted then i was going to be buried in a bathing suit, sunglasses and a bottle of tanning oil beside me..then i shut the door. i know yours is different in that you have to work with the guy but he needs to know your opinion counts and you are not interested. i think the fact that so many are trying to be part of the 140,000 that they get really pushy.

Answer 8

Just be Honest and say that "I don't want to speak about this any more"
sometimes the truth is hard, but by showing respect to the person himself , he will got it at last

So GOOD LUCK

Answer 9

Youre at work. Discussing religion is a big NO NO. First, tell him nicely that you respect his religion and that you expect him to respect yours. If that doesnt work, tell him to kindly STFU or you are going to file a complaint against him regarding religious harrassment.....

Answer 10

You have been gracious and polite with this person, now you just need to tell them you are uncomfortable with being witnessed to at work constantly. You don't need to be rude just firm.