have you ever had an atheist come to your house to try and convert ya?

As much as I don't understand religion, give people their space and common respect. I usually fair pretty well with a "No thank you. Have good one." No attitude needed.

reply to post by scientist


nah, when i lived in st. louis i didn't get a single jehovah's wtiness, but i did get evangelical groups, mainly evangelical baptists and pentecostals. i also found chick tracts taped to my door... and in my mailbox.

though those tracts do tend to give me a laugh... they're just so stupid.

Boondock we get JW's here a lot. I had just a no soliciting sign and they ignored it. Even went as far as saying they talked to someone here before and they wanted a phamplet left for them. Not. So I was determined to find a sign that was more aimed towards them.


As you can see its posted right above the doorbell. So far no ones come to my door after I put it there.

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction
Oh, just to split hairs, because it's fun. I don't believe Buddhism is truly atheist. They have a religion that deals with the supernatural -- they believe in the reincarnation of the soul, and nirvana (if I'm remembering correctly). That, to me, isn't truly atheism. But perhaps it's because I'm marrying science with atheism and just extrapolating it from there. Most of the people I know who claim to be atheists do not believe in ANYTHING supernatural, including ghosts, an afterlife, or the Easter Bunny. With certain of us excepting the Flying Spaghetti Monster (may you be Touched by His Noodly Appendage).

Yeah. They believe in Buddha's of old, Buddha isnt one dude.

Buddha is every guy who ever attained enlightenment, ie nirvana, and "skipped out" on the reincarnation loop, which has its root in Hinduism (reincarnation). Since they no longer reincarnate, they are an almost spiritual entity outside of a physical form that can aid fellow Buddhists in their paths and so forth. At least the Tibetan Buddhists think this.

They lay their deceased out on the mountain cliff to be picked away at by carnivorous birds until nothing remains except the bones, which they keep (I believe!) as relics or some such. Isn't that a wild funeral?

Every bit of that flesh went to birds, who digested and shat it out, which nutrified the plants below, causing them to grow and bloom, and the pollen there-from helped the bee's out, to make their honey, which was collected by the same tribe that put the corpse on the mountain ledge three years prior.

Hmmm .... im getting ahead of myself here.

But some advice to the people getting repeatedly pestered by Jehovahs Witnesses / Mormons.

Here is what ye do.

Sit down and if you smoke, non chalantly light up immediately, dont blo the smoke in their face but just light one. Then, have a conversation with them why you think Mormonism or their religion whatever it may be is wrong. But think about your fundamental points and briefly research them so you are truly right and dont look dumb. So if you do this, you leave them with a bunch of questions they cant answer, you make accusations of things being untrue in their books, and you express a belief that nobody goes to heaven (atheist), or all monotheists who worship YHWH do (christian/jew/muslim).

They wont come back, hopefully!

Originally posted by runetang
But some advice to the people getting repeatedly pestered by Jehovahs Witnesses / Mormons.

Here is what ye do.

Sit down and if you smoke, non chalantly light up immediately, dont blo the smoke in their face but just light one. Then, have a conversation with them why you think Mormonism or their religion whatever it may be is wrong. But think about your fundamental points and briefly research them so you are truly right and dont look dumb. So if you do this, you leave them with a bunch of questions they cant answer, you make accusations of things being untrue in their books, and you express a belief that nobody goes to heaven (atheist), or all monotheists who worship YHWH do (christian/jew/muslim).

They wont come back, hopefully!

Better, pull out a gun (it doesn't have to be loaded or even work) and start cleaning it casually in front of them when they come to your door.

i know how ridiculous and made up this may sound, but when I was still a teenager, I heard my father tell a group of JWs that he would love to hear them out, as soon as he was finished beating his children. He also asked them if they had accepted satan into their lives.

i love my pops.

reply to post by scientist


my grandfather once told a jehovah's witness he'd be right with them after he finished the sacrificial ritual and cleaned the blood and pentagram off the floor...

reply to post by runetang

Great tactic! Although it does require a little patience and an interest in the dialogue. Ultimately, the choice is still up to the individual, and I can totally understand just letting the dog loose!
I used to use this tactic when I was Christian with Jehovha's Witnesses and its true: engage them in dialogue and inevitably you will talk about things they don't understand, almost always guaranteeing they won't return. I think maybe they just check you off their list, or make a note or something warning their other followers to stay away lest they become corrupted!
Nowadays, I rarely encounter Christians trying to convert me, but when I do I find I always know things about their own religion that they were not aware of. Real basic things, too! I find it slightly amusing!

Originally posted by DeadFlagBlues
As much as I don't understand religion, give people their space and common respect. I usually fair pretty well with a "No thank you. Have good one." No attitude needed.

respect starts with them.....when they are walking to my joint and they see the sign, that means leave....it does not mean you are exempt cause you thump the bible

Absolutely. A major peeve of mine as concerns religious folks is that many of them appear to think that their belief trumps my right to privacy. That somehow, they have special privilege, and their beliefs are more important than anyone else's. Sanctimoniousness really gets under my skin.

Personally, I take the standpoint that my home is my sacred ground and that anyone who knocks on my door uninvited is very rude for doing so. I don't care if they are pushing religion or magazine subscriptions. When i'm at home please leave me the heck alone.
I know where the churches are, I drive by a bunch of them to and from work everyday. If you want to share the word of God, do something in your community like a car wash or barbecue, that way people know what they are getting themselves into beforehand.

And yes, I am a Christian.

As I recall, if you tell a Jehovah’s Witness straight that you do not want them to call at your house again, they have a duty to mark it down on their little record sheet. The next time they are due to cover your neighbourhood, that same record sheet – complete with the “Do Not Calls” – is given to whoever is calling on your side of the street, and they should honour your wishes.

I personally believe that by humouring them, or by being rude or confrontational, I am only strengthening their faith and giving them less reason to question their own, polarised view of society. Take it from me, there’s nothing more thought-provoking than an ‘unbeliever’ who doesn’t fit the stereotype…

Originally posted by DeadFlagBlues
It's easy to answer why relgious people woud come to your door but, I think it's more important to ask why it's necessary, you know? Seems kind of ludacris that something that great has to be spread door to door like girl scout cookies..

I agree with you. Keep in mind, though, that the door-to-door work is as much about maintaining and testing their own faith as it is about getting you to change yours. It's a little-known fact, for example, that even house-bound Jehovah's Witnesses are encouraged to contact people - by phone or letter, and minister to them that way!

To answer the original poster: no, but I've pretended to be one before. It wasn't really house to house, but rather on the street. Lets just say the Christian Union in my town are very well organized and somewhat aggressive in their tactics. Which is fine, up to a point, but they really need to learn the meaning of the word "no."

So I did exactly what they did, in reverse. They toned it down after that.

The thing is, these days you do have some of what I like to call the Dawkins crowd of atheists who are every bit as obnoxious as other prosletysing religions. Admittedly, it seems confined to the internet, thus far, but I suspect sooner or later some of them will get around to doing something in the real world - assuming they can bear to be away from Internet Infidels for more than half an hour.

I think there is a difference between making people aware of the choices available and being an obnoxious twerp. Thou shalt subject thy beliefs to market forces, and let the consumer do the rest. Advertise your wares, just dont try and shove it down peoples throats.

It's always Christians for me and they never learn. Sometimes i pretend that i'm being converted, lol you should see the looks on their faces. Well i don't mind that much, it's ATS, but live!

Next time they come over i'll try to make them question their own religion. lol they'll hate me for that (if it works).

I've never had an atheist knock on my door, I think I did get a Jehovah's Witness once or twice though. It doesn't mean that atheists aren't trying to convert people though -- they just use different, usually more insidious, methods.

reply to post by Boondock78


simple before they say anything
slam the door on their face, works everytime

Originally posted by djohnsto77
It doesn't mean that atheists aren't trying to convert people though -- they just use different, usually more insidious, methods.

Just because we argue with religious people doesn't mean we're trying to convert them. Mostly it's just to point out how inconsistent and nonsensical belief systems are.

Since we aren't a religion, how do we convert someone? Deprogram, I can accept that terminology. Though, to date, I've not seen it work yet.