When evangelists knock on your door...

[Evangelicalhumanist]

...Um... I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're offering your opinion to people you don't know about potentially personal matters right now.

Actually, I'm not. I'm trying to make it clear that I do not wish them to offer me theirs.

I tell you, I am sick to death of people standing at one of the main intersections in Toronto, waving their Bibles and Qur'ans, all screaming to be heard about what their god wants, and what he'll do to me if I don't deliver, all while trapped by a flipping red light. Why? I'm not shouting anything in their faces! I'm not accosting them with my beliefs, my prejudices, and my fears. Why should they do so to me?

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Actually, I'm not. I'm trying to make it clear that I do not wish them to offer me theirs.

riiiight... which is your opinion, that you are offering. Do you need a diagram?

I tell you, I am sick to death of people standing at one of the main intersections in Toronto, waving their Bibles and Qur'ans, all screaming to be heard about what their god wants, and what he'll do to me if I don't deliver, all while trapped by a flipping red light. Why? I'm not shouting anything in their faces! I'm not accosting them with my beliefs, my prejudices, and my fears. Why should they do so to me?

Free speech and all that.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Especially since God does not speak.

Then why is the Bible filled with phrases like," Thus saith the Lord?"

 

[80s fashion girl]

When door to door evangelists came I had already been studying the Christian Bible on my own. Depending on what I was doing at the time, would invite them in and have a discussion.

They normally wanted to ask questions as if I was their student, so I would in turn ask them questions, and in answering my questions sometimes the answers are what is actually biblical as I've studied, or we would look up scripture together. Sometimes when they couldn't give me an answer to a question they would just look at me, or have to come back with the answer or bring pamphlet from their organization.

I always enjoyed the discussions, and they were always polite and although intelligent, still not free to think on their own.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Again, I do not understand how that happened. It is drummed into us that we are not to call on those who request us not to. If you had a sign saying "NO Jehovah's Witnesses" you might have done better.

Anyone who has a sign out saying "no soliciting" HAS requested that JWs not solicit them to promote their religion.

We have people come to our door all the time, some wanting to set up solar panels on our rooves...others want to connect us to a better electricity supplier....or to ask for donations to various charities. I receive them all hospitably and even offer them refreshments on a hot day. What is with all the grumpy people who can't find it in themselves to be civil?

You're initiating the contact. If you only want to talk to people who are happy to see you, let interested people come to you.

These complaints don't seem to me to be genuine because they are completely opposite to what we are instructed to do. No deception, no subterfuge.....what would be the point? You can't deceive people and have them trust you.....

You also can't protect the person who raped a child and have them - or their parents - trust you, but that hasn't stopped the Watchtower Society on that point.

 

[pearl]

Then why is the Bible filled with phrases like," Thus saith the Lord?"

Which brings Amos to mind, 1:1 'The words of Amos', and ends with 'thus says the Lord your God. A word of the Lord to Isaiah; They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks', and the 'word' the Lord speaks to Joel, 'Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.' This does not deny that God communicated with the Prophets, but did he actually utter the 'words'?

 

[suncowiam]

Why being rude? Just say no thank you is enough.

It's my property and I can be how I want to be on my property.

I can display displeasure as I please on those I feel are doing wrong particularly when they involve children.

You do what you please at your home. Don't tell me what to do at mine.

 

[suncowiam]

I like that. I don't like that (you send them to me)

Sometimes I try to act angry, but it's very difficult for me, and I really need to control myself not to laugh. But for the good cause I have to act this way.

I purposely show anger or annoyance to further bring the point home.

They act nice and happy but their intentions are sinister. They want you to integrate into their cult and yes I call it a cult. Why? Because we have to change our belief systems.

 

[sooda]

Which brings Amos to mind, 1:1 'The words of Amos', and ends with 'thus says the Lord your God. A word of the Lord to Isaiah; They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks', and the 'word' the Lord speaks to Joel, 'Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.' This does not deny that God communicated with the Prophets, but did he actually utter the 'words'?

There was no Isaiah...

Isaiah

 

[SalixIncendium]

What do you say when members of a religious group (such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses) knock on your door, evangelising?

I've invited them in for coffee.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

riiiight... which is your opinion, that you are offering. Do you need a diagram?Free speech and all that.

My wishes and my opinion are different things...do you need a diagram?

As for free speech, I always try to couple that with something else that I find useful...something I call good manners.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Free speech and all that

The people opposed to proselytizing also are entitled to their free speech.

The right to free speech doesn't include the right to freedom from criticism.

 

[Kenny]

Indeed, you are entitled to come to your own conclusions for your own reasons, as we all are.....its all about making decisions.



Well, we do too.....since there is only one God and one truth, its up to us to make our choices about who he is, and what it means to serve his interests in a world controlled by his adversary. (1 John 5:19) We have to remember that this adversary has a unique ability...to make the truth seem like a lie and vice versa. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) The best way he knows how to "blind" the minds of people is to present them with another "truth"....if it seems authentic at face value, then people will fall for the counterfeit. But the fake will not stand up under scrutiny....it will lead to death. There is much at stake here.

We live in a world of 'wheat and weeds'....'sheep and goats'....God knows the difference and will guide and direct only those who show the right qualities, to his truth (John 6:65)....which will seem like heresy to the majority, as it did with Jesus and his apostles....but not to "the lost sheep", who will see the value of the truth.

The "weeds" and the "goats" will be clearly distinguishable as the time of the end draws to a close, because they will not be obeying any of the laws of God......deftly justifying their way out of them. At the end Jesus will rightly accuse those who claimed him as their "Lord" of being "workers of lawlessness" whom he "never knew". (Matthew 7:21-23) None of us wants to be found among them.....

"Baaaaaa"

 

[pearl]

There was no Isaiah...

Then explain please the meaning of Isaiah has a lot in common with the other, mostly earlier, prophets of the eighth century, Amos, Hosea, and Micah. It even seems likely that he was influenced to a degree by them. In material dating to the early years of his ministry, Isaiah's critique of official religion in contrast to the demands of social justice (1:12-17) sounds a great deal like Amos. The next section, chapters 2-4, contains material also like his predecessor's, condemning the aristocracy and high society women, whose lifestyles implied disdain for the needs of the disadvantaged. Isaiah differs from Amos, of course, in targeting the ruling class of Jerusalem rather than that of Samaria. From the site you posted.

 

[sooda]

Then explain please the meaning of Isaiah has a lot in common with the other, mostly earlier, prophets of the eighth century, Amos, Hosea, and Micah. It even seems likely that he was influenced to a degree by them. In material dating to the early years of his ministry, Isaiah's critique of official religion in contrast to the demands of social justice (1:12-17) sounds a great deal like Amos. The next section, chapters 2-4, contains material also like his predecessor's, condemning the aristocracy and high society women, whose lifestyles implied disdain for the needs of the disadvantaged. Isaiah differs from Amos, of course, in targeting the ruling class of Jerusalem rather than that of Samaria. From the site you posted.

Isaiah is prophecy after the fact.. during the Maccabean Revolt and the time of the Abomination of Desolation and Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Daniel is the same thing.

Hosea 11:1 is talking Israel not Jesus. Israel is often referred to as "son" and "servant".. meaning all the people of Israel.

 

[pearl]

Isaiah is prophecy after the fact..

Because they are and political does not change the prophecy.

 

[Jose Fly]

Here's one way of looking at door-to-door proselytizers....by coming unsolicited to my house with the sole purpose of converting me to their religious beliefs, they have opened the door to having their beliefs evaluated, critiqued, and debated, right?

So if a pair of JWs knock on my door, I'm entirely justified when I grill them on their false beliefs about biology (I'm a biologist, so that's what I would focus on), their backwards views on higher education, and any other nonsense that they're selling, correct?

 

[sooda]

Because they are and political does not change the prophecy.

What?

 

[SugarOcean]

Hahaha! What a legend!

If only she'd have thought to grab her phone. It would have went viral on YouTube in moments.
I'd have loved to see the eyes on those JW women when she opened the door naked. Wide. Then when she said the part about sacrifice to Satan, wider, wider.

 

[Shad]

What do you say when members of a religious group (such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses) knock on your door, evangelising?

I currently politely say “sorry, I already have a religion” and leave it as that

But the next time it happens I think I’m going to say something outrageous such as “I don’t need religion, I have a direct line to God” (don’t worry, I don’t believe I have a direct line to God!) or make up a religion and tell them I belong to that

Only Mormons and JW visit door to door around here. They are far more community centered so topics about the city and community are often brought up. Neither are isolationist here nor quick to disparage the community. So conversations are pleasant and based on common ground. I think between those two groups and myself there is an understanding that I am not "buying" so they are not trying to "sell" me anything.

Both have recommended private schools when I asked. Most private schools are religious so they would know a few.