Personally, i think they have some entertainment value. But then I like a nice argument. It does rather depend when they ring though. Sometimes you just don't have the time for a good argument.
had 3 young women knock on my door once, after I passed comments about their nice perfume and asked if they were doing anything that evening they disappeared and never returned
Good thread Pete - not had any Morons here yet but plenty of J.W. I smile politely and tell them that they are included in my 'Death's Door wasted hours' list - I think it must be over an hour by now. Have to disagree with TT600 as a smile and a polite No Thank you is rarely enough on average and you usually have to go on and spell it out to them.
I find them very benign people. No threat, danger or anything remotely bad. I don't believe in any of that stuff they spout but hey ho. I'd never tell them to 'fuck off' I tend to save that stuff for people that get on my tits and annoy me. Mormons, JW's, gays etc. Nah, they don't annoy me at all. Why would I want to insult them??
The question to ask, as an atheist, is would you tell any religious person who knocked on your door proselytising to fuck off? Jews, Muslims, Catholics, CofE etc. Given that God doesn't exist, then surely all religions are equally daft, but it doesn't mean their adherents are unpleasant people (although I'd give short shrift to fundamentalist Muslims that branded me an infidel, which I may be, but there's no need to get personal).
if they used the same recruiting methods then I would treat them exactly the same - when in Woking I had a middle aged-ish man call with a smartly dressed 10-ish year old who on cue from the man asked me if I thought Jesus had died for me. I can't find the words to describe my thoughts at the time apart from feeling very sad that it could come to this. They were Jehova's Witness.
I too like a good argument, you will be surprised to hear. But arguing with the kind of religiots who knock on doors is like taking candy from a baby - it's not a fair contest as they are so clueless.
If I have time I am always polite, tell them I am a Jewish atheist, and then invite them in for tea. They are usually surprised, and it does mess up their visit quota so they have to leave eventually. My record is 45 mins before they excused themselves . I like a good argument too, but the JWs I encounter are not exactly open minded. The response to any question is that it says it in the bible.
Break their brain with the following conundrum; If god is all seeing and all knowing, prayer is pointless as god already knows what your praying for, and it's pre determined outcome. If prayer is not pointless god is not the perfect all seeing all knowing being he is advertised as, so what else in their religion is wrong?
I invited a couple of the God Squad in for a cup of tea when they knocked on my door.......... ...........once they were sitting comfortably, I gave them my philosophy on religion....... .........I manage to keep them there for 45 minutes, but they were wriggling to get away after 5 minutes...... ......never had them knock on my door again.....
As in all walks of life, they're not all idiots and indeed some may be competent enough for some verbal jousting even with you... I was brought up as a witness, so know all about the preprogrammed responses that they use. JW's are benign bigots, try getting them to take some religious literature from you.. Ask them what religion allows their child to die because they can't have a blood transfusion. Quickest way to get rid of them is to say you're disfellowshipped (their version of excommunicated) and they'll be on their way... Or ask them to to take a note of your address as you don't want called on again. .
