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Post by A. Sapien on Mar 26, 2009 19:50:41 GMT -5
My roommate dealt with some in Illinois that were actually extremely forceful.
To the point of trying to guilt her mother into joining, for the sake of my roommate's future. There's a real dark side to witnesses that a lot of people don't see until they're out, or accomplished.
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Post by Caitshidhe on Mar 26, 2009 19:51:16 GMT -5
It's still soliciting. And solicitors are annoying, whether they're trying to sell you a new lawnmower, a set of encyclopedias, or religion. Somebody trying to PERSISTENTLY sell you something you don't want and won't listen to a simple, "No, thank you, not interested," deserves to have, at the very least, a door slammed in their face. The only thing I won't slam the door for is girl scout cookies.
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Post by RavynousHunter on Mar 26, 2009 19:53:09 GMT -5
The ones I knew must've been exceptions, then... I dunno.
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Post by JonathanE on Mar 26, 2009 20:00:40 GMT -5
That's the thing though, they don't try to "force" anything, at least not the ones I've met. They just tell you, and leave the choice up to you. Put the shoe on the other foot, then. If I came to a JW's door, proseltyzing for atheism, they'd probably call the cops. I am sure that they would be far less polite than I have been to them. If I see them coming, I will wait by the door, light a fatty, wait for the bell to ring, and offer them a hit. They usually leave right away. (I live in Canada, by the way, so the fear of getting busted for pot is minimal, at best) You do see my point, though, don't you. Even if I was polite and left when asked, the average JW, Mormon, Catholic or whatever flavour of Christian answered the door would freak out if I were proseltyzing for atheism, door to door. If I actually gave a shit what other people believed, I might try it just for shits and giggles.
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Post by A. Sapien on Mar 26, 2009 20:00:48 GMT -5
Its hit and miss. You have two types of Witnesses.
Those who honestly believe in what they're saying and are trying to be good people. Sometimes you'll have an entire congregation of these people (or mostly these people), I grew up in one of these.
My mother is one of those people. They're honest, they're sweet, they don't lie and they're caring to a fault.
The other are people drawn to the nature of the religion, the authoritarian structure, or sometimes just the structure. They're there for power. They can ruin an entire congregation fast. They drive out the good people, which is why my mother is no longer in the same congregation I grew up in.
Like I said, I don't consider them worse, just the same. Though, I'm going to argue your point about Witnesses simply taking a 'no thank you' and away they go. One phrase, "Reasoning from the Scriptures, pages 9-24."
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Post by Vene on Mar 26, 2009 20:05:18 GMT -5
That's the thing though, they don't try to "force" anything, at least not the ones I've met. They just tell you, and leave the choice up to you. Soliciting=forcing If I wanted to hear about their religion I'd go to their church, I'd get a copy of The Watchtower, I'd get in contact with a JW.
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Post by RavynousHunter on Mar 26, 2009 20:09:06 GMT -5
Again, doesn't really matter. /shrug
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Post by ironbite on Mar 26, 2009 23:23:42 GMT -5
That's the thing though, they don't try to "force" anything, at least not the ones I've met. They just tell you, and leave the choice up to you. Obviouslly you're in an area where your average witness or Mormon Missionary are polite, kind, and willing to let you actually have a choice. Now here in reality, we know that most Witnesses are total douchbags who just want the power to make you choose hwo to live your life. Ironbite-kinda sad really.
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Post by renaissanceblonde on Mar 27, 2009 0:33:10 GMT -5
My mum got rid of two JWs by saying she was a Spiritualist. I prefer to ignore them or indulge my superior knowledge of the pagan roots of Christianity.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Mar 27, 2009 2:21:06 GMT -5
I had a friend who was a borderline fundy witness. He was actually a really nice person and quite smart too (particularly at science). However if you actually talked to him about the bible, particularly the less savoury parts (battle of Jericho, for example), the stuff he'd say would be downright scary. He'd effectively say genocide is a-ok to him because "god wanted it", he'd just blindly accept it because it's in some 2000 year old bronze age myth. I guess it's a prime example of what brainwashing from a young age can do even to quite intelligent people.
So yeah, I'm not too fond of the JW faith, or any religion for that matter.
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Post by Death on Mar 27, 2009 3:08:00 GMT -5
That's the thing though, they don't try to "force" anything, at least not the ones I've met. They just tell you, and leave the choice up to you. Put the shoe on the other foot, then. If I came to a JW's door, proseltyzing for atheism, they'd probably call the cops. I am sure that they would be far less polite than I have been to them. If I see them coming, I will wait by the door, light a fatty, wait for the bell to ring, and offer them a hit. They usually leave right away. (I live in Canada, by the way, so the fear of getting busted for pot is minimal, at best) You do see my point, though, don't you. Even if I was polite and left when asked, the average JW, Mormon, Catholic or whatever flavour of Christian answered the door would freak out if I were proseltyzing for atheism, door to door. If I actually gave a shit what other people believed, I might try it just for shits and giggles. trust an aussie to do it lol www.break.com/index/door_to_door_atheists_bother_mormons.html
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Post by JonathanE on Mar 27, 2009 5:49:15 GMT -5
That's some funny shit right there, Death. Well done!
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Post by Death on Mar 27, 2009 6:54:42 GMT -5
Wags tail.
( it's not like I went searching for it, I spend waaay too much time on the net and had already seen it )
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