If a Mormon Missionary came to your door, and you were not busy, what would you do? (churches, priest)
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I am usually polite and tell them I am not interested. Things start to heat up slightly if they persist with second and third sentences, which is when I simply shut the door.
I agree with calmdude. I'd be polite and tell them I wasn't interested. Mormons seem to go out of their way to be polite and well mannered and just because I'm an atheist doesn't mean I have to insult believers. Now if somebody came to my door and was really pushy I probably wouldn't be able to be a calm dude but I wouldn't expect that from the Mormons. I don't particularly care for the concept of a religious group having a door to door recruitment plan but I don't feel particularly put out if I've only spent 30 seconds telling someone I wasn't interested when I was probably just sitting on my butt to begin with.
I agree with calmdude. I'd be polite and tell them I wasn't interested. Mormons seem to go out of their way to be polite and well mannered and just because I'm an atheist doesn't mean I have to insult believers. Now if somebody came to my door and was really pushy I probably wouldn't be able to be a calm dude but I wouldn't expect that from the Mormons. I don't particularly care for the concept of a religious group having a door to door recruitment plan but I don't feel particularly put out if I've only spent 30 seconds telling someone I wasn't interested when I was probably just sitting on my butt to begin with.
One of the mormons that I spoke with was a little pushy but he stopped interrupting my sentences when I told him that I would end the conversation. The other one did not say 1 word. From what I understand they have a sort of pecking order, so he was probably newer.
They were very nice, and it was fun to knock down their straw man arguments. Their little confused faces were adorable. They couldn't answer most of my questions.
They said "that's a good question" a lot, but offered no answers. I couldn't get them to give me one good reason to believe in god, so I eventually sent them on their merry way.
Don't be mean to Mormon missionaries guys, most of them are only doing it because their parents want them to.
I can understand promptly sending them away if you don't want to talk, but the people I know that yell and them and call them names are being really rude. I would never want anyone to treat me that way, whether I knocked on their door or not.
Okay…they declined the beer but came in the door and are now sitting comfortably in your living room. Now what?
Throw a porno movie in the DVD player, tell them you are interested in their message of love and invite them to stay. Then sit back and watch madcap fun ensue...
But whatever you do, don't tell 'em you used to be a Mormon, even in jest. They and ten million others will stop at nothing to get you back. You will be buried in a never ending tsunami of green jellow, cookies, church pamphlets and cleverly implanted self loathing. It's "sayanara" after that.
Why waste time? Wouldn't you rather read a newspaper/book or watch a good TV show or have coffee with a friend RATHER than speak with a Mormon missionary? Remember, it's YOUR time.
Why waste time? Wouldn't you rather read a newspaper/book or watch a good TV show or have coffee with a friend RATHER than speak with a Mormon missionary? Remember, it's YOUR time.
I personally like talking to missionaries. They let me do most of the talking which I like. They are just people. If you have no time or you dont want to talk that's cool too.
I really like it when they squirm because of one of my questions and then answer it with the inevitable "that's a good question"
Whatever blows your skirt up. Some people aren't very social. I am.
I will in most cases tell them our religious views are not compatible, but if they care to discuss something else I will make the time. Mormons are always less aggressive and do not get as offended as the standard run of the mill right wing christian door knocker. I suspect it comes from being pounded by the religious right as much as we Atheist have.
First I offer them a beverage or even something to eat if I have something. They are all alone and have a strict schedule which gives them little sleep and little opportunity to eat well because their funds are restricted. They often rely on members of a nearby Mormon church to feed them several times a week and I have heard some former mormon missionaries tell stories of going hungry for long periods of time.
After that I usually tell them I'm LDS also, and then they realize that I'm not what they would call "LDS", and I have a discussion with them about how they are not Christians in the same way they believe I'm not LDS, and I tell them about the true Gospel and how it's different from theirs.
They never have answers and are usually stumped by what I ask of them or tell them. Several times they've asked to come back or have me meet them at their church. I've taken them up on the offer, it inevitably leads to a meeting with 2 missionaries (either the same or different ones) plus one "heavy", as I call them. The "heavy" is someone who has some experience with acting as mormon apologists (and they're almost always former Christians who converted). In turn, the meeting with the 2 missionaries plus the heavy inevitably leads to the heavy telling me that we have nothing more to discuss since I won't see things their way, to which I always point out that every step along the way it was the LDS who kept asking me to continue to meet with them, and then I ask why do you feel this is so important that you send people out to talk to me and keep asking me to meet again only to then tell me I'm not important enough for you to take the time to talk with? I then tell them I only continued to talk to them because I do think it's important to answer their questions and let them know about the Gospel and I tell the missionaries to reach out to me anytime, to which the heavy (who now is acting as a handler and telling the missionaries what to think and say) gets mad and rudely demands I leave.
Then the mormons avoid me until I visit another temple visitor center out west and they send yet another set of missionaries my way, and the cycle repeats...
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