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This thought crossed my mind recently and it amused me. Could you imagine if non believing groups went doorknocking to try and deconvert Christians? Handing out tracts and little magazines. Do you think they'd be angry? I'm not sure. Some probably would be. Others would like the challenge. And there would be a few quacks that would protest and try to have "laws passed" to stop it. When I was in church I NEVER one time went on those silly doorknocking trips. I was to embarrassed. I mean how obnoxious!
Just as a side note, one of my relatives posted on her facebook page recently that she was awoken by her dog barking at 4 in the morning by a doorknocker putting church flyers and tracts in her screen door. Wow.
Religious fatih seems to thrive on affirmation. Maybe believers feel that if their numbers dwindle, their faith is suspect. It could be that they feel their worldview is threatened unless they can attract some new followers. Perhaps it's just a rite of passage in their particular church; to go out among the mass of infidels and try to save a few souls.
I don't know - I'm not a believer although I was raised as a Christian. It just never took root with me.
Whenever doorknockers arrive at my place, I invite them in and welcome a discussion. I've noticed that they're very eager to talk about their beliefs, but have little patience for hearing about mine.
Jews and Muslims don't do the door to door thing either, OP. As someone who was brought up in the Jewish faith, I find it -incredibly- intrusive for various people of the Born-Again, Mormon, and JW sects to walk onto my private property, knock on my door, and solicit their religion. I'm not offended, because I'm comfortable in my personal lack of faith (I was raised Jewish, but never embraced it). However, my issue is the private property issue.
Unless you're the police, the electric company, Publisher's Clearing House with my check for $1,000,000, or the mailman, you're not welcome onto my property without an express invitation.
When I lived in a condo, there was a sign at the entrance that read, "No Soliciting." These religious groups came anyway, and would park in our assigned, private parking spaces, and wander throughout the complex (36 buildings worth - HUGE complex) to solicit their religion and beg for us to witness their testament.
If I wanted to witness your testament, I know where your church is. You're more than welcome to solicit in public; I won't be put out by it there, I won't be offended, or put off, and I'll probably think to myself, "how wonderful that I live in a country that grants us the right to do that!" I might even stop to listen and consider how interesting it is, that people can have such differing belief systems.
But my property is not public. It's private. You're not invited, so have the respect that your Lord demanded (honor thy neighbor) and don't come to my door.
Why did my thought irritate you so much? I don't get it. Such a simple and silly thought. You say that doorknocking is not a problem. I lived in a big city and had to specifically post on my door "No JW's Mormons or any other religious group" because I was so sick of them. It was at least once a week! I guess it depends on the area and the mentallity of the churches in that area.
This thought crossed my mind recently and it amused me. Could you imagine if non believing groups went doorknocking to try and deconvert Christians? Handing out tracts and little magazines. Do you think they'd be angry? I'm not sure. Some probably would be. Others would like the challenge. And there would be a few quacks that would protest and try to have "laws passed" to stop it. When I was in church I NEVER one time went on those silly doorknocking trips. I was to embarrassed. I mean how obnoxious!
Just as a side note, one of my relatives posted on her facebook page recently that she was awoken by her dog barking at 4 in the morning by a doorknocker putting church flyers and tracts in her screen door. Wow.
You'd get a free beer and a handful of cookies if you came by my place!
Most Christians do not go door to door.It is primarily JW and Mormons,which many do not consider to be Christian at all.Both are very authoritarian groups and the exercise is pretty much required.RCC,Anglicans, and EO do not go door to door;heck,they don't even do much evangelizing period.Some small Pentecostal groups might.Most Protestants encourage evangelism through your daily contacts on an informal basis.But there is always the odd Baptist or Pentecostal who might decide to walk the streets on their own,I guess.
Baptists hate to see the Mormons or JW coming as much as anyone else.
Embarrassingly, the summer of my sophomore year of college, as part of a Baptist group, I walked door to door handing out fliers and asking people to come to meetings. I am so ashamed that I ever did this. I didn't want to as my father has always taught so adamantly against it, but it was part of the work my team did. I have never enjoyed door-to-door invitations, questions, informational whatevers. I did this work out west in NM, not in the south. If you haven't been visited, I'd say you're probably in a populated area, the Bible belt, or just very lucky.
When my husband and I first bought our house, we spent many nights remodeling before going back to our apartment. One Wednesday night two men showed up with fliers and information about their church. They didn't stay long as we had no furniture, the house in a mess, and no drinks but water to offer. They were from an ultra-conservative Baptist church down the road. They returned once more to leave literature but we weren't here that night so they left it in the door.
I didn't take the OP as a celebration or back-pat for atheists or non-Evangelicals. I thought of it as a tongue-in-cheek post. It's an interesting idea to ponder. It speaks of the respect some religious people (albeit, a minority) demand but do not respect in return.
peppermint: I agree. I thought it was tongue-in-cheek too. I think the point is that since we don't go knocking on doors, we deserve the same treatment. There is an element of disrespect in knocking on someone's door to harangue them with the "good news", as if we could possibly have avoided hearing about it by now. I mostly get Mormons here.
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Thomas, why so irritated?
