What do you do when Mormons call?

LizzieJones

I ask them to perform a medley of songs from The Osmond's repertoire.

BizzyC

Invite them in and put the Southpark episode where they take the piss out of mormons on tv...

efb

I don't answer the door

Kermit.de.frog

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Is there any strategy I could deploy which ye could recommend as maybe a discouragement to them to call again?

I am fortunate in this regard. It is one of the few benefits of having the insane neighbour that I do. He has decided that I live a life of "sin" and does all kinds of crazy things like holds holy water flicking ceremonies into my garden and hissing at my partners when they walk past and so on.

But he also accosts some people as they enter my property demanding they turn away from this house of sin. I have one priest and trainee priest who visit my house often enough and they are two targets.

But anyone selling religion is also on his radar. So so far he has successfully steered them away from my property and disuaded them from even attempting to talk to me.

keano_afc

As a Christian I usually engage with them. Tell them I'll listen to their arguments if they listen to mine. I've had some decent conversations down the years.

Gannicus

I'm going to need to find a new burial spot. The back garden has become quite full and the dog keeps trying to dig them up.

turnikett1

A Mormon came up to me and my girlfriend when we were sitting down having a coffee in town the other day. We listened to what he had to say, we asked him questions about his beliefs, he explained what believed to us, we explained what we believed to him and we all came to a mutual understanding of each others lives. At the end of it he thanked us for listening and thanked us for being such nice people. Don't see the need to be rude to these type of folks, most of them are very nice people.

Yer man had just got back from trying to convert randomers to Mormonism in Glasgow and Belfast :P I don't even want to imagine what sort of remarks and names he got called!

Akrasia

The way I treat mormans at the door depends entirely on what's on tv at the time. Talking to them can be far more entertaining than most of the rubbish on in the evenings.

I was walking past the morman church in galway last year and I met 3 of their 'elders' (the oldest elder was probably 5 years younger than me and I'm only 30)

I had time to kill (I was waiting to collect my mother from dental surgery) so I talked to them and explained to them why I didn't find their position very convincing. The one thing that struck me was that they were very enthusiastic but didn't seem very widely read.

They had answers to all of the standard questions that they're used to getting, but they knew nothing about science or astronomy or cosmology and even their vocabulary was quite limited. A few times they stopped me and asked me what certain words meant (and these weren't even technical words, just ordinary words like 'hypothesis' that anyone with a decent education should understand )

These people generally don't have enough information about the world to know why their beliefs are so silly because generally, they are only educated within the morman frame of reference and they are actively discouraged (prohibited) from reading non-approved texts about science or other religions

It's no harm to engage with them. It might seem like you're talking to a robot, but they genuinely may never have considered the points you raise to them before, and while they're certainly not going to accept your arguments at the doorstep, if they hear them a few times maybe it will spark something inside of them to go and find out more about the world.

sheikhnguyen

"No thanks, we're all full up on Jesus here at the minute"

Stock answer to all Jesus related callers.

Calibos

I give the Mormons the same answer I give the Morons.

"Give Me Strength!!"

MonstaMash

Start speaking in tongues to them, they either think I'm from Azerbaijan or a fookn head case on day release

jimgoose

They're nice folks, in a gormless sort of way. I tend to just send them on their way after a minute or two, politely. We're all Cheesesed up here! :pac:

Oink

A friend of a friend opened the door, and when she found out what they wanted, she said in her darkest, creepiest voice: I WORSHIP THE OTHER GOD...

problemchimp

Why has nobody mentioned the op's cherry cola? What's going in there?

robbok

Just give them a pitying look and say "Sorry I'm not superstitious, I don't believe in gods or fairies or demons and especially not in old books written by mad people"
Religious people hate to be called superstitious but what is religion but a belief in the supernatural?

jimgoose

robbok wrote: »

Just give them a pitying look and say "Sorry I'm not superstitious, I don't believe in gods or fairies or demons and especially not in old books written by mad people"
Religious people hate to be called superstitious but what is religion but a belief in the supernatural?

Joe Smith wasn't supernatural. He read the Mormon Texts out of his hat. Doesn't get more real than that, mudddafukka! :cool:

dashcam5586

TheZohan wrote: »

"No thank you".
Close door.

this

Chattastrophe!

I answer the door, baby on hip, and roar at them about what the f*ck makes them think that they have the right to call unannounced and wake a sleeping baby to preach their crap that I have zero interest in - and if I did have any interest, I'd research it myself, thank you very much, now please f*ck the f*ck off and let my baby get back to sleep.

The baby actually sleeps fine through doorbells etc, to be honest. But he's a handy prop at times!

bnt

No interest, really. I know enough about the world's major religions to reject them. I don't know everything there is to know about Mormonism - how could I? - but I don't need to. That's the way they'll try and hook you: they'll tell you that you need to know more. That's why they want to come in and sit down, even though they could tell you the essentials on your doorstep in 10 seconds.

The lure of "secret knowledge" is a powerful one, and that's how Mormonism got started, thanks to Joseph Smith and his golden plates. After that he trickled out bits of gnostic esoterica over the following years to his "insiders". If you join the LDS, you could (in theory) get access to more and more of this knowledge as you rise through the ranks to Elder. (Sound familiar?)

You probably know the basics about Mormonism, and that's all you need to reject it.

mistress_gi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I am fortunate in this regard. It is one of the few benefits of having the insane neighbour that I do. He has decided that I live a life of "sin" and does all kinds of crazy things like holds holy water flicking ceremonies into my garden and hissing at my partners when they walk past and so on.

But he also accosts some people as they enter my property demanding they turn away from this house of sin. I have one priest and trainee priest who visit my house often enough and they are two targets.

But anyone selling religion is also on his radar. So so far he has successfully steered them away from my property and disuaded them from even attempting to talk to me.

From your post you're obviously a godless heathen that must be exorcised!
BE GONE DEMON, IN THE NAME OF JEABUS I COMAND YOU!!!!
Ahahah ( just in case you think I am serious)

Wazdakka

We seem to get quite a lot of door to door religious salesmen around my area.

A smiling but firm, "No thank you" generally does the trick..
There's no need to be mean to them... As far as they're concerned they're doing something positive..
(even if they do spend a serious chunk of their life having a one sided chat with one magic man in the sky or another...)

A couple of times when they get pushy, I've had to play the "Look, I'm a professional Engineer... and I'm afraid belief in a non-tangible supreme entity without actual and repeatable physical evidence goes against the very core of my being."

I generally get a handshake and a "fair enough" after that.


As far as religious nut jobs go..
Mormons are generally considerably nicer than the Christians I know.

rainbow kirby

Most of the time ignore them, wind them up a bit if I feel like it, NEVER EVER mention that I have ex-Mormon relatives.

mistress_gi

mistress_gi wrote: »

From your post you're obviously a godless heathen that must be exorcised!
BE GONE DEMON, IN THE NAME OF JEABUS I COMAND YOU!!!!
Ahahah ( just in case you think I am serious)

I do not usually think anyone on After Hours serious. Even when they are

But yes your above caricature is more closely related to the actual neighbour we have than you might have intended. He really is _that_ bad. I may have misheard him but I am pretty sure he even one day resorted to the classic "The power of Christ compels you" line at us.

I would do something about him if he was not A) Pretty harmless in terms of causing any actual undue harm or issues in my life and So goddam funny.

chughes

I'm an atheist but I do love a good theological discussion. I wouldn't be rude but I like to pick holes in their beliefs.
For instance, the most recent case was when the Jehovah's Witnesses called to the door. I asked them about the issue of blood transfusions and asked them to show me where in the Bible it says you can't have a transfusion. The passage I was shown seemed to imply that you shouldn't drink the blood of sacrificed animals which, in itself, is fair enough. However to equate that with a possible life saving procedure is indeed a leap of faith and downright irresponsible, especially if kids are involved.
With Mormons I like to discuss polygamy and how it came about and how its still practised by some Mormons. Also, their process of converting all your dead ancestors to Mormonism is, I feel, an infringement on the ancestors' rights.
As I say, I wouldn't be rude to them but in my experience they tend to end the conversation before I do.

sneakyST

Always mix up Mormons and Moomins. Big let down when I open the door......

Dyr

i used to take their cassette tapes off them in annyways, saved me from buying blank ones

"what is the meaning of life by the church of jesus christ of the latter day saints? Youuuuu arrreee nooot alloooone" abruptly switches to sepultura ripping it up

vixdname

I tell them that I'm a member of this religion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Bedtimebaby

chughes wrote: »

I'm an atheist but I do love a good theological discussion. I wouldn't be rude but I like to pick holes in their beliefs.
For instance, the most recent case was when the Jehovah's Witnesses called to the door. I asked them about the issue of blood transfusions and asked them to show me where in the Bible it says you can't have a transfusion. The passage I was shown seemed to imply that you shouldn't drink the blood of sacrificed animals which, in itself, is fair enough. However to equate that with a possible life saving procedure is indeed a leap of faith and downright irresponsible, especially if kids are involved.
With Mormons I like to discuss polygamy and how it came about and how its still practised by some Mormons. Also, their process of converting all your dead ancestors to Mormonism is, I feel, an infringement on the ancestors' rights.
As I say, I wouldn't be rude to them but in my experience they tend to end the conversation before I do.

If they had any respect for themselves they'd hold their hands up and say you're absolutely right, this does seem to be nonsense.

anncoates

Didn't even realize they still did the rounds. Haven't seen any for years.

rainbow kirby

They've been on another recruitment drive here lately because of the Book of Mormon musical...