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I just had my first ever....

.. door to door sales pitch from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

They started off by inviting me to some religious service on the 30th commemorating the death of Jesus.

I declined.

Then I asked which religion they were from -the JWs; her name was Jill.

Oh really? , I think.

So on the fly I asked about the 144, 000 who are destined to be saved and enter heaven.

"Well there are 8000 alive of those on earth at the moment and they are destined rule on Earth in the God's new kingdom of the elect." (I'm paraphrasing)

And you believe that?

"I believe that that is what awaits us in the afterlife, yes."

"I see", I said. "Well, I'm an atheist. I don't believe in any gods or an afterlife. We're alive. We die. That's it."

"But God created man." she protested.

"Um...no I don't think he did. I think we evolved from a common ancestors with apes."

"Well there's a debate about that."

No I don't think there is, the evidence is pretty much in on that one."

Well well just have to disagree."

Indeed (shake hands) ; I guess we just have different standards of evidence. (close door.)

----------

I was rather pleased with my parting shot; but how did I do? Any pointers for the future?

Tags: Atheism, Jehovah's, Wittiness, door-stepping.

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Comment by Secular Sue on March 18, 2010 at 3:56am: I found that same flyer yesterday, stuck in my screen door. I don't believe they knocked...how very chickenshit.
The Jesus on the flyer looks like Mel Gibson in a thorny crown, hands bound. He looks manlier than the gentle wuss Jesus I grew up with. I hate the sight of Jesus. I saved the flyer, for some reason. I may want to deface it later, or use it in a collage.

Comment by Gliktch on March 15, 2010 at 1:18pm: LOL Nerd, that's exactly what I'd do, they won't put up the defenses if they think you're a woo-woo virgin :D

But I live in a gated complex so I'm never going to get the chance :(

Comment by Objection on March 15, 2010 at 9:51am: You should have asked them, how is their god a loving god, when it's going to send everybody to hell? I mean, 144,000 people? That is practically nobody compared to the trillions that are born and then die.
If mormon people are the only people eligible for heaven, how come they make so much babies? So that each of them has an even less chance of going to heaven, and more mormons go to hell?

Comment by Sigmund on March 14, 2010 at 3:50pm: good work. personally i keep it short and exchange pamphlets...

Comment by Garrick McElroy on March 14, 2010 at 3:03pm: Invite them in. Strike a deal. They can talk to you, and as long as they talk to you, that's how long you get to talk to them. Make them swear on a bible! Then you can tear apart their religion for however long it takes them.

Comment by Tom Thompson on March 14, 2010 at 11:38am: 8000? With such a minuscule number it makes you wonder why they bother proselytizing at all. Odds are that they aren't in that group of 8000, but if they are and they find some more pious person they could get bumped no?

LMAO

Comment by Richard Healy on March 14, 2010 at 11:17am: I'd have loved to have taken them on over evolution but it was a) freezing cold stood there and b) we'd reached a natural terminus point.

I'd also have liked to have dug deeper into the 144,000 thing but her comment about us being created by god took us off in the other direction.

Comment by Loren Miller on March 14, 2010 at 7:00am: Actually, you HAVE a standard of evidence - they DON'T, other than the BS which passes for their holy book.

I think from now on I refer to them as Jehovah's Witlessness.

Comment by Matt on March 14, 2010 at 6:22am: pretty good :)

There is someone on the nexus who has written a little tract, pinting out the advantages of atheism, and how they answer some of the big questions of life. You can download it, and then when they give you one of their little brochures, you will have one to hand back to them!

Do we have any artists on here who can help us achieve that naieve look their little brochures have? And can we re-cast the brochure in the sing-songy, pre-school like language they tend to use? That would really make it perfect for me - we can spread them to everyone here so we have a ready-made counter offer every time the JW's come round.