I just answered my doorbell, and was met with two people inviting me to a local religious service

[zbdent]

in the theme of Easter.

I was cordial to them. I wished them a good day, and told them to enjoy the weather.

In other words, I let them live.

I feel like such a failure as a liberal.

[rfranklin]

1. Are you saying you should have "stood your ground" and popped them with your 9mm?

I am confused.

[TexasProgresive]

6. And claim self defense. n/t

[dmallind]

2. Perfectly reasonable - would you treat door-knocking

Muslims, Satanists, Jews, atheists the same?

Not that they exist, but it's a hypothetical.

[asjr]

3. Look at it this way--if you are in FL you could

have shot both of them for putting you in danger.

[bowens43]

4. How does that make you a failure as a liberal? Most liberals are beleivers.

As much as I despise religion, I would never be openly hostile to someone who is knocking at my door, doing what they believe to be a good deed. It happens often here in the south. There is a huge difference between rhetoric posted on a website and face to face encounters.

[zbdent]

10. Aren't we at war with religion? If you listen to the "liberally-biased media", we're close to

burning Catholic churches ...

btw, the "letting them live" was an attempt at humor ...

[hlthe2b]

5. I assume you to be sarcastic, but to imply polite civility is not conducive to liberalism...

is really insulting to me.

[zbdent]

7. sorry that the need for

was so necessary ...

[hlthe2b]

16. I'm sorry too...

But there are some who feel such animosity towards anyone that is not a professed militant atheist, that I think it is necessary.

[Goblinmonger]

19. *sigh*

[cbayer]

21. I think it's that Poe thing in reverse. Some people are so extreme in their animus

that you can't tell if it's sarcasm or not.

[RZM]

8. I'm generally nice to people who come to my door. Reminds of one time I wasn't though

I was in my early 20s. I answered the door and the guy's first words were: 'Is your mom or dad at home?'

I said: 'Uh, this is my house.'

He said: 'Well, you look young.'

That annoyed me, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was trying to sell me something (I forget what). It was one of those 'I used to deal drugs but I turned my life around so you need to buy this stuff' story. That's fine, but he had to add 'I was a boss - I achieved kingpin status.' At that point I decided he was full of it and told him I wasn't interested.

We used to get a lot of Jehovah's witnesses in the neighborhood where I grew up. My only problem with them was that they came knocking way too early in the morning.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. It depends on my state of mind when I answer the door

For the most part, I'm cordial when I answer the door and then politely send them on their way.

However, there are exceptions.

One time, when I was working the night shift, a couple of JWs came calling as I lay on the couch in the living room. The AC had failed and it was miserably hot & humid, so the windows were open and I tried in vain to get some rest. Their knocking awakened me and set my dog to barking incessantly. I yelled, 'go away!', but they weren't dissuaded and knocked again. I shouted, 'if you don't get the hell out of here, I'm gonna sic my dog on ya!' Only then did they depart.

Another time, when I was 17 and still living with my parents, I had contracted mumps, which had already inflicted a great deal of sickness and misery upon me, affecting my pancreas as well as my gonads. I was on the road to recovery, but my salivary glands were still swollen from my cheeks down to my neck. I hadn't shaved in several days, so the taut skin on my face & neck and short stubble gave me the appearance of an aggravated puffer fish. In the wake of fits of violent vomiting, the capillaries of my corneas had burst, but by this time the whites of my eyes had gone from solid red to solid reddish-brown, but in contrast to my bright-green irises, it was eerily reminiscent of the unfortunate little girl in The Exorcist. Having not bathed in a couple days, my longish hair was quite unkempt. I was quite a sight indeed.

Anyhoo...two JWs saw fit to interrupt my misery - as I again lay on the living-room couch praying for relief or merciful death; I was past caring which would happen. That time, however, their incessant knocking prompted me to overcome my nausea and actually answer the door. The look on their faces when I appeared at the door was priceless. I stepped out the door and croaked with my vomit-ravaged vocal cords, 'what the HELL do you want?!?,' prompting the older of the two to launch into his standard religious boilerplate speech. Meanwhile, the younger one, who was not much older than my miserable adolescent self, was backing away from my hellish visage without looking where he was going. He stepped backward right off the porch and fell into my mother's beloved rose bush. As he was yelping in pain from the crown of thorns he had earned, I told them in no uncertain terms to GTFO. In later years, my parents were never bothered by JWs at their home again.

[zbdent]

11. If I knew what I would face, maybe I would have had fun with it ...

I could have stripped down and answered the door in the buff. Not exactly the prettiest sight.

And then I could have said, "Thank you. And I'm a practicing Nudist, and would you like to read some of my literature?"

[Cirque du So-What]

13. A hilariously spontaneous friend of mine

was busily butchering a deer in the kitchen when JWs came a-callin'. He had on a blood-spattered butcher's apron when he answered the door, so he said something to the effect, 'hey, great! Visitors! I'm sacrificing a Christian child on my altar to Satan! Wanna help me?' Their departure was quite abrupt.

[zbdent]

14. "Their departure was quite abrupt"

as was likely the filling of their underwear ...

[Cirque du So-What]

20. Oddly enough

my friend does bear a passing resemblance to Larry the Cable Guy - plus he's got the same accent.

[jeepnstein]

17. That's funny right there, I don't care who you are.

[kestrel91316]

18. Your post reads really strangely when you think you know that

Cirque du So-What is a woman.



My bad.

[southernyankeebelle]

12. It's that time of year. You get them around here in rural Tn where I live. Last year I had a car

load of women stop by. Before they even got I out I told them I appreciate them stopping by but I wasn't interested and they would be wasting their time. I told them I was a catholic and I wasn't going to change my religion for anyone. They said thanks and left.

[stopbush]

15. Not a failure as a liberal. Maybe reticent as a non-believer.

My standard line to the religious door-to-door salesmen is, "if I want fantasy, I go to Disneyland," which is an appropriate response to make here in SoCal.

[cbayer]

22. Good for you.

It's just not that hard to be polite and it doesn't mean you are spineless.

[MissMarple]

23. Instinctively good manners, how refreshing.