Stop. Preaching. At. My. Door!
I am not close-minded about religion. If you choose to believe different than I do, that’s totally 100% fine in my book. In fact, I think there are some amazing aspects of religions other than mine.
However.
Do not come to my door at 11am on a Saturday morning, hand me your leaflets, start reading from your bible, and preach to me.
It makes me so, SO angry.
There’s this woman who has been coming to my door at least once a month for the past couple of years. She hands me booklets, whips out her bible to read a passage, and then asks me questions about my faith. Every single time, she brings at least one impressionable child with her.
If it weren’t for the little kids at her side, I would’ve told her to buzz off long, long ago.
Today, she came to the door again and began preaching to me.
“Ya know,” I said, “We actually just became members of our church down the street and attend there regularly, so I’m actually pretty good with all of this stuff.”
She smiled and asked which church. I told her. I realized my efforts were all for naught, because my church wasn’t from her denomination.
“Oh, that’s so nice,” she replied and proceeded to dive into her doorstep sermon while I stood uncomfortable in my own house, wanting to tell her to get the heck off of my porch and not come back.
“I appreciate your time, but your visits make me very uncomfortable and are entirely unwelcome,” I wanted to say. I had it all worked out in my head. Then, her son, probably about 6 years old, looked up at me with his sweet, innocent face, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings or make him feel uncomfortable.
It has become a bit of a joke in our house, after she leaves. Clint and I come up with all kinds of things that we’d never say to her.
“Sorry, can’t talk. We’re busy celebrating Christmas and birthdays, while organizing Halloween parties and completely over-the-top costumes.”
{Okay, so maybe not entirely mature of us.}
It infuriates me, though. It feels violating, demeaning, and uncomfortable. Even if I were open to experiencing a different religion, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that coming to my door and preaching to me is NOT going to persuade me… like, at all. In fact, it would do the opposite.
I don’t know what to do about this lady and her “bring kids with me so you don’t slam the door in my face” tactics. I don’t know how to tell her to leave. I have told her before that I don’t read the papers she gives me and I don’t want to hear what she has to say, but she persists.
Help me!
