Self Appointed Preachers

Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
Location
London
It may be different where you live, but here people
who collect money for charities require permission to
do so in the shopping centers, same for Buskers, the
people who entertain, like singing or play an instrument
in the street, they also need a permit, yet so called
preachers who stand in the street and talk about God
and/or religion don't need any.

I disagree with street preachers and door knockers who
are trying to get me to visit their church, they are wrong
to do so I think.

To me religion is a personal choice, when you are young
your parents insist that you got to church with them,
but when you are older you have a choice.

So street preaching in my eyes should be banned.

Mike.
 

I don't really care one way or another. When any of them come to my door I simply don't answer. On the street, I basically ignore and keep walking.
 
A lady we knew in Arizona had her own "golden rule": "I don't preach to you, you don't preach to me". If more folks followed that, there would be less strife in the world.
 

I don't know about this question. I still have memories of sitting in a small green space in Sydney near the harbour and hearing an evangelist preaching. I was a very young woman back then.

Quite close to his feet was an obviously drunken homeless man who kept interrupting with shouts of "Hey!" Eventually he made his point with the statement "When yer dead, yer dead. And the grubs eat ya."

This amused me no end, which is why I still remember the encounter.

Since no money is being sought, I think that unless the preacher is being coercive in any way, there is little harm in it.
For my part, I am much more irritated by the number of scam phone calls we receive these days. If someone knocks on my door offering me salvation, I find that they do not hang around after I explain why their quest is pointless. The exchange is always courteous and quite brief.
 
Not having seen street preaching before I looked it up on utube, when you think of everything else that’s been banned in the U.K. in case it ‘offends’ someone I’m amazed it hasn’t been banned....
 
Several years ago a lady from JW came by. I told her I'd listen to her beliefs if she'd listen to mine. ( I'm an Atheist). She agreed and we had a nice conversation for about half an hour. Sad to say she never came back.
 
I’ve never seen street preaching but if all other forms of unsolicited entertainment is banned then so should this.
I get JW’s @ my door often and I find them very intrusive. I’m not against their religion. I just don’t appreciate them thinking it’s ok to try and recruit me by coming on my property and preaching to me.
 
They don't bother me particularly. The ones that knock on the door are always polite and leave quickly if asked to, without the pushy attitude you get from some unsolicited phone callers.

I actually became quite friendly with a couple of JW regular callers. One lives nearby and I often run into her at the local shopping centre. We always stop and have a chat. She's never wearing her evangelist hat when she's out shopping so our chats are never about religion.

Even when she is wearing her evangelist hat, our conversations are rarely about religion anymore. She knows she's never going to convert me but still calls, though not as often as she once did.

I recently discovered she has been diagnosed with cancer and was more than a little surprised at just how sad that made me feel. I would feel sad for anyone who had to face that, but this was more than that, more like a personal friend. I guess that's how I've come to regard her over the years.
 
Every year we have the Mormon boys drop by. They are always very nice and never do get around to trying to convert me to be an Mormon. I guess they figure that I am a senior citizen, lived in Georgia all my life, that I have to be a stubborn Baptist or Methodist.
 
Some JWs rang our doorbell recently. My husband asked them if he could help them. They asked politely what he thought was the biggest problem being faced by the world today. Without a moment's hesitation he replied, "Organized religion."

They got the message.
 
I've never seen a street preacher. We do have JWs and Church of Latter Day Saints - Mormons. They're nice enough people with whom I've had interesting conversations, but I can't help feeling offended by people who don't respect my intelligence and subsequent life choices, which I know they do not or they wouldn't be talking to me at all.
 
If I forget to shut the driveway gate and a "preacher'' gets to my front door, I'll talk to them for a bit, assure them that I have my own faith that guides my life, and bid them best wishes and farewell.
 
Keesha said:
I’ve never seen street preaching but if all other forms of unsolicited entertainment is banned then so should this.
I get JW’s @ my door often and I find them very intrusive. I’m not against their religion. I just don’t appreciate them thinking it’s ok to try and recruit me by coming on my property and preaching to me.
Click to expand...

I agree. I am not interested in what they have to say and I find them very intrusive as well. I don't answer the door any more unless I know who is out there, anyway.
 
i usually dont answer the bell' but if they do catch me outside - i say its not up for discussion thanx !! walking away '
 
I guess, in all fairness, these "preachers" are the victims of their own religion. Some religions teach that their followers must spend their lives "bearing witness," and helping the great unwashed to see the light. They think they are kindly opening the doors of heaven, but actually they are just annoying people.

My own philosophy is: One guy's freedom end where the next guy's foot begins. People have no right to step on someone else's foot, particularly in highly personal, sensitive matters like religion.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top