i live in a building with many people living in said building. I went down to the main lobby to stay cool. This lady that i thought was super friendly and at first nice took a friend with her. Her and the friend were talking about he history of the property management. curious, i listened to what she said. After the old lady gave me a JW card practically pushed it into my hand,even though i told her i wasn't interested. Evangelism is as far as i know against the rules of the building. Im thinking i should go to the property manager. Suggestions?
in the past, I've simply taken the tract/brochure and threw it in the garbage knowing that's one tract/brochure that won't be handed to someone who doesn't possess critical thinking skills and may be duped. These days, I tell them to fuck off.
To any waiters/waitresses out there that receive those fake money tracts, collect them and when the Salvation Bell ringers start appearing, fold them nicely and stuff the bucket full.
That's an excellent suggestion about the fake xian money! I also suggest having Matthew 7:2 handy if the xians complain about having the fake money returned to them.
Purchase something like this or print out something similar. When someone tries to hand you a tract, give them your own.
"Have you considered that the Devil imitated Christ to lead your church astray?"
You can always outright say (to the old lady if you want her to 100% ignore you, I wouldn't recommend this if you want to be her friend but it's a situation where you might not be able to be her friend without her evangelizing to you because of how JWs are so thoroughly encouraged to not have outside friends unless it's to bring them into the church, you can try and she may respect something simpler like "I don't believe and I have looked into your beliefs, I'd appreciate if we didn't talk about this anymore" but if not, this is a good way to get her off your back) "I am an apostate", this is a trick I learned from an ex-JW on YouTube (I can provide his channel link if you want, he does cult-related stuff where he analyzes if groups are cults, talks about JW propaganda, etc., I find it interesting but I know not everyone will), you don't even have to have been a JW for it to not be a lie. You can also bring up certain things, there's a specific document that I don't remember the name of but if you bring up the misdeeds of their church, they REALLY don't like it.
Personally, I'd see it as a great opportunity to practice some counter-apologetics.
I don't go around trying to disabuse random folks of their false religious beliefs, but if someone opens that door up by approaching me with their religious pitch, you bet your ass I'm walking through it.
JW sometimes knock on my door. I either don’t answer or politely decline any literature.
i challenge everything they say.
For JW’s specifically, I hear that if you say you’re an apostate they’ll leave you alone. It basically means you’re shunned by the church and irredeemable. In general for all religions I just say respectfully that I’m not interested. Less respectfully if they push it.
They don't come to my house because I have one of those no soliciting signs that specifies that we're happy with our religion already. And possibly because I have a history of emailing churches whose people leave their litter on my porch, calling out their rudeness and including a couple of reasons I can be sure that Christianity is bunk.
In public, tho, if it's like an index card or thinner, origami. I've memorized a couple of simpler patterns that work with common rectangle sizes and can be done without a table (you can practice with the contents of those money mailer envelopes). Proselytizers never know what to do with that one.
When they don’t respect a simple “no thank you” or if I decline to engage and they keep going, I smile and politely say “hail Satan” before walking away.
Get absolutely bent.
The JWs are super annoying, but they are in a cult and they have to do that.... A good thing that I have decided to say next time they come to me is, "if you ever find yourself alone, or ostracized by your group, and you don't know what to do, you can always reach out to me. I'm a safe space."
They can't refuse to do this, and they will probably leave you alone, AND someone may some day take you up on it and need help escaping.
Honestly, how I deal with proselytizers has so many factors involved in it: if I'm alone or with someone, how I'm feeling that day. I usually try to start nice but also put no energy into prolonging the interaction. I don't know what I'd do if I was dealing with a neighbor. I suppose I might report them if it became a hassle. As long as a certain decorum was upheld, I might feel willing to explain my own point of view, give them a different perspective to think on.
Report if you like. I might also attempt to eat up her time so she couldn't proselytize to others more vulnerable than myself, while making her feel very comfortable, which would challenge her view of "worldly" people. You do what works for you though.