I'm curious, how many here have never been Witnessed to?

[laconicsax]

You know, that ridiculous thing where a Christian summarizes Mel Gibson's snuff film, expecting that hearing about Jesse's "sacrifice" will immediately convert you to whatever denomination they follow.

So who here has managed to reject Jesus Christ as your personal savior despite being told a myth about human sacrifice?

Edit: Also, has anyone not been Witnessed to?

[BlueJazz]

1. I think ..Twice?....but I just asked them "Which Jesus" and did they know that Jesus,

...was a fairly common name and crucifixion was a punishment that was not rare in those days.
They walked away and bothered some other person.

[Ninjaneer]

2. Three times I think.

The latest being not too long ago. I had to fight the urge not to burst out laughing when they got all serious and attempted to look deep into my soul with the line "he took on OUR sins...thats how much he loves us, do you understand?". He took his bullshit elsewhere when I pointed out that god seemed like a fan of meaningless theatrics.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Mormons. From the US.

And they tried to sell me their racist version of the Cain and Abel story. You know, the one they're supposed to have excised from canon.

[Deep13]

8. I am so sorry that one of the USA's exports is...

...self-righteous assholes who feel it necessary to minister to (pester) people in other countries.

[TZ]

4. I used to be a magnet for the "Don't you know God loves you crowd"

ALL the time in public places (Trotsky knows about this happening to me at the Mall of America in Minnesota of all places).
Happily I've become a bit of a hermit so it happens rarely now.

[Deep13]

6. I suppose an appropriate response to "God loves you" would be...

..."yeah, I know. What a sucker, right?"

[laconicsax]

10. I actually get it a lot in malls.

The most recent time, I was waiting for someone and this guy just came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and as soon as I turned around, he started telling me about how Jesse died for my sins, immediately pivoted into Pascal's wager, handed me a business card for his church, and left.

[LeftishBrit]

17. I've had that in the street *once*

'Did you know that Jesus loves you?' As it's so rare in England, I just thought he was eccentric, if not seriously mentally unwell like the local man a few years ago, who used to stand on the pavement shouting at drivers about how evil cars are.

[Deep13]

5. I was witnessed too (bugged) on Christmas Eve 2005...

...on Fremont St. in Las Vegas. Some woman started bugging us in the street. I told her the only reason she was still talking to us was because we were too fat to run away.

[PassingFair]

7. I got "witnessed" to by a customer.

I gave him a copy of Thom Hartmann's "Screwed" in
return.

He never paid his bill....

But I did convert him to a "Progressive".

[lazarus]

9. happens a lot

more often back when I lived in the Bible Belt, but we had some ladies stop by last weekend.

They ended up asking if there was anything at all they could say to sway me. I said I couldn't imagine they could come up with something new. :evilgrin:

Back in the day, the Jehovah's Witnesses used to stop by almost every weekend. I'd invite them in and play for hours. I found out a couple of years later that I was the "final exam" for new missionaries. If they could survive me and still want to go out, they passed.

[Stuckinthebush]

20. That's impressive, Laz

I want to be the final exam for a crazy religious cult! Teach me, Obi Wan.

I can imagine hours of fun here in the Bible Belt.

:D

[lazarus]

23. It was pre-internet

but I was still pretty good at it. I wish I had been able to play while I was also posting on Usenet and was at the height of my debating skills.

Sadly, no more. I don't even enjoy it much anymore. Nothing new is ever said.

[brooklynite]

11. If by "never been witnessed to" you mean "never stood around to listen"...

...then include me in that group. I've had Mormon's and JW's come to the door, but I'm emphatic that my wife and I are atheists and that ends the discussion.

[Warpy]

12. I cut 'em off too quickly

and the only pests I've ever had to deal with are door knockers. Co workers saw me coming and very wisely decided to do their witnessing to people who would receive it more politely.

As for the door knockers, I haven't seen them for over a decade. Night nurses are rabid when some idiot wakes them up to sell them Jesus.

[immoderate]

13. When I say "Don't waste your time," they usually listen.

I try to send out a strong, "I am not an idiot!" vibe. They are repelled.


--imm

[WhollyHeretic]

14. I never let them get very far. When I was younger I would quote a Crass song "Jesus died for his own

sins. Not mine." Now I just cut them off right away with "no thanks" or "not interested". That does change if the come at an unreasonable hour. Like the 2 who showed up at 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning five or six years ago. They received at least half a dozen f-bombs. It's bad enough they show up at my house at all but I'm really not happy if I'm sleeping. Some others showed up while I was still asleep last year. They are fucking lucky they had left before I got downstairs.

[laconicsax]

15. Hey rug, Sal, or any other lurking Christians--how about you?

[LeftishBrit]

16. I haven't, except for some attempts by Jehovah's Witnesses on the doorstep

I said I was busy; they went off, leaving me with The Watchtower. Hasn't happened in a while.

Oh, and there was the one time when the Mormons came. Two young men, very sleek and well-dressed and 'gee whiz' in their style of speaking. I can't remember what they said, but I remember thinking 'I bet they vote Republican', and that was before I knew about the associations between Mormons and Republican causes; it was just the image that these people projected.

[TZ]

18. I found out one thing that only encourages them by the way

I used to try to scare em off by saying "I'm Jewish"...Ugh, its like once I said that the "POOR HEATHEN JEW MUST BE SAVED FOR HER OWN GOOD" program kicks in. Honestly I think thats worse than telling people that I'm an atheist!! :crazy:

[Deep13]

19. They figure you're three quarters of the way there already. nt

[Stuckinthebush]

21. More times than I can count

But, sadly, those incidents have declined over the years. I actually would love to have a true witness experience with a semi-sane individual. I feel rusty and out of practice. In my college years I actually made one girl cry (I didn't mean to!) and another guy almost hit me (I meant that one). I loved having people come over to try to talk sense to me only to leave either frustrated or with some serious questions of their own. My method was simply pointing out inconsistencies in their logic and using their Bible to highlight contradictions. Being a ministers kid had some advantages I guess.

But that was in my teens and twenties. At 45 no one comes around anymore. I just sit in my house hoping for the knock on the door...waiting for those young kids in the white shirts and bike helmets or the nice old ladies from the Baptist church down the street. Nope. I think the word is out.

Sigh.

[darkstar3]

22. I wish.

Did you ever watch "Jesus Camp", BTW? There's a chilling scene where, with the encouragement of her mother, a child who to be under the age of 10 walks up to a stranger in a bowling alley to talk to him about Jesus.

That happened in Waynesville, MO. A 10 minute drive from my parents' house.

[laconicsax]

24. Oh come on darkstar, you know that's an isolated incident.

Proper, modern Christians (who are definitely the overwhelming majority) don't do that sort of thing. It's just a really loud 68% minority that pulls crap like that.