Just had Jehovah's Witnesses round

[Tero]

You have to tell them the good news right away. Then the three of you go in the bedroom and fornicate. Nobody goes to hell.

[klr]

They tried to give me first a leaflet about "What is the purpose of life. How can we find it?" and after they asked me what I thought, and I told them I didn't believe in God or the Bible, they looked at me and went "aww" rather patronisingly, which I asked them to stop and they laughed it off as mutually comical. Then they produced another leaflet called "The Creation of Life" (iirc) in which they tried to tell me that the Bible knew scientific sounding stuff before the world did i.e. "the circle of the earth" quote to which I told them it was a misconception that people believe the earth was flat back then so it's no surprise the Bible mentions a circle. That's the 3rd group who have addressed my scientific worldview with that bullshit passage.
Odd.

In any event, they then argued with me about evolution and tried to assuage me with a biomemetics argument, since we humans have to spend so much time and effort and intelligence designing systems that mimic biological ones surely the original would require just as much, if not more intelligence to create it. To which I responded no. Take a giant, complex system like the Earth, give it a few billion years and look around, that's what you end up with, no intelligent design required. Then one woman, both were women by the by, tried to argue that we don't have eyes in the back of our head even though so much "bad stuff" happens behind us, surely that would be good to have. To which I responded, well go back thousands of years and our ancestors got around just fine with just two front-facing eyes. To which she responded, "well, no, I still think we should definitely have at least one eye back there" in an affable, yet unmistakable rejection of my argument. Then they said well they accepted the Bible's version of things and since I mentioned thousand's of years they believe that humans have only been around for 6,000 years, which I mistook as a YEC argument and decried their blatant ignorance and rejection of the mountains of evidence supporting a billions-years old Earth, which they clarified for me as not specifically a YEC argument, but that humans specifically have only been around 6,000 years.

At this point however they disengaged from the conversation and mentioned once again their reliance on God and the Bible and mentioned that that was where they though their original leaflet about purpose, could be addressed, through worshipping God. To which I responded none of the "Gods" of the Bible or the Koran or the Talmud or any other Holy Book deserves my worship. They thanked me for my time, I wished them a pleasant day and then they went next door to bother some more people.

I had literally woken up 5 minutes beforehand and just stumbled out of the bathroom and into my pyjamas before the doorbell rang so I think I did pretty good considering how rusty my in-person debate skills are! Anything I missed or should have pointed out? I'm thinking of putting together a small notebook of rebuttals to common claims like those I encountered today, as I always feel ill-prepared.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about this earlier today in a slightly different context. How can something as complex as (say) a Swan grow up and live in on little more than small amounts of plant matter? It's because all the complex organism design, operation and life cycle comes free, courtesy of billions of years of evolution. In the natural world, R+D and manufacture essentially cost nothing.

[Jason]

They come around here all the time. I was raised a JW, quit when I was 18. I just tell them to fuck off and they're not welcome on my property. Debating with them is usually pointless, unless they're younger - I remember one time calling on some sort of pastor when I was a young man and he shot me so full of arguments I couldn't help but doubt the JW mindscrub served up in their monthly magazines and 3 times a week at the kingdom hall. Maybe he started me down the path of non-belief?

The older ones are hopeless though.

[dj357]

You have to tell them the good news right away. Then the three of you go in the bedroom and fornicate. Nobody goes to hell.

Well it was two women... I wonder would it be immoral to... ahem... NEVER. MIND.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about this earlier today in a slightly different context. How can something as complex as (say) a Swan grow up and live in on little more than small amounts of plant matter? It's because all the complex organism design, operation and life cycle comes free, courtesy of billions of years of evolution. In the natural world, R+D and manufacture essentially cost nothing.

I'd bet if you said the same thing to them they'd reject your reasoning in the same patronisingly affable way. Shame.

[Svartalf]

Any tips that *don't* involve the police coming around...?

Using something less noisy than a gun. Invite them in for tea, tea laced with cyanide (they don't need to know about that bit) and dispose of the bodies in an efficient manner.

I hear that religion induces an immunity to cyanide... Rasputin ate and drank enough of the stuff to kill a cossack regiment, and still had to be shot at and drowned.

[Svartalf]

Something slow-acting so they could depart and not be anywhere near me to deal with would be far more preferable to be honest

Mushroom salad, especially death caps and destroying angels whose toxicity appears only too late to empty the stomach.

[tattuchu]

I'm confused as to why you'd want to engage them in conversation at all. I just tell them politely that I'm an atheist and I'm not interested. If they start their jibber jabber, I repeat same, again politely but slightly more firm. If this doesn't work, make sure in advance that you go to the door in PJs or shorts, but no underwear. And then surreptitiously work your dick loose and let it flop out for all to see, and carry on as if nothing at all it out of the ordinary. That usually works if nothing else does, particularly if there's children with them. They'll want to bundle the kids away rather quickly.

[tattuchu]

The last word. Word.

[JimC]

I know I'm only an uncouth Aussie, but "Piss off, arseholes" always does it for me...

[FBM]

Why engage them? Well, you never know what seeds your words might plant in someone's mind. Nobody's going to abandon their position right there in 5 minutes in your doorway, especially when they have a partner there to witness it. Instead, I prefer to look to the possibility that my words are just drops in a bucket that may eventually get full. When it's full, that person will realize how ridiculous all that shit is and find their way out. Engaging them is not a complete waste of time.

[JimC]

Why engage them? Well, you never know what seeds your words might plant in someone's mind. Nobody's going to abandon their position right there in 5 minutes in your doorway, especially when they have a partner there to witness it. Instead, I prefer to look to the possibility that my words are just drops in a bucket that may eventually get full. When it's full, that person will realize how ridiculous all that shit is and find their way out. Engaging them is not a complete waste of time.

You are so much nicer than me...

[FBM]

Why engage them? Well, you never know what seeds your words might plant in someone's mind. Nobody's going to abandon their position right there in 5 minutes in your doorway, especially when they have a partner there to witness it. Instead, I prefer to look to the possibility that my words are just drops in a bucket that may eventually get full. When it's full, that person will realize how ridiculous all that shit is and find their way out. Engaging them is not a complete waste of time.

You are so much nicer than me...

I expect the de-converted to come back and give me at least a bj for liberating them.

[Svartalf]

Do you deconvert many guys? Or do you ever see only JW girls?

[FBM]

Do you deconvert many guys? Or do you ever see only JW girls?

Slam the door on guys. Fuck 'em. Useless to me.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Do you deconvert many guys? Or do you ever see only JW girls?

Slam the door on guys. Fuck 'em. Useless to me.

So, you'll eat dog but not male JW's?