I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram funny. Reminds me of an encounter back in the 1980s (yes, I am *that old*). I was living in a small apartments and these guys had their temple in same street.
I was doing the dishes or what. Door rang. I opened the door and an older and a not that old lady stood in front of me. The older one said “we all need god, don’t we?” And within a fraction of a second I channeled that guy from “life of Brian” and said “I don’t” and closed the door.
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@Ruth_Mottram funny. Reminds me of an encounter back in the 1980s (yes, I am *that old*). I was living in a small apartments and these guys had their temple in same street.
I was doing the dishes or what. Door rang. I opened the door and an older and a not that old lady stood in front of me. The older one said “we all need god, don’t we?” And within a fraction of a second I channeled that guy from “life of Brian” and said “I don’t” and closed the door.
@vgoller
I wonder if they have forums or something where they share all the witty responses they get? -
I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram Had them nodding along last time they stopped. Very young, sweet teen girls must’ve missed the 40 plus yrs warning put out that we’re heathens, don’t bother stopping. So they smiled and nodded when I said, paraphrasing, ‘no religion knows shit from shinola about a ‘god’ and humans never will b/c the human brain cannot fully grasp that ‘god is’ and ALL religions are talking about the same thing. #godIs
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram @Szescstopni I had UK Reform party¹ canvassers round this morning (local elections here next month).
Them: "I'm from Reform, would you like a leafl…"
Me: "No thankyou, goodbye." (Shuts door)
And so I turned away, silently screaming thinking of all the things I *would* have said had I not just got up and was dressed.
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¹ Xenophobic, discord-promoting, NHS-killing, flag-shagging, net zero-ending, trump-admiring, governing-incapables. But I'm sure they're lovely people really
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram Growing up, my dad (a strong Catholic) used to welcome the Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witness, and the young men from the Mormon church who came by from time to time. He would sit out on the lawn and bring chairs out for everyone and offer peach daiquiris for them (they always refused). And then he'd try to convert them to Catholicism.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram I need to extol the virtues of lesbianism, leaving their husbands, and destroying capitalism to the next batch.
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@Ruth_Mottram Growing up, my dad (a strong Catholic) used to welcome the Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witness, and the young men from the Mormon church who came by from time to time. He would sit out on the lawn and bring chairs out for everyone and offer peach daiquiris for them (they always refused). And then he'd try to convert them to Catholicism.
@briankrebs @Ruth_Mottram My Jehovah’s Witness story, a woman came to the door where I lived with my toddler & I figured she’d been having doors slammed in her face, so I’d invite her in for a sit down & she’d talk & give me the latest watchtower & I’d listen politely and wish her a good day. This went on for a couple months I guess but one day the pamphlet had things to say about Buddhism, so I went through it with her, “no, that’s incorrect, it’s really like this” and “yeah, I can see how that might be misunderstood, but here’s how we think it’s meant” etc. She looked at me like a deer in headlights the whole time and never came back.
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@Ruth_Mottram Growing up, my dad (a strong Catholic) used to welcome the Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witness, and the young men from the Mormon church who came by from time to time. He would sit out on the lawn and bring chairs out for everyone and offer peach daiquiris for them (they always refused). And then he'd try to convert them to Catholicism.
@briankrebs @Ruth_Mottram Back in the ‘70s a car pulled up to my parent’s acreage. They were greeted by our barking German Shepherd. Two children got out of the car and knocked on the door. The dog kept barking at the car. They were Mormons and said their parents would like to talk to me. I said, “Sure, please have them come to the door.” The kids went back to the car, got in, and they drove away. Brave enough to send their kids to face the dog, but not themselves.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram based on how another reply said they responded and my own experiences being raised that way, they did a shit job.
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@Ruth_Mottram Growing up, my dad (a strong Catholic) used to welcome the Hare Krishnas, Jehovah's Witness, and the young men from the Mormon church who came by from time to time. He would sit out on the lawn and bring chairs out for everyone and offer peach daiquiris for them (they always refused). And then he'd try to convert them to Catholicism.
@briankrebs that sounds a little like my dad, a minister with advanced degrees in philosophy, theology and education. He LOVED to deconstruct dogma, or explain to his colleagues why their translation/interpretation was wrong.
Funny, he was surprisingly cool about me being an atheist, it became something for us to debate and rib each other over.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram I had a couple of Mormons come to my door. I said "I'm really glad to see you, I just finished reading your book (I really had) and I have some questions. Wait here, I'll go grab it." At which point they looked at me in shock, and begged off saying they would put me in touch with an elder. Never saw or heard from them again.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram good news is, there won't be much more global warming, because the end is near anyway!
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@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org fun fact, JWs are also climate change deniers. IIRC one of their Governing Body members was quoted as saying the Earth was like a disposable plastic cup because Armageddon was supposedly coming so soon. it was either them or the Mormons, lmao
@mayonnaise @Ruth_Mottram
Probably JWs, the Mormons seem to occasionally care about climate issues due to their center in a precarious environment, but then mostly forget about it because of their ties to business lobbyist and the GOP. -
@mayonnaise @Ruth_Mottram
Probably JWs, the Mormons seem to occasionally care about climate issues due to their center in a precarious environment, but then mostly forget about it because of their ties to business lobbyist and the GOP.@forpeterssake@mastodon.xyz @Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org i was raised Mormon (ex-Mormon now) so you would figure i know these things to a decent extent
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
A few years ago some nice witnesses stopped by, and we bad a nice conversation. They gave up shortly after I picked up a pebble, dropped it and started talking about general relativity. And how gloriously, inexpressibly grand our universe is...
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
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@briankrebs @Ruth_Mottram Back in the ‘70s a car pulled up to my parent’s acreage. They were greeted by our barking German Shepherd. Two children got out of the car and knocked on the door. The dog kept barking at the car. They were Mormons and said their parents would like to talk to me. I said, “Sure, please have them come to the door.” The kids went back to the car, got in, and they drove away. Brave enough to send their kids to face the dog, but not themselves.
@Tom @briankrebs @Ruth_Mottram
In the ‘70s I was living in East Oakland at 15th and 11th. Christian missionaries were canvassing my street. I think they were Seventh Day Adventists. They knocked my door three Saturdays in a row. I never let them in. I’d open the door the length of its chain, ask what they wanted and then slam it in their face. Even though they were always different individuals, they always wanted the same thing, a moment of my time to discuss “our lord and savior” Jesus Christ. Slam! Good riddance.
But they kept coming back. I figured that if they couldn’t take a hint, maybe they’d respond to some psychological warfare. I had a German Shepard. My partner at the time had a dog that was half Doberman and half Great Dane. On the fourth Saturday I could see them coming up the street. I took off all my clothes. When I answered the door I opened it wide so they have a good view. There I was, buck naked except for my wrap around shades, and holding a large, snarling dog by the collar with each hand. Black Sabbath was playing on the stereo. Incense hung in the air.
“In this house we worship Satan,” I said.
They never came back.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram At my last place, I had some Jehova’s knock on the door. I told them I was an anti-theist, and offered them the opportunity to leave and try their chances on the next house. The woman said “I was an atheist too!” And I had to clarify that I thought religion was a terrible idea that caused untold suffering in the world, far more than any good it has ever done.
She hadn’t heard the term before, but persisted. I listened for a while and when the opportunity presented itself, went on a rant about what kind of all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and all-compassionate deity gives kids cancer - and invited them to see their god’s work at the local pediatric cancer ward. I suggested that she should be raising money to cure the cancer her god gave those children, and not asking people to worship that same god.
Unsurprisingly, I was at that address for nearly 15 years… and they never came back.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
An honest gay friend of mine who has never had many filters told me about a Sunday visit to see his mother at a nursing home where she lived many years ago. At the time, gay persons were unwelcome at nearly all churches. A religious service was wrapping up at the nursing home that Sunday and an elderly resident, nearly deaf, leaned over and asked my friend what type of church he attended. “I’m a heathen,” my friend said. “Oh, that’s nice,” the nearly deaf man replied.
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I had Jehovah's Witnesses round this morning (not a very common occurrence round here).
Them: "Do you ever think about the future?"
Me: "I'm a climate scientist, I think it about the future all the time.."
@Ruth_Mottram
I hope you invited them in for coffee.
Maybe a beer for the road.
