The act of eating is a service.

[Monica]

Interesting selection for an example! Jehovah's Witnesses being the quintessential "substitute an external spiritual authority for your own" type of religion- replete with an entire array of rules and "Thou shalt nots"

Right. They are so locked into that mentality, that they might easily perceive my expression of my own spiritual beliefs quite offensive!

I would never ever ever walk up to a JW in their church parking lot, or anywhere in public, and say "I think the old testament was influenced by evil" - I would just never do that! They'd get very offended, and rightfully so! How dare I shake up their little world!

But, if they knock on my door, proselytizing, then on some level they have chosen to interact with me.

So I let 'em have it!

Sweetly of course!

I can't help but wonder if anybody, anywhere, left to their own devices would be internally guided to go knocking on people's doors in order to spread the "Good Word".

They chose to belong to that religion, so they chose to do what their 'authorities' told them to do.

I also can't help but wonder what exactly goes down if a Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door! It must be entertaining as all get-out!!

Haha, well sorry to disappoint you, but actually it's usually quite nice. I give them a bright smile and say something like this:

"Oh, I really admire that you are doing what you believe in. But, I don't want to waste your time, so I'm going to tell you upfront that I already have a very strong faith in God, but it isn't based on the Bible and I could never, ever be a Bible believer."

(pause)

They invariably ask "Why not? Have you ever read the Bible? In the book of Acts, chapter xx it says..."

I gently interrupt and say "OH yes!! I've read the whole book cover to cover, several times over, and even studied it! In fact that is WHY I could never be any sort of Christian! Well, I mean Christian religion. I definitely have utmost reverence for Jesus - he was cool! But not the religion in his name. I just couldn't lower my standard enough to follow the Bible. There's too much creepy stuff in the old testament. I mean, God showing favoritism...that's bigotry. And God telling his 'chosen' people to invade other tribes and slaughter everyone, even the children! That's genocide!! And infanticide! Sorry, but your book is just too bloody violent for me! I believe in a loving, just Creator!"

(smile sweetly)

They always make big eyes at that point.

I then tell them "There are so many religions...all bickering about who is right. I think it's all just a TEST...God is testing us to see if we can figure out that LOVE is the answer! That's what Jesus said! To love and forgive! I reject the Bible, but I am a follower of Jesus!"

Then sometimes I give them a hug, and sometimes they give a hug back and look like their minds are clearly blown, but in a good way. And I have no doubt that they will never be the same again.

Sometimes not. Sometimes they run away as fast as they can, with me saying "Peace and blessings to you! See you in heaven! Oh yeah, heaven's not just for JW's by the way! You'll be amazed! You might even see some Buddhists and Pagans there! Isn't God cool!"

All very cheerily! I have never, ever, EVER gotten into a single debate with a JW! Not even once! And I've had dozens of interactions with them.

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How about: You are a murderer for eating meat. Would that be disrespectful?

Yes. But no one ever said that.