A little back history on me. I am an nonpracticing Jew. I've read the Torah, the Bible, the Qur'an, several Buddhist texts, and so on. I can't bring myself to touch a Book of Mormon, but I'm sure I'll get around to it one day. After reading all that I have, I decided that organized religion was not for me, and I have a simple view on religions. I will respect your choice to believe, but only so long as you respect my choice not to believe. In general, it works out well for me.
Note that I said in general, though. I have issues with the idea of door-to-door God salesmen. For one, they almost always have a glint of the crusader mentality to them; out to convert the heathens. Normally I used to just take out one of my snakes and go for a walk. For some reason, they didn't pester me when I do that. In recent years they have been getting a bit more pushy up here, so I've had to be a bit more creative. A while back when they came up to the door, and I gave the perfunctory "Not interested", but they continued to try to push me, so I asked them the following.
Me: "Let me ask you guys a question."
Them: "Sure."
Me: "Your religion believes that the God you believe in is the one true God, correct?"
Them: "True, and we would like everyone to know Him."
Me: "And your religion tells you that it is wrong to worship false idols, correct?"
Them: "Yes, it is a sin."
Me: "You know that most major religions feel the same way on both counts, don't you?"
Them: "Yes, but"
Me: "So, at best, God is saying that you cannot worship God at all, since if all believe, and polytheism is also wrong, according to what you just said, then God is fallible, and thus invalid; and at worst, God is commanding all to practice religious hatred upon others who believe in something you don't. So which pitch are you trying to sell me today?"
Them: "We're sorry to have wasted your time, goodbye."
And they went on to pester my neighbors, most of whom just yelled at them and slammed doors in their faces.
Oy.
Sleep tight.
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