How do you handle when other faiths come knocking at your door?

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there is nothing to handle. they just look at my altarcito which faces the door, with the retablo of OL Guadalupe, wall rosary, large standing crucifix in the realistic Mexican style, wounds and all, candles, saints, icons etc. and run screaming down the sidewalk to get away. Many will not even accept a bottle of cold water from me (probably afraid it was blessed by a priest).
 
puzzleannie said:
there is nothing to handle. they just look at my altarcito which faces the door, with the retablo of OL Guadalupe, wall rosary, large standing crucifix in the realistic Mexican style, wounds and all, candles, saints, icons etc. and run screaming down the sidewalk to get away. Many will not even accept a bottle of cold water from me (probably afraid it was blessed by a priest).
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:rotfl: I can just picture this. They probably think you are going to baptize them with that water.
 
puzzleannie said:
there is nothing to handle. they just look at my altarcito which faces the door, with the retablo of OL Guadalupe, wall rosary, large standing crucifix in the realistic Mexican style, wounds and all, candles, saints, icons etc. and run screaming down the sidewalk to get away. Many will not even accept a bottle of cold water from me (probably afraid it was blessed by a priest).
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SRSLY!?? 8D

Can I move there for a bit? I wanna a try what you did as a little experiment. The only difference is that I’d use a different theme instead of Catholic. Those folks really sound like the type to hate everything that don’t go by their standards. :rolleyes:
 
I’ve never had anybody knock on my door trying to convert me, which is a shame because I’ve been looking forward to it. The natural born Texan in me demands that when they come by my only response can be to out-zealotry the zealots. I may even challenge them to a miracle-off!
 
Simple solution - turn off the lights and pretend no one is home. They’ll be moving on to the next house before you know it. 😃
 
I politely tell them I’m a devout Catholic and that I’m not interested in any further discussion.
 
I try to be as nice as I can, offering them food or drinks or a place to cool off. I tell them that I don’t want to be indoctrinated or start an arguement, but I will take any literature that they hand out. I typically throw it away when they leave.
 
We invite them in. We serve coffee and talk. I find this a great way to make my faith stronger. I always ask them when choosing a religon that you must follow the teaching of Jesus. They agree. So I bring up contraception. I tell them that Jesus and the bible teach that contraception is wrong. All not just some. Look at Genesis38:8-10
They believe you can’t use contraception that doesn’t harm life. So I just ask how they can take the role of God by deciding whether a life should be created or not. That it would seem contradictory to their beliefs. I find them get nervous at this and either change the subject or leave.
I do have a lady and her daughter (and now husband) who come over all the time to talk. We are praying they may find conversion to the true church.
 
I have a sign reading: THIS IS A CATHOLIC HOME. PLEASE, DO NOT CALL OR DELIVER ANY LITERATURE. MAY GOD ACCOMPANY YOUR JOURNEY.
This statement is in between the pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the right and the Blessed Mother’s on the left. This happened after one day mormons knocked on my door when I was in bed with a 106 temperature, ready to go to the hospital. God forgive me, but I became so angry that I had to get up to answer to the door bell only to see these preachers.
I’ve told those who have knocked my door that I’ll listen to them if they allow me to present them the Truth, who is Jesus. Their response, “actually we can’t listen or engage in any type of discussion with other religions.” I let them know that I respect and love them very much but it is not fair that only they can say whatever want to say and I accept it in silence, specially when I know they’re in error.
I guess, God sent these brothers to test my patience. I’ve learned though from them that if we Catholics would be so much on fire for our Faith like these door knockers, we should do the same, to take Jesus to ends of the earth and there will not be enough room in the Catholic churches to receive our brothers and sisters. I think we must act kindly and lovingly when they do what they think is their job, for God’s sake.
 
Previously I would rudely ignore them although quite aware that they know I’m at home. But I’ve mellowed over the yeras (thank you Holy Spirit!) Now I smile sweetly and say “Not today, thank you!” Sometimes if they say “That’s OK . May I leave one of our magazines in your mailbox?” I reply “That’s OK, provided you are willing to swap with me my copy of the Catholic News” . Most times they will respond “I don’t think so!” And I’ll say “There you go!” I also now have a crucifix on my front door and a wooden plaque which says “This is a Catholic Home” It helps!!

Jackie
No God no life
Know God know life.
 
My aunt Cathy used to tell them “I can’t talk to you right now, I have to go contemplate my navel.”
 
Miraluna said:
Not sure if this is the right area for this post…We just had two Baha’i ladies knock at our door to share their faith. I could hear what was being said while I was brushing my teeth and fixing my hair and face. My husband was at the door and was being polite as he always is. However, he was doing all the listening and not speaking. I came out and asked my 11-year-old to watch his brother. I wanted to him to be at an ears distance but not right there with his full attention. The first question to them, was if they believed in God. I told my son that the answer to that was not the same God. Because our God (the God) is Trinitarian and to them Jesus was only a prophet. In some ways, I felt myself wanting to engage in polemics (I could feel my adrenaline rising): ask them questions, state our faith, refute some of the things they were saying. They came to teach and I could reciprocate the same: teach them about our faith and the misconceptions that people have about our faith. Another part of me kept saying be “charitable” but you do not need to listen to this. And another part of me was thinking, listen some and ask questions of their faith because awareness is a good thing and it does not change my faith at all…it actually, makes me acknowledge the truth, beauty and fullness of Catholicism even more. When they spoke of finding truth as each person’s mission, I told them that we had found truth and all its fullness in our Catholic church. That changed the flow of their conversation and started to bring it to an end. How would Christ have wanted me to handle this, better? :confused:
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One time some people from “another faith” came to my door. I greeted them with " the peace of our Lord be with you". it immediately caught their attention but didn’t seem at ease with my response.

Celebrate your faith!

Halfway thru the conversation they touched a topic (in a negative way) that is near and dear to my heart.
I pulled out my Rosary and commenced to explain to them that the Rosary or the beads have been around for many centuries but not in its current form. Other faiths have beads but not like the Rosary. You see…in the early 1200’s The Immaculate, Perpetual Virgin, Mother of God appeared to St. Dominic and presented him with the Rosary that we nowaday enjoy and pray…

At this point, my visitors looked at me like I had a paper head… probably becaus I believe in what I am saying…fully!!! I don’t say it to scare anyone but, because I believe it!!

Celebrate your faith!

If they are meant to listen, they will listen. If they are not…the Lord will get them later. Our job is to pray and remain faithful.

Do the basic catholic things really, really well and don’t worry about the B’hai, protestants, Jehova witness etc etc. Allow for their lack of understanding to by-pass your attention and side-swipe them with what you believe.

It may sound crazy to them but…I’ve been accused of worse.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
 
Hello friends,

It’s been some time since I posted here at Catholic Answers…

I might offer a slightly different approach to the issue at least for Baha’is that you could use… since I’m a Baha’i.

It’s really only been in the past few years that Baha’is have been encouraged to go from door to door… normally we have not done this and are taught not to proselytize…so a giood approach would be to ask them if they are not indeed proselytizing? and if what they are doing isn’t the same thing as what Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing?

this might to a degree “shame” them a bit if they are long standing Baha’is.

Some things that Baha’is have in common with Catholicism:

Baha’is are also taught that

Saint Peter was the true foundation of the Church…

The virgin birth of Christ is a Baha’i belief…

That the soul begins at conception…

We don’t believe in abortion…

That we can make intercessory prayer for deceased souls…

As far as the Trinity doctrine we Baha’is have a belief that God is Unknowable and can only be known through His Manifestations such as Jesus, Muhammad and Baha’u’llah. we do accept the Holy Spiriit.

Generally Baha’is are friendly to Catholics and serve on inter-faith councils with them.

Just for your general information the Baha’i Faith is historcally an off shoot of Shiah Islam and began around the year 1844. In fact today May 22-23rd is a Baha’i Holy Day celebrating the Declaration of the Bab in Shiraz, Iran in 1844.
  • Art:)
 
I live in a town with a significant Mormon population. One day I got cornered by missionaries at the park and couldn’t find a polite way to tell them to go away. So I told them all abouthow I converted from Protestant to Catholic, and that everything I had been taught about Catholics was misconceptions. Wouldn’t you know it, that evening they showed up at Mass. It was sort of cool, except that nobody snagged them to tell them about the Eucharist (though I think they should have known better) and they got in line to receive. The deacon gave them the Body of Christ, and I had no choice but to give them the Blood. They aimed for my line because they knew me :confused:

Well, there was a bit of an upset after Mass, and I don’t know if somebody called the Mormon leadership or what, but those boys were shipped out of there so fast, and we never saw them again. This was about a year ago, I think. A couple weeks ago, two more came, but they were spotted and educated and did not join the line to receive Communion.

The last time I was approached, I was clearly loading kids in the car, so I laughed and pointed out that this obviously wasn’t a good time. They asked if there was anything they could do for me. I very nearly pulled out the mower and told them to have ago at it while I was gone. They usually go away when I tell them that I have read all their holy books and a Mormon topical encyclopedia and I know what I am rejecting.
 
Miraluna said:
Not sure if this is the right area for this post…We just had two Baha’i ladies knock at our door to share their faith. I could hear what was being said while I was brushing my teeth and fixing my hair and face. My husband was at the door and was being polite as he always is. However, he was doing all the listening and not speaking. I came out and asked my 11-year-old to watch his brother. I wanted to him to be at an ears distance but not right there with his full attention. The first question to them, was if they believed in God. I told my son that the answer to that was not the same God. Because our God (the God) is Trinitarian and to them Jesus was only a prophet. In some ways, I felt myself wanting to engage in polemics (I could feel my adrenaline rising): ask them questions, state our faith, refute some of the things they were saying. They came to teach and I could reciprocate the same: teach them about our faith and the misconceptions that people have about our faith. Another part of me kept saying be “charitable” but you do not need to listen to this. And another part of me was thinking, listen some and ask questions of their faith because awareness is a good thing and it does not change my faith at all…it actually, makes me acknowledge the truth, beauty and fullness of Catholicism even more. When they spoke of finding truth as each person’s mission, I told them that we had found truth and all its fullness in our Catholic church. That changed the flow of their conversation and started to bring it to an end. How would Christ have wanted me to handle this, better? :confused:
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Anyone like that, I offer them a Rosary. Two young guys (maybe Baptist?) accepted it with thanks—the JWs usually recoil and flee.
 
Personally, I am very friendly and inviting!

I generally ask them if they are comfortable coming in the house, or if they would rather sit outside because I am a stranger. Most of the time they prefer to come in. I generally offer them a drink and then we proceed to discuss matters religious. Mormons are more easily persuaded to the Faith then Jehovah’s Witnesses, but both these are always very friendly and polite, and pleasant to talk to. I rarely encounter other beliefs, and when protestants come they are generally hostile, irrational and want to give sound-bites.

I greatly enjoy these visits, because they challenge. I will admit though, I specialized in world religious studies, so I may be more comfortable getting to the nitty-gritty than others. Just though I’d share this, these visits can be fun and Faith-deepening experiences!
 
From a United Church minister, I learned a good argument with those who believe Jesus is a good guy, a prophet, a moral man, a model, etc. but not the Son of God. It is called the three “L” argument : Jesus said clearly He was the Son of God. So, if He is not, he is either a LIAR, or a LUNATIC, or He is what He said He is, and then, He is the LORD; Easy to remember : Three “L”, Liar or Lunatic or Lord.
JosieElaine
 
When I lived at home with my parents, I always enjoyed engaging door-knockers in debates or discussions. One day I was at the park with my friend-later-roommate Wendy, a Catholic, I was still nondenominational Protestant, and a JW woman came to us and started her speech. That was one of the most interesting, amusing conversations I’ve ever been a part of, and it was Wendy’s knowledge and no-nonsense response (and, honestly, spitfire attitude–Wendy is a passionate choleric and sometimes overwhelming) that laid the foundation for my conversion. Not what the woman was aiming for, but I’ll thank her for her contribution to my coming to the True Faith!
 
A couple of JW ladies came last week. I have two small dogs who have not been trained too well and they bark and try to get to any one who comes to the door. I happened to have slept in that morning and was still in my night clothes. ""And how are you today? " I am Roman Catholic. (She reached for the WT )- "“Give that to some one else.” Door shut.

That didn’t take long.
 
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