Well, that hasn't happened for a while...

[Deleted member 619]

I just had a visit from some christian doorknockers. They were two lovely old codgers, but their canards were standard. They didn't know what hit them.

Canard: The evidence for life goes back to only 7,000 years.
Rebuttal: 30,000 year-old sex toys in Germany.
Canard: Argument from design (compared a plant to a house).
Rebuttal 1: Metric for design.
Rebuttal 2: Quantum superposition in energy distribution in plants.
Rebuttal 3: Testable natural processes not even dreamt of by the authors of the bible.
Canard: Morality comes from god.
Rebuttal: If your god commanded you to do something you found reprehensible, would you do it?
Canard: Secular law comes from the bible.
Rebuttal 1: Wouldn't have made it to Sinai without these principles already having been recognised.
Rebuttal 2: Instances of Mosaic law that we deem immoral (stoning unruly children to death, etc).
Canard: No evolutionary explanation for morality.
Rebuttal: Evolutionary basis for ethical behaviour (thanks, Cali).
Canard: Newton was a Christian.
Rebuttal: Newton was an alchemist.
Canard: Responsibility to creator (compared to responsibility/respect for parents).
Rebuttal: Abusive parents (abuses of god in OT).
Canard: No evidence for human evolution.
Rebuttal: Fused chromosome, ERVs.
Canard: No evidence of one species turning into another
Rebuttal: Explanation of how evolution actually works, as opposed to his caricature.

I kept them there for the best part of an hour, and some of the neighbours came out to listen. I almost felt sorry for them in the end, as it was clear that they were squirming to get away. I was very gentle with them, but left them in no doubt as to how I viewed their ideas.

Good fun, all in all.

 

[australopithecus]

Unfortunately I live in a house above a shop which is pretty inexcessable unless you know how to get round my front door, so I no longer get nonsense delivered straight to my door that said I live 20 minutes from a Mormon centre so there's still hope.

 

[Anachronous Rex]

Unfortunately for me the Mormons around here are the sort of schmaltzy 'it might not be literally true, but it's good for you' types; hard to pin down on any one claim.

But I'm glad hacken got some pwnage in.

 

[televator]

The funny thing is that they go door to door in hopes of converting other people, but I wonder if the "conversion" starts to get turned around on them because of encounters like the one hackenslash had.... Nice job spreading the good word, hackenslash. :lol:

 

[Laystraight]

You only kept them for an hour?

Two and a half hours is my best to date. Invite them in for a cup of tea & biscuits next time, it makes it harder for them to get away.

I must admit that when I was working my free time was limited so I would dismiss them as most people do, but now I take it as a challange and I try to show them my interpretation of the bible and ask them to refute it. I think my best is ;

John 19:26 (New International Version, ,©2011)
26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman,[a] here is your son,"

and

John 21:20 (New International Version, ,©2011)

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?")

Which to me implys that Jesus was gay!


Regards Pete.

 

[lrkun]

I just had a visit from some christian doorknockers. They were two lovely old codgers, but their canards were standard. They didn't know what hit them.

Canard: The evidence for life goes back to only 7,000 years.
Rebuttal: 30,000 year-old sex toys in Germany.
Canard: Argument from design (compared a plant to a house).
Rebuttal 1: Metric for design.
Rebuttal 2: Quantum superposition in energy distribution in plants.
Rebuttal 3: Testable natural processes not even dreamt of by the authors of the bible.
Canard: Morality comes from god.
Rebuttal: If your god commanded you to do something you found reprehensible, would you do it?
Canard: Secular law comes from the bible.
Rebuttal 1: Wouldn't have made it to Sinai without these principles already having been recognised.
Rebuttal 2: Instances of Mosaic law that we deem immoral (stoning unruly children to death, etc).
Canard: No evolutionary explanation for morality.
Rebuttal: Evolutionary basis for ethical behaviour (thanks, Cali).
Canard: Newton was a Christian.
Rebuttal: Newton was an alchemist.
Canard: Responsibility to creator (compared to responsibility/respect for parents).
Rebuttal: Abusive parents (abuses of god in OT).
Canard: No evidence for human evolution.
Rebuttal: Fused chromosome, ERVs.
Canard: No evidence of one species turning into another
Rebuttal: Explanation of how evolution actually works, as opposed to his caricature.

I kept them there for the best part of an hour, and some of the neighbours came out to listen. I almost felt sorry for them in the end, as it was clear that they were squirming to get away. I was very gentle with them, but left them in no doubt as to how I viewed their ideas.

Good fun, all in all.

Nice. If you make them doubt their faith, the better. :3

 

[borrofburi]

Two and a half hours is my best to date. Invite them in for a cup of tea & biscuits next time, it makes it harder for them to get away.

Yes but less public, no neighbors listening in stuff.

 

[Squawk]

Oooh I'd have liked to listened to that one. I claim I can do better though, 3 visits one of which was a good two hours. I think I've now been blacklisted

Care to expand on the quantum superposition argument, I suspect I'll learn summat.

 

[borrofburi]

Canard: Newton was a Christian.
Rebuttal: Newton was an alchemist.

Or even more to the point: so what? If Newton were an atheist, would you stop believing in whatever it is you believe? No? So then why should I care if Newton was a christian or not?

 

[AdmiralPeacock]

The funny thing is that they go door to door in hopes of converting other people, but I wonder if the "conversion" starts to get turned around on them because of encounters like the one hackenslash had.... Nice job spreading the good word, hackenslash. :lol:

 

[televator]

That was brilliant! I wonder how many of them got the irony of it all.

"We follow the teachings of man named Charles Darwin..." ROFL!

 

[Deleted member 619]

Oooh I'd have liked to listened to that one. I claim I can do better though, 3 visits one of which was a good two hours. I think I've now been blacklisted

Well, I used to get regular visits from the Kingdom Hall down the road. I haven't had a visit for a good few years now, so I suspect the same has happened there. I haven't had a visit from any proselytisers until now, in fact.

Care to expand on the quantum superposition argument, I suspect I'll learn summat.

Well, the argument is basically one of knowing more about plants than he did. The ideas is one of how plants use a kind of quantum random walk in energy distribution.

I did an article detailing a paper for the Ratskep writing compo a while back, which explains without me having to type again.

http://www.rationalskepticism.org/general-science/1st-monthly-rs-science-writing-award-submissions-t2946.html#p151177

 

[BrainBlow]

Local population here is only like 4000 people.
We have some Jehova's witnesses and a Baptist church aside from the normal state-funded church.
So not so much of the door-to-door thing. Though I do have some tongue-in-cheek answers just in case, since there are some.

 

[Dragan Glas]

Greetings,

Unfortunately I live in a house above a shop which is pretty inexcessable unless you know how to get round my front door, so I no longer get nonsense delivered straight to my door that said I live 20 minutes from a Mormon centre so there's still hope.

You could always go knocking on the Mormon centre's door to "bring them to their senses" (as against "bring them to Je-sus").

It'd be interesting to see if you could "de-convert" any of them.

It could even become part of a de-programming drive...

Kindest regards,

James

 

[BrainBlow]

I believe aronra did something similar. Just that he was invited.