Piobaire wrote:
We once lived in a neighborhood which was considered a "mission field" by a couple of Christian sects, including the Jehovah's Witnesses. I'd simply smile, and tell them 'no thank you; I'm Buddhist'. That has worked well enough for me.
On one occasion, I was watching a neighbors little dog, which after the above exchange, ran out of the door and was racing around the yard, and out in the street. Despite having been rebuffed, the two Jehovah's Witnesses dropped their bicycles and satchels and started running full throttle in their khakis, neckties, and bicycle helmets, chasing the dog until we caught him and got him safely back inside. I thanked them, they smiled and waved, and went on their way.
Nice folks.
I think of it like someone expressing romantic or sexual interest in me; everyone (including LGBT folk) has the right to politely inquire, just as I have an equally valid right to politely decline. We all have to live on this world together; the more we can hospitable we can be and the less we get our hackles up over trivial matters the more harmonious our life will be.
I think this is the best post I've read of Piobaire's on this site. If somebody has taken the time to come to your door and talk to you about matters that are so close to them as these, you owe them the respect of, at the very least, politely declining. Like Piobaire, I've found Jehovah's Witnesses (and Mormons, I might add) to be some of the nicest (if most gullible) people I've ever met.