A caller.

33 Replies

 

I decided to be lazy and brought my breakfast back to bed about four hours ago. Okay, so the temperature has now risen from 1°C to 2°C and it is still snowing outside.

Just as I was thinking of getting up, the door bell rang.

“Who was it?” I hear you ask.

A gentleman wanting to give me a bible tract leaflet. Holy Hallelujahs, in this weather? He could have put it through the letterbox.

I did not even wait to find out which of the twelve varieties of churches/gospel hall/meeting houses that we have within walking distance down in the town. Not counting those from surrounding villages or occasional visits from Jehovah witnesses or Mormons.

For the first time in my life, I told him to keep his leaflet. I said that I had my own views on religion and preferred to keep them to myself. Adding that in these troubled times if everyone kept their religious views to themselves, we would not have half the trouble in the world.

His answer: “I’ll not keep you standing in the cold!”

33 thoughts on “A caller.”

    1. Grannymar Post author

      Mike we are pestered with these folk particularly the ‘Born Agains’! My reply to one of these guys was:
      “I nearly killed my mother first time round and I had no intention of bringing her back from the dead to go through it again!”

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    1. Grannymar Post author

      We have them all year round, even on the street they try to shove tracts into your hands. I wonder if I have the words ‘evil’or ‘doomed’ etched on my forehead? In summer we get the ‘Tent Meeting crew. They arrive in a housing estate with three or four car loads – Grandparents, parents and children, right down to toddlers. Then traipse from door to door to proselytise and dish out tracts before inviting you to a tent meeting in the middle of some farmer.s field.

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  4. nick

    “If everyone kept their religious views to themselves, we would not have half the trouble in the world.” Amen to that. I don’t try to convert anyone to atheism, or put atheist tracts through people’s doors. So why do the religious feel free to proselytise to all and sundry?

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    2. Grannymar Post author

      Nick, every Saturday afternoon there is a guy who parks in the square on Main Street. Once positioned he sets up his speakers loud enough to reach your house and in the whiniest voice imaginable, tell the walls about how he was lost but is now saved. Once the weather improves, I must bring my Flip camera and try to film him!

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        1. Grannymar Post author

          I met two members of the PSNI several streets away and we could still hear him there, in fact in fine weather I can hear him at my house – a mile away. The PSNI said he must have Council permission, but they were not bothered enough to go check him out. I think the Council members and PSNI are scared to interfere, they might get their cars or homes bombed.

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            1. Grannymar Post author

              No idea, Nick, but there are plenty of hot heads around waiting for a chance to cause a rumpus.

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  6. bikehikebabe66

    I love ellybabes sign. 😀 We were in a backward foreign country & passing a big sign with a huge penis. Our bus leader said it was “to keep the evil spirits away”. I said “It IS the evil spirit.” Everyone laughed. I don’t get many laughs

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  9. Grannymar Post author

    Brighid, I started to answer you comment, but decided to share it as a separate blog post. Coming shortly!

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  10. Pingback: My answer to a comment…. | Grannymar

  12. rummuser

    The earlier comment was as reply to the link that Elly had given. I quite sympathise with your action. I would do the same if someone came calling to proselytise. On a few very persistent callers, I had offered to ask them in, listen to them on the condition that they would give me the same time to talk to them about my beliefs and that usually chases them off.

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    1. Grannymar Post author

      I did exactly that to one member of a small very blinkered group of the proddy variety. I said I would certainly listen to him if he would join me in a decade of the rosary which I was about to begin… He ran like the clappers!

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  13. cedar51

    a couple of weeks ago, I got off the bus and ambled through the walkway/court yard to go home – there were 3 different versions all vying for attention :

    a lone guy roaring his head off, holding his water bottle (he usually has a book); a group of young ladies with a microphone and sundry bits of paper; a couple of large women sitting on one of the seats with a mobile “magazine” stand, talking earnestly to a man in front of said stand

    and just beyond there, the usual guy with his electric guitar – not attached to religion and he was telling Hank (the morning musician) that last week a woman came and dropped money in his bag because he was the only sensible bloke on the block

    actually missing from that soup-mix was the guy who has carefully photocopied passages from his bible, that he holds – and hands them out telling me that we are to be saved.

    not many come to your door nowadays, I think we can have them arrested 🙂

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    1. bikehikebabe66

      YOU are a great fiction writer! –You’re going to tell me this was the actual scene? (I know you & I’ll believe you if you say so.)

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    2. Grannymar Post author

      Cathy, you certainly have variety on your walk home. If the PSNI were not interested in talking to the guy breaking the sound barrier every Saturday afternoon in full view, then they would not drive out from the edge of Belfast to deal with cold callers at some old woman’s door step.

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