• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Gaf, How am I supposed handle a situation like this

At least once a month at the park I play Pokémon Go at there's a youth group handing out tracts for their church. I have to tell them they got me the last time and I know them by name.

You'd think they'd recognize me by now but I guess it's a numbers game to them.
 
Just tell him that you don't mean to be rude, but you'd appreciate it if he left you alone. I get people at the door often and you've got to be a little rude for them to leave.

I did the Black Friday thing once, and while in line at Best Buy, this dude approached me and my then gf claiming to be doing a survey. It didn't take him long to launch into the religious stuff. The problem with this guy's point of view was he kept trying to get me to agree that what the Bible says is fact. I had to point out that if someone is not Christian then they are not agreeing that the earth was made in six days. He couldn't understand that non christians don't just take the Bible as fact. After pointing this out multiple times, he left us alone.
 
Sounds like you're not a "mean" person so.....

Just say "If you don't mind....I'm eating, and I'd rather not be bothered right now."

If he insists "Please leave, I'm not interested."

Then ignore him from there. Basically don't acknowledge the person at that point and they'll go away.
 
"Yea sure you can pay for me.... oh what, wait you said pray? No thanks, go talk to someone else."

No need to be a dick unless he doesn't leave you alone. It's not that complicated really.
 
Just be blunt and to the point.

Some dude I met in one of my classes randomly asked if I was religious. I said "not really", and then he asked if I wanted to go to this home church thing called "xenos". I was like "nah I'm good", and he didn't press any further, but looking back I can see how he might have been targeting me.

So later on I looked up "xenos", and apparently it's kinda cult-ish (according to ex-members on Reddit) lol. It reminded me of when someone tried to get me to join the Moonies (another cult).

I wonder if I just look like someone who needs to be in a cult lol
 
This happened to me while waiting on a train.

Told him "sorry, not interested." They persisted so I said "look, fuck off. I don't care"

These religious nuts that try to push their beliefs onto you are the fucking worst. I don't need saving.
 
When I was in college, the closest gym to my apartment was the local YMCA (I don't believe in god but whatever), so I signed up and they gave me a free tour of all the facilities.

At the very end, the guy thanked me for joining. He then proceeded to grab both of my hands and started praying out loud for both of us. It was awkward.
 
just say no thank you to everything until people leave, regardless of what they ask. that usually works on most weirdos.

this is why i just choose to look annoyed and never make eye contact with anyone if my OCULAR PATDOWN determines they are weird
 
"I'm good, no thanks"

if that doesn't work..

"Listen, I'm not interested in whatever you're talking about please leave me alone"

if that doesn't work...

"Fuck Off!"
 
If you're very uncomfortable you can just politely say "Thank you but I'm not interested."

If he persists say "I'm really not interested, please leave so that I can enjoy my meal."

If it goes further than that either leave or alert security.
 
I look people in the eye and say "Not interested. Have a nice day." Put the ear buds in my ear and move on with my life.
 
Yo...some people hit me and my wife up at a park with the same pray shit. We declined, humored them a bit with some small talk, they got the picture, and went to harass someone else.

It's risky to let someone else pray for you. With if them and God ain't on great terms? The prayer could go sideways you know what I'm saying?
 
So did two gaffers meet today? I could swear I read about this from the other side today in some thread.

Ah, never mind, this thread was first, someone was just being funny lol

Mr.Shrugglesツ;238679853 said:
I started talking to this awkward dude sitting in macdonalds who was using his switch(neat gadget). I pretended that he had seen me before. He was apprehensive and said he didn't know. I started rattling stuff off about Jesus and God. Apparently he didnt know(wtf?) if he believes or not. Dude was totally boxed in an couldn't escape. hehe. I prayed for him since he said he didn't have anythign to pray about. He totally got that Jesus, is a just-do-you dude though.
 
I like it when people pray for me and always encourage them to do so.

I think that people who dislike confrontation need to learn to read situations for a balance point at which not being assertive will lead to more confrontation rather than less. If you had immediately politely and firmly said, "I'm not interested," the whole thing might have been over very quickly. Not doing so meant he felt free to keep engaging with you.
 
Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad social person, then GAF reminds me I could be a ton worse.

Someone named Isaac started talking to me at a bus stop on a similar topic last week, and you know what? He had no problem with me being honest and saying I don't believe in God. Had a decent chat with him about science afterwards, seemed a nice enough guy.

How some of you function continues to baffle me.

Yes. This.
 
People don't have the right to harass you (and it is harassment), just tell them you're not interested.

I now just be honest and tell them I don't believe in god and be done with it.
 
I've only been to America once (never again) and in those 2 weeks I've experienced so many clichés for myself I was actually shocked. I thought those things only ever happened in movies and were heavily dramaticized, but nope, in just a few short weeks I experienced the exact situation the OP was in, hooting and hollering during movies(wtf is that about), bums asking for change in the most stereotypical way possible and there was a lovely situation on the bus where a guy was getting yelled at by some random for taking up two seats. Most of my time was spent on a bus and in hotel rooms (it was a tourist vacation-thing some 20 years ago), but all these things happened on short free periods where we were wandering the streets by ourselves.

Anyway, I got roped into one of those conversations myself when the bus took a quick stop in Death Valley. I was pretty young and didn't have the balls to say "fuck off you daft prick" so I just sat there and listened to his vomitous words. Those were 10 minutes I'm never getting back. Still, I do remember that part of the holiday more vividly than most of it, so it did make an impression. Nowadays, whenever anyone comes up to me with anything like that I shut the proverbial and sometimes literal door on them in a heartbeat. I ain't got time for that shit.
 
Just be blunt and to the point.

Some dude I met in one of my classes randomly asked if I was religious. I said "not really", and then he asked if I wanted to go to this home church thing called "xenos". I was like "nah I'm good", and he didn't press any further, but looking back I can see how he might have been targeting me.

So later on I looked up "xenos", and apparently it's kinda cult-ish (according to ex-members on Reddit) lol. It reminded me of when someone tried to get me to join the Moonies (another cult).

I wonder if I just look like someone who needs to be in a cult lol

You did good. Never doubt the teachings of the Emperor. The Imperium is eternal. Death to xenos scum.
 
I hate those people. One of them used to hang around near my apartment building and hassle people in that way. He tried to convert me a couple of times, and I just kept feeding him lines that he had to do mental gymnastics to counter the logic of.

Eventually he left me alone.
 
You should have told him you masturbate to the devil and support abortions.

That's half right (determining which half is right is up to you)

I guess the problem I have is when they seem like alright people until they grab my hand and hold onto it and that's when they get to the point. I'm 19 so if I tell them no they might continue more. Only reason I didn't want to I'm running late is because I still walk 10 minutes to my work so wanted to make sure he was gone before I left.

I know I look the part to be somebody that people like them could approach but I hate it when they try to get mental ways to continue a conversation. Like asking if there's any problems.
 
Should have said: "I'm a Catholic whore, currently enjoying congress out of wedlock with my black, Jewish boyfriend who works at a military abortion clinic. So, hail Satan, and have a lovely afternoon, sir."

And then leave with a Big Mac.
 
Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad social person, then GAF reminds me I could be a ton worse.

Someone named Isaac started talking to me at a bus stop on a similar topic last week, and you know what? He had no problem with me being honest and saying I don't believe in God. Had a decent chat with him about science afterwards, seemed a nice enough guy.

How some of you function continues to baffle me.
Ots not exclusive to GAF many fail to learn how to function on a social situation due to stress , fear, lack of education, shitty education, poor self awareness, bad experiences etc

So something as simple as this can become complicated
 
If he's not trying to hustle you or hurt you, then he's trying to help in his own way. Just have a sense of humor and roll with it. It happens from time to time.
 
I'm a high school teacher and one of my coworkers is part of a weird church. We come from the same university but we never met while we were there. I guess she used that information to try to talk to me about her religion and stuff like that. I remember once I was in the library minding my own business and even though she saw I was busy she sat in front of me and started to talk about life, Jesus, desires and how women were selfish. I swear I hadn't heard that level of misogynistic talk from a woman before... I'm one of those guys that let people talk over and over and when they require something from me I finally say "sorry, I'm not interested"; but this coworker is really fucked up... I've had the impulse to say to her how fucked up this doctrine she's trying to get me in is but I always refrain myself from doing so convinced that it's better to keep peace at my workplace.

I thought she would get fired eventually since she always tries to get students to go to the church too. But so far she's managed to keep her job somehow.
 
"Sorry, dude. In a rush. Bye."

This is the correct answer.
I find saying you're not interested or not religious or whatever opens the door for them to double down and try harder to convince you.

I know internet tough guys will say to tell him to fuck off or whatever, but anyone approaching strangers like this is likely to not be playing with a full deck already and there's a chance of escalating things.

So it's better to just not engage at all.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad social person, then GAF reminds me I could be a ton worse.

Someone named Isaac started talking to me at a bus stop on a similar topic last week, and you know what? He had no problem with me being honest and saying I don't believe in God. Had a decent chat with him about science afterwards, seemed a nice enough guy.

How some of you function continues to baffle me.

Eh, some of the replies here are clearly leaning toward internet tough guy bluster, but I'd consider it part of the normal social contract that you don't approach random strangers at a MacDonalds and question them about their religion.
 
Top Bottom