# Did Religious Cults Used To Hang Out in Airports and Harass Passengers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518 "2009-08-15T14:32:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pitter\_Patter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Pitter\_Patter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitter_Patter)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/61 "2009-08-17T17:55:31Z")
Back in the 70’'s I remember being harassed, by a HK at the NC State Fair. He wanted me to have a record album (remember those, kiddies?). Of course he wanted a donation too. Gotta admire their persistence though. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/62 "2009-08-17T18:37:06Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > I’m 24 and was well aware of this… but I think that started with my parents explaining it to me when I watched Airplane! as a kid. 🙂 Who would have thought of Airplane! as being educational? _shakes head_ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/63 "2009-08-17T18:52:59Z")
Re: The Hare Krishna’s at UF… [They still do the lunch thing… And hey, they have a webpage!](http://www.krishnalunch.com/) I ate their food… Mostly on Wednesdays, that’s when they had pasta with tomatoish sauce… yummy… And their desserts were reaaaally sweet. And that’s all what I know about the Hare Krishnas… food good… ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/64 "2009-08-17T20:04:52Z")
First time I ever flew, from NC to Pennsylvania, in 1977. I changed planes at Washington National. Blew off two canvassers within 1 minute of exiting the plane. Decided to get cute with the third one and pretend not to speak English. Her French was as good as (hell, probably better than) mine. Whoops! I think I gave her 50 cents. For some reason, there weren’t any others that day. And I’ve never been bothered any other time so I guess it’s been near-totally eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/65 "2009-08-19T09:45:14Z")
Should have tried speaking Hungarian. Heh. I’ve only been travelling by air since 2000 and I’ve never seen these people in any airport. Though I was quite surprised, when I reached Frankfurt, to see people smoking in the airport. ---
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/66 "2009-08-19T22:05:59Z")
Back in the mid-nineties, Hare Krishnas used to roam the streets of Gatlinburg, hassling the tourists. They magically disappeared after a couple of years with little fanfare. Very annoying they were. ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/67 "2009-08-20T00:48:46Z")
Ive been travelling by air since…early to mid 80s, anyway, and I don’t recall ever seeing a “classic” Hare Krishna (a la Airplane!). That said, I do remember seeing various references to them (and “the Moonies” – the two groups were apparently interchangeable to most everyone). Perhaps I was there…at the very moment this died out? Oh, and to bolster this, all the evidence points towards this being a 70s experience – I’m noting some early “Jesus Children” notes, then apparently morphing towards the Krishnas as the decade wore on? ---
**Author:** ![Category5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Category5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Category5)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/68 "2009-08-20T02:46:03Z")
Watch the movie “Miami Blues” … from the very beginning… hilarious ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/69 "2009-08-20T02:50:40Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Decided to get cute with the third one and pretend not to speak English. My schtick with the gypsie palm-readers in Spain was a solid look in the eye and “Soy satanista”. That got them crossing themselves so hard I didn’t even have to break my stride. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/70 "2012-09-04T16:22:31Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Maybe it depends where your “home airports” are. Here in Canada, I’ve passed through most major (and more than a few minor) security checkpoints in my life, and I don’t ever recall that non-passengers were allowed past the security checkpoint… I remember walking out of the airport to board the planes, up those rolling staircases (you’ve seen them in old newsreels where politicians are waving from them). Moving to Madison, WI in the late 70s, I was surprised at how tiny the local airport was. The “lobby” was really just a baggage claim area with one ticket counter, and you still walked out on the tarmac to board. A “stewardess” would check your ticket at the bottom of the stairs. But just to make sure you were on the right flight. Security? Ha – nobody checked your carry-on. Or your shoes. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/71 "2012-09-04T16:37:22Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Maybe it depends where your “home airports” are. Here in Canada, I’ve passed through most major (and more than a few minor) security checkpoints in my life, and I don’t ever recall that non-passengers were allowed past the security checkpoint. Even pre-9/11, only those with boarding passes could go beyond. Those seeing off passengers would say goodbye at the checkpoint, and those awaiting arriving passengers would all wait at the exit. Things got crowded and confusing at those places, as you can probably tell, but it all worked. It was a bit of a shock for me to go through foreign airports and discover that non-travellers could go past the checkpoints. I seem to recall meeting a relative at the gate sometime in the 20th century, maybe sometime around 1990. This may have been at DCA or IAD. Not an airport, though I do seem to remember that people without specific business were allowed to tour the Pentagon back in the 1990’s (I was in a high school class that did), though there were some areas that you were not allowed to enter and there were rules of conduct. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/72 "2012-09-04T16:40:05Z")
> [@Pitter\_Patter](#): > > Back in the 70’'s I remember being harassed, by a HK at the NC State Fair. He wanted me to have a record album (remember those, kiddies?). Of course he wanted a donation too. Gotta admire their persistence though. In downtown DC nowadays the most persistent group seems to be the Scientologists with the big garish yellow tent. The Hare Krishnas did come by every once in a while though. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/73 "2012-09-04T16:44:14Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I remember walking out of the airport to board the planes, up those rolling staircases (you’ve seen them in old newsreels where politicians are waving from them). > > Moving to Madison, WI in the late 70s, I was surprised at how tiny the local airport was. The “lobby” was really just a baggage claim area with one ticket counter, and you still walked out on the tarmac to board. A “stewardess” would check your ticket at the bottom of the stairs. But just to make sure you were on the right flight. Security? Ha – nobody checked your carry-on. Or your shoes. zombie or no at small airports you would meet people at the stairs. you didn’t have to go through a building to get to the field likely. people would dress up to fly back them too. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/74 "2012-09-04T17:23:09Z")
What a timely day for this thread to have been revived - the Reverend Sun Myung Moon just died yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/75 "2012-09-04T17:26:25Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Not an airport, though I do seem to remember that people without specific business were allowed to tour the Pentagon back in the 1990’s (I was in a high school class that did), though there were some areas that you were not allowed to enter and there were rules of conduct. The Pentagon still offers tours, but you have to arrange it ahead of time, usually as part of a group outing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/76 "2012-09-04T17:29:27Z")
I saw a guy witnessing to the bathroom attendants in a nightclub last week. “Yeah, I go out and party, but Jesus loves me anyway!” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/77 "2012-09-04T18:03:47Z")
“Is He any good as a wingman? 'Cos, you know, if He _wanted_ to be, He _could_. He could probably Jedi mind-trick maybe seven or eight chicks to want to do ya, all at the same time. So, how 'bout it? Is He a bro?” _That’s_ what you should have said to him. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/78 "2012-09-04T18:24:11Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > What a timely day for this thread to have been revived - the Reverend Sun Myung Moon just died yesterday. When am I going to learn to check the dates on threads? Hmmm, maybe I can blame it on the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/79 "2012-09-04T18:55:21Z")
Yes, they were everywhere. They were annoying. On the other hand, if you WANTED a copy of the Bhagavad Ghita you could get one cheap. They also sometimes had plates of suspect-looking food. I didn’t realize until this thread (today, not 3 years ago) that I haven’t seen them in airports in some time. In other words, I didn’t miss them. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518/80 "2012-09-04T19:10:07Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I seem to recall meeting a relative at the gate sometime in the 20th century, maybe sometime around 1990. This may have been at DCA or IAD. Yes, I know, zombie thread, but all the same…I picked up a friend who was flying into O’Hare in August, 2001. I was able to meet him at the gate – while I certainly had to go through security screening, there was no issue with getting through security without being a ticketed passenger. Obviously, it was only a few weeks later that this became no longer possible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-religious-cults-used-to-hang-out-in-airports-and-harass-passengers/506518.md?page=5)