I got home recently to find my hubby in a deep conversation with a couple of young Mormans who have been touring the neighbourhood recently. They were very polite, so it was a good thing I didn’t get there sooner. I would have launched into my own promotion for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, just to be a pain.
Any others out there who have “touched by his noodley appendage”?
Good point, actually.
But can I get partial credit anyway?
I was working off-the-cuff from a not-quite-as-limber memory.
Lucy
I have the pirate fish sticker on my car, and have yet to have anyone ask about it.
I’ll be honest. If I saw that, I would not associate it with the little Christian fishie.
It isn’t, it’s part of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s pantheon. 
True, I’d think “Ooh, $3.99 shrimp and haddock plate at Capt. Johns!”
Fill out a Scientology “personality test” with random answers, and put their name and home address on it. After several years, they may come to the understanding that it is unpleasant to be proselytized to by a kooky religion.
You ever notice that people who want to tell you about their religion almost never want to hear about yours?
I recently had a child and often get asked questions about her. We have a customer that comes in pretty regularly and he’s a pretty funny guy. I’m a sorta redhead, pale skin and freckles, basically, I lack any physical qualities that make me look in any remote way, even kinda jewish.
So I’m pretty good at dodging strange comments and religion in general, usually by either being honest or using the old standby “I don’t discuss religion or politics.” However, Reggie got me one day. He’s talking, kidding around about me and my daughter, he finally asks me if I had her baptised. I looked him dead in the eye and said “No, I’m Jewish.” He looked at me like I was batshit crazy and laughed.
I do work on tips, so in general it’s a pretty good idea not to say things that may offend folks and I have no earthly idea where my response came from, but it seemed pretty cool. It’s a common enough religion that people are familiar enough with not to go too wonky on.
Had some Baptists at my door last week, of course, while my daughter was napping, of course they banged on the door like they were Jesus coming to save me and the 3rd time I said “No, thank you.” I have to admit my voice was getting a little testy.
I have been touched by his noodley appendage. I’m trying to find out if it is my true calling. I have to say, I like the uniforms. Pastafarianism. I like to think I’m in my discernment process. 
<bolding mine>
Funny thing is, I hear the same about Rabbis. They don’t charge for circumcisions… but they do take Tips.
Heh. Try being a Roman Catholic in the South…that makes for some interesting conversations. I learned long ago to say yes when asked if I’ve “been saved.” My favorite question/statement is “I can’t believe you people worship saints like that!!”
(To be fair, I don’t actually attend church anymore – I despise the politics – but I’m still in contact with a small Catholic church back home that I’ve always found to be quite welcoming. Some individual parishes are a bit more liberal than others, I think.)
I it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the South. I have a friend from a small town in Indiana who told me that when he was growing up, they actually told the students in the public school there that Catholics were going to go straight to Hell and burn for all eternity. They didn’t even do that in Texas where I grew up!
Jeep’s Phoenix,
What? You never got my favorite comment about my religion? “You worship the Devil!”
I’d think you Catholics would be just as much fair game as we Mormons are for that one, at least in the minds of the Total Morons of the World.
Try being Pagan and wearing a pentacle. Whooo boy, does that attract the ignorant!
So what do you think would happen if I were to meet these kind of people and they found out about my religion?
They’d probably shoot me in the head, I think.
I’m a Muslim.
Catholics, Mormons or Jews are one thing…but Muslims :eek: They are the nocturnal emission of Satan!
You want to attract the ignorant? Just be Buddhist and wear a swastika. There’s at least one thread here where a poster was quite adamant about his stance that Buddhists should no longer wear the thing!
Has anyone ever seen, say, a fundie Baptist and a Jehovah’s witness get into an exchange like that? Or any 2 religions that are big on converting and evangelizing? I would be interested to see who came out the winner. I back away from those types of Christians and I am Christian myself! But nothing short of their flavor of Christian is good enough for them. For instance, my church is Doomed because we have a woman minister. I use the “I don’t like to discuss religion” line myself.
You have not been paying attention to my contributions to the various “picture” threads over the years, now have you? 
Try “do I look like a baseball game!?” sometime. Especially if the team nearest you has a guy in the bull-pen whose name is pronounced “Hay-zus.”
I personally know about the history of the Swastika, and yet I admit I’d probably be uncomfortable if someone – even someone I knew was Hindu – wore one near me. It’s a question of context, and while I understand why Hindus are bothered by people tearing into them for using the Swastika (and it’s not their fault the Nazi’s co-opted it!) I’m afraid that’s kind of a lost cause. The Nazi connotation of the Swastika is burnt onto our communal retina. 
So does that mean that the Jews are saved? Oh wait, they only have Christ’s blood on their hands.
Pisses me off…but I can’t help people’s minds. My mother has returned diamond swastika earrings sent to her by India because of the stigma in the States. I feel like it’s pretty unfair, we certainly didn’t kill any Jews and yet we are also being punished.
But it’s minor enough where I can ignore it, I guess.
I understand Noone Special’s feeling, but at the same time, if I wore one -which I wouldn’t do - I would be wearing it for a totally different reason. If I go to the temple, there’s a swastika there. If I have a temple in my home, there is a swastika there. Ah well.
I get plenty of the “You’re not Christian??” attitude too. It was almost worse when I was a devout Hindu, because people figured I was ripe for change. Now that I am atheist it’s like they figure I’m a lost cause.