Grrr...religious Tract In My Door

[Amethyst]

I get home from a long day at work, and there's a fundy religious Christmas tract that someone stuck in my door. Our building has a no soliticitations policy, but I'm sure nobody's going to get in trouble for it because it's religious and there's always a double-standard when it comes to religious vs. secular stuff in society, and I seriously doubt anyone knows who put it there anyway. Pisses me off, though. I feel like my privacy was violated, even though they didn't go inside.

 

I'm not Pagan, but I'm seriously considering doing a cleansing ritual anyway, for peace of mind if nothing else. Hard to find one without smudge sticks or incense, though, and I don't have any.

[Rhia]

For a non-pagan, non-smudge-stick purification, try this:

 

You could go out and get a small bottle of lavender essential oil, put about 15-20 drops in a small spray bottle (like one for hair) and then fill it with water. You can walk around your place and spray it, seeing as it's quite calming, by the time your done you might feel a bit better.

[Amethyst]

For a non-pagan, non-smudge-stick purification, try this:

 

You could go out and get a small bottle of lavender essential oil, put about 15-20 drops in a small spray bottle (like one for hair) and then fill it with water. You can walk around your place and spray it, seeing as it's quite calming, by the time your done you might feel a bit better.

 

Thanks. I found one involving sprinkling salt water around your house and visualizing blue light. It seemed to help. I could also try lavender since I have some lavender air freshener spray.

[Dave]

Long ago I was president of a condo owners assoc. Several of my "scouts" would call me if they spotted someone in the building that was handing out tracts. I would run down to where they were and tell them they had 1 minute to get out of the building before I called the cops. One guy didn't leave and I had the cops escort him to jail so he could hand out tracts there. I would also review the security tapes and find out who let them in. That condo owner would get a letter from the association. Second offense got a $100 fine.

 

And I was the president for 4 years, until I moved out of the building.

[Dave]

Thanks. I found one involving sprinkling salt water around your house and visualizing blue light. It seemed to help. I could also try lavender since I have some lavender air freshener spray.

A garden hose with a high pressure nozzle is also good for chasing them away.

[PaulQ]

I'm waiting to catch someone leaving one on the windshield of my car in the parking lot. I have a remote horn panic alarm that I'd love to use to scare their beJesus out of them.

[Piprus]

Aw Hell, Amethyst, just burn a patchouli stick and have a good drink. Pat yourself on the back after a hard day's work, and enjoy the evening. Whoever left that stupid tract has nothing on you. Fundies love to try and screw up our lives...so don't let it happen.

[Llwellyn]

Tracts are basically the vectors of the Christian virus: "divine retribution is intended to destroy rather than create, thus seek justification by faith in Christ's penal substitutionary atonement." It is about as polite to hand someone a tract as it is to sneeze in their face.

[Amethyst]

Aw Hell, Amethyst, just burn a patchouli stick and have a good drink. Pat yourself on the back after a hard day's work, and enjoy the evening. Whoever left that stupid tract has nothing on you. Fundies love to try and screw up our lives...so don't let it happen.

 

Heh. I don't have a patchouli stick, though. I do have some nice champagne that was given to me as a xmas gift, but I'm saving that.

 

I am enjoying the nice new iPod speakers I bought with my gift money, though. They're the logitech ones and the sound quality is better than I expected for the price.

[Astreja]

It is about as polite to hand someone a tract as it is to sneeze in their face.

Except that it only takes two weeks or so to get over a cold... Religion can screw up an entire lifetime.

[twincats]

I'm not Pagan, but I'm seriously considering doing a cleansing ritual anyway, for peace of mind if nothing else. Hard to find one without smudge sticks or incense, though, and I don't have any.

 

As a pagan, I'll tell you that it's all mostly for peace of mind in any case, so it couldn't hurt! I like to use granular salt because it hides well in the carpet and various tiny vermin (dust mites, etc.) find it offensive, as well. Salt water can be hard on finishes and fabrics.

 

I have lots of lavender in my yard and sometimes I'll infuse some salt with it, which the tiny vermin hate even worse and you can use as bath salts if you have some left over. Witches are VERY practical people! Plus, I really hate the smell of burning sage...

 

Long ago I was president of a condo owners assoc. Several of my "scouts" would call me if they spotted someone in the building that was handing out tracts. I would run down to where they were and tell them they had 1 minute to get out of the building before I called the cops. One guy didn't leave and I had the cops escort him to jail so he could hand out tracts there. I would also review the security tapes and find out who let them in. That condo owner would get a letter from the association. Second offense got a $100 fine.

 

And I was the president for 4 years, until I moved out of the building.

 

You're my kind of HOA president!

[BlueGiant]

Gotta watch that front door, never know what kind of garbage will blow in if you (or your appartmentmates) leave it open.

 

As for cleansing, well, a good old-fashioned apartment cleaning usually is a decent idea. Even if it is just sweeping things up, there is something that, at least I find, is psycologically cleansing about cleaning a place up. Non-religious, tends to make one feel better and best of all, you get a clean apartment out of it. The oils sound like a cool idea as well, if you like them (most essential oils drive me up the wall).

[Ex-COG]

I've thought of putting a "No Solicitors" sticker on my screen door, but I doubt it would do any good. Back when I was very young, I innocently took a door-to-door fundraising job (only lasted 3 weeks, and I hated it) and I remember my instructor telling me to go ahead and knock anyway if I see a "No Solicitors" sign, because they are put up by people who can't say no in person!

 

I'm waiting to catch someone leaving one on the windshield of my car in the parking lot. I have a remote horn panic alarm that I'd love to use to scare their beJesus out of them.

 

Once we had a twentyish girl as a summer intern youth leader. She had the bright idea to have them wash windshields in a parking lot, and leave notes under the wipers telling the owners who they were and including some religious blurb like "May God bless you" or "Cleaned in the name of Jesus just for you!" (The latter sounds more like what she would have thought of). Her mom worked at the public library, so Youth Leader Girl checked with Mommy for approval, and off they went to plaster unsuspecting bookworms with clean windshields and religious propaganda. I always wondered what the owners thought of that; a bunch of kids descending on their cars without permission.