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Comment by prometheus76 | Hacker News Reader

This was 30 years ago, so I'm sure a lot has changed since then. I was a missionary and the way we got into buildings in Toronto to knock on doors was to just pick the last name with the most letters from the directory, buzz them, and when they answered, we would just say "pizza delivery" and 95% of the time they buzzed the door open.

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It'd be nice if missionaries weren't such hypocrites. Claiming to be the pizza guy when you're actually selling magic underwear is bearing false witness.

Technically it depends on the interpretation of "עֵ֥ד" and "בְרֵעֲךָ֖" whether that commandment is admonishing against telling any lie, just lies in court when making a legal accusation against another person, or somewhere in between.

Even if we accepted the premise that one book should be the basis of all morality, this one contains within itself contradictions, satire, sarcasm, and a community context we no longer have: with individual quotes I can make anyone look like a hypocrite.

To my mind the more interesting question is, does a singular community condemn a behavior in out-group members that they tolerate or even praise in in-group members?

Leviticus 19:11 bypasses the whole "עֵ֥ד" vs. "בְרֵעֲךָ֖" shenanigans.

New International Version (NIV): "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another"

King James: "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another."

New Living Translation (NLT): "Do not steal. Do not deceive or cheat one another"

New Century Version (NCV): "You must not steal. You must not cheat people, and you must not lie to each other"

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB): "You must not steal. You must not act deceptively or lie to one another"

Does anyone ever actually get converted by a door knocking missionary?

It's not for the benefit of the potential convertees, it's for the benefit of the ones doing the converting.

Yes. The inevitable rejection is the point. It reinforces the otherness of the outside world, creating more separation from non-believers and stronger connection and devotion to the cult.

Yes. I'm no longer a Mormon, but I baptized around a dozen people on my mission and they were all found from knocking on doors. But this was also thirty years ago, before the internet was a thing for most people.

What’s does the letters in their name have to do with it?

Less likely to speak English in my experience.

I hope you are doing better!

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