Yeah, it’s that insistence that’s the problem. If you could actually say “no, thank you” and they would go away, and stay away, I would do that. But my experience is they won’t take no for an answer and insist on negotiating, at which point it’s “no, fuck you” and a closed door.

Just skip to closing the door without comment and they’ll get the message. And I’m sure as hell not thanking them for anything nicely, because they’ll put you on a list of people that turned them down nicely and possibly someone they can convert later.

If you’re still peddling your religion door to door these days, you need to expect people to not be hospitable to your random visit, get over it and go peddle elsewhere.

edit: I have to add that my favorite strategy some of them use is to go around in bad weather, and when you open the door, they immediately ask to come inside out of the elements, before even telling you what their purpose is, so it’s more difficult to eject them.

No, stay outside, and tell me what you want. Ok, now go away.