Come flat and tell them I am an Atheist, when you can prove to me without a shadow of a doubt, your gods dick is bigger than any of the other god's dicks.. then I might consider it.. until then.. don't spread your crazy on my property or you might be sorry next time. Have yet to see anyone show up to my door since.

Haven't had to deal with it for years but my favorite memory is of Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on the door quite early. I had had a raucous night the eve before. Pulled myself out of bed early and answered the door naked. That was quite effective.

''I'm sorry, I'm agnostic, have a good day''

I recently had a man who insisted that the world is going to hell and the only way to fix it was through his religion's version of xtianity- Well, I explained to him about the 7 Mountains Mandate, the religious right, dominionism, etc, and gave him much to think about as dominionists have already beat him to the "we'll fix the world by dominating it" idea.

Years ago I used to tell them not to come back or I would cast a spell on them. Quit doing that as it seemed really mean.

I don't encounter evangelical Mormons much, but the Witnesses come around my neighborhood on about a quarterly basis, as near as I can figure it out. I know the opening of the canned speech about as well as they do, so when the spokesperson comes to "...and we'd like to share," I break in with a smile and "And I wouldn't be interested." Beyond that, I just am politely firm for the next couple of lines, they politely thank me for my time, and we part company. I've found that works better than antagonism or explanation.

I don't have a problem because I was a door-knocker(JW) at one time. I wasn't very good at it because I really didn't believe in pushing your believe on to someone. But if I come in contact they leave me alone because they label me an apostate.

For the most part I shoe them away.
What gets me is the high street bible thumpers. Shouting at everyone that they are wrong and bad people. Now even though I am an atheist, I do know quite a lot about the bible and religion (a bit like lord of the rings). So I pull them up on doctrine. One woman was going at like nobodies business and I quoted "let your women be silent in the temple". Not I think that of women but she should if she really believes ALL the stuff in that book.
FYI the one to kill any fundamentalist christian argument is "was the last supper before or after the Passover"? Luke and Mathew say the opposite of each other.

YEARS ago, I had a Jehovah Witness come knocking on my door with his wife and child. I politely told him I was not opening the door because there was a knock, but I was literally heading out to work. He asked if he could come back at another time so I told him my schedule and let him know what times worked for me.

I HAD to invite him back. The wooden stair case leading up to my apartment looked very scary, and felt quite unstable.So if he was willing to traverse it, I was more than willing to listen to him.

The gentleman came back. We would talk over a cup of coffee. (i think he had tea??) The more he tried to convince me that what he believed was true and real, the more questions I would ask, and the more he started to dis-believe it himself. (you could see it in his eye's, and the expression on his face.)

This went on for a few weeks with a visit once a week, until one week he didn't show... then another.

Mind you, this isn't how I always deal with 'Door Knockers'... I have also...

-Answered the door with 666 written on my forehead, holding a whole chicken, and a large kitchen knife. While I look them up and down as though I had found a more suitable sacrifice.

-Answered the door with a giant smile saying "No thank-you, I have my own religion. But you are more than willing to come in and join us. There is plenty of Kool-aid for everybody."

-Answered the door and before they could say anything I ask "Is that religious shit." And just close the door in their face.

But most times I am polite. Just tell them I am not interested. I offer them a bottle of water or can of pop if it is a hot day. If they start to get pushy, then I pull out that I can't believe in a Gaud that would allow such suffering in the world. And if he is real, he is a piece of shit.

That is how I deal with Door Knockers.

Same as you, I talk to them.
Ask them questions, like -
in the Noah's ark story, why did God drown a lot of innocent animals? Noah saved no more than seven of each, so God drowned thousands or millions of animal who didn't sin. [Can they sin?]
He is God, so he could have take them all to Heaven for forty days (Noah too, for that matter). Or gifted them all with breath water. Or made them all vanish, and spent another six days making them all again.

Haven't had any ''door knockers'' in a while, but I do have a co-worker who is a Witness. Talking about religions with this person is a bit tricky to put it nicely. The person is 100% convinced he/she is right, while I have been always a person who questions things and believes that there are always uncertainties.

Always difficult to communicate with a ''complete'' or a ''perfect'' person.

E: Sorry, I kinda dodged the original question with my whataboutism...

I try to deal with them with respect and try to find atleast some common ground. Doesn't always work which results in me leaving the situation.

I invite them in and ask them questions and I think I may have influenced some of the young that come with older ones, I hope. But I am not insulting, I just show them that one can be congenial, happy in in good spirit without believing.

actually they tend to avoid my family. last i heard they were calling us heathens, lol.

I tell them we're Jewish. Works every time

I actually don't open my door to anyone I'm not expecting. If one corners me on the way in or out, I don't accept their flyers etc. I just tell them that I think religion is silly and walk past them.

Usually i am civil. I begin with, "save your breath. You are not plowing a fertile field here, pilgrim." if that does not immediately work i show them printed brochures about non-christian religions that have their own avatars... Like meher baba or the buddah. I keep these by the front door just in case. If all else fails, i tell them i'm a jew. That usually gets them off the porch in a hurry. I rarely get angry, but on the odd occasion i have had to resort to idle threats. Once years ago i answered the door thinking it was my girlfriend. I had just gotten out of the shower and put on my robe. Somehow it came open when i i opened the door. There stood three 'witnesses'... Two elderly and one very pretty young girl. We were all surprised to say the least. More later.

I like a good debate, so I'd invite them in if I have time. I don't think they have an evidence that would convince me, but I might be able to sow some doubt in them.

i usually tell them unashamedly to fuck off

The last one that came was a Witness. I told him before he started that I am an atheist. He asked me how I thought we were"created". I said that we weren't created, we simply live on a Goldilocks planet - not too cold or too hot and there was the right combination of vegetation et al to support us. As to why that was, well simply put it is just serendipitous. He was stumped as to what to say to that and told me to have a nice day.

I was more polite when I was younger. I would tell them honestly and openly that I intended to gently mock their beliefs and advise them to walk on. I'd then tease them a bit but they usually took the hint.
More recently I have become convinced that religion is the cancer of which the human race will die. I'm less inclined to chat with people who want to give me cancer. (Getting a bit grumpy in my old age!)

I feel absolutely no need to "be polite". I look them in the eye and tell them in no uncertain terms that I am not interested. If they persist, I slowly shut the door...

I never invite them in, but will step outside to converse. They’ve always been polite to my polite “no”

i have said...so you believe the bible is the word of god, which the answer is usually yes , i then add so slavery , killing of gays is ok?.....they might try to justify that slavery was ok for those times....and that the new testament is the word they follow....i answered so jesus came to right the wrong of the old testament... and god was wrong then......the answer i got was you need to read this and that verse....by now they are rather uncomfortable , and just want to leave...

I tend to be civil to these people. Most people with a religion different to theirs are rude and confrontational. I like to point out I have no religion, but leave them confused that I was polite and welcoming to them.

They are usually fairly easy-going and will leave if you politely tell them you aren't interested. You might have to say it a few times though. I did get to have a fascinating discussion with some Mormon boys about the philosophies of non-duality once. I could tell one of them was really interested. Hopefully I planted a few seeds of independent thought.

I tell them my daughter is a witch and part of a coven. Then I invite them in. So far, no takers!