Proselytizing

[Witch9]

Some people feel more compelled to do it to save others. Some religions encourage proselytism.
Others just don't give a crap.

I have come to believe that many of the proselytizers have subconscious doubts, and need to persuade and convert others to repeatedly prove to themselves that they made the right choice.

It's not my job to bring folks kicking and scratching to the Lord whether they like it or not.

It is my job as a Christian to lead by example and plant seeds in folks minds, the rest is up to God.

I second that idea, and not just for Christians.

Yikes. That totally did not come up in our conversation. (Which might explain why I enjoyed talking with them so much. )

When I used to canvass for Greenpeace I loved meeting Jehovah's Witnesses at their door. I never got any money from them, but was always invited to enter their homes for interesting and stimulating conversations that did not seem to me to constitute proselytizing, all the while enjoying a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of excellent cake or pie. Time well spent.

:bb:

 

[Witch9]

When I open the door, I just start undoing my belt like I'm going to take off my pants.

I think wearing a Pent helps, although it doesn't scare off the JWs, which is fine because as long as I have the time I like talking to them (see my previous post).

I also found it interesting that I get far fewer preachers even knocking on my door since I put the broom talisman on the jamb; got it from a woman who makes doll house furnishings.

ent:

 

[Oneatatime]

The door knockers don't really bother me that much because they are usually polite, if a little persistant, and go away when asked. The ones in the street just make me laugh because they clearly have no idea how daft they look as they go on about how Jesus saved them and all that nonsense. So far none of them have approached me because they were too busy unleashing their zealotry on other unforunate passerbys but no doubt it'll be an interesting conversation when I start asking them the difficult questions and won't accept the fob-off answers you normally get from the religious.

 

[Penumbra]

Some religious people proselytize because their religion/scriptures state that their way is the only way. Religions that are more inclusive, or people that interpret their religion to be more inclusive, are less prone to proselytizing.

I don't get annoyed by proselytizing. I'm usually either amused, or I just dismiss them since I'm doing something more interesting. So far, my favorite proselytizer was a Hare Krishna guy, since his methodology for proselytizing was very quiet and personable.

 

[Sunstone]

Religions that don't proselytize tend to have fewer adherents, just like companies that don't have much in the way of a sales and marketing effort tend to have fewer customers.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Unless it's a neighbor or an invited guest, I hate it when people knock on my door.

I work on my dissertation during the day, and from noon to five I can get up to three people knocking on my door... from salespeople to missionaries. I hate being yanked out of deep thought by someone who is interrupting me wih something completely insignificant. I don't even answer the door anymore, but I can't see who's at the door without opening it, so I've told friends and family just to call first.

 

[sirat]

salaam friend,

On Tuesday I was in ATL airport trying to make a close connection. I went to the gate and the flight was not there. With a few minutes to go I was looking around for a monitor overhead. The guy from the DELTA American Express card would not leave me alone. I waved him off. Finally, I said in my best streets of New York, Airport LOUDLY voice, LEAVE ME ALONE.

I suppose it could have been worse, he could have been selling life insurance. From my experience a JW or Mormon might have at least helped me find my flight.

Once I had way too much time to spend at JFK airport. There were a couple of people sitting at a table in an entry hall with some quasi-political, quasi-religious signs up. They were inflamatory. I sat and watched out of earshot. A lot of times I saw people walk over, start an argument, shake their heads no, start start shaking their heads yes, reaching into their wallets and then pulling out money and handing it to the ones at the desk. The basic approach was to find something people feel passionately about and then work to find a common ground. Oh, what we really support is .... Getting the disagreement was about finding a passion.

Lots of times the door to door conversion business is about finding someone with a passion for or against. And it is a numbers game. One is seeking 1 in 100 or fewer prospects.

Why do people do this? Because they have good intentions and the road to heaven is paved with them?

wa salaam
sirat

ps - Due to a temporary space shortage, God had to send all Jehovah's Witnesses to hell. About a week later He got a call from the devil. The devil demanded God take them back. When asked what the problem was, Satan complained, "No matter what I do, they keep going door to door converting people and raising money to air condition the place."

 

[Man of Faith]

If I believe in hell, which I do, would it be wrong if I didn't point that out to people and show them a way out? If I knew a bridge was out up ahead should I not warn people?

 

[Man of Faith]

Besides, don't atheists proselitize? I've seen many posts where atheists say there is no God.

 

[Oneatatime]

Besides, don't atheists proselitize? I've seen many posts where atheists say there is no God.

To be fair you do have a point because some Atheists engage in discussions with the religious in order to convince them to become an Atheist instead which is clearly proselytizing. Its also possible to discuss religion and its perceieved failings from the perspective of an atheist without having any desire to convert people to atheism and I think this makes up the majority of the discussion which goes on here.

I haven't seen many posts made by atheists telling the religious to cast aside their beliefs and embrace atheism. I haven't seen that many religious people try and convert atheist here either for that matter.

Its nice and peaceful without proselytizing.

 

[waitasec]

Besides, don't atheists proselitize? I've seen many posts where atheists say there is no God.

yeah, and they go door to door too...
plaaaaeeeezzzzz



this is a forum where we are open to debate...
or did you forget

 

[Vorinn]

What amazes me about most of the proselytizers I've encountered is that they are often totally caught up in their own worldview and seem unable to contemplate another one. There was a woman who used to stand on street corners here handing out pamphlets, and she would hold them out to people and say "It's about the Savior!" I don't even think it occurred to her that some of us don't believe in the concept of a savior or the need for salvation. I guess this kind of tactic might work on lapsed Christians, or maybe Christians of a different denomination, but I can't see anyone else being impressed by it.

In my experience this has only been true for Christian proselytizers. I chatted with a nice Hare Krishna once, years ago, and she certainly didn't have this attitude. I guess it's a sign of the ubiquity of Christianity as a cultural backdrop in U.S. society. I don't know if it's different in other countries.

 

[fahrenheit]

If they didn't care about you, they wouldn't try to save you. Try to remember that, even though they are annoying, they are only looking out for your best interests (even if you believe they are misguided).

 

[Sunstone]

If they didn't care about you, they wouldn't try to save you.

Sure they would. People do strange things for their own ego-gratification all the time.

 

[*Anne*]

If they didn't care about you, they wouldn't try to save you. Try to remember that, even though they are annoying, they are only looking out for your best interests (even if you believe they are misguided).

I do try to think this way. But then the cynic in me wonders if some are doing it to rack up "salvation points".

 

[Witch9]

If I believe in hell, which I do, would it be wrong if I didn't point that out to people and show them a way out? If I knew a bridge was out up ahead should I not warn people?

There are many differing beliefs. They cannot all be true. Belief and knowledge are not synonyms.

 

[Gloone]

Why do people from some religion proselytize more than others?

I'm not real sure, because they don't seem to be doing anyone any good.
Next time I see one of those people, I think I will give them a lecture and ask them 1,001 different questions to see how they respond. I hope I see one tomorrow.

 

[Gloone]

If they didn't care about you, they wouldn't try to save you. Try to remember that, even though they are annoying, they are only looking out for your best interests (even if you believe they are misguided).

Some people need a lot more than simply being "saved". They need a miracle and people going door to door can't preach miracles.

 

[Wombat]

People who proselytize really annoy me.
People can believe in what they wan't as long as they don't push their belives on me.
If I want to know about their religion I will ask them (or some random people on the internet )

Yea....look....I agree.....it's annoying.........but it's also usually up front, in the open, you can see it comming, hear it knocking and say- Go away, not interested.

As a parent/youth worker I am far more concerned/troubled by the 'proselytizing' of beliefs and values that come sneeking into the home/culture without a door knock.

The objectification of young girls/weomen, the obsession with weight, image, looks..the rites of passage offered and encouraged to young men- Get drunk, take drugs, drive fast, get in a fight, be a gangster, get rich, have sex....repeat adult 'rites' every Fri/Sat night to prove you are a man...again and again and again.

The media/popular culture does not knock...it just comes straight in.
And...to be honest...even though I don't have much time for their theology...I deliberately invite JW and Mormons in for a cuppa and a chat just so that my kids can get a close up insight as to (if nothing else) the alternative to 'gangsta' and hedonism as a life style.

"People can believe in what they wan't as long as they don't push their belives on me"

I've looked at your 'location' so I can safely tell you....I'm dammed sick of the proselytizing and push of beliefs that comes with the religion of American Cultural Imperialism....it is a pervasive and often destructive faith like no other.

:run:

 

[McBell]

If I believe in hell, which I do, would it be wrong if I didn't point that out to people and show them a way out? If I knew a bridge was out up ahead should I not warn people?

There is a difference between sitting up the road from a bridge that is out and letting people who pass by know and knocking on everyone's door letting them know.

If they didn't care about you, they wouldn't try to save you. Try to remember that, even though they are annoying, they are only looking out for your best interests (even if you believe they are misguided).

Some of them maybe.
Seems to me that a goody lot of them are merely trying to win brownie points with their god.

I do try to think this way. But then the cynic in me wonders if some are doing it to rack up "salvation points".

I know some of them are.

Some people need a lot more than simply being "saved". They need a miracle and people going door to door can't preach miracles.

Though some of them are convinced not only that they can, but that they do.