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Penn Jillette, an outspoken atheist I think said it best...
"I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, and people could be going to Hell ... and you think it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, ... how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn't believe it, ... there's a certain point where I tackle you, and [everlasting life] is more important than that."
Quote:
Originally Posted by expatCA
Yep such preaching is an evidence of genuine agape love, if done out of love and not fear, etc.
Very few people in this day and age in the Western world are unaware that evangelical Christians believe others are going to hell if they don't convert to Christianty. So to continue to harp on that when it is not a conversation that has been invited by the other person is an attempt to badger them into compliance and is not being motivated by love. I will leave it to you to decide what the actual motivation is but I do think that fear is high on the list of possibilities.
Jesus came to Earth for one purpose, to seek and save the lost. We know what He saved us from and what He promised in return.
And what man had lost is his peace, the same peace that is designed to rule our hearts, and Jesus being the prince of peace came with the purpose to restore back to man the peace he had lost and put man back in the way.
My main question is this: What about the way Christianity was presented to you made you feel like it was being forced down your throat? And, what could the person(s) who presented it you have done differently to make it less of a bitter pill to swallow?
I want them out of my personal healthcare decisions. I want them to stop telling me rape resulting in a life is a beautiful thing. I want them to leave the LGBT community in peace. I want them to stop telling me faith is a bitter thing that must be swallowed, and forced.
I have had several examples of relatives, friends, workmates and strangers coming to me and trying to recruit me to their religion. Almost always Christianity.
If a polite refusal was all that was required, I would not feel that anything was being pushed, but the repeated nagging, arguing and recommendations to read this book, look at that tract or watch this video begins to get up my nose, frankly, and with some, even when a discussion has reduced them to the the stage where any reasonable person would be wondering whether they shouldn't think again, the denialist carapace hasn't even been dented and the flow of pamphlets, polemics and booklets continues.
These are some good points. In my personal experience, it took someone continually nagging me, pissing me off, and arguing with me to get me to even consider returning to Christ - but I see how that would be annoying. It was certainly annoying for me at the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AREQUIPA
This is just the personal stuff. In the public world, religion is interfering in everything, telling us how to live, how to run our country, what our laws should be. And just recently, creeping into education and trying to indoctrinate the kids with Creationist garbage.
That's just here. In America, I wonder that the question even needed to be asked.
I agree that there is a religious influence in those areas to some extent, but I would also argue that from my point of view, a worldly influence that's vehemently opposed to God or anything to do with God has indoctrinated many people to reject Him. The world hates God and his followers, and will stop at nothing to silence them. To me that's also pretty bogus, but it's reality and I accept that because of my beliefs I'm essentially an alien in this world.
Every day I see television shows, books, magazine covers that promote sin. Music with inappropriate lyrics, commercials with self-centered and sinful messages and advertising, it's everywhere! I understand that you or others may disagree with my belief system, but I just wanted to express that yeah, I can relate with your frustration.
My main question is this: What about the way Christianity was presented to you made you feel like it was being forced down your throat? And, what could the person(s) who presented it you have done differently to make it less of a bitter pill to swallow?
I want them out of my personal healthcare decisions. I want them to stop telling me rape resulting in a life is a beautiful thing. I want them to leave the LGBT community in peace. I want them to stop telling me faith is a bitter thing that must be swallowed, and forced.
Has anyone directly said that last line to you? I may be naïve, but it makes me sad to think someone would so express their faith to you so negatively.
Also, could you elaborate a bit on that opinion? I understand the first portion of your post, it's mostly just the underlined part that I'm curious about.
What a wonderful and insightful thread! Thanks to all who have contributed. I started life in a family who had left mainstream Protestantism and become agnostics. Mother's knee wisdom was especially negative to Christian evangelism. I came to Christ as a young adult and ended up in a professional teaching ministry. Just regular Christian lay people loved me into the fold. I especially appreciated some of the thoughts shared about how we try to share the good news, but sometimes do it awkwardly. Sometimes we realize later how awkward we've been and feel pretty miserable in our perceived failures. At the same time there are clearly controlling people who foist their own particular views (birth control, creationism, every sort of political agenda) upon others. Going into all the world teaching has not a smidgeon of foisting in it. We are even taught to share our stories, but shake off our sandals and depart if our stories are not reaching the intended listener. Some people wouldn't shake off their sandals if they were mired in cement. Anyway, I'm loving the discussion here and wanted to give my appreciation.
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