Merry Christmas Muslims. Heres Jesus.

[FJismyheadship]

I am seriously appalled by this. 

[formergothardite]

Someone should tell them that Muslims already know about Jesus. 

Is this the same Jesus video that was mailed out to people a decade or so ago? I remember getting two in the mail. I never watched them. 

[FJismyheadship]

1 minute ago, formergothardite said:

Someone should tell them that Muslims already know about Jesus. 

Is this the same Jesus video that was mailed out to people a decade or so ago? I remember getting two in the mail. I never watched them. 

I wanna know if its the same one Makaziville forced everyone to watch lol

[BackseatMom]

Gross. I hate it when Christians try to convert us (and it is always Christians).

Actually, I think missionaries in general are founded on an exceedingly arrogant and presumptuous concept. If you want to help, be an aid worker. If you want to spread your religion around, don't pretend you are helping people. And leave my house alone.

[FJismyheadship]

For anyone who wants some background, this woman's husband is the pastor at a church called The Tabernacle in Atlanta. They have a show on TBN. They used to be from here (Arkansas) and then moved on to bigger and better things while the church they left got another pastor who is a real creeper.

[sawasdee]

The sheer arrogance of this leaves me breathless.  How would she feel if Muslims spent Ramadam delivering DVDs explaining Islam to all the Christian households? I think I can guarantee that she would be all over whatever media would allow her a voice. SHE HAS NO RIGHT under the American Constitution to attempt to impose her religion on others - but   if someone tried to stop her, it would be CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION!

I've had it with these nutjobs - how do you in the US decrease their  disproportionate media presence and influence? Please, all you secular folk, you non christians, and sensible non judgmental non exclusivist christians - get together and shout!

[klynn]

Why can't people just leave other people alone?  You believe in this, I believe in that.  Ok, great.  I don't understand why this is such a hard concept to some people.  No one (probably) is going to think "You know, I got this awesome Jesus DVD in the mail.  Crazy, now I believe!"  What a waste of time, money, gas, brain cells...

[Mercer]

Am I a bad person if I hope they get 2,100 gift bags with copies of The Message from their Muslim neighbors sent back to them in return?

[Othello]

2 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Am I a bad person if I hope they get 2,100 gift bags with copies of The Message from their Muslim neighbors sent back to them in return?

That would be amazing. "I can't open the front door—are we snowed in?" "Yes, by thousands of Muslim gift bags." *cue household panic*

[FJismyheadship]

[sawasdee]

17 minutes ago, FJismyheadship said:

I've said it before - I REALLY NEED THE WTF BUTTON!

[EyeQueue]

8 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

I've said it before - I REALLY NEED THE WTF BUTTON!

Well, it might not be a "viable option," but that hasn't really stopped anyone before now.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like she would be totes fine with the rounding up--if it *were* a viable option.

These people are whack jobs.

[ETA: Sorry about that--I quoted the wrong post and now I can't figure out how to undo it.]

[canbritam]

I had a guy at work come in one day for to buy a coffee and ask me about my headscarf (for reference, I am a Muslim working in a power plant cafeteria).  He asked me if it was for religious reason and I said yes.  He then spent all three of his breaks for the rest of that week actively trying to convert me (back) to Christianity.  My union steward was one of my coworkers at that particular time (there were only 3 of us).  As she put it, the first day was funny.  The second day was irritating.  After that, it was harassment.  To make things worse, he kept his ID badge hidden so I couldn't figure out what his name was.  I did figure out his crew, had a little chat with a couple of the guys on the crew that if he didn't knock it off I'd not hesitate to report him under code of conduct.  They took it back to their manager, who had a little chat with him.  Apparently the guy is a nutcase who comes in and tells them to call him by a different name every week, so none of them were surprised.  He stopped harassing me, but started leaving tips that were almost the same amount as what he spent.  So the whole "let's spend Christmas converting Muslims" thing?  Highly irritating, yet not surprising at all.  Apparently my head scarf sends off a flashing light that says "needs converted!"

[Swamptribe]

What bothers me about this so much is that it's very much a case of stating to the targeted households  'we know where you live".  It's kinda threatening.

[roddma]

I dont think there any religion who never tries to convert or feels it's what everyone should believe. We just happen to see more of what Chrisitans do since more people claim Christianity here. Im not going soft on any religion whether it be Muslim, Catholicism, Jew,or Christianity because they have the tendency to share the same arrogance. Many of them think they are 'God's chosen'.

[canbritam]

4 hours ago, Swamptribe said:

What bothers me about this so much is that it's very much a case of stating to the targeted households  'we know where you live".  It's kinda threatening.

I honestly hadn't thought of it like that.  That's not just threatening, it's terrifying.  When you've got people like Trump saying that we need to be rounded up, to have these addresses available, to be able to show up specifically at these houses, say "if we decide to come and get you, we know where you are."

[FJismyheadship]

It bothered me because I felt like she thought they were being so triumphant.. Look at us! We dared to look those people in the FACE and tell them Merry Christmas! 

So weird. I dont think they used to be like this. Or they just didn't show it before because it would hinder their success, I dont know. Now they are big pastors at a megachurch on tv passing out Jesus films to the Muslims daring to say Merry Christmas.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, FJismyheadship said:

It bothered me because I felt like she thought they were being so triumphant.. Look at us! We dared to look those people in the FACE and tell them Merry Christmas! 

Because these folks can't be the best at bothering people for Jesus unless they let all the other like-minded people know that THEY'RE DOING IT WRONG!!!11!!!

And yeah, I suspect that if rounding all the Muslims up was a viable option, they'd be all over it like Jill R. on green eyeliner. 

[FJismyheadship]

So the whole "We know where you live" aspect just for creepier. This is in response to someone asking how they knew where all these families were.

 

[Imagine20]

I think the people who received these need to send her a nice DVD of Surah Maryam where one can see Muslims believe in the immaculate conception and virgin birth. Isa/Jesus (pbuh) is already revered by us.

I especially like how she used the phrase "those people." who are they? All Muslims? Just the brown ones? Just the immigrants? 

Don't even get me started on immigration and how stupid right wingers sound when it comes to that. 

[Jingerbread]

6 hours ago, roddma said:

I dont think there any religion who never tries to convert or feels it's what everyone should believe. We just happen to see more of what Chrisitans do since more people claim Christianity here. Im not going soft on any religion whether it be Muslim, Catholicism, Jew,or Christianity because they have the tendency to share the same arrogance. Many of them think they are 'God's chosen'.

What really makes it different here in the US is that America was founded on religious and personal freedom, unlike any other country.  This is so important that it's the first article of our constitution.

[Whoosh]

6 hours ago, roddma said:

I dont think there any religion who never tries to convert or feels it's what everyone should believe. We just happen to see more of what Chrisitans do since more people claim Christianity here. Im not going soft on any religion whether it be Muslim, Catholicism, Jew,or Christianity because they have the tendency to share the same arrogance. Many of them think they are 'God's chosen'.

First, I had trouble understanding this, as Catholicism is a branch of Christianity.  Maybe they are so special you wanted to include them in the list twice - I don't know.

Second, this really isn't true.  In some faiths, a part of the belief system is that you must try to convert people and that everyone should believe as you do.  In other faiths, that is not at all a part of the belief system.  In fact, even within Christianity, people believe markedly different things when it comes to this topic.

As an example, we don't (as a society) tend to think of JWs or Mormons as hard core proselytizers who spend a lot of time and energy trying to convert others because there happen to be more of them numbers wise - there aren't more of them numbers wise.  We think of certain religions or groups as doing this to an outrageous degree this because they, or at least some subset of their members, believe in doing this to an outrageous degree and they do so.  Some faiths believe doing this is wrong and therefore rarely do it.  Most people of most faiths probably fall somewhere in between (though of that I am not sure).

[roddma]

Im well aware not every religious person/faith tries to convert, but it is a tenant in a majority of belieifs.. I grew up in Church of Christ around the hardcore and moderate(often called 'liberal' by the hardcore) . The hardcore are more likely to try to convert.

[Whoosh]

35 minutes ago, roddma said:

Im well aware not every religious person/faith tries to convert, but it is a tenant in a majority of belieifs.. I grew up in Church of Christ around the hardcore and moderate(often called 'liberal' by the hardcore) . The hardcore are more likely to try to convert.

It is a tenet in some beliefs (perhaps the majority), but it is a tenet in varying beliefs to varying degrees.  It is not really something that was promoted or encouraged in my church (Episcopalian).  In fact, if anything, it was discouraged.  The more hardcore members of my church were no more likely to proselytize than the non-hardcore members.  In some faiths, it is looked down upon.  

Another way to put it is this - some faiths (including some forms of Christianity) believe that proselytizing is necessary for salvation.  Other faiths (including some forms of Christianity) do not believe that at all.  Who would we think would be more likely to proselytize?  

Not the greatest source, I know, but for an overview of what I am trying to say - here's Wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proselytism

[enigmata]

There is a difference between evangelism and proselytising.  Proselytising is trying to convert a Christian to your 'type' of Christianity.  I've always thought of it as trying to make your Church grow by stealing members from other Churches.

Evangelism is sharing the gospel with non-Christians (and yes, some Christians do see Catholics in that category - not saying that is a legit argument but it is definitely a held view that is quite prevalent in the Protestant Church).

All Christians are called to evangelism.  It is a part of their faith.  How this manifests itself is different for different Christians but I don't think it's fair to criticise a Christian for evangelism. 

However, it is (in my mind) fair to criticise them for doing it in a very tactless and arrogant way.  I am an evangelical Christian who believes that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life but I find a lot of Christian evangelism crass and, frankly, embarrassing.

I know how I would respond if somebody handed me a tract or a video - and I honestly don't see how they really think it is going to make a difference.

My own form of evangelism is love and acceptance.  Helping to meet the real physical needs of people to show the love of God.