John and Alyssa Webster 13: The Blessed Boy Arrived

[CanadianMamam]

2 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

It isn't all evangelicals opposed to Halloween.  It's the far more conservative ones.  Our closest evangelical church held a trunk or treat in their parking lot.  

Yep, I live across the street from an evangelical church and they hold a very popular Trunk or Treat event every year. They offer coffee and hot chocolate, games, tons of candy, etc. But they also slip a bunch of pamphlets and tracts in with the candy. I threw out sooooo many. 

[Giraffe]

17 hours ago, rebeccawriter01 said:

In watching the video, it appears that John and Alyssa stayed very far back from the houses - at the street while the girls went to the front doors. 

This pisses me off. It's even more manipulative! They know most people will accept anything from a young child so instead of being honest about it and tryong to convert the adults themselves, they have the children do their dirty work. Like Jermagesty brought up, that's very "on brand" for fundies. 

[HeartsAFundie]

22 hours ago, rebeccawriter01 said:

It's an old thing but still used. They are religious pamphlets that are usually about if you are going to heaven if you died now or other religious propaganda. The ones the girls handed out looked like million dollar bills. Some fundies use the money looking ones to leave as a tip for a server. Sometimes they drop them on the ground to look like lost money. People will pick them up thinking that is a $5, $10, $20 or whatever. They are sold through a lot of companies. Sometimes they have a church name and info on them.

They get the name because they are a condensed version or shortened version of the Bible. 

In the summer of 2022, I bought a pair of jeans at Target to put away as a Christmas gift for my son.  On Christmas Day 2022 I gave them to my son along with several other gifts.  He liked the jeans and thanked me for everything. 

The next day I receive a text and an accompanying photo from my son saying "Mom, did you know about this?"  Apparently while trying on the jeans, he found a tract shoved into one of the front pockets!  I assured him that I was completely clueless about it and he obviously knows I had nothing to do with it.   Then I started wondering how many other items throughout the store were preyed upon by fundies in an attempt to save people.   

How many other places can fundies possibly slip tracts to unsuspecting heathens?  The world may never know.  

[Keys]

1 hour ago, HeartsAFundie said:

In the summer of 2022, I bought a pair of jeans at Target to put away as a Christmas gift for my son.  On Christmas Day 2022 I gave them to my son along with several other gifts.  He liked the jeans and thanked me for everything. 

The next day I receive a text and an accompanying photo from my son saying "Mom, did you know about this?"  Apparently while trying on the jeans, he found a tract shoved into one of the front pockets!  I assured him that I was completely clueless about it and he obviously knows I had nothing to do with it.   Then I started wondering how many other items throughout the store were preyed upon by fundies in an attempt to save people.   

How many other places can fundies possibly slip tracts to unsuspecting heathens?  The world may never know.  

Wow! And then I wonder… what is actually the success of these “tracts” at getting people to come to their church or do whatever they’re advertising/encouraging? To me, I’d be even more turned off if someone tried to sneakily give it to me or give it in some manipulative way.
 

I don’t really think this is a thing where I live at all (Canada). I think twice in my lifetime some LDS folks came to our front door and asked about whether we thought we were saved, gave some pamphlets etc (a group of them comes here every so often from the US) and will sometimes send friend requests on Facebook too. And one time I was walking to my car after work (at a hospital), and was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness fellow who was asking me if I was saved. I’m fine with engaging with these folks because they’re honest and up front about what they’re doing. If they were being manipulative like this (like in Alyssa’s case, sending the kids to give them out while trick or treating too), I’d be extremely turned off. 

[Natalie22]

3 hours ago, Keys said:

Wow! And then I wonder… what is actually the success of these “tracts” at getting people to come to their church or do whatever they’re advertising/encouraging? To me, I’d be even more turned off if someone tried to sneakily give it to me or give it in some manipulative way.
 

I don’t really think this is a thing where I live at all (Canada). I think twice in my lifetime some LDS folks came to our front door and asked about whether we thought we were saved, gave some pamphlets etc (a group of them comes here every so often from the US) and will sometimes send friend requests on Facebook too. And one time I was walking to my car after work (at a hospital), and was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness fellow who was asking me if I was saved. I’m fine with engaging with these folks because they’re honest and up front about what they’re doing. If they were being manipulative like this (like in Alyssa’s case, sending the kids to give them out while trick or treating too), I’d be extremely turned off. 

Really these sorts of attempts to 'convert' are really about keeping those proselytizing believing and in the group. These methods are about having those trying to convert having negative experiences when they try to convert which reinforces that the outgroup is mean. On the other hand, those in the 'in group' will praise those out proselytizing for their attempts, even if they're not successful. So it reinforces that the group is safe, kind, and welcoming. 

 

[Kiki03910]

Tract or treating. Wonderful!

[GuineaPigCourtship]

I used to roll my eyes as a server when people came after church and left tracts instead of tips.  Hell, I was on a trip to NYC with my church group in high school and someone handed me (only me) a tract.  They are so worthless.

[Coconut Flan]

Carry on here: