Conversation Between A Wiccan And Born Again Christian

[debrand]

I found this article and it made me wonder. Is there any polite way to evangelize? The only method that I think is polite and respectful of others is to wait until you are asked questions. Every other method just seems disrespectful to the other person.

 

know-will-dare.blogspot.com/2011/08/me-vs-born-againabout-christianity-and.html

 

I broke the link but I don't think the writer would mind us discussing her article. The slight bit that I read on her site made me think that she would like Free Jinger

[Cran]

I could also imagine being politely asked if I want to hear about religion XYZ. And my answer being respected.

"Hi, I'd like to tell you about my saviour Jesus Christ. Have a minute to spare?"

"No, I am not interested, thank you."

"Ok, have a good day!"

[debrand]

I could also imagine being politely asked if I want to hear about religion XYZ. And my answer being respected.

"Hi, I'd like to tell you about my saviour Jesus Christ. Have a minute to spare?"

"No, I am not interested, thank you."

"Ok, have a good day!"

That would be fine with me also but I wouldn't want to answer why. A polite, "No, thank you," should be enough. I shouldn't have to give a reason why I don't want to talk to a stranger.

[clibbyjo]

I am setting up homeschool fieldtrips right now on visiting different religions in their places of worship.. The first is at the Buddhist center. I contacted them and they told me to just bring cookies(monks like cookies!) and they will supply tea.That is the kind of way I like to learn about different religions, not Jehovah's banging down my door.

[StarrieEyedKat]

I could also imagine being politely asked if I want to hear about religion XYZ. And my answer being respected.

"Hi, I'd like to tell you about my saviour Jesus Christ. Have a minute to spare?"

"No, I am not interested, thank you."

"Ok, have a good day!"

See, I still see this as a bit rude. I wouldn't get all huffy with the person, but I wouldn't be thrilled at being confronted like that. To me, that's like someone walking up to an overweight person and saying "Hi, I'd like to tell you about my awesome weight loss secret, have a minute to spare?" It's condescending to walk up to someone and assume you can lead them to a "better" way of live/afterlife without being asked.

[debrand]

I am setting up homeschool fieldtrips right now on visiting different religions in their places of worship.. The first is at the Buddhist center. I contacted them and they told me to just bring cookies(monks like cookies!) and they will supply tea.That is the kind of way I like to learn about different religions, not Jehovah's banging down my door.

I love to hear people talk about their faith as long as they aren't trying to convert me. Now I'm jealous. I'd love to eat cookies with a group of Buddhist monks.

[Boogalou]

I think evangelizing is rude no matter what if people are ultimately trying to convert others. If you just want to have a conversation with a friend then that's fine but I think it is unbelievably rude and arrogant to try and convert people to your religion or to talk about such personal matters with random people. Even if it's done politely it's so easy to end up sounding like Jim Bob telling people if the earth was any closer to the sun then we'd all burn up.

[AnnoDomini]

Oh--my father said the same thing about the sun, and something about the moon. It was on one of our many Creation videos.

[bea]

That reminds me of the Doonesbury strip where Mike and Mark, the anti-war activist, are sitting there munching peacefully together and MIke thinks "Even revolutionaries like chocolate chip cookies."

Everybody likes cookies. I bake them once a week for the staff at my Alderman's office (it's a Chicago thing), and in the winter when there's a big snowfall, I bring them to the Streets & Sanitation garage for the snowplow drivers.

My reply to people who ask me if I want to hear about their religion is "YOu want to hear about mine, first? And it's based on first and second century heresies with a fair dollop of folk magic, so mine will take longer to explain."

They never stay. *sigh*

[pixydust]

My reply to people who ask me if I want to hear about their religion is "YOu want to hear about mine, first? And it's based on first and second century heresies with a fair dollop of folk magic, so mine will take longer to explain."

They never stay. *sigh*

I like that! I usually tell people that I'm not interested, I'm Jewish (fundies used to respect that!), but now I'm hearing a lot of "Jesus died for the Jews, too!" or "Well, you'd like to hear about Jesus, He's Jewish, too!" :doh:

I had a problem a few years back of 2 Jehovah Witness ladies coming to my door every 2 weeks, I finally told them that I was a Santeria priestess, they offered to pray for me.....I offered to sacrifice a chicken for them. They never came back..... (no offense ment to anyone who practices Santeria, I was desperate!)

[doggie]

ask them would they like you to come up to them and tell them that they are going to hell unless they dump Christianity? when they say no then say well then follow the bible all through the bible it says Do unto others and you would have them unto you.

[debrand]

I like that! I usually tell people that I'm not interested, I'm Jewish (fundies used to respect that!), but now I'm hearing a lot of "Jesus died for the Jews, too!" or "Well, you'd like to hear about Jesus, He's Jewish, too!" :doh:

I had a problem a few years back of 2 Jehovah Witness ladies coming to my door every 2 weeks, I finally told them that I was a Santeria priestess, they offered to pray for me.....I offered to sacrifice a chicken for them. They never came back..... (no offense ment to anyone who practices Santeria, I was desperate!)

My son has offered to invite Jehovah Witnesses to our annual sacrifice to Satan.

[pixydust]

My son has offered to invite Jehovah Witnesses to our annual sacrifice to Satan.

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :lol: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :lol:

[eohiken]

There is time and place for religious discussion. All other times, it's as inappropriate as being offered a view of the proselytizing person's underpants.

[Conuly]

I had a problem a few years back of 2 Jehovah Witness ladies coming to my door every 2 weeks, I finally told them that I was a Santeria priestess, they offered to pray for me.....I offered to sacrifice a chicken for them. They never came back..... (no offense ment to anyone who practices Santeria, I was desperate!)

For JWs, the magic phrase is apparently "I'm an apostate", which means "I was one of you, and then left and turned my back on the church".

[Swamptribe]

I gave up having religious discussions with people a long time ago. Used to love discussing the subject, but invariably it would end with the Christian popping out with "So, now that you're ready to accept Jesus Christ...". This always demonstrated that they just weren't listening at all.

Frankly, the Christians I respect the most are the ones who 'walk the walk', not the ones who 'talk the talk'. They also don't expect everyone else to defer to their way of doing things. This, in my experience, would be the most effective form of prostelitization(sp?). They don't preach, they don't bug anyone else, they are kind, accepting, tolerant and just generally do things in a way they feel is right.

[Terrie]

I was raised in a very liberal UCC church, and proselytizing was something that was NOT done in our church. We were to be examples of our Christ with our actions, not our words. The general attitude was that if we lived Christ-like lives, we would be a message for our faith without saying anything. I've long since left Christianity, but I never lost the idea that the more talking you do about your beliefs, the less time you have for living them.

[lizzy]

I gave up having religious discussions with people a long time ago. Used to love discussing the subject, but invariably it would end with the Christian popping out with "So, now that you're ready to accept Jesus Christ...". This always demonstrated that they just weren't listening at all.

Frankly, the Christians I respect the most are the ones who 'walk the walk', not the ones who 'talk the talk'. They also don't expect everyone else to defer to their way of doing things. This, in my experience, would be the most effective form of prostelitization(sp?). They don't preach, they don't bug anyone else, they are kind, accepting, tolerant and just generally do things in a way they feel is right.

Reminds me of this quote often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, "Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words."

[FJismyheadship]

My ex told me once that he got rid of JW one time by asking if they would pray with him (apparently thats a no no) and another time by showing up at his door naked holding a magazine. They walked away dusting their feet off haha.

I lived with a couple of JW's once. They never pushed their religion on me. They answered my questions, and that was it.

Occasionally, I will ask someone to go to church with me. If they say no, I'll leave it at that. I see no reason in trying to pressure someone into going to church with me... plus I could see that ruining a friendship.

[Rachel333]

A polite way to evangelize? Well, I did have a Muslim classmate who gave us all tracts in bags of really nice chocolates. I didn't mind that, haha. (It was certainly better than the other Muslims in the class who would start yelling about how terrible homosexuality is.)

I really don't mind evangelism in general, no matter the religion. If it comes up in conversation of course I'm okay with someone talking about their beliefs. I also don't even mind being approached if they're upfront about it and don't get pushy if you refuse. (example: I'm okay with missionaries like the LDS and JWs if they're okay with me saying no. I don't like it when people come up to me with the pretense of talking about something else and then end up trying to convert me, which is a tactic I think some of the Christian groups on campus teach.) Or another example, when touring a mosque in India, I ran into some very pushy Muslims. It's not something I particularly enjoyed, but it was their space and not something I could complain about.

[Caribou]

clibbyjo wrote:

I am setting up homeschool fieldtrips right now on visiting different religions in their places of worship.. The first is at the Buddhist center. I contacted them and they told me to just bring cookies(monks like cookies!) and they will supply tea.

We went to China last year and went to several Buddhist temples along the way. The monks were wonderful at all of them - open, helpful and more than ready to answer (those who spoke English) any questions we had. Once we got back, my husband got more and more interested in Buddhism and has joined a local group. I wouldn't call him a "Buddhist" per se, but he definitely likes many of the tenets and meditates daily.

Never did the monks try to "evangelize" us. But by just explaining things to us and actively living their beliefs around others I guess they did win one over to their side! (I'm afraid my hard-line atheist heart wasn't quite as affected!)

[Hane]

A zillian years ago, a young man came up to me in a parking lot and said, "I'm working with a group of young Christians, and we're looking for contributions."

I replied, "What a coincidence! I'm working with a group of young Druids, and we're saving up to buy our own sacred grove!"

He was gobsmacked, and GAVE ME A QUARTER. I took it, and tossed it into the collection basket at Mass on Sunday.

[wtylcf]

A zillian years ago, a young man came up to me in a parking lot and said, "I'm working with a group of young Christians, and we're looking for contributions."

I replied, "What a coincidence! I'm working with a group of young Druids, and we're saving up to buy our own sacred grove!"

He was gobsmacked, and GAVE ME A QUARTER. I took it, and tossed it into the collection basket at Mass on Sunday.

That is the best counter-conversion anecdote I've ever heard! I can't believe he actually donated money to what he (probably) thought was your paganistic devil-worshipping cause.

[wtylcf]

My boyfriend once opened the door to a couple of apartment-to-apartment evangelists. When they asked if he were interested in hearing about Jesus, he said, "No thanks; we already have a religion." As if a religion were like a toaster or an encyclopedia set - no thanks; already got one of those and it's still working just fine, thanks for asking! I died laughing.

[jjmennonite]

When my daughter was about 15 I found a Book of Mormon in the house. I asked her about it and she said the missionaries had come and given it to her. I was appalled that she let 2 strange young men into the house. On the other hand, I always taught her to respect her gut feeling about strangers, and she said they seemed OK.

She took the book, and she didn't convert - must have been being polite - and maybe they were defrauding her!