religion is the source of all evil.

I am a Christian and go to an Episcopal church - so I am pretty liberal when it comes to most things.

I personally am not offended when "born again" Christians try and persuade me to follow their faith because they sincerely believe that theirs is the path to salvation. I don't agree with them but if I felt that my faith was the only one that would lead to salvation and that I was commanded by Jesus to spread the Word, I would want to do what "born again" Christians do.

My standard response to them when they seek to convert me is to tell them that I am happy to let God be the judge as to who will gain salvation and that I believe that God because he is fair and just will make the right decision. It tends to bring the conversation to a close very quickly. After all, even evangelicals cannot question that God is fair and just and will make the final judgement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is one thing Satan can't stand... It would have to be those damn evangelists .

I'd say we can all agree with satan on that front.

Matthew 7:13


Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate to hell is broad and it's gate is wide for the many who choose that way.



Translation.... The majority opinion is death.

Anonymous wrote:If there is one thing Satan can't stand... It would have to be those damn evangelists .

I'd say we can all agree with satan on that front.

It's a certain minority of Christians that are bent on evangelizing. None of "my" people are that sort. We are ELCA Lutheran. Funny enough, the E stands for evangelical, but there is no attempted conversion happening amongst that crowd.

I am baffled that the crazy conversion people can't understand that most religions are really getting at the same thing. How do they know they're not just practicing the religious equivalent of a regional dialect, and we're really all speaking the same language after all?

That said: I'm super socially liberal Christian, and I do think it's the conservatives who try to "win votes" and drag you into the fold. The liberal Christians - not so much.

If there is one thing Satan can't stand... It would have to be those damn evangelists .

Anonymous wrote:Stop generalizing please. Thanks. I am catholic and have never spoken to anyone about my beliefs unasked. I'd never try to convert anyone. Neither would any Christian I know. It's mostly the American 'saved' Christians that do this stuff...not all Christians.

The Pope just came out and said that Catholics shouldn't try convert people by words.

I think it's more born again Christians that do this. They truly believe that you are going to hell if you aren't Christian.

OP, I'm with you. It's really annoying. And to posters who are Catholic, it is not the Catholics that do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty simple really. Christians believe non-Christians are going to Hell. They don't want you to go to Hell. So they want you to be Christians.

Atheist don't try to convert people because they don't believe anything bad will happen if one chooses not to be an athiest.

I don't know why anyone would get all bent out of shape about it.

Hindus believe that every being is created by God - so everyone is perfect. To try and convert someone means that you are acknowledging that God is flawed and created worthless people. We do not believe that God is flawed in his will to create people of other religions. Religion is a human construct, not a divine one.

I think you are super confused about Christian doctrine- Christians do not believe that non-Christians are "worthless people." That's a really huge jump in logic from trying to convert someone. Christians believe that God loves all people, last time I checked. Just because people are not perfect does not mean that God is flawed, it means that people have free will and occasionally make bad choices.

Yep, I find this so off-putting. DH's family is like this. His mother donated to this christian organization that mails books to Jews titled "they thought for themselves" or something - she left the book at our house because she was reading it herself (I'm assuming), I found a letter in it that acknowledged her donation, I was shocked. Google it. There is also a lot of mission-trips in his extended family, every summer we are getting hit up by some second cousin to go on some evangelical mission to save souls. I grew up Catholic but also grew up of the belief that it is impolite to discuss politics or religion, and find all of this conversion business very uncomfortable.

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty simple really. Christians believe non-Christians are going to Hell. They don't want you to go to Hell. So they want you to be Christians.

Atheist don't try to convert people because they don't believe anything bad will happen if one chooses not to be an athiest.

I don't know why anyone would get all bent out of shape about it.

Hindus believe that every being is created by God - so everyone is perfect. To try and convert someone means that you are acknowledging that God is flawed and created worthless people. We do not believe that God is flawed in his will to create people of other religions. Religion is a human construct, not a divine one.

Anonymous wrote:Stop generalizing please. Thanks. I am catholic and have never spoken to anyone about my beliefs unasked. I'd never try to convert anyone. Neither would any Christian I know. It's mostly the American 'saved' Christians that do this stuff...not all Christians.

+1. Just like there is a variety of sects/doctrines in other faiths, not all Christians are alike.

Christianity is an evangelical tradition but not all Christians follow the practice of trying to convert people.

Another Catholic here and I have never tried to convert anyone. I have family and friends of many faith backgrounds including a cousin who is a militant atheist. I may speak about my own beliefs and practices but I have never tried to get someone to become Catholic. The only time I have even invited someone to my church is when we have had a special occasion or another Catholic has mentioned they were parish shopping.

Anonymous wrote:I am Catholic and constantly try to get converted by other christians. Our neighborhood is within walking distance to a Jehovah Witness church and they have a mission to walk on foot and preach the bible door to door. I deal with them at least once a week, if not more. They always want to share the bible with me and I always politely decline and they ALWAYS leave without an issue. Don't have a problem with them. Now this is what I can't stand ... my daughters dance team has two evangelical moms who are always trying to talk about their salvation and asking if we can pray "for the girls." I don't mind general prayer for I can bow down my head and be silent for a minute or two but this is not what they do. I get really annoyed when these ladies ver into a whole "god save our souls, god we pray for your redemption of our children, god we can't do anything without you, god you are the ultimate being for we are servants to you, please save those who aren't saved (plug in awkward stare in my direction here), etc etc. I always think its an odd tactic to claim eternal hell if you don't come to my mega church...is that really how they get members?

So their mission is to preach without converting? Interesting. I thought they tried to get new members and donations. Can they accept donations from non-Jehovah Witnesses?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop generalizing please. Thanks. I am catholic and have never spoken to anyone about my beliefs unasked. I'd never try to convert anyone. Neither would any Christian I know. It's mostly the American 'saved' Christians that do this stuff...not all Christians.

If you aren't saved , why on Earth would you waste time being a Christian ?

Not PP, but because I don't subscribe to decision theology. God's grace is free, a gift. There is nothing I need to do, or can do, to receive it.

God's grace enables me to live as Christ commanded.

Oh, and I don't proselytize.

New poster. Different branches of Christianity place different weights on different aspects of the religion. Some place more weight on the instruction to "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).