As Ben said, Jews don’t seek converts. You have to convince the rabbi that you want to convert. Because, after all, it is signing your name to a covenant with God. And that’s one court you can’t escape the jurisdiction of.
Close enough to make you happy, Jackmannii? It’s not a sin. It’s just. Not. Done. Period.
And, of course, both Judaism and Buddhism have had times where they agressively proselytized. (And even now, some Buddhist groups, like Soka Gakkai, do proselytize)
When did Judaism aggressively proselytize?
It can’t be a sin to proselytize in most Pagan religions, because sin isn’t a concept found in most Pagan religions. It may be morally wrong within the tenets of that Pagan religion, but it’s not a sin.
Well over two thousand years ago and not since.
Haj
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Amberlei
Thanks for putting something into perspective for me that a lot of people on these boards have been trying to tell me. Like you, I’ve been an offense sponge. Now I know how stupid I was.
Yeah, it was about 2000 years ago…the Maccabean period, when the Maccabean state took over Idumea and the Gallilee, and forcibly converted the inhabitants. There was also lower level proselytization in the period just before the Temple was destroyed.
It’s been a while, though.
Ah, interesting. I don’t think that was mentioned in God, Jews, and History, or else I missed it. (Excellent book, btw.)
Check out the Unitarian Universalists. The name means “folks who don’t require you to believe in the Trinity to be a member in good standing, and who believe that Universal Salvation is possible”.
In practice, UUs are mostly agnostics who like the idea of weekly services to go talk about spiritual ideas; typical congregations may have lots of former Catholics, Lutherans, and Orthodox or Conservative Jews. They tend to be politically active and are often also bleeding-heart liberals, though that, like everything else, is not a rule. (Garrison Keilor does some spot-on Unitarian-ribbing on A Prairie Home Companion: “Did you hear about the Unitarian prophet? God gave him a tablet with the Ten Suggestions.” … " Why is it dangerous to piss off a Unitarian? He might burn a questionmark in your front lawn." …
“Why are Unitarians such bad singers? Because they’re always reading ahead in the hymnal to see if they agree with it.” … “What do you get when you cross a Unitarian with a Jehovah’s Witness? Someone out knocking on doors for no apparent reason.”.)
Now, most UUs will tell you they have trouble with the whole idea of “sin”, but if they WERE to believe in it, missionary activity would be right up there with littering.
We went to UU services at various points in my childhood. As a kid, I believed “that it’s a shocking sin of arrogance and false sense of superiority to attempt to convert anyone to the faith” indeed. I still lean that way, but I’ve met enough absolutely sincere and openhearted would-be converters to realize that arrogance and superiority are not always their primary motivators.
Religious intolerance? Hardly. Did the pamphlet call for Jews (or anyone else) to convert or die? Did it call for them to be excluded from public or commercial life? How, exaclty, is this pamphlet intolerent? I don’t think advovating your beliefs and trying to bring someone over to your religion through diseminating information is intolerance. It may be ineffective, but it certainly isn’t intolerent.
The other day I was walking across campus and two nicely dressed young men approached me to talk about converting to LDS. I politely informed them that I was quite happy with my religion, wished them a pleasent afternoon, and continued about my day. They certainly intruded on me in a far more personal, and I suppose in your world insulting, manner than if they had simply left a piece of paper on my windshield. I felt neither insulted nor that they were being intolerent. I suppose I am just tolerating their expression. Perhaps you should be more tolerent yourself.