I remember joining the Catholic Campus Ministry at the University (in the South) I was at 30+ years ago. I wasn’t practicing Catholic, but had been raised Catholic, and they had a drunk driving prevention program I wanted to participate in.
My roommate was part of Campus Crusade for Christ. He was from Ecuador which at the time was a predominantly and pervasively Catholic country. He not only had grotesquely hostile opinions of Jews, but he thought my participation in Catholic activities was dangerously flirting with Evil.
In six years at universities in the US he had gone from nominally Catholic to thinking the Church was a tool of the Antichrist/Satan/Harlot.
I gave him a wide berth for the rest of the semester. He and his friends were otherwise very nice. Just occasionally would say frightening things about religion.
My guess is that street-corner Jesus-shouters like Brother Jed have a different Bible passage in mind - Matthew 5:10-11: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
They’re looking for confrontation and abuse, because that means they’re doing the Lord’s work; and of course, someone’s paying attention to them - I suspect narcissism plays a part in making someone a street-corner ranter.
Street evangelism may be a sign of psychosis for some people. I sympathize with them and hope they get the support they need. However, I also think the city should limit the noise they make (for example, by banning megaphones in public areas).
But not all street evangelists have mental health issues. Some are just rude and disruptive. They should be actively encouraged to respect the public and lower their voices.
Some students at my high school realized that those little giveaway Bibles have very small, thin pages that could be used as rolling papers. I’m sure the Gideons were very happy that there was so much interest in their materials from the students!
I think the majority, if not all, comments have been about Christian weirdos trying to force their opinion on others. Which I would agree is a pain in the ass.
But the definition is broader than that.
convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
So I think that would include, a lot of other groups. From silly things like Star Trek is better than Star Wars, to nationalized healthcare is better than non nationalized healthcare.
There are not a lot, or any, Christian preachers on this message board.
But plenty of people attempting to convert people’s belief or opinion to another.
If you have gotten into any sort of political, religious, or opinionated debate in a public message board. You are a public proselyters.
