But it isn’t the kind of public proselytizing most of us object to. If someone wants to try to persuade me on this board I can engage with it or not. If someone is screaming in my ear about Jesus at a volume that would give a grindcore band a run for their money, I’ve got no choice to avoid them, other than to leave the cafe I’m enjoying.
Could you please describe the instance a Christian proselytizer verbally assaulted you in a cafe.
I am a devout atheist. I’ve had Mormons, and other Christian denominations knock on my door throughout life. Although it’s only been a handful of times. And I tell them to fuck off.
If some nut job was in the cafe yelling at customers, the management would tell them to leave.
I’ve also been proselytized by people asking for signatures for anything from left wing petitions to right wing petitions as I walked into a supermarket. Never signed any of them.
I guess my problem is that people only have an issue with proselytizing about things they disagree with. Proselytizing about an issue you agree with is perfectly acceptable.
I haven’t had anybody shout at me about petitions. I would object to that as well. I did once see an ACLU representative in 30th street station. She was quiet and I approached her to ask what help they needed.
You assume a motivation that may not be operative.
I do not think they have a goal or expectation of winning any hearts or minds. Their target audience is their lord who they believe has commanded them to preach, who they hope to impress, and any reaction by a public at large, any heathen hostility, any attention, is a reinforcer. The more slings and arrows they must endure preaching the lord’s word the better.
Yeah noise pollution regulations apply. There is a line where hate speech may apply too but mostly these folk stay on this side of it.
Past tense. He no longer sings. He used to sing, so sung is correct. It is the past participle.
Possibly US useage if different to British English.
When he did sing, he SANG.
(In your usage, when is “sang” correct?)
Right, I concur. They have the same right as people with political beliefs. When Unions go on strike, they often use bullhorns, noisemakers. chanting, and drums. Would you block their right to strike? or how about the BLM protestors?
I could give dozens and dozens of cites of BLM protestors using bullhorns and making excessive noise.
Cite?
Is this about Public evangelism or is it just picking on Christians here?
Australians are also known to be cheap tippers. Really rich people are also cheap tippers often.
Right.
Or is it just Christians that annoy people here?
How about pro-palestinian protestors?
I can give many more.
This whole thread is more or less anti-Christian bigotry. “Christians are cheap tippers!”- If i said that about Jewish people I would get a Warning.
https://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Million-Dollar-Gospel-Tract/dp/B084KTKP9R
Sure. Last Sunday, the 14th. Sitting outside on a lovely day, talking to an old friend while eating a sandwich and drinking some coffee. This dude set up a speaker on a corner and started screaming, literally screaming, about Jesus. We had to go inside, but could still hear him. Again, I’m going to see Dying Fetus next Friday and this dude hurt my eardrums. I’d have called the cops if I thought it would do any good. This is not the first time. Not the hundredth time.
Lets see the first one says not to do it.
The next is an ad for the tracks- and a tract along with a tip is not wrong.
The next one says- again- dont do it.
The next one is about trick or treating, not tipping.
etc etc etc.
None actually recount a certified tale about Christians giving tracts instead of tips.
But again*-Is this about Public evangelism or is it just picking on Chr*istians here?
I understand how someone being very noisy can be annoying- that’s what this thread purports to be about. But it’s really not.
Wink, wink, nudge nudge.
Yeah, but some British guy wrote a book saying it is OK to be upset with Christians. Muslims and Jews are cool. Just part of the SDMB hive-mind.
The obvious point is that they wouldn’t have to tell people not to do it if they weren’t already doing it. I’ve heard of it from people I trust wouldn’t lie to me.
I’ve also been involved in those who make a big deal about praying before a meal. But I don’t see this as correlated with the above. Probably more of a coincidence if they overlap.
And it wouldn’t matter what religion it was: those tracts are obnoxious. Even if you leave other money with them, you still trick the person into thinking they got more money than they did. Or you leave them on the ground where people think they found money they didn’t.
I do not consider them a good witnessing tool.
Moderating:
This is moving into thread-shit territory. Public evangelism is a thing. At least in the US, it’s usually Christians. It’s also a tiny tiny fraction of Christians. This is not a thread about “Christianity is bad”, it’s a thread about one fringe behavior that the OP finds annoying. If you don’t want to discuss that, please move on to some other thread.
Political demonstrators rarely threaten me with literal hellfire for not immediately adopting their exact position.
As far as noise goes, ‘other people make noise too’ doesn’t strike me as much of an argument. Especially since various people in the thread – me included, see my post #51 – have said, in one wording or another, ‘as long as they’re not making too much noise and aren’t personally persistent they’re within their rights’.
Does scientology actually get religious tax breaks? I don’t know. Maybe they have enough lobbyists or blackmail material to swing it?
Seems to be pretty sleazy, but so do a lot of the fundementalist megachurches…
It doesn’t seem to be much of a force here in the UK.
Yes they do get tax breaks. There is a persistent urban legend that Hubbard changed Dianetics into a church specifically for the tax breaks.
ETA
Mostly the government is not interested in debating whether a ‘religion’ or ‘church’ is valid or not. I like it that way.
I wish to retract much of this statement. In fact, in the modern era for many people it is not OK to of any religion. I admit I have not seen any anti-Shinto activities, but then again I have not really looked.
Christianity is a choice. Most Jews are born that way. What a brain dead analogy. Leave us out of this.