# Why do people proselytize? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945 "2007-12-05T20:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/1 "2007-12-05T20:19:11Z")
As far as I’m aware it seems to be a strictly Christian phenomenon, be it going door-to-door to just handing out leaflets. The point, as far as I’m aware, is simply to get others to convert to your particular flavor of faith. Why is that such an important issue? My theories: 1. More members of a given church = more money for the church. What do churches do with this money? (And yes, I’m cynical.) 2. “Saving” people. Someone is a sinner by your moral code, sinners go to hell, therefore it’s in their best interest for you to try to make them come over to your side. Are those the only reasons? I vaguely recall something in the NT about converting those amongst you, but why do only some sects do it and others don’t? (And please keep this at a GQ level of discourse; I’m simply asking out of curiosity [inspired by a dream I had about Mormon missionaries] and don’t want a debate about the ethics of it.) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/2 "2007-12-05T20:24:31Z")
Ironically, it’s a matter of survival of the fittest. Religions that prosletyze grow and those that don’t, don’t. Eventually you will have the situation that the largest religions prosletyze. Same thing for religions that encourage large families such as LDS and Catholicism. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/3 "2007-12-05T20:25:06Z")
Matthew 28:16-20 "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(NIV) > **[Great Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Commission)** > > In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16–20, where on a mountain in Galilee Jesus calls on his followers to make disciples of and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. > The Great Commission is similar to the episodes of the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles found in the other Synoptic Go... ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/4 "2007-12-05T20:26:13Z")
The New Testament commands the followers of Christ to go and make followers of all nations. [The Great Commission](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Commission) \* Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(\* So it can be thought of as part of the mission of Christians to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/5 "2007-12-05T20:27:33Z")
Might I suggest that it is in part because proselytizing religions are those whose believers feel it is the ONLY way to the truth? Therefore, the existence of other creeds is threatening to their own faith / belief system. They can lessen the threat by declaring non-Proselytists as pagans / infidels / unbelievers / those-who-would-be-with-us-if-only-they-knew-the-Proselytist-truth. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/6 "2007-12-05T20:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] Ironically, it’s a matter of survival of the fittest. Religions that prosletyze grow and those that don’t, don’t. Eventually you will have the situation that the largest religions prosletyze. [/QUOTE] [Hinduism seems to be doing OK, numerically speaking,](http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm) and they don’t proselytize. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/7 "2007-12-05T20:49:25Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] Ironically, it’s a matter of survival of the fittest. Religions that prosletyze grow and those that don’t, don’t. Eventually you will have the situation that the largest religions prosletyze. Same thing for religions that encourage large families such as LDS and Catholicism. [/QUOTE] I considered that, but it doesn’t seem to work. Judaism, for example, doesn’t quite go so far as to discourage conversion, but certainly doesn’t proselytize, and they’ve been doing OK numbers wise for a considerably long time\*. **Dr. Lao** , that’s exactly the passage I was trying to remember. Thanks. The question still remains, though: why have some forms of Christianity done away with it? I’m sure that if I were to go to a Catholic church and tell them I wanted to convert they’d be eager to help me out, but I’ve never seen the Roman Catholic church out ‘advertising’, so to speak. Is it just one of those natural divides that’s evolved, or is there more to it? \*I grant that in Biblical days there may or may not have been some ‘kill those who aren’t us’ stuff going on, which could have an effect, but still. Also, I know that some Orthodox Jews do in fact discourage conversion. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/8 "2007-12-05T21:03:13Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] As far as I’m aware it seems to be a strictly Christian phenomenon, be it going door-to-door to just handing out leaflets. [/quote] not true, [Muslims](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawah) proselytize as well. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/9 "2007-12-05T21:10:43Z")
The Catholic Church does plenty of proselytizing. They just tend to leave it to the professionals. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/10 "2007-12-05T21:42:15Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] The question still remains, though: why have some forms of Christianity done away with it? I’m sure that if I were to go to a Catholic church and tell them I wanted to convert they’d be eager to help me out, but I’ve never seen the Roman Catholic church out ‘advertising’, so to speak. Is it just one of those natural divides that’s evolved, or is there more to it? [/QUOTE] Proselytizing isn’t necessarily done by way of knocking on doors or advertising - it can be as simple as inviting a churchless friend to come with you to your church on a Sunday. Church events or activities open to the public are another way to get a lot of people to just come in the door, in the hope that at least a few will stick around. For example, many churches have a week of vacation bible school, open to anyone, in the summer, and Living Nativites open to the community in December. I can think of other examples, but my point is that I think the divide you see may just be a difference in methods. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/11 "2007-12-05T22:10:41Z")
Or, church organizations do humanitarian work internationally and provide information about the church through the example of their actions, without directly proselytizing to people. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/12 "2007-12-05T22:47:22Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] I considered that, but it doesn’t seem to work. Judaism, for example, doesn’t quite go so far as to discourage conversion, but certainly doesn’t proselytize, and they’ve been doing OK numbers wise for a considerably long time. [/QUOTE] There are, as I recall, fewer than fifteen million Jews in the entire world. Compare that to over a billion Muslims, over two billion Christians, almost a billion Hindus . . . the numbers are very rough, of course, but according to [this list](http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm), Judaism claims less than a percent of the world’s population. Even in the US, which has a lot of Jews, I don’t think they have more than five percent. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/13 "2007-12-05T23:35:44Z")
I think it is like married women who keep trying to get their single friends to experience wedded bliss. Misery loves company? No, seriously, I think there are those Christians who really feel they are on to something good and hate to see people miss out on it. I had a good friend who “found God” and I believe he wanted to share that happiness with me. I kept telling him I didn’t need to find God because to the best of my knowledge, he wasn’t lost. He kept attempting to convert me until we basically grew apart. I believe he was always saddened that I was doomed for the firey pit. So it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/14 "2007-12-05T23:42:11Z")
Don’t forget, you have to “love your neighbour.” What better way to love your neighbour than to save his or her immortal soul? ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Gedde\_Mistarted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Donna\_Gedde\_Mistarted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Gedde_Mistarted)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/15 "2007-12-06T00:43:53Z")
The key to all movements is not the founder but the converts. The first converts are the “true believers” and, opposite of the founder’s egotism, they are full of subjugation impulses. Some think it’s “reflected glory” but I think it’s simply a substitute for Mother, a way to be part of a family, to belong. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/16 "2007-12-06T03:05:41Z")
As a former proselytizing Christian, I can sort of give you my anecdotal reasons for doing it. 1. I was 12. Being 12, I didn’t really grasp social etiquette all that well. 2. I truly loved God, and every single source I had that claimed to be ‘‘of God’’ insisted that this is what God wanted me to do. 3. I genuinely cared for all of humanity and believed that they would find a joy if they converted, a joy that could not be matched by any other belief system. 4. I wanted those I knew and loved to understand me better, to share a big part of myself with them… for us to have something fundamental in common. So basically altruistic motives for myself, with a little social angst thrown in. Don’t know about anyone else. Though I do have to say that I don’t think Christianity is the only religion that proselytizes. I’m not sure Muslims go door-to-door in any organized way, but I’ve certainly been ‘‘witnessed’’ to, in a sense, by them. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/17 "2007-12-06T03:42:33Z")
The Jewish reticence to proselytize was not always the case and may be undergoing some changes. > **[The More Jews the Better?](https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/judaism/2002/07/the-more-jews-the-better.aspx)** > > Some rabbis & Jewish leaders want to return to ancient Judaism's universalistic mission--making it more available to outsiders. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/18 "2007-12-06T03:59:14Z")
I’m amazed I’m the first person to say this: In many cases, because they think you’re going to hell if you don’t convert. They’re trying to save your soul. If you saw someone unknowingly walking into the path of a speeding bus, wouldn’t you pull them out of the way? Well, that’s what the preacher man thinks he’s doing for you, except what he’s doing is WAY more important, because going to hell is infinitely worse than being hit by a bus. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/19 "2007-12-06T07:33:01Z")
When I went on my mission, a large number of the people doing it were going because it was expected of Mormons. I went to find out myself if I believed in the church, and pretty much found out that I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jesticulator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/977dab/32.png) [@Jesticulator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesticulator)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945/20 "2007-12-06T12:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] I’m amazed I’m the first person to say this: In many cases, because they think you’re going to hell if you don’t convert. They’re trying to save your soul. [/quote] From the OP: > [@NinjaChick](#): > > 1. “Saving” people. Someone is a sinner by your moral code, sinners go to hell, therefore it’s in their best interest for you to try to make them come over to your side. Anyway, many years ago, I attended some meetings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that were like sales meetings: Each “sales team” was assigned a territory. Targets were set by the “sales manager”, including: Number of hours spent witnessing Number of homes contacted Number of items sold, classified into two groups: Magazines (Watchtower and Awake!) and books. Number of times they were invited into the home for a discussion Number of return calls scheduled Number of weekly Bible studies booked Number of people who agreed to attend a Sunday service Each member of the congregation was expected to purchase a supply of magazines and books. Also, there was a special group who witnessed full-time and who supported themselves and their family through the sale of magazines and books. Hmmm … I just found this in Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > There are different levels of increased service available to baptized publishers in ‘good standing’ within the organization: > > Auxiliary Pioneers - make a commitment to do 50 hours of field service for a given month. This can be done on a per month basis, or on an ongoing basis. > Regular Pioneers - make a commitment to perform about 70 hours of field service each month, but the yearly requirement is 840 hours of field service. A publisher must be baptized for at least 6 months and deemed to have good morals and be an exemplary publisher, in order to be recommended by the elders of their local congregation to be a regular pioneer. > Special Pioneers - assigned by the Branch to take on special work, such as publishing in remote areas. This may require committing to at least 130 hours a month in the public ministry. > Missionaries - sent to foreign countries to preach. They use at least 130 hours a month in the preaching. Before being assigned to a location, such persons usually go through training at the Gilead school. > [Organizational Structure of Jehovah’s Witnesses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_structure_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-proselytize/428945.md?page=2)