And to pose the opposite question, why do the evangelical atheists seem to want to convert me? If the matter comes up in casual conversation and I say that yes there’s a God in my world, well more than several times I’ve been told I’m “too smart” to believe in God and then the conversation turns into a witnessing of the joys and benefits – oh and moral superiority – of atheism. :dubious: Thankfully not all atheists are this way but enough are that I tend to avoid discussing my religious beliefs at all.
Well we’re talking about two different evangelistic approaches here. I never stalked anyone, or became angry when they didn’t agree with me. Sad? Yes. I spent many sleepless nights praying over the salvation of others (by the way, I was about 13 during this hardcore evangelistic time of my life, so I can chalk it up to immaturity of youth.) It was ultimately the more hateful, close-minded and agressive perspective that drove me away from the church. I couldn’t reconcile my instincts about what was right with the Truth as laid out in the Bible. I’m not going to oversimplify and say it was a single event, but certainly one of the more formative moments was at 17, sitting after Sunday school with guys I’d been friends with for years, listening to them say hateful things about gays. What they didn’t know is that some of the most important people in my life were gay. It was at least the final straw. I walked out that door and didn’t return.
Religion doesn’t make people into meddlesome busybodies where they weren’t before. It merely rationalizes and categorizes a piece of timeless human behavior.
Which is, in my view, primate hardwiring to defend the integrity and coherence of the social pack. Anybody who stands out and does not conform, for any reason, poses a danger to the group. They must be made to conform, or they can be ejected or killed. The only difference between us and a mob of vindictive baboons is that we can dress up our motivation in obfuscatory language to make ourselves feel better about our obnoxiousness.
Religion is hardly the only area in which we see this behavior. It’s just one of the most prominent.
Quite true. It makes more sense in politics (if one person can convince another to come over to the “right side,” then that’s one more vote for getting that side elected–whereas one more convert to one’s God doesn’t gain you anything tangible). I have the same perplexity around why some straight people persecute gays–as long as they’re not hitting on you (or failing to stop when you tell them you’re not interested), what difference does it make what they do in their personal lives? I know this is a bit flippant, but I would think that straight guys would be happy that other guys are gay–that means less competition for the hot women!
To expand on this, yes - this is the “Great Comission” - a command from God to evangelize.
From a personal POV, too, knowing that eternal life is available to your loved ones but they reject it is very saddening. You want your loved ones with you in the afterlife.
On yet another hand, it’s clear from scripture that heaven (again, from a Christian POV) is very different that the physical life. Souls exist in a very different state than flesh and blood. If that’s the case, maybe we won’t notice who won’t make it.
