"Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."
- St. Francis of Assisi [credited as]
America is a wonderful place, isn't it? Freedom of speech, freedom of religion; some of the cores of our society, two of the fundamental ideas on which our nation was founded. The first settlers made their way from England to be able to express their religious beliefs away from the rule of the King and the Church of England [admittedly, Eddie Izzard's "Cake or Death?" bit comes to mind]. When they arrived, free to peruse the worship of their choice, they meet the Native Americans. What do they do? Do they welcome them with open arms, a bit of, "Hello, hello, nice to meet you, fancy a bit of lunch?" Do they accept the Natives' assistance, offerings of teachings and food?
No. Instead it's a laugh and a, "Hey, lookit this bloke, 's not got anything on!" Which turns into, "What's this? Pagan worship? HEATHENS! SAVAGES!" And the missionarying is on.
What is with humans and their fascination with trying to get everyone to believe in the same thing? Missionary work is a practice that extends as far back in history as ... really really old stuff. The point is, people --regardless of religious or political belief-- love nothing more than to share their views with the WORLD[!] regardless of whether or not the people they're preaching to are being open and receptive to the message they seek to spread.
"You there! Are you aware that Jesus loves you?"
"That's nice, thank you. Krishna loves you!"
"Who the hell is Krishna? HEATHENS! LOVE GOD OR ELSE!"
Not to pick on Christianity, but they have been, historically, the most vocal about spreading their message. Not only do they attempt to spread their faith to those of opposing ones, they attempt to spread their faith to each other!
"Hello there. Are you a part of X brand Christianity?"
"Why, no, I happen to be a part of Y brand Christianity."
"WHAT? HEATHENS! LOVE MY VERSION OF GOD OR ELSE!"
Christians -as well as those of other faiths... but mainly Christians- have traversed the world in order to spread the teachings of Christ to those who do not believe, and/or are unaware. Even now, members of certain communities [such as Jehovah's Witnesses, LDS members, etc], travel door to door, on foot, to spread the word of God as they have been taught.
Which brings us to technology. With TV, we had televangelists like Billy Graham, pah-reechin the WordofGod-ah, praise Jesus, hallelujah, amen. Then, Christian services became televised, Christian-based shows, such as the 700 Club, came about. Then whole stations, such as EWTN [a Roman Catholic station] started cropping up. And then came the internet; a series of tubes, connecting the world together. It seems that missionaries have seized this opportunity to complete their goals of missionary work without leaving the comfort of their homes. The internet is a land of heathens, pagans, and blasphemers, so it would seem. Ripe for the missionaries' picking.
ProTip: Missionary work via internet = recipe for failure.
Why? Because they're just words on a screen. You can preach to the high heavens -pardon the pun- about the love of this deity, the promises of that deity, and the joys of a life spent in devotion to them. But without your voice - those words are hollow, empty. Not to mention that unless you start preaching to the choir, your words will be met with doubt. Irritation. Sarcasm, even.
Case in point: there have been, recently, a few missionaries on a popular message board system's home forum. Members of this forum are, overall, pleasant people, open to discussions of all sorts, even if they don't all see eye to eye. There are people of varying Christian belief, different faiths in general, or lack of faith at all. As a general rule, controversial threads are handled with maturity, members with different points of view offering well thought out opinions on the subject matter. Recently, a few members have taken it upon themselves to spread the word of God to this forum. The first thread or two was met with pleasantries, and offerings of alternate points of view. Granted, there was a joker or two making light of the situation, but for the most part the members behaved, offering their reasons for supporting Christianity, faith, or not believing at all.
Then came more threads; threads that offered little discussion and was merely a front for a person --or perhaps multiple people-- to stand on a soap box and say they'd pray for them, for their souls were damned and needed saving.
And then the internetz laughed.
To all the gung-ho missionaries out there, regardless of religion: the internet is not your personal "pick your own heathen" field. They may be faceless anonymous, but they have opinions, and the right to express those opinions as well. Telling them you'll pray for their souls - one, is annoying. Two, is assuming that they actually give a damn.
St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." Regardless of your faith, or lack of, these are words to be heeded. Whether you preach the word of God, a different god, multiple gods, or even the lack of god all together: your point will be more well and widely received if you lead by your deeds, rather than empty words.
Speaking once again to Christian missionaries, the following parable comes to mind:
Stop judging the rest of the world. As you are allowed freedom of religion, so are the people you encounter on the internet. Attempting to convert the internets, one post at a time, is idiocy. You will meet people who are more eloquent, and more educated about various matters than you. Some may even know your religion better than you know it yourself. Your circular logic angers both ceiling and basement cat, and all the bible verses in the world will not convince an atheist who views the Bible as a work of fiction at best in the existence of a God.
A post is a post of course, unless of course, that post is filled with hardheadedness, circular logic, and the inability to recognize that people have a right to choose what they believe, or don't believe in. You're doing your God or gods no favours by forcing your religion on people who aren't so readily inclined to believe.
No. Instead it's a laugh and a, "Hey, lookit this bloke, 's not got anything on!" Which turns into, "What's this? Pagan worship? HEATHENS! SAVAGES!" And the missionarying is on.
What is with humans and their fascination with trying to get everyone to believe in the same thing? Missionary work is a practice that extends as far back in history as ... really really old stuff. The point is, people --regardless of religious or political belief-- love nothing more than to share their views with the WORLD[!] regardless of whether or not the people they're preaching to are being open and receptive to the message they seek to spread.
"You there! Are you aware that Jesus loves you?"
"That's nice, thank you. Krishna loves you!"
"Who the hell is Krishna? HEATHENS! LOVE GOD OR ELSE!"
Not to pick on Christianity, but they have been, historically, the most vocal about spreading their message. Not only do they attempt to spread their faith to those of opposing ones, they attempt to spread their faith to each other!
"Hello there. Are you a part of X brand Christianity?"
"Why, no, I happen to be a part of Y brand Christianity."
"WHAT? HEATHENS! LOVE MY VERSION OF GOD OR ELSE!"
Christians -as well as those of other faiths... but mainly Christians- have traversed the world in order to spread the teachings of Christ to those who do not believe, and/or are unaware. Even now, members of certain communities [such as Jehovah's Witnesses, LDS members, etc], travel door to door, on foot, to spread the word of God as they have been taught.
Which brings us to technology. With TV, we had televangelists like Billy Graham, pah-reechin the WordofGod-ah, praise Jesus, hallelujah, amen. Then, Christian services became televised, Christian-based shows, such as the 700 Club, came about. Then whole stations, such as EWTN [a Roman Catholic station] started cropping up. And then came the internet; a series of tubes, connecting the world together. It seems that missionaries have seized this opportunity to complete their goals of missionary work without leaving the comfort of their homes. The internet is a land of heathens, pagans, and blasphemers, so it would seem. Ripe for the missionaries' picking.
ProTip: Missionary work via internet = recipe for failure.
Why? Because they're just words on a screen. You can preach to the high heavens -pardon the pun- about the love of this deity, the promises of that deity, and the joys of a life spent in devotion to them. But without your voice - those words are hollow, empty. Not to mention that unless you start preaching to the choir, your words will be met with doubt. Irritation. Sarcasm, even.
Case in point: there have been, recently, a few missionaries on a popular message board system's home forum. Members of this forum are, overall, pleasant people, open to discussions of all sorts, even if they don't all see eye to eye. There are people of varying Christian belief, different faiths in general, or lack of faith at all. As a general rule, controversial threads are handled with maturity, members with different points of view offering well thought out opinions on the subject matter. Recently, a few members have taken it upon themselves to spread the word of God to this forum. The first thread or two was met with pleasantries, and offerings of alternate points of view. Granted, there was a joker or two making light of the situation, but for the most part the members behaved, offering their reasons for supporting Christianity, faith, or not believing at all.
Then came more threads; threads that offered little discussion and was merely a front for a person --or perhaps multiple people-- to stand on a soap box and say they'd pray for them, for their souls were damned and needed saving.
And then the internetz laughed.
To all the gung-ho missionaries out there, regardless of religion: the internet is not your personal "pick your own heathen" field. They may be faceless anonymous, but they have opinions, and the right to express those opinions as well. Telling them you'll pray for their souls - one, is annoying. Two, is assuming that they actually give a damn.
St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." Regardless of your faith, or lack of, these are words to be heeded. Whether you preach the word of God, a different god, multiple gods, or even the lack of god all together: your point will be more well and widely received if you lead by your deeds, rather than empty words.
Speaking once again to Christian missionaries, the following parable comes to mind:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."You preach and preach to people, calling forth the love of God, setting yourselves up as better than the rest of the populace because of your devotion to him. But are you not like the Pharisee, who boasts about how good, and kind, and faithful he is?Luke 18:9-14
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
A post is a post of course, unless of course, that post is filled with hardheadedness, circular logic, and the inability to recognize that people have a right to choose what they believe, or don't believe in. You're doing your God or gods no favours by forcing your religion on people who aren't so readily inclined to believe.
