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silveradeptToday was as I promised, some Olympicness, some family time, some video game remix downloading. Tomorrow is work. Thus, less of the watching, perhaps less of the downloading, and no more family time. Oh, well.
This is not to be meant as a blanket statement, the following, but are some Christians taking the injunction "Go and teach all nations" a bit strangely when they continue to try and win converts in a markedly hostile area that has told them to go away many times? I mean, they have expounded upon the wonders of God and have been told, "Sorry, not interested." They've taught, it's just that they're not being believed. So why continue? What sort of drive (or justification) continues to have them come back for more, much to the aggravation of the people telling them to go away? Someone who I keep on my friends list was aggravated by the Church of Latter-Day Saints' apparent attitude of arrogant exclusivism and the attitude, "Either you join us or we make you miserable enough that you'll join us just to make it stop." Myself, while I find the people that hold signs outside our sporting events proclaiming our hell-boundedndess amusing, more because of what I would consider to be the futility of the exercise, I find the concept behind it aggravating.
I also find it irritating that in forums supposedly marked for extended, intelligent discussion that the same sorts of things appear. On a post wondering whether morality and religion are related, there are inevitably posts about how it would be much simpler if you just trusted God for everything. The same for a post about whether to "follow you heart" is sound advice. Another shows up in whether religious types are the cause of an atheistic swing. While some of the discussions that result are interesting, few of them contribute fruitful information to the discussion at hand. That's just not nice, and it makes me a bit annoyed at having to sift through it to find the on-topic material.
So if someone could give me insight into the psyche of such a person, I should be most interested to study it.
So, it's off to bed for me. I expect good responses upon my awakening, doggone it!
This is not to be meant as a blanket statement, the following, but are some Christians taking the injunction "Go and teach all nations" a bit strangely when they continue to try and win converts in a markedly hostile area that has told them to go away many times? I mean, they have expounded upon the wonders of God and have been told, "Sorry, not interested." They've taught, it's just that they're not being believed. So why continue? What sort of drive (or justification) continues to have them come back for more, much to the aggravation of the people telling them to go away? Someone who I keep on my friends list was aggravated by the Church of Latter-Day Saints' apparent attitude of arrogant exclusivism and the attitude, "Either you join us or we make you miserable enough that you'll join us just to make it stop." Myself, while I find the people that hold signs outside our sporting events proclaiming our hell-boundedndess amusing, more because of what I would consider to be the futility of the exercise, I find the concept behind it aggravating.
I also find it irritating that in forums supposedly marked for extended, intelligent discussion that the same sorts of things appear. On a post wondering whether morality and religion are related, there are inevitably posts about how it would be much simpler if you just trusted God for everything. The same for a post about whether to "follow you heart" is sound advice. Another shows up in whether religious types are the cause of an atheistic swing. While some of the discussions that result are interesting, few of them contribute fruitful information to the discussion at hand. That's just not nice, and it makes me a bit annoyed at having to sift through it to find the on-topic material.
So if someone could give me insight into the psyche of such a person, I should be most interested to study it.
So, it's off to bed for me. I expect good responses upon my awakening, doggone it!
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 05:56 am (UTC)-=TK
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 06:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 07:00 am (UTC)Granted, proseletyzation to the point of annoyance is not a very good way to go about it. I tend to prefer St. Francis' idea: "preach the gospel always. If neccessary, use words."
But yes, it is our commandment. Go forth and make disciples of all nations. Not "go forth and gather followers from the people are most likely to be receptive."
Consider also that that command was given to people in a time when they were already being persecuted for their faith. It is unto the very people who were killing them that they were first sent. And it is, in fact, from members of that very crowd that they gained their strongest support.
-=TK
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Date: 2004-08-16 07:54 am (UTC)Mm-hmm.
Date: 2004-08-16 12:54 pm (UTC)I guess I agree with Francis's take on things - that actions should be the strongest advocate of following a belief system. Perhaps I am following a stereotype in believing that the people who speak the loudest about those sorts of things are often the worst candidates for actually living it. But from that, I can generate considerable annoyance at those types of people who continue to say, "Neighbor, you have a speck in your eye", while ignoring the two-by-four prominently displayed in their own.
That may have been the real target of the rant, I guess. But I still get annoyed at people who constantly say to trust in G-d. If I should decide to do so, it will likely be in my own time, on my own terms, from my own experiences.
*Gasp*
Date: 2004-08-16 05:27 pm (UTC)-=TK
Re: *Gasp*
Date: 2004-08-16 07:48 pm (UTC)