Can we appreciate how incredibility messed up it is to have Christians trying to tell other religions are not valid? It is terribly messed up to try to convert Muslims to Christianity.
With that being said it is important to note that this is a small group of people in Christianity. They are ruining the reputation for all denominations and creating Christian hate which will hurt Christians everywhere in the long run. I wonder how they would react if there was Jewish protest in front of there Church
I think the “try to convert” part makes no sense. Conversion is a very personal thing, and you can’t force someone to do it. You can invite, but that’s about it.
Someone on lemmy commented that the purpose of those conversion drives is not to garner new members (though it’s a nice benefit if it works), but to help reinforce the “us” versus “them” division in the people out knocking on doors. It really makes a lot of sense to me.
I agree with that. I think the point of Mormons being forced to go door-to-door and engage with the outside world in a way that is guaranteed to create discomfort and hostility… is that they’ll learn the the outside world equals discomfort and hostility. I can’t imagine that it has any nonzero effect in terms of converting people to Mormonism at all.
I think how it works for Christians probably depends on the nonuniform details of how exactly they do the proselytizing, but I’m imagine it works mostly the same in most cases.
Mormons aren’t forced to go door-to-door, it’s absolutely a choice. In fact, Mormon missionaries pay their own way (less so in poorer countries, but still).
Perhaps you’re thinking of Jehova’s Witnesses? I don’t know much about their proselytizing, but I have invited them in before and they don’t seem particularly interested in following up, especially if you don’t buy their stuff.
Can we appreciate how incredibility messed up it is to have Christians trying to tell other religions are not valid? It is terribly messed up to try to convert Muslims to Christianity.
With that being said it is important to note that this is a small group of people in Christianity. They are ruining the reputation for all denominations and creating Christian hate which will hurt Christians everywhere in the long run. I wonder how they would react if there was Jewish protest in front of there Church
I think the “try to convert” part makes no sense. Conversion is a very personal thing, and you can’t force someone to do it. You can invite, but that’s about it.
Anything more violates common decency.
Someone on lemmy commented that the purpose of those conversion drives is not to garner new members (though it’s a nice benefit if it works), but to help reinforce the “us” versus “them” division in the people out knocking on doors. It really makes a lot of sense to me.
I agree with that. I think the point of Mormons being forced to go door-to-door and engage with the outside world in a way that is guaranteed to create discomfort and hostility… is that they’ll learn the the outside world equals discomfort and hostility. I can’t imagine that it has any nonzero effect in terms of converting people to Mormonism at all.
I think how it works for Christians probably depends on the nonuniform details of how exactly they do the proselytizing, but I’m imagine it works mostly the same in most cases.
Mormons aren’t forced to go door-to-door, it’s absolutely a choice. In fact, Mormon missionaries pay their own way (less so in poorer countries, but still).
Perhaps you’re thinking of Jehova’s Witnesses? I don’t know much about their proselytizing, but I have invited them in before and they don’t seem particularly interested in following up, especially if you don’t buy their stuff.
Oh crap – you’re right, yes. I thought it was a requirement for Mormons but it’s not.