Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Sorry, Can't Resist
This went over well in Yahoo Chat tonight:
The Christian at the Party
... a short, one-act play ...
Scene Opens: A group of bright, funny people is having a pleasant evening together, talking and laughing on a redwood deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean, while gentle music plays in the background and dolphins frolic in the surf.
A Christian enters and says in a loud voice “Have you all heard the Good News of Jesus Christ?”
There is an embarrased silence. Suddenly everyone is looking at their watches and saying “Oh, would you look at the time! I have to get up in the morning.” Soon, all is quiet and still.
A dolphin rises in the ocean, and surveys the empty deck. Curtain.
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The Great Commission: Then
The 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."
There are interpretation disputes but by-and-large denominations agree that it's a command to go out and proselytize. Methods of that do vary, for instance my mother a hard core southern baptist and hard core Dem, tries to live her faith and if some asks her why she stays calm or doesn't get tied up in knots or some such she will tell them about her reliance on God and the peace she's found and let the other person take it from there.
the motive for Chrstian "witnessing"
vjack said, "I have to admit that I don't understand what motivates Christians to do this sort of thing."
I used to be a Christian and here's what I remember. Bible-believing Christians are convinced that nonbelievers will burn in hell, in physical and mental and spiritual torture, for all eternity. They are trying to be nice and save you from that horrible fate.
The analogy they use is, "if you knew the bridge was out and it was dark out and people couldn't see the missing bridge as they were driving down the street, wouldn't you stop them and tell them about the problem to stop them from driving to their death -- even if they found your warning annoying? Wouldn't you try to save their lives, at the risk of them getting mad at you?"
i saw an aunt, who i had
i saw an aunt, who i had kinda liked before and hadn't seen in a long time, at a funeral and caught up with her as she was leaving---the first thing she said, after "hello," was "have you accepted jesus christ as your personal savior"? i quickly decided against slapping her and suggested we not talk about that now, but she persisted even as i walked away----she's southern baptist and just remarried, to a church of god preacher, so i guess she felt like she had to ask, if for no other reason than to impress her new preacher-man husband, who she never even bothered to introduce---
"jesus is a trick played on poor people"----flannery o'connor
that about sums it up
I have to admit that I don't understand what motivates Christians to do this sort of thing. This is why I just did a blog post asking them. It will be interesting to see if I get any informative responses.
http://atheistrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/04/calling-currnet-and-former-evangelical.html