PLEASE STOP TRYING TO WITNESS TO ME.
This isn't directed toward anyone here on the internet so much as an account of something that happens to me often that I need to get off my chest.
People. Need. To STOP. PROSELYTIZING.
To me especially. And they also need to stop pretending they aren't doing it. I come from a Baptist and evangelical background, I was in a youth group and bible study for a LONG time and I KNOW what "witnessing" sounds like and how it operates. And, quite frankly, I can do it it too, and probably better than you. So please, stop.
Let's analyze a bit of conversation:
"Well, I'm nondemonational too." = I'm an Interdenominational Protestant. EVERY time. For the record non-denominational people do not belong to a church because they do not personally believe in organized religion, but rather spirituality. They may gain their spiritual background from a number of sources, but they still do not recognize a specific faith or church, which is why I know someone is an Interdenominational Protestant when I hear:
"I go to a non-denominational Church."
No, you don't. Because nondenominational people don't HAVE one. This is a hook to get you interested in coming to their highly evangelical Southern Protestant church so you can "you know, just try it out and see if you receive a message you know. Like, I take classes I'm not interested in all the time just to learn something new." NO. I've already taken my Basic Distribution Requirement in that department, m'aam, and I'm quite fine with pursuing a separate path. Then she switches over to me for me to explain my beliefs to her, standard witnessing procedure. I tell her I don't believe in a "fine print" Bible and that my own beliefs are rather Christo-Pagan in nature (OH GOD THE "P" WORD!), and that I can't really find myself agreeing with any Church I go to and I tend to practice my faith by myself or with a group of people I've known for a long time (not at a place where people bring someone new in huge numbers every Sunday). So, then she does something very stupid:
"Well, no, I understand, it's important to have something that FITS YOUR LIFESTYLE and everything RIGHT NOW. But, you know, in the FUTURE YOU MAY CHANGE YOUR MIND as you see something doesn't FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE."
...How dare you! Let me analyze this, please:
"I am making the assumption that you choose a faith out of convenience because religion is too much trouble for you to fit into your everyday life. Because of that, you will eventually tire of your current choices and choose the correct path (i.e., what I believe)."
For the record, no one who believes in a higher power can ever be without that higher power in their life. Even if you don't believe, God is still there. You don't "fit" him/her into your life, he/she is there whether you accept it or not. I do not "choose" my faith to "fit into my lifestyle," my lifestyle is profoundly effected by my spirituality. How dare anyone make the assumption that my religious convictions are based on temporary life choices I make for secular reasons. Strike one.
Two, use of words like "right now" and "in the future" imply the temporary, fleeting nature of my beliefs. This person is basically telling me I'm clinging to a fad right now out of ignorance, boredom, or rebellion, or some other completely wrong way to find faith. This is insulting, considering my current beliefs come from having attended practically every Church in existence and from having thoroughly studied religions academically. I know the origins of beliefs, the views of Founders, the flaws in Biblical texts, and I made the choice to not attend an organized church based on my knowledge, not my ignorance. It is a PERMANENT decision I EMOTIONALLY, SPIRITUALLY, and KNOWLEDGEABLY invested in.
Strike three is:
"Oh, I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I just wanted to express my religious beliefs."
Expressing your religious beliefs does not mean "witnessing" to others. In fact, witnessing is supposed to be about following the teachings of Jesus and through your positive, endearing love to others spreading the Gospel---not enforcing your your opinions about the Bible and God on others to try and "save" them. At no point in our discussion did I say anything like, "Well, maybe when you get tired with your community Church, you should take a Sunday out to be in nature a meditate on the deeper meaning of God outside of a building and in the Earth she--uh, he created."
TL;DR: Do not "witness" to me. Jesus is in my life and I don't want to go to your Church, receive your literature or "open my mind" to your narrow-minded definitions of God and faith. I was raised in a Baptist background and I know what it sounds like and how to do it, so don't pretend you aren't doing it to me. You will insult and belittle me and lose your potential "convert" (even though I'm already Christian--just not your denomination). STOP.
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People. Need. To STOP. PROSELYTIZING.
To me especially. And they also need to stop pretending they aren't doing it. I come from a Baptist and evangelical background, I was in a youth group and bible study for a LONG time and I KNOW what "witnessing" sounds like and how it operates. And, quite frankly, I can do it it too, and probably better than you. So please, stop.
Let's analyze a bit of conversation:
"Well, I'm nondemonational too." = I'm an Interdenominational Protestant. EVERY time. For the record non-denominational people do not belong to a church because they do not personally believe in organized religion, but rather spirituality. They may gain their spiritual background from a number of sources, but they still do not recognize a specific faith or church, which is why I know someone is an Interdenominational Protestant when I hear:
"I go to a non-denominational Church."
No, you don't. Because nondenominational people don't HAVE one. This is a hook to get you interested in coming to their highly evangelical Southern Protestant church so you can "you know, just try it out and see if you receive a message you know. Like, I take classes I'm not interested in all the time just to learn something new." NO. I've already taken my Basic Distribution Requirement in that department, m'aam, and I'm quite fine with pursuing a separate path. Then she switches over to me for me to explain my beliefs to her, standard witnessing procedure. I tell her I don't believe in a "fine print" Bible and that my own beliefs are rather Christo-Pagan in nature (OH GOD THE "P" WORD!), and that I can't really find myself agreeing with any Church I go to and I tend to practice my faith by myself or with a group of people I've known for a long time (not at a place where people bring someone new in huge numbers every Sunday). So, then she does something very stupid:
"Well, no, I understand, it's important to have something that FITS YOUR LIFESTYLE and everything RIGHT NOW. But, you know, in the FUTURE YOU MAY CHANGE YOUR MIND as you see something doesn't FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE."
...How dare you! Let me analyze this, please:
"I am making the assumption that you choose a faith out of convenience because religion is too much trouble for you to fit into your everyday life. Because of that, you will eventually tire of your current choices and choose the correct path (i.e., what I believe)."
For the record, no one who believes in a higher power can ever be without that higher power in their life. Even if you don't believe, God is still there. You don't "fit" him/her into your life, he/she is there whether you accept it or not. I do not "choose" my faith to "fit into my lifestyle," my lifestyle is profoundly effected by my spirituality. How dare anyone make the assumption that my religious convictions are based on temporary life choices I make for secular reasons. Strike one.
Two, use of words like "right now" and "in the future" imply the temporary, fleeting nature of my beliefs. This person is basically telling me I'm clinging to a fad right now out of ignorance, boredom, or rebellion, or some other completely wrong way to find faith. This is insulting, considering my current beliefs come from having attended practically every Church in existence and from having thoroughly studied religions academically. I know the origins of beliefs, the views of Founders, the flaws in Biblical texts, and I made the choice to not attend an organized church based on my knowledge, not my ignorance. It is a PERMANENT decision I EMOTIONALLY, SPIRITUALLY, and KNOWLEDGEABLY invested in.
Strike three is:
"Oh, I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I just wanted to express my religious beliefs."
Expressing your religious beliefs does not mean "witnessing" to others. In fact, witnessing is supposed to be about following the teachings of Jesus and through your positive, endearing love to others spreading the Gospel---not enforcing your your opinions about the Bible and God on others to try and "save" them. At no point in our discussion did I say anything like, "Well, maybe when you get tired with your community Church, you should take a Sunday out to be in nature a meditate on the deeper meaning of God outside of a building and in the Earth she--uh, he created."
TL;DR: Do not "witness" to me. Jesus is in my life and I don't want to go to your Church, receive your literature or "open my mind" to your narrow-minded definitions of God and faith. I was raised in a Baptist background and I know what it sounds like and how to do it, so don't pretend you aren't doing it to me. You will insult and belittle me and lose your potential "convert" (even though I'm already Christian--just not your denomination). STOP.
Non-friend comments screened for this entry.