irateplatypus

having been raised in the church, i'm often baffled by the difference of perception of those who grew up in different circumstances.

I can tell you I've never met anyone in the church who, while spreading the gospel, carried the sort of malice some assign to them.

sure, go ahead and be frustrated by the inconvenience and embarrassment the proselytizers bring. i'd probably feel the same. still, give them courtesy and the benefit of assumed good intention.

personally, i am unsure of the merits of "thumping". Like many on this board, i know that the chances of me changing my theology (or the creation of one) as a result of an encounter with a somewhat pushy stranger are slim. it appears to me that the method of communication involved is always outclassed by the message itself.

Edit: sorry about the confusion, a portion of the last paragraph was unintentionally left in the first (I move stuff around a lot when I post). i can see where the reader would have been mixed up.

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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

~ Winston Churchill