Friday, May 20, 2005
The Door to Door Brigades of Proselytizers
Out to save souls but oblivious of people with empty bellies
What is noteworthy is that no one from the church ever speaks to them about Jesus Christ and religion.
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"In our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds-that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous."
---Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court, 1941-1954You have seen them. The well-dressed, well-fed men and women (sometimes accompanied by children) carrying pamphlets and cards who appear on neighborhood streets on weekends and knock on doors. They alight from a van and spread out. Very methodical. Perhaps you have been approached by them and you have talked to them.
They are on a mission--to save the souls of all who do not belong to the particular Christian sects which they represent. They have been taught that the rest of us are doomed and they hit the streets, charged up with zeal to convert us. Like car sales people promoting their brand, these soldiers of god say that theirs is the true way, they have the key. They are dedicated; their arrogance is colossal.
Do they go to the inner cities? Anyone seen them in the Tenderloin, or Hunters Point (San Francisco)?
I politely tell them that "I'm not interested". Once someone tried to begin an argument and said "You don't believe in Jesus?". I told her that what I believed in was my personal affair.
There are exceptions. Not all Christian organizations happen to follow that line. In every city across America there are people who are homeless; who are hungry and sick. Once a week I serve as a volunteer at a food kitchen run by a local church (I am not a member). Every week, Monday through Saturday, it serves freshly prepared lunch to all who come through the door. The number of meals served each day ranges between 400 to 600. In addition, donated food items (vegetables, bread, canned goods) are placed on counters for those who need them. The church also operates a center which distributes clothes once a week.
What is noteworthy is that no one from the church ever speaks to them about Jesus Christ and religion.
