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Originally Posted by Drolefille
So you've moved from confidence to doubt?
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Nope, confident they didn't- doubt they did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
My point is, that based on the entire tone of the article - one of evangelizing to fraternities and sororities which is, AFAICT the entire purpose of IV and Greek IV - that statement is not out of left field. It fits in pretty well with the sentiment of being a missionary among one's GLO, confronting other Christians who aren't living up to one's own standard and so on. You said you saw NO pressure in this article, and put all the responsibility on the people who felt pressured. Funny thing is, if you're the one evangelizing - and I'm going to assume you've been a member of this group and thus have participated - your opinion about whether you're pressuring someone else or not doesn't actually matter. If they tell you you're pressuring them, you are. I can state for me that whether when I was Christian or now, such things would have been annoying, and if persistent, most certainly pressuring. People have tried to 'save' me before, and that was while I was Christian. It's pressuring, particularly when those people are not people you can just ignore because you live with them, or they're the financial chair, or whatever. It's not just about 'declining' something you're not interested in.
That's not even getting into the idea of evangelizing to/around gay brothers and sisters and the intolerance that can entail even in a college environment. I don't know what IV's attitude towards homosexuality is, but I can guess.
Maybe on your campus, maybe in your experience things weren't that bad, but these things do exist and the statements made in this article are reflective of THAT attitude. "Rubbing shoulders with sinners" is merely an extension of that attitude, and whether the words themselves are literal, or were said in a joke, or reflected the overall feeling of the conference, they're not some sort of ridiculous extreme past what was already represented in the article.
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To address what you said about me, the form of evangelism that I participated in didn't involve anything other than holding events and inviting people to them. My campus was hostile to religion, yet I never heard a complaint about pressure. Evangelism with tact and respect and without unwanted discussions is very possible.
My point is, regardless of what some Christians do, all these students are talking about doing is starting conversations and having bible studies. I don't see how this causes more pressure than starting conversations or holding events supporting any kind of cause. We disagree on what makes pressure- I think of pressuring someone as compelling them in a way that purposefully causes discomfort if they don't go along.