Ways NOT to evangelize!

[kddani]

I wanted to be respectful of the other thread about evangelism, so I thought i'd start a different one.

I personally don't believe in evangelizing, I don't believe in forcing your religion upon someone else, I don't believe that anyone has a right to tell me that i'm going to hell because I don't believe exactly what they do, or that being Catholic is evil (this came from a Christian- okay, the religions are close enough, you're lucky that I at least believe in the same basic stuff as you do). I've seen some youth groups that are like a cult, and they're constantly recruiting like a cult mentality.

But on the other hand, I believe in the freedom of speech that allows them to do so.

But I'm sure a lot of college students have had funny experiences with so-called evangelists. The crazy man who stands on the corner with some big signs, tells us we're all going to hell, and draws a crowd that is entirely there to mock him.

My own favorite memory is from my freshman year. I'm walking past the student union, some girl comes up to me (never seen her before in my life) and compliments me on my sandals. Okay, that's nice. She keeps talking to me about random stuff. I seriously start wondering if she's hitting on me and begin to find it funny, 'cause hey, it'll make a great story to tell, my first time getting hit on by a woman! After a few minutes (I couldn't figure out how to get away politely!), she asks me to a bible study. This is out of the blue. I say no, I don't have time, she's like, "don't you don't have time to study God?" See, i think that's just rude and wrong. It's none of your damn business.

The other funny experience is when I was with a friend, and these 2 guys were out evangelizing. It was pretty late at night, we were going to 7-11 along Forbes Avenue (one of the busy roads around campus). It's late, it's dark, sometimes there are some unsavory characters around. These 2 guys stop us to ask us something like what time it was, then basically corner us and lecture to us about God, etc. etc. That was just plain scary.

That's kind of my rant on evangelizing. I don't know, you have a right to do it, but I really don't appreciate it, and it makes a bad impression on me of whatever particular group that person belongs to.