Rules for Conversion
By habibti320
@habibti320 (925)
United States
November 18, 2012 11:56am CST
I'd like to see a set of university standards for religious conversion.
I work with vulnerable, poor people every day and I simply see too much abuse of them.
A Christian lady comes into my class of Muslim, Hindu, and Bahai refugees and tells them they need to accept Jesus. She refuses to talk to them about anything other than joining her Bible Study.
LDS goes through the neighborhood of Hindu refugees and tells them that they will give them a free gift if they attend a church service.
A different lady tells me that she wants to help deaf refugees learn American Sign Language. I think it's great...I know a few in the community who would benefit from this.
I ask about her credentials and program, she tells me that she doesn't know much ASL, but they really just want to teach them about Jesus and have them become Christians.
Does anyone else find this kind of behavior unacceptable? If you want someone to join your religion, it should be as an equal! Don't hold material possessions and opportunities over their head to be contingent upon joining your religion.
2 people like this
6 responses
@urbandekay (18278)
•
18 Nov 12
This is surely bad but it seems you are suggesting that LDS are a Christian denomination, which they are not.
I am such reputable organisations like BMS shun such practices
all the best, urban
@Chiang_Mai_boy (3882)
• Thailand
19 Nov 12
urban who determines who is a Christian and who is not? Is there some standard you have to adhere to if you want to call yourself a Christian.
de omnibus dubitandum
@urbandekay (18278)
•
19 Nov 12
Habibti... sorry, I misinterpreted what you said, I thought the Christians you mentioned where LDS. BMS is Baptist Missionary Society.
Chiang... who determines who is a Buddhist and who is not. Or for that matter, who is an apiarists, a communist, a dipsomaniac, a educator, a farmer, etc.
Who determines? We, the community of language users and we do it using criteria, in this case a Christian is one that accepts the divinity of Christ
all the best, urban
@habibti320 (925)
• United States
18 Nov 12
I don't feel comfortable stating whether or not LDS are Christians or not. While I was raised to consider them non-Christian, they consider themselves to be Christian.
What's BMS?
@Christoph56 (1504)
• Canada
18 Nov 12
The bad part is, you really can't have any kind of legal standard for religious conversion, that holds people back from following their religion...
And out of all of them, the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormons, are one of the worst with this. I personally think that the Mormons should be stated as a business rather then a religion, since they have such a huge level of fees that the people are required to pay... like, any member of the LDS has to give 10-15% of their income directly to the church, which is set like a franchise. So, if you have a church in Africa, where they people make hardly anything, they have to give a portion of what they do make, to the church, then the church can only take so much, before they send it to the franchise owners in the US... and therefore, the more people they get, no matter where it is, the more money they make.
It's a pretty horrible system, and I think it should be taken off the tax-free, freedom of anything act that religions generally get... but in the end, all they have to do is say that they're following God, and they have freedom from everything.
@habibti320 (925)
• United States
18 Nov 12
Ah, and please forgive my typo: I meant "universal", not "university"!
I am not thinking of a legal standard, but maybe more public outcry about proselytism and a social standard. The thing is, when I complain about these types of things, not many people seem to have an issue with it. They are willing to accept the price for the services offered, even though they agree that we could do a better job with providing some of these services if we had the resources to do so.
I agree with you about taxes...have you checked out whitehouse.gov? There are some petitions there to get rid of the tax exemption status for religious institutions.
Thanks for the info on LDS. I will look into it. I wasn't aware that the 10-15% was a requirement. In more mainstream Christianity, I always knew of the 10% tithe, but in reality, the average churchgoer gives 2.5%.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
26 Nov 12
I have done missionary work for several years and I try to convert people through my actions and deeds rather than material things. I think this is the way to show people what my faith is really all about and let them start the conservation. There is a saying that actions speak louder than words.
@bird123 (10643)
• United States
20 Nov 12
I agree with you. That is petty. Sad to say it shows what those religious people really care about. Little do they realize they would get more followers if their actions were unconditional. Maybe one day they will see that which stares them in the face. Their teachers will be those wonderful souls those religious people are trying to save in the first place. God is very smart and working on multiple levels.
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
18 Nov 12
Problem with that.. is everyones religion is diff. even from country to country.
