Proselytization

First of all, most of ya'll are probably thinking 'what the heck does that mean?', because we sure did. (Not comparing your intelligence to ours, but we are pretty smart, Wofford education and all, but we knew where to look to find the answer to our wonderings). Straight from dictionary.com, proselytization means:

to convert or attempt to convert as a proselyte (Don't you just LOVE when dictionaries use the word IN the definition); recruit.
v. intr.
To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith.
v. tr.
To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.

(In other words, EVANGELISM!!) But we didn't want to use that terminology because it does have a Christian connotation, and we are not just talking about Christians. We are talking about faith and religion in general and of all types and beliefs.

In totality (thus far, granted it has not been very long since we started this project), we have interview seven people of all different religious backgrounds and beliefs consisting of three Christians, two Jewish students, one Hindu student, and one Muslim student. In looking back on these interviews, we began to see some common threads (among many differences) between what everyone said regarding this idea of proselytization. Here are the responses for you to check out before we get into more detail:

Rachel, Christian
I think you should demonstrate your beliefs through your actions because in some cases, yes, if they have never heard of Jesus then it is okay to explain it to them, but in other cases people have been exposed to it all their life so they are hardened against it. So a better approach to those people is to give them an example from your own life. I don’t believe in running up to someone and saying “you’re going to hell, believe what I believe now.” (If someone did that to me) I would feel bad for them because I would feel they were missing the whole idea of Christianity. They are going to someone and telling them what they should and shouldn't do instead of showing love and caring for them and actually wanting the best for them. Because the whole idea of Christianity is love. I have a problem with judgmental Christians because it is opposite of what Jesus taught. (This takes away from Christianity and) It misrepresents Christians. It just ties stereotypes to Christianity, like Baptist hell-raising, if you don’t do this you are going to hell. It is more like a liberal Christian non-denominational view. I don’t believe any people should be excluded. Everyone’s path to Jesus is different. it is not your right to tell them they should or shouldn’t do, you just guide them.

Anjum, Muslim
I think it should be a natural thing, I should not have to go to someone and talk to them about religion, I want them to come to me and ask me questions that they have. Religion is very important in my life and I want to share that with people. I am all for it. The Koran says that (what the prophets say) a person that sits in a room and worships alone all day and night and a person who goes out and shares their knowledge will be judged differently on the day of judgement because you are supposed to spread your knowledge. Spreading religion is something that I want to do... Religion is a beautiful feeling and you should be able to feel that on your own and realize that on your own and if you are not ready or don't believe in it than that is your own thing. I respect everyone's religion and I expect them to respect mine. I try to impact as many people as I can through my religion, it is not hounding them with the Koran or preaching them but it is through my actions that I am doing this. My best friend knows that I am not going to sit around and tell people that I am Muslim, you figure that out after you get to know me because of the way I act.

Dwayne, Christian
All Christians are suppose to be evangelists but some are better at it than others. Everyone is (an evangelist) in their own way, through songs, preaching on the corner, but the point is that people have to see Jesus in me because you might be the only Bible they ever see. You should be able to see a Christian and know they are one without even talking to them. A kind word or a kind gesture. Would you rather live your life believing there was a God and find out there wasn’t one, or live your life believing there was no God and find out there was?

Kelsey, Jew
A long time ago our Christian neighbor said that she knew we were going to Hell in her heart because we didn't believe in Jesus, but that she still wanted to be our friend. I get aggravated a lot of times by Christians, especially back in Myrtle Beach, because most of the Christians I saw were the stereotypical southern Baptist, fire and brimstone and all of that. Since I have come to Wofford, I have found out that not all Christians are bad. Some are hypocritical, like they are so religious and then go out and get trashed at a party. But I know a group of Christians here that don’t do bad things and they are just really good Christians, and they don’t damn me to Hell and they don’t really try to convert me. They have tried to get me to go to FCA and tell me that Jesus wants to talk to me, but I tell them that I don’t want to. It bothers me (when someone tries to change my beliefs), especially when the same person keeps doing it. It is kind of annoying. Christianity is everywhere, like we would have small meals and the prayer would be in Jesus’ name and I would get offended and tell them that I don’t accept that. They can pray silently and do whatever they want, but if you are going to say it out loud, don’t say it is Jesus’ name because I am not comfortable with that. Things are changing here though. Like, last year the honor code signing was right after the morning service so we had to go, and they had a nondenominational Christian service and I felt very uncomfortable, so I talked to Ron Robinson and told them, so this year the signing was later that night and we didn’t have to go to the service. No one should be pressured into anything they don’t feel comfortable doing. I hate to say it, but I think that (Christians) are mostly hypocritical. There is the small minority that are very real and honest with themselves and they that they are a good person that does not do bad things and they care about their religion, but the majority I see say they are Christians and they are good people, but they are not. But if someone was trying to force their beliefs on someone else I am not ok with it. Mission trips are great in that they get people to see the world, but I don’t agree with their purpose. I don’t think it is good to go out and convert people. They will go and bring people food and shelter, but I don’t know about the aspect of “be Christian”. When people are giving you so much, you are going to listen to them even if you do or don’t want to believe it, so I don’t like that idea. We don’t proselytize in the Jewish religion. We accept people if they want to convert, but we don’t go out to do that even though we are a dying religion, like 0.2% of the population of the world, which is kind of depressing that we have been slowly exterminated over our entire history. Pretty much every version of a Jewish holiday is, “they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat”.

Yakov, Jew
No one tries to convert others to Judaism and it is wrong to do so because people should make their own decisions about what they want to do, especially with religion. And it is fine that you think you are saving someone but they obviously don't think that, so you should leave them alone about it.

Emily, Christian
(Evangelism is) Frightening but necessary. Our goal as Christians is to preach the gospel to all the world. To quote St. Francis, "preach the gospel and if necessary use words". It is not affective to walk up to someone and tell them they're going to hell. Most people who're completely against Christianity have that view because of Christians who have done that in the past.

Hilna, Hindu
I think someone should want to know about Hinduism and want to experience it. It should not be forced they should want to. I have had an experience where someone came and gave me a bible, but I didn’t take offense to it, it is someones holy book so I kept it, you should appreciate and learn about every religion but they should not have forced it on anyone. There are people out there that tell you that you are going to go to hell because you don’t believe in Christianity, but what are you going to do?

Each of the Christians interviewed expressed a need for proselytization, but to different degrees. Emily seems to be an advocate for approaching people and showing them God whether through words or actions no matter how scary it is. Dwayne also thought it was necessary to evangelize, but that the method was different for each person. He says that "you should be able to see a Christian and know they are one without even talking to them". (I have a feeling this may be a common view among Christians.) This does not mean that talking is not necessary at some point as he goes on to say that a Christian may be the only Bible or Jesus that other people ever see. Rachel was the most liberal view in saying that if someone approached her, she would talk to them, but that she was not going to go out and evangelize. Everyone agreed that it was not right to force your religious views on another person, ultimately agreeing that it was their choice what religion they believed.

Along those same lines, Emily and Rachel made a point to say that it was wrong to force Christianity, but in contrast, the students of religions other than Christianity felt that Christianity had been forced on them at one point, and they had been told they were "going to Hell". This is an interesting paradox. The Christians we talked to acknowledged that there are Christians who stand on street corners and yell to everyone who passes.

(Actually, even other Christians are not immune to the "you're going to hell" speeches. Just a few days ago I was walking down the street when several people began to follow me, pressing pamphlets into my hands and telling me I needed to know Jesus. Even being a Christian I felt very uncomfortable with this, followed by feeling of guilt about knowing what people of other religions would feel if they had this encounter. Or even what I would feel if someone from another religion tried to convert me to theirs. I would feel offended!! How could they think that their religion was superior to mine? I believe mine for a reason and they are condemning me without knowing what I believe at all. There's a difference between willingly learning other faiths and having it forced upon you. Who in their right mind would ever feel lead to believe a religion where the followers judge you at all and that tell you that you are condemned to an eternity of pain and punishment? And when you get right down to it, many of these Christians (I'm NOT saying all) can be hypocritical and will go out and do the very things they preach against.)

So what is the truth? Do the majority of Christians force their beliefs on others, and we were just lucky to interview a few from the minority? Or is it that the forceful ones are just the louder ones, so they are what everyone thinks of when they hear "Christian"? Personally, we think they are just loud. But what type of image are they creating for the entire religion of Christianity if every other religion only sees that side? We'll have to wait and see what the rest of our interviewees say.

However, the reactions of students differed. One said she was greatly offended by what had happened while the other was not offended and even kept the Bible that was given to her because she could not through away a Holy book, even one of another religion. By comparison, Judaism does not believe in spreading the faith at all, even though numbers are dropping. They are willing to take anyone who wants to convert, but don't go looking for converts.

We are going to wait until we have more views of Islam and Hinduism before we make any -clusive (in- or con-) statements. Stay tuned.