Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Herbs...
Yesterday my grandfather gave me a little book on herbs he picked up on sale. I was just flipping through it and landed on a page which had a flower on it that I've had no success identifying for, what, two years now? Looking more closely, there seem to be three or four more that I might also have seen growing around. This should certainly be helpful this summer.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Conversion Tactics
So I've just had to delete a spam comment from a Christian blogger, which was the general "here's how to pray to Jesus and become a Christian" sort of copy paste I'm sure most non-Christians have seen many times over. There was no conversation, no personal element to it, simply the spam and a blog link (which I did not follow, and of course have no interest in promoting here).
I've always considered this a very strange tactic, and often wonder if the people who use it even stop to consider what it would be like from the other side. If I were to go to this person's blog, leave a comment on an unrelated post of theirs, no introduction, no indication that I actually understand that there is an individual behind the screen, just a spammy attempt to convert them... would they jump up and convert? It's very unlikely - and yet, that's all they seem to think other people need. As if we're not actual people with our own beliefs, experiences, and so on.
Beyond that, each Christan that I've seen use this particular tactic doesn't seem to understand one little thing... we've seen it before. There are very few non-Christians in my country who do not have a basic understanding of Christianity. Many of us come from Christian backgrounds, have Christan family members, have studied Christianity, and so on. It is very hard to miss Christianity in our particular society. Heck, there have been times where I've known more about Christianity than the Christian attempting to convert me! They are sometimes shocked to discover that, yes, I have in fact even read the Bible. I have taken the time to learn about their religion, but they have no interest in learning a single thing about mine, or how I have come to be where I am spiritually. Often I am made to feel like they don't even view me as a person - yet, even so, they think their spam will have some sort of success?
Look. I accept that most Christians feel they belong to the only true religion, and that sometimes they attempt to convert people because they believe they're saving them from something horrible. I understand that, I really do... but if you're going to try to convert people? Take the time to actually get to know someone, take the time to actually have a conversation with them - talk with them, not at them. Don't spam. No one likes spam.
I've always considered this a very strange tactic, and often wonder if the people who use it even stop to consider what it would be like from the other side. If I were to go to this person's blog, leave a comment on an unrelated post of theirs, no introduction, no indication that I actually understand that there is an individual behind the screen, just a spammy attempt to convert them... would they jump up and convert? It's very unlikely - and yet, that's all they seem to think other people need. As if we're not actual people with our own beliefs, experiences, and so on.
Beyond that, each Christan that I've seen use this particular tactic doesn't seem to understand one little thing... we've seen it before. There are very few non-Christians in my country who do not have a basic understanding of Christianity. Many of us come from Christian backgrounds, have Christan family members, have studied Christianity, and so on. It is very hard to miss Christianity in our particular society. Heck, there have been times where I've known more about Christianity than the Christian attempting to convert me! They are sometimes shocked to discover that, yes, I have in fact even read the Bible. I have taken the time to learn about their religion, but they have no interest in learning a single thing about mine, or how I have come to be where I am spiritually. Often I am made to feel like they don't even view me as a person - yet, even so, they think their spam will have some sort of success?
Look. I accept that most Christians feel they belong to the only true religion, and that sometimes they attempt to convert people because they believe they're saving them from something horrible. I understand that, I really do... but if you're going to try to convert people? Take the time to actually get to know someone, take the time to actually have a conversation with them - talk with them, not at them. Don't spam. No one likes spam.
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