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Have you been Born Again?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SlitheryDee
  • Start date Start date
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SlitheryDee

I'm a pretty strictly non-religious person, but I hide the fact due to this being a very religious area with lots of wagging tongues. The stigma associated with someone holding the beliefs that I do is very real and I like most of the people around here, so being an outsider isn't something I want to experience anytime soon. The problem arises when someone asks me a direct question about it.

So this guy comes to where I work today and is looking around with his wife. I work at a retail clothing/footwear store and I make it a point to be pleasant and conversational with my customers whenever possible. So I strike up a conversation with the guy and it eventually rolls around to the fact that he's a missionary for a local church. A bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm not really worried until he starts questioning me. "Where do you go to church"? I name a couple of churches in the area whose services I have attended a couple of times over the years. I KNOW I'm going to be put on the spot in a few seconds. You get the feel of it after you talk to enough of these types, and he doesn't let me down.

"Are you born again"? It's this one direct, deeply personal question that always leaves my mind frozen like a deer caught in headlights. The problem is that in the end I can't really tell a lie of this magnitude, but I can't go throwing around my radical (relatively speaking) views in a place like this. What fucking business is it of his whether I'm born again or not? Why can't these people leave well enough alone? I was left sputtering something along the lines of "Well, I don't know about that...uh..." Thankfully he cut me off by saying "If you don't know then you're not". Truer words were never spoken, I suppose.

I guess the moral of the story is if you EVER get the urge to start evangelizing to strangers, just don't. They might not want to hear it. They might be nodding politely and counting the fucking seconds until you run out of breath. It wouldn't piss me off so much, but I hear this ALL THE TIME. Tend to your own soul if you believe in such things.

 
ugh. i live in eastern nc and i know the attitude. i was at lunch with my dad and one of his friends, and the guy told me i should pray.

have confidence if asked or confronted though. "im not religious" or "i dont believe in god" or "is your wife on birth control?" should get them to shuffle away most of the time.
 

Enough times and I'd just fuck with them ( make sure they've paid first ). Try interrupting them with a 'exorcist' voice. Tell'em you're catholic. Ask them if they want to take a personality test to see if their thetans need purging.

 
Originally posted by: rudeguy
The question is:

Would you rather that happen or someone pitch you Amway?
Click to expand...

I get that kinda stuff all the time. Being rude to salesmen is a secret pleasure of mine. It's being rude to well meaning religious folk that's a no-no.
 
Had some lady ask say that crap me to me not long ago in the mall parking lot. I said, "You're cute, wanna go commit a sin? I promise it will be fun and winked at her"

She called me a pervert and my soul was going to be damned and I stopped paying attention cause I was making it obvious to just stare at her tits. Never saw her again 🙁
 
Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Enough times and I'd just fuck with them ( make sure they've paid first ). Try interrupting them with a 'exorcist' voice. Tell'em you're catholic. Ask them if they want to take a personality test to see if their thetans need purging.
Click to expand...

i stopped going to a church i had attended for years with my family. this old lady kept coming by where i worked (my dads place) to hassle me.

i kept telling her i wasnt interested in going, trying to be polite so i could get back to work. one day she said "well the bible says--" i stopped her

"if i cared what the bible said id be there"

she stopped coming by. if you stay soft about it some people just wont ever give up.
 
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I'm a pretty strictly non-religious person, but I hide the fact due to this being a very religious area with lots of wagging tongues. The stigma associated with someone holding the beliefs that I do is very real and I like most of the people around here, so being an outsider isn't something I want to experience anytime soon. The problem arises when someone asks me a direct question about it.

So this guy comes to where I work today and is looking around with his wife. I work at a retail clothing/footwear store and I make it a point to be pleasant and conversational with my customers whenever possible. So I strike up a conversation with the guy and it eventually rolls around to the fact that he's a missionary for a local church. A bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm not really worried until he starts questioning me. "Where do you go to church"? I name a couple of churches in the area that I have attended the services of a couple of times over the years. I KNOW I'm going to be put on the spot in a few seconds. You get the feel of it after you talk to enough of these types, and he doesn't let me down.

"Are you born again"? It's this one direct, deeply personal question that always leaves my mind frozen like a deer caught in headlights. The problem is that in the end I can't really tell a lie of this magnitude, but I can't go throwing around my radical (relatively speaking) views in a place like this. What fucking business is it of his whether I'm born again or not? Why can't these people leave well enough alone? I was left sputtering something along the lines of "Well, I don't know about that...uh..." Thankfully he cut me off by saying "If you don't know then you're not". Truer words were never spoken, I suppose.

I guess the moral of the story is if you EVER get the urge to start evangelizing to strangers, just don't. They might not want to hear it. They might be nodding politely and counting the fucking seconds until you run out of breath. It wouldn't piss me off so much, but I hear this ALL THE TIME. Tend to your own soul if you believe in such things.
Click to expand...

There will always be someone trying to preach to you. It is our greatest priority, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Just grow some balls and politely say no, not interested. No reason to studder and beat around the bush. Some people are just too sensitive.

 
Religion and being born again are two completely different things. Just because he is saved, is a missionary, or a pastor does not make him a religious whack job. Think of it this way, it is something we Christians believe and he cares about people and wants you to be saved... or born again.
 
Lol. Once I was having lunch in the University student center, and these 2 guys from the Orthodox Christian Fellowship noticed me and asked "hey, do you mind if we talk to you about religion?". I had time to kill, ended up in a 1.5 hour religious debate of hilarious proportions. One of the guys turned out to be the son of the Dean of Engineering, but he seemed fairly accepting of my views (I'm Deist). The other guy, however, made this poorly concealed frown every time I said something anti-religious. It was priceless. I ended up dropping a few lines just to get that look and had to squelch the crap out of my laugh reflex. 😀

Eventually they finally got that they were wasting their time and left. The guy who made the frown gave me his email and said he'd keep that email forever just in case I wanted to contact him about "bringing myself to Christ". I still have it, and I'm half tempted to wait 5 years and send him an email. If he responds, send back a "No, just checking." :laugh: :evil:
 
Originally posted by: sao123
There will always be someone trying to preach to you. It is our greatest priority, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Just grow some balls and politely say no, not interested. No reason to studder and beat around the bush. Some people are just too sensitive.
Click to expand...

And some people are just plain rude.
 
Originally posted by: irishScott
Lol. Once I was having lunch in the University student center, and these 2 guys from the Orthodox Christian Fellowship noticed me and asked "hey, do you mind if we talk to you about religion?". I had time to kill, ended up in a 1.5 hour religious debate of hilarious proportions. One of the guys turned out to be the son of the Dean of Engineering, but he seemed fairly accepting of my views (I'm Deist). The other guy, however, made this poorly concealed frown every time I said something anti-religious. It was priceless. I ended up dropping a few lines just to get that look and had to squelch the crap out of my laugh reflex. 😀

Eventually they finally got that they were wasting their time and left. The guy who made the frown gave me his email and said he'd keep that email forever just in case I wanted to contact him about "bringing myself to Christ". I still have it, and I'm half tempted to wait 5 years and send him an email. If he responds, send back a "No, just checking." :laugh: :evil:
Click to expand...
Hahah..

That'd be priceless.

 
Originally posted by: sao123
There will always be someone trying to preach to you. It is our greatest priority, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Just grow some balls and politely say no, not interested. No reason to studder and beat around the bush. Some people are just too sensitive.
Click to expand...

Oh I realize that. Doesn't stop me from thinking they shouldn't. He shouldn't have tried that in my place of business. That really puts me between a rock and a hard place. The state of my soul is far too personal for a stranger to inquire about. My unwillingness to offend potential customers seems to be an open invitation for evangelizing once they get rolling though.

I wonder what he would have said if I told him that the few times I had attended a church in the area had been horrific experiences to me? Seeing people I know and respect go absolutely batshit crazy for a couple hours is not something I want to repeat often.
 
I've always wanted to make a smartass response to that question. Something along the lines of, " My mother needed surgery, so they took me out for a bit and put me back in. I was born twice."
 
Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Religion and being born again are two completely different things. Just because he is saved, is a missionary, or a pastor does not make him a religious whack job. Think of it this way, it is something we Christians believe and he cares about people and wants you to be saved... or born again.
Click to expand...

This guy was no kind of whack job at all. Just your standard, run-of-the-mill religious person. I was rather enjoying his company before he brought up the religious crap. Really the center of the conflict is me. This guy, and practically every other person like him around here, expects to be agreed with when he starts up something like this. He really doesn't know how far away from his philosophy I stand. You can infer this from the fact that his first question was not "Do you go to church"? but "Where do you go to church"? If he'd already pegged me as a christian, then what was the point of bringing it up? If I'd been brutally honest then he would have put himself into a very unpleasant situation, which was certainly not his intention.
 
Originally posted by: irishScott
Lol. Once I was having lunch in the University student center, and these 2 guys from the Orthodox Christian Fellowship noticed me and asked "hey, do you mind if we talk to you about religion?". I had time to kill, ended up in a 1.5 hour religious debate of hilarious proportions. One of the guys turned out to be the son of the Dean of Engineering, but he seemed fairly accepting of my views (I'm Deist). The other guy, however, made this poorly concealed frown every time I said something anti-religious. It was priceless. I ended up dropping a few lines just to get that look and had to squelch the crap out of my laugh reflex. 😀

Eventually they finally got that they were wasting their time and left. The guy who made the frown gave me his email and said he'd keep that email forever just in case I wanted to contact him about "bringing myself to Christ". I still have it, and I'm half tempted to wait 5 years and send him an email. If he responds, send back a "No, just checking." :laugh: :evil:
Click to expand...

Ugh. They probably recently converted from a Protestant church. It's hard to get the Protestant out of us.

I really hated going to church, and someone asking me, "how is my walk?"
What kind of language is that? I wasn't offended. Most were well meaning, kind people. Just annoyed on why people have to have their own lingo.
 
You work at a retail store, it's not as though you'd be giving up anything stellar if you moved to a civilized part of the nation.
 
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