All of this got me thinking, however. If these peoples' God saw them doing this, what would he say to himself? Personally, I think that he would wonder if they were really spending their time as wisely as they could. Before we get more into it, however, I am taking some liberties with what I assume that these people believe. To begin with, I am assuming that they are extremist Christians. I do not know their denomination nor do I really care. I am assuming that they take Jesus Christ as their savior, and that they believe that all of those who do not will spend an eternity in hell (thus the comment about the Jews). Finally, I am also assuming that they are literarist readers of the Bible. These are three assumptions that I am making of these street corner religious fanatics.
So, considering that Jesus seems like he was a man who, more or less, was a champion of the poor and ill (and for the most part the oft-forgotten or unfortunate faction of society) I would think that they could better spend their time volunteering somewhere like a homeless shelter or a medical clinic. Instead, they feel that their time is best spent outside of Rupert Murdoch's "media" empire, judging everyone who comes by and declaring that they are destined for eternal damnation.
On top of all of this, if they were such strict followers of Jesus and the word, then they would realize that what they a
Again, this is America and these folks have every right to voice their opinion of the way that they think I live my life. I also, under the same amendment that people like this get to yell at strangers, have the same right to portray how I feel about it. What is even more infuriating than their in your face, pushing pamphlets all up on you style (it's bad enough when it's barber shop ads or local massage parlors), is the fact that logic simply escapes these people. Going back to Jefferson's idea of an "informed electorate;" these people simply do not embody that philosophy. Peace.
Photos - The scene of the crime (on the left under the scaffolding) (amblass' flickr), One man dancing with your run-of-the-mill Jesus freaks (danny.hammontree's flickr)
I know this is an old story but I ran into these very same people today in Morristown, NJ. Based on your description it's definitely them. They were handing out flyers...I politely declined and as I was passing them the guy said, "you're going to hell with the Jews". I was absolutely furious...I can only hope that they say this to the wrong person someday and get a little dose of karmic retribution.
ReplyDelete"Unless a man is born again he will by no means enter the kingdom of God" - John 3
ReplyDeleteThat is crystal clear!
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