Keeping you cool when confronted by christian crazies
A friend of mine from the States, posted this link on his fb.
Keeping Your Cool When Confronted By Christian Crazies
Friendly Atheist recently had a post in which Hemant shared a report he had received from an atheist woman about how a complete stranger had approached her in Wal-Mart and began praying over her 15-week-old child. He asked readers how they would respond if something like this happened to them as well as a few related questions. I found myself thinking that how I would like to respond is probably quite a bit different from how I would actually respond.
I thought that the first comment on Friendly Atheist's thread, contributed by SkepGeek, was so perfect that it should be shared:
I would treat this the same way as when the mentally handicapped guy waves vigorously at me and says hi when I get on the bus.
What a great lesson for us all to remember! Sure, we could get angry and yell. It might even make us feel better temporarily. But when one is not dealing with a rational adult, SkepGeek's reframe seems so much better.
I spent a year living in an apartment next to a family with an moderately retarded adult child. He was extremely friendly but could sometimes be a bit intimidating due to his size, the loud volume with which he spoke, and his quick and unpredictable movements. One never quite new what to expect from him, and I recall that my female guests, which he would never miss greeting, often said that he made them feel uncomfortable.
The thing is, I never would have yelled at him, struck him, or even found myself becoming more than mildly annoyed with him. Yes, he was loud and often disruptive. His parents seemed to cope by leaving him out in the apartment complex's parking lot, often with no supervision. Having him in my face every time I went in or out did get old. At the same time, I recognized that he did not know any better. He wasn't doing this to annoy me; it was just who he was.
In many respects, the crazed Christian who abruptly begin praying over a stranger's child is the same way. I suspect that she would not have done what she did if she had stopped to consider how the child's parents would feel. In the grips of her Christian delusion, she might have even thought that she was doing something nice for the child.
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I have had to deal with people like this in Korea on at least a weekly basis. If I am walking in the foreigner district, I may be given pamphlets, and asked to go to church with these strangers.
I was once approached by a few woman who asked me if I knew that God was a woman. I said, yes I know, and walked away.
I was approached on the subway by a woman that said at least a two page spiel on the importance of the passover, and that I should attend church with her. I was given pamphlets, and her phone number in case I changed my mind. There are many foreigners who are practicing Christians here in Korea, and I hold nothing against these people. Religion is a personal choice imo. The people that approached me were actually Koreans, and they are evangelical Christians.
I am not mean to these people, and sometimes I listen to them. Sometimes I walk away, and other times, I feel sorry for them.
Have you ever been approached and given pamphlets or lectures on Christianity where you are living? What did you do, and how did you react? Do you think this person in the article went overboard in saying that some Christians are like the mentally ill, and are delusional?
