religious proselytizers

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How do you all feel about people who are out to convert others? I think they are bigotted. Why do you need to go out of your way to get other people to convert to your faith? What is wrong with the faiths that other people believe in? The mindset that others will burn in hell (or are infidels) is a narrowminded bigotted view. All faiths are good and they all preach much of the same thing. If I had the power to, I still wouldn't convert people to other races or the opposite gender. Because then i'd be a racist or a sexist. If you try to convert others to your faith does that not make you a religious bigot? Today more than ever before people are opening their minds and tolerating religious diversity. I think we should all be open to the beliefs of others no matter how different they are from your own. We all just need to show kindness.

Proselytizing is an integral part of religion. Now the problem arises if you are being coerced. However, most of the world's religion has set out to proselytize. How do you think nations became largely Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, or Muslim?

I personally don't proselytize or believe in converting, but I do feel certain practices are better than others. It can appear "religiously bigoted" but it is religion. A person who admits to following an inferior religion should not believe at all. It is not a sense of superiority. If it wasn't for the monks/ascetics who proselytized, the mentioned religions wouldn't have come to populate the world. I'd rather have those beliefs than some practices in which the blood of a chicken has to be spread in order for me to see the other world.

If someone really believes in the tenets of his/her faith it is an act of kindness and generosity to try to convince others of what they believe is the truth. Jews are not all that interested in converting people since they feel that they are particularly chosen. Not being religious I cannot accept what religious people consider the truth but if their belief is genuine I can understand their motivation.

Religion is just incredibly annoying and stupid in general, take that comment anyway you like I can care less.

As far as religious people converting other religious people, what difference does it make if they all 'preach much of the same thing'?

Because ridiculous people like you would actually believe something like that.

No. A belief which cannot engender hate is a belief in nothing except cute herdsiness.

In other words, preach hate, not love?

Most religions do not proselytize. Christianity and Islam are the big two that do; scientology and most cults do as well. Most other religions are traditional and passed from one generation to the next (which of course accounts for most Christians and Muslims too). Hinduism is really an enlarged tribal, polytheistic religion; Judaism is also a tribal religion that evolved to become monotheistic. Buddhists do try to set a good example and offer their teachings, but they do not actively try to convert people.

God I love it. Mention the major religions of the world, and the Jews wind up in there. There are fewer Jews than Sikhs.

There are more Christians and Muslims than the rest of the world's religious affiliations combined. By cut of the religious pie, most people belong to a religion which supports proselytizing. Which is kind of like if we were going to make a generalization about religions, it would be ok to say they proselytize.

And I do believe at various times large swaths of Asia have been Hindu or Buddhist. I suppose they just kind of got that way spontaneously?

You may find religion to be "just incredibly annoying and stupid in general," zorp, but please remember to indicate that this is your opinion. It's obvious you're talking about your own views here. And that is just incredibly annoying.

I'm a christian, and our church doesn't actively go out trying to convert people. Instead we go out helping the world, expecting nothing in return, and hope to set an example to inspire others. If they choose to join the church, that's fine. If not, that's fine too...

I disagree, history. Part of some people's religious beliefs is trying to convert others to the faith. Christ told his disciples to spread the gospel all over the globe. Who's more important for a believer: God or somebody else's feelings? Proselytizers get on my nerves if they are arrogant about it, but I don't object to people trying to spread the good news. Also, I don't think everyone's religious beliefs are tolerable. What if I believed in human sacrifice and I killed a bunch of people to eat them or drink their blood? Would you respect my religion? What if you were on the sacrificial alter? What if my religion told me to start a nuclear war to bring on the return of the messiah and bring everyone closer to heaven. Would you tolerate my religious belief? What if the bomb threatened to hit your city?

I oppose forced conversion, but I don't think religion should be banned or anything. I am Lutheran, and we are one of the more liberal denominations, but being from Texas, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the evangelicals were trying to convert people.

How did countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, The Hindu Kush, and frankly most of south and South East Asia become Hindu? How do you think they then became Buddhist? Did they happen to hear the Word just by ways of migrating birds?

Zoroastrianism at one time was a nations religion and had missionaries until the Muslims conquered Iran. If you bothered to look, most of the major and minor religions have or had missionaries. Today, there are peoples in India that are being reconverted into Hinduism in waves, and at other times, thousands being converted into Buddhism to leave the caste system. The massive wave of people leaving their Hindu religion has grown that it has become illegal to convert to another faith.

Who is doing the conversion? Christians and Muslims?? Scientologists?

Jesus himself spread his own gospel by performing acts, which is what I try to emulate. Going forth and making disciples of all nations is all fine and dandy, but going forth and forcing all people of all nations to become disciples on pain of death is not...Jesus never used force or coercion to get people to follow Him, and neither should His followers...

That's right. And it's a very important thing to remember. Jesus was not about coercion. He did not use force because he did not have to. He appealed to the higher nature of the people around him. The aldulterous woman whom he saved from the stoning mob, he could have made her a precedent and stoned her himself. But he didn't. It was not his style.

Nor did Jesus command his disciples to spread by the sword the Good News.