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Originally Posted by FS
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Originally Posted by ziggytrix
People don't like being proselytized. I don't get hostile around Christians unless they come up to me with loaded questions like "so what Church do YOU go to" - and it's something every non or formerly religious person in the American South has to deal with and actually I don't usually get hostile, I ususally just leave. And honestly, it's such a rare occurrence that someone gets really bad about it, but when they do, it prejudices you against the next dozen religious folk you meet. :/
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In everyday life I don't see it that much, because people of course tend to stick with people who hold roughly the same values - mostly it's attempts at getting me spontaneously converted by characters at the mall or trainway station.
On the internet it's a whole different story though. Someone only has to say "I'm a Christian" or in this case "I'm a vegan", and it might even be entirely on topic, but there's always a few ready to leap forward and treat the person like they need to apologize for the bad apples of their faith. They prod them into a corner with questions to, dependant on the situation, either prove that the Christian can't be a perfect Christian, or the vegan can't be a perfect vegan.
I'm not saying that that's what everyone does, because there's been plenty of civilized exchange of information in this thread, and it's shown that people can ask normal questions to vegans. But some just have a knee-jerk reaction that makes them think "Oh. Vegan/Christian. (S)He's going to try to convert me. Better put my defenses up." |
While this is somewhat true, since the American south was mentioned and I happen to live in it, here's the perfect example of militant Christians reinforcing their beliefs:
When I drive to work, a 20 minute drive, I pass by no less than 5 billboards asking me if I've found Jesus, that I will be burning in hell if I didn't, that I NEED to go to First Baptist Church right now and save myself!
When I flip on the TV, I see no less than three local commercials every couple of hours telling me that this guy's taekwondo academy sets a religious example and discipline and that they are 'on fire for Jesus', or that Jesus wants me to buy Home Furniture's futons (and since they have Jesus' endorsement, to buy futons anywhere else is HERESY!)
...Surprisingly, for a state called "Sportsman's Paradise", which for some reason has more hunters per capita than almost any other state, I do know a surprising amount of people who've turned vegetarian, and my questioning of it only goes as far as to ask "Is it a dietary thing?", in which case the answers are almost universally affirmative.