I am a firm adherent of the idea of the equality of religions. That is to say, that all the people of all religions have the exact same rights to carry out religious practices and such. One thing that perplexes me is many people’s attitudes on evangelization. The evangelicals, who would harass you while you were doing your day-to-day business, would turn around and harass atheists who would so much as mention their religion to other people on the grounds that they were evangelizing atheism. While I’m certainly no fan of annoying evangelism, I have to ask: What gives Christians the sole right to attempt to spread their religion?
I was listening to an old God Discussion show one day, when a caller (if I recall correctly) accused the members of the Clergy Project featured in the show of ‘evangelizing atheism.’ The caller identified as a Christian, so I have to ask why an adherent of a religion whose preferred pulpit is Congress would object to evangelism. For some reason, Christianity has a monopoly on the right to preach.
None of this should really be that surprising. Christians for years have never let go of their desire to squash other religions. They enforce the notion that for non-Christians, it is unacceptable to even try to spread your religion. Of course, many non-Christians, particularly of the Atheist and Deist kind, ARE opposed to evangelizing, which is how Christians can justify their squashing (by claiming hypocrisy). What Christians often claim is evangelizing is usually a mere discussion of Atheism, an attempt to organize Atheists, an attempt to identify Atheists, a combination of things, or merely anything that mentions a non-Christian religion. Of course, you cans substitute Atheism in that sentence for any religion, including Deism.
The question of the appropriate amount of evangelism is still up to debate. Many Deists would say that there should be no evangelism. But the question of whether or not someone is allowed to evangelize based on your decision of the appropriate amount of evangelism is and has always been solved, even if the solution has been ignored. If you, as a Christian or an adherent of any other religion that indulges in evangelism, decide that it is okay to evangelize, you better let others do the same. To defy that would be to defy the principles of religious equality and freedom that have contributed to the prosperity of America and many other countries, communities, and cultures.
I was listening to an old God Discussion show one day, when a caller (if I recall correctly) accused the members of the Clergy Project featured in the show of ‘evangelizing atheism.’ The caller identified as a Christian, so I have to ask why an adherent of a religion whose preferred pulpit is Congress would object to evangelism. For some reason, Christianity has a monopoly on the right to preach.
None of this should really be that surprising. Christians for years have never let go of their desire to squash other religions. They enforce the notion that for non-Christians, it is unacceptable to even try to spread your religion. Of course, many non-Christians, particularly of the Atheist and Deist kind, ARE opposed to evangelizing, which is how Christians can justify their squashing (by claiming hypocrisy). What Christians often claim is evangelizing is usually a mere discussion of Atheism, an attempt to organize Atheists, an attempt to identify Atheists, a combination of things, or merely anything that mentions a non-Christian religion. Of course, you cans substitute Atheism in that sentence for any religion, including Deism.
The question of the appropriate amount of evangelism is still up to debate. Many Deists would say that there should be no evangelism. But the question of whether or not someone is allowed to evangelize based on your decision of the appropriate amount of evangelism is and has always been solved, even if the solution has been ignored. If you, as a Christian or an adherent of any other religion that indulges in evangelism, decide that it is okay to evangelize, you better let others do the same. To defy that would be to defy the principles of religious equality and freedom that have contributed to the prosperity of America and many other countries, communities, and cultures.
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