How many of you have seen the picture of an alligator at a door with the caption "Thank God, I thought it was a Jehovah's Witness?" Door-to-door evangelicals are the butt monkey of jokes for even Christians. Many opponents have their stories of obnoxious people who try to convert them on the streets. As annoying as their behavior is, try to understand: They truly believe that they can save you from Hell by doing this.
What is Hell? It is eternal torture for anybody who isn't in your religion, or does too many bad things. I, like many others, think that that nobody deserves such a punishment. For example, let's use Hitler. Imagine that we sentenced him to one lifetime (about 80 years) of torture for every person who died in WWII and the Holocaust. This comes out to (roughly) over 5 billion years of torture (which is a little harsh, if you think about it). At some point after those 5 billion years, it ultimately becomes immoral to punish Hitler. The same is true for anybody who would go to Hell. Eventually their time is up, because no crime, however large, is infinite and thus deserves and infinite punishment. Nobody deserves an eternity in Hell.
Now, place yourself into the role of a hardcore Christian. It is your moral duty to try as hard as possible to get as many people as possible out of Hell. Even if you took a lifetime to save just one person, it would ultimately be worth it. If you truly believe in Hell, it is then your duty to save as many people as possible from it. And if the only path to salvation is through your religion, then the only acceptable moral choice is to convert them.
I thus propose that people who try to convert others are simply following through with the rational consequences of their beliefs. However annoying they may be, at least try to understand them.
What is Hell? It is eternal torture for anybody who isn't in your religion, or does too many bad things. I, like many others, think that that nobody deserves such a punishment. For example, let's use Hitler. Imagine that we sentenced him to one lifetime (about 80 years) of torture for every person who died in WWII and the Holocaust. This comes out to (roughly) over 5 billion years of torture (which is a little harsh, if you think about it). At some point after those 5 billion years, it ultimately becomes immoral to punish Hitler. The same is true for anybody who would go to Hell. Eventually their time is up, because no crime, however large, is infinite and thus deserves and infinite punishment. Nobody deserves an eternity in Hell.
Now, place yourself into the role of a hardcore Christian. It is your moral duty to try as hard as possible to get as many people as possible out of Hell. Even if you took a lifetime to save just one person, it would ultimately be worth it. If you truly believe in Hell, it is then your duty to save as many people as possible from it. And if the only path to salvation is through your religion, then the only acceptable moral choice is to convert them.
I thus propose that people who try to convert others are simply following through with the rational consequences of their beliefs. However annoying they may be, at least try to understand them.
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