Monday, June 8, 2015

When a Christian tries to convert you, do this

If a Christian tries to convert you to Christianity, they are showing you a very sweet and caring form of love. They hold the belief that you are missing out on good things, and are in danger of bad things, so they take steps to try to help you.

However, if they start trying to have a conversation about Jesus with you, I would encourage you to say something like this:

"Thank you for talking to me about this, but before we continue, I need to ask you something: You expect me to be open to changing my mind if your viewpoint is true, correct? Are you willing to change your mind about Christianity if the things I say show that your viewpoint is wrong?"

If they say no:
Stop the conversation. They are operating with a double standard--they expect you to be willing to question your worldview and have an open mind, but they aren't willing to do the same for you.

If they dodge your question:
Don't let them. Don't talk about anything else until this issue has been addressed.

If they make special pleading for their view:
They may say something along the lines of "but what I believe is ACTUALLY true, so it would be wrong for me to be open to doubting it". This is special pleading. What they believe may very well be true, but question has to do with how you go about determining whether or not something is true. You figure out what the truth is by honest and open questioning and searching--not by just knowing it.

If they say yes:
Awesome. Have an open and fair discussion about something really important.

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