So, I have a question.

[poeticlurker]

As someone who's had Christianity forced on me after I became an atheist...

it will not win souls to Christ. It will only drive people away. If you can be reasonable, and back everything that you're saying with Biblical evidence, and actually know the Bible, and you don't go on and on about hell... you might be able to convince someone. You can more flies with honey than vinegar.

 

[SophiaMarie]

This is a good question. I've seen a lot of answers on here that aren't the best ones.. But in no way am I condemning anyone! My best answer is to not push anything, but definitely reach put and share. The big thing is the WAY you do it; your approach. Try to put it in a way that would interest them, but make surer in the process, your scripture and theology doesn't get warped! If they dont seem open and receptive, don't push it on them; it doesn't necessarily mean they won't become Christians, or learn about Scripture, it means that it's just not Christ's chosen time to reach them! Dont get discouraged though!

 

[DigiDigi]

I personally despise the very concept of condemnation, as the human interpretation of God. We are not God's mind process, so how could we ever know what he wants? Its always a load of crap if you see people protest God Hates X so Y should happen because Z is the only solution.

As for the question of forcing religious beliefs onto foreign believers...its annoying. If you can't get along with the rest of the world, then stay within your own community. People can live without religion and have morals without Jesus Christ. Socrates for example existed far before Jesus and taught just as much "good messages" to the public as Jesus of Nazareth did.

 

[Scientastic]

It's immature to force your beliefs onto someone else, period. It's their decision to make as a person. I don't care if you're a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or any other religion, it's wrong. I've actually made it a personal point to smash somebodies beliefs to the best of my ability if they choose to force it on me.

It's extremely uncomfortable when somebody comes up to me anywhere (usually on campus) and wants to talk about Jesus, Mohammed, or any of that nonsense. I don't care how open you're being about it to somebody, you're forcing it on me without my permission permission. Even a simple "no" doesn't suffice these days, somebody else just crops up the day after.

I also find it extremely disturbing that parent's instill their beliefs onto their children. Psychological research has shown how impressionable children are. It's disgusting to see someone push their beliefs on a child. They should be given the chance to mature in an open environment and let them make the decision for themselves.