Witnessing Arrogance

 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION is an aggressively expansionist ideology. Anyone whos dreamy nap has been rudely interrupted by a loud knock on the door and two well groomed well attired young men bearing Bibles and brochures can so attest. Good friends of mine use to smuggle bibles into the Soviet Union. I prayed they wouldn't get caught, questioned the morality of not respecting the wishes of their hosts, and their sanity in taking the risk of spending their remaining days in a dank Russian prison, but, well, people do what they do. Enthusiastic evangelism in action. One might recall reading about the crusades, when, beginning in the year 1095 A.D., hordes of European Christian poured repeatedly into Islamic territory, bent on conquest and conversion of alleged infidels. The mere fact that the Christian religion has spread to every continent is the most convincing indicator of the efficacy with which missionaries and military might have spread the alleged true faith.Arguably all this is immoral, from the door knocking to the bible smuggling to the military attacks. Immoral on the simple ethical theory that everyone is entitled to religious freedom, freedom from coercion or persuasion of any sort. Devout Christians might argue that it is there sacred duty to spread the true gospel, the true faith. They might not consider the possibility that many others people have their own version of the true faith, and are happy with it. Other people already embrace the true faith; their own, whether or not it is Christianity.Christians intent on converting non Christians might do well to remind themselves that those they seek to convert are likely as intelligent as those seeking to improve them, and require no religious guidance, or that if they do, they can go looking for it, without being urged to do so. arguably, attempting to convince someone to change and improve his or her religious beliefs is insulting and disrespectful. But, of course anyone trying to change another's religion is probably too arrogant and insensitive to the need to be respectful of others to even care about such things in the first place. The evangelicals call it 'witnessing". They call themselves "believers". Everyone is a believer, in his or her own beliefs, not someone else's.. What we are witnessing is the temerity and arrogance of sanctimonious self superior souls with a selfish sense of superiority, witnessing their own shallow self absorption.