I found that religion is a personal thing, and although it may be less awkward than asking 'what's your favourite sexual position?', questions and especially, judgment towards one's belief system is extremely inappropriate.So I only have two words for those people who find it in their gut to stop unsuspecting strangers, like myself, in the middle of the street, to lecture and preach about the Kingdom of God and eternal life: bugger off.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be harsh. But I was the one feeling offended, honestly. Anyway, I have no problem wasting away good minutes of my life helping out and filling surveys or questionnaires, I really don't. And that's why I smiled politely and stopped, thinking 'hey, today is the day I'm gonna do some good deeds and help out these people.'
I regretted it immediately just after one question muttered by the lady. "Do you believe in God?" she asked. Even after I said 'yes' cautiously, she had this look that made me almost believe she would pass out right there and then if I have answered 'no'.
"Have you finished reading the bible?" she pursued. Oh, heck, no! Transfixing my focus on just completing the survey so I could walk out of there as fast as possible, I chose to mumble incoherently at this question because that was none of her business at all.
She pressed on by pulling out her bible, flipping the pages and from the rows and rows of various highlighted colours, I safely assumed that not only she has finished reading it from cover to cover, she probably had everything memorized as well.
I'd always found these downright Christian fanatic to be more than a walking cliche. I didn't much care about what they got up to in the privacy of their own churches, but it bothered me a lot when it all came out into the open. I didn't like them trying to persuade and affect people on the matter of such sensitive and personal subject, I didn't like them handing me leaflets about the bible and eternal life, and mostly, I didn't like them stopping me in the middle of the street trying to palm off their literature on me.
She asked all sorts of questions, read to me quotes from the bible, and I thought I made myself pretty clear that I needed to walk away by my clearly-pissed-face, but the gesture seemed lost on her. She wanted me to come to her church because according to her, most churches teach the wrong things. "Just look at the priests, and even the Pope; they are wearing something on their head, when in fact, here," she quickly flipped through the pages of the bible and read it aloud, "here, it's clearly stated that it's considered disrespectful to wear something on the head."
She looked at me, rather triumphantly, and I'm so tempted to argue. There's famine, and wars, and poverty, global warming, and diseases in this world. And you think we give a rat's tootsie about some head-accessories and whether it's disrespectful or not? There are probably fiften-hundred-thousand other things that we should worry about before we got to that, let alone actually care.
"Oh yeah, that is horrible. Wearing something on their heads, what a sin. Unforgivable." was what I wanted to say, but I heard myself say, "I have my own church, thanks" instead. I think I handled it pretty calmly, considering. Inside, my blood was boiling. Still, she wouldn't let it go.
"I appreciate the talk, but I don't need to go to another church because I have my own. And I really have to go now," and before she could argue, I left. I was still thanking her? I have such good manner. I said I would help them out with their surveys and that's what I did. The rest was completely unnecessary.
I don't mind talking about religion, really. I'd be more than happy to be able to exchange ideas, tell people about my view on the world, and about God, and listen to the same. But not this way, not through this preaching, and judging, and lecturing, and shoveling the bible down my throat as if they know the best.