Or: How NOT to Witness to Atheists
By Siamang
Hemant’s website, Friendly Atheist has been flooded with fans of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron’s “Way of the Master” name-brand of Christian evangelism.
Yeah. Fun.
Last week Hemant wrote a bunch of posts that spawned discussion leading up to and following the Nightline face off starring the pair. That seemed to call Com/Cam Masters out of the woodwork.
I’m sure folks here are familiar enough with Com/Cam and their tactics. If not, here’s my impression:
“Ten commandments. If you ever told a lie you’re a liar. If you stole a piece of candy when you were five, you’re a thief. If you’ve looked at another person you’re an adulterer. If I’m wrong, nothing happens, but if I’m right and you’re judged by almighty God at judgement day, by your own admission you’re a lying, thieving, blaspheming adulterer, how should you be judged….”
It’s a high-pressure sales script that sounds like it was written by a telemarketer. I’ve watched the Way of the Master shows, I’ve heard Ray use that script on podcasts. He never varies it at all. “If you’ve ever told a lie, Press ONE. If you’ve ever stolen something, even as a child, Press TWO or stay on the line!”
And that’s the general tack used by the first-time posters who descended on the Friendly Atheist site.
I complained about this sticking to a script on a discussion on Friendly Atheist. I said that Ray doesn’t ever LISTEN to the person he’s preaching at. He makes zero attempt to understand where a person is in their life and meeting them there. This is the response I got from poster Betty:
That’s because the message is the same for everybody. God will judge justly–everyone according to the same standard. He won’t bend or change His Law.
Wait a minute… I thought God’s message was the Gospels, not Ray’s telemarketing script. If you’re saying that God’s message is the same for everybody, why aren’t you preaching the Gospel? Why are you preaching things that were written by Ray Comfort?
If you’re going to preach something other than the Gospels, as a way to get people to understand their message, doesn’t it make sense to listen to the person you’re talking to and have a conversation rather than preach at them? Until you know where I’ve been and who I am, merely barking a pre-rolled script at me does neither of us any good.
So here’s a nickle’s worth of free advice to evangelists seeking to convert atheists: learn our stories first.
Siamang.
05-14-2007 |
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Meagan Tevebaugh e-mailed me about her experience at the Live Today taping. The taped show will be aired on April 30.
It’s been about a year since I stumbled across an Atheist from Chicago auctioning off his time and open mind on eBay to any Christian gutsy enough to bid and send him on a pilgrimage to God. I was so intrigued by the auction and followed it daily… hourly…I couldn’t wait to see what happened. I continued following the story religiously on Off The Map, blogged daily, and had my eyes opened to different perspectives more than a time or two.
Living in Texas, and knowing that Off The Map was based in Seattle and Hemant in Chicago, I had resolved that I would never meet these two personalities. Then I received a newsletter from Hemant’s website. The e-mail announced that he would be in Dallas, Texas for an interview with a Christian Talk Show, Life Today, and Jim Henderson. I live in Fort Worth (only about 30 miles from Dallas). I was going to be in the same room with them both… maybe I would even get to raise my hand and have the host come to me so I could ask a question. I imagined this talk show would be like Oprah or Live with Regis and Kelly. Well, it was a much smaller venue and fewer people than I had thought. We were asked to clap enthusiastically to imply a larger audience than the thirty or forty of us. The smaller and more casual setting gave us a chance to meet and mingle after the taping of the show though.
04-04-2007 |
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