I see here how proselytizing, by the proselytizer, is just assumed to be a good thing, advancing a community, helping an individual. I would like to question that assumption.
No doubt each and every situation is different. For some lost souls, searching for any kind of meaning in life, getting converted can be really meaningful. For others, well, not so much. It can actually be quite harmful.
But looking at it as an overall process, what do you think?
I'll list a few examples of the 'bad effects'.
In places where it is common, we have divided communities, family members against family members. Before the proselytizer arrived, people got along because they were of one mind.
Individuals can turn into conceited religious zealots, and lose all their old friends.
Nuclear families can be split, pitting Mom against Dad, and the kids get confused. Had that proselytizer not done that, the family might be in harmony.
It can cause money issues. Money for food, for clothing, for schooling, may be sent to the religious institution instead.
Psyches change. One of confidence in a belief are changed to one of fear, or confusion. The individual's subconscious mind is all rattled up, in a constant state of not really knowing what to think.
So, members of proselytizing faiths, how can you defend this crime against humanity?
No doubt each and every situation is different. For some lost souls, searching for any kind of meaning in life, getting converted can be really meaningful. For others, well, not so much. It can actually be quite harmful.
But looking at it as an overall process, what do you think?
I'll list a few examples of the 'bad effects'.
In places where it is common, we have divided communities, family members against family members. Before the proselytizer arrived, people got along because they were of one mind.
Individuals can turn into conceited religious zealots, and lose all their old friends.
Nuclear families can be split, pitting Mom against Dad, and the kids get confused. Had that proselytizer not done that, the family might be in harmony.
It can cause money issues. Money for food, for clothing, for schooling, may be sent to the religious institution instead.
Psyches change. One of confidence in a belief are changed to one of fear, or confusion. The individual's subconscious mind is all rattled up, in a constant state of not really knowing what to think.
So, members of proselytizing faiths, how can you defend this crime against humanity?