Why do religions have to convert people?

[Thinktank]

The topic is: Why do religions have to convert people?

The religion that forces people to spend a certain amount of hours each week going from
door to door to convert people, using every trick imaginable - is the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I've never seen any other religion doing that. I've never seen a Catholic person in my life trying to convert me.
I've never seen a Hindu or a Jew in my life truing to convert me.

[Bsuds]

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[Thinktank]

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[steven lloyd]

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[Bsuds]

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[janalta]

The topic is: Why do religions have to convert people?

The religion that forces people to spend a certain amount of hours each week going from
door to door to convert people, using every trick imaginable - is the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I've never seen any other religion doing that. I've never seen a Catholic person in my life trying to convert me.
I've never seen a Hindu or a Jew in my life truing to convert me.

Mormons have to spend two years of their lives actively trying to convert people every day...and then the rest of their lives telling anyone who will listen that in order to have eternal peace and happiness, they must be baptized in their church...because it is god's one true church. ( apparently there are only Mormons allowed in 'heaven' )
I am a property manager...had a guy who owns a place here and is just renovating it ( doesn't live here, never met him before, don't know him ) waste a frickin hour of my time trying to convince me to join his damn church. Sorry dude...not happening.....my boss and dear friend for three years is part of your church....I know all about, thanks.
"oh, but have you actually sat down with out brilliant young missionaries ? You can't possibly understand our church unless you do" UGH.
Told him if he dares to send his missionaries to my house I will haunt his nightmares for all eternity.

Other religions try to convert, try to convince people to join their church as well. They just aren't quite so in your face about it. When my ex and I got married, we wanted the ceremony in a tiny little heritage church across the road from us out in a rural area. His family belonged to that religion in town, his grandparents for many years.
That church called us at least weekly, every bloody week..to get us to join their congregation...for nearly three years !!!!!

It's not just the door knockers.

[averagejoe]

Why do we have the City of Kelowna pushing new age yoga onto people. It's part of Eastern Religions. Checkout the any City of Kelowna Parks and Rec's programs.

Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/; Sanskrit: योग, About this sound Sanskrit pronunciation (help·info)) are the physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that aim to transform body and mind. The term denotes a variety of schools, practices and goals[1] in Hinduism, Buddhism (including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism[2][3][4]) and Jainism,[5][6][7][6] the best-known being Hatha yoga and Raja yoga.

I thought we were to separate Government and religion? Oh ya, It's separation of Christianity and Government. Just not the other religions.

[averagejoe]

Gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west,[12] following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century.[12] In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of yoga is often called Hatha yoga.

[Thinktank]

Here's why I tried to convert people back in the early 1990s.

Every Sunday before church I would grab one of these little booklets of preaching by a prophet from
the 1960s and read a few paragraphs from it to make me more holy for going to church. So one Sunday
I was shocked to hear the pastor read the exact same paragraph that I chose to read, at home that morning
from the exact same booklet out of about 150 or more booklets. I was amazed. I thought only God
could make such an incredible coincidence.

When the exact same thing happened the next Sunday, I wasn't just amazed - I was a bit freaked out.
I'm not making this up - I was a bit scared and I thought maybe the pastor had supernatural Godly powers.
That's when I started studying the bible for real.
I started trying to convert a few people after that.

And then when some church crooks ended up with about $20,000 of my money a few years later, I decided
I would start non-converting people. Non-converting people, like Janalta does, isn't very cool. Sometimes
I think it's better just to shut the mouth and let everyone do anything they want.

[Hmmm]

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[Thinktank]

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all churches have a few church crooks including ( especially) God's only chosen true religion church ( k. hall )

[janalta]

I'm non-converting people ? That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on here....and there are a lot.
I've never in my life tried to convince or suggest to one single person that they should convert to anything other than what/who they are.
I can disagree with religion, the bible and god all I want....in fact, it's my right.
That doesn't mean I think you or anyone needs to think the same way.

Religions have been trying to convert people for centuries....atheists and agnostics have not.
We do not spend our lives preaching to people about our beliefs and views...in fact, for most of us...it's pretty much a non issue 99% of the time.

[Hmmm]

I'm non-converting people ? That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on here....and there are a lot.
I've never in my life tried to convince or suggest to one single person that they should convert to anything other than what/who they are.
I can disagree with religion, the bible and god all I want....in fact, it's my right.
That doesn't mean I think you or anyone needs to think the same way.

Religions have been trying to convert people for centuries....atheists and agnostics have not.
We do not spend our lives preaching to people about our beliefs and views...in fact, for most of us...it's pretty much a non issue 99% of the time.

That might be true of you, but certainly not true of the almost militant atheist movement that's trying everything in their power to convert people.

[GordonH]

I'm non-converting people ? That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard on here....and there are a lot.
I've never in my life tried to convince or suggest to one single person that they should convert to anything other than what/who they are.
I can disagree with religion, the bible and god all I want....in fact, it's my right.
That doesn't mean I think you or anyone needs to think the same way.

Religions have been trying to convert people for centuries....atheists and agnostics have not.
We do not spend our lives preaching to people about our beliefs and views...in fact, for most of us...it's pretty much a non issue 99% of the time.

That might be true of you, but certainly not true of the almost militant atheist movement that's trying everything in their power to convert people.

If a person is easily swayed either towards or away from a belief system, that person needs to check to see if they actually have a backbone of there very own.

[janalta]

That might be true of you, but certainly not true of the almost militant atheist movement that's trying everything in their power to convert people.

What...you mean...scientists ?
The majority of non theists do not care what anyone's beliefs are...honestly...we really, really don't...as long as you're not trying to shove it down our throats constantly.
If you need your god to comfort you, to pray to, to make decisions you feel too weak to make, to make sense of this world...then have at it...just don't knock on my door or tell me that I need god in my life to have morals or be truly at peace and happy.

What I see the 'atheist movement' ( which has existed...well....longer than religion) is simply dispelling outdated religious myths with science, astronomy, archeology and common sense.
Never heard them say..believe now or burn forever.