If You're Free This Sat, Let's Go To My Church

Before I start ranting on proper, just a few things definitely worth taking note of:

(i) "ALIAS" SEASON 5 HAS STARTED IN THE US!!!
(ii) THIS IS MY 47TH POST!!! AN INSIDE JOKE WITH MY FRIENDS WHO ARE ALSO "ALIAS" FANS!!!
(iii) End-of-year exams begin officially next week. I'm dead if I don't cut down on computer time to study. Really hard.

Ok, my rant.

I was reading the newspapers this morning, and what a [non-]shock it was when I read a reader's letter to the Forum section concerning the things that people do to convert others to their religion.

This incident was specific to Christianity, which is why this post is aimed at those "Christians" who go to lengths to attempt to convert people to their religion. The main target, however, would be ALL THOSE who have ever attempted, or are attempted, or will attempt to convert others to their religion.

The reader wrote about a teacher who was trying to persuade her friend's daughter to attend church with her. The problem here was that the girl was a Buddhist and therefore the parents were unlikely to allow her to attend.

Guess what the bait was? There was going to some Christian rock concert/festival/whatnot at the church, and it would be great for the girl to go and get converted.

What is your problem, O Hippy-Converting Christians?

I have come up with a term for those Christians who attempt to convert others by using rock music, pop culture, and whatnot as a bait. These are known as the HC-Christians, or Hippy-Converting Christians.

They ask their friends who are non-Christian whether they want to attend a Christian music festival, and there, they start expounding to their friends the virtues of Christianity and begin their attempts at conversion. Then, they start making religion into a sort of pop culture, that you're cool if you're listening to CCM or Christian rock and a bozo if you're stuck with some sort of traditional hoo-doo religion.

Hogwash. Niddle-poomps. Etaoin Shrdlu.

Whatever.

Look, you picked your religion as a choice (or you were inducted into it since young) and you're sticking with it.

Let other people do the same, ok? Unless they're choosing to enter some suicidal/terrorist/violent cult encompassing daily orgies of 1,000 people sans condoms or regular baby sacrifice, let them have their freedom. Why should you care if they're Wicca, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, etc. etc. ? It's not like they're here to abduct you to their worship grounds - so why should YOU do it?

Let's stop this "Spread the Good News that Jesus Saved You and You Should Go to [specifically] MY Church So You Don't Go To Hell". Instead, go "Spread the Peace of Religious Harmony" instead.

Wait, there's another type of conversion - between denominations of a religion. Yes, that means Protestants attempting to convert Catholics over and vice versa. This is even more ridiculous.

Look, you're both part of Christianity. You both share similarities and have differences, but all in all you're more or less the same thing. Stop badmouthing other denominations.

From what I hear, Catholicism suffers the most bashing from other denominations (excluding the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses). Stop the Revelations comparison, ok?

We've had enough war in the world already. We don't want anymore.

Let us live in peace, ok? No more attempts at conversion, please?

And stop the pop-and-rock-music-hook-up-thing. Music isn't the only thing in religion.

In fact, it shouldn't be the starting point for religion.

Let it stop.

Please.