Webloggin » There’s Conversion and There’s Conversion

I was thinking about religious conversion today — or, more accurately, about the means of effecting religious conversion — because I got called upon by some Mormons. There was a dainty knock on my door and, in response to my “who’s there?” I was told that it was “Elder” This and “Elder” That from the Church of LDS.

When I opened the door to dismiss them — very politely — I discovered two young men, half my age, nattily attired in standard LDS uniform of black pants, short sleeve white shirts, and ties. I wished them well, and sent them on their way. They thanked me and left quietly. And that was it.

The reason I opened the door to two strange young men was because I knew these men wouldn’t storm my house and try to rob or rape me. And the reason I (politely) rejected their attempt to convert me was because I knew that these same young men wouldn’t turn on me with the sword for insulting their God. While I’m not in the running for conversion right now (won’t ever be), I came away with a whole lot more respect for these men of faith — men who give two years of their lives to the believe that they can help others through their vision of God — than I can ever imagine having for the Jihadists who use death threats to effect conversions. The Jihadists, incidentally, do not seem to be motivated by a belief that they can improve their converts’ lives. Rather, its more like a pyramid scheme, where they relentlessly push their religion on others in order to increase their own standing in the faith.

My basic feeling when I think about the two modes of conversion, one by words, one by the sword, is that the Jihadists don’t bring new souls to their God. Instead, they bring frightened, reluctant hostages as sacrifices to their altars. Their conduct would be a terrible precedent for Christians of any stripe to follow.

If you’re wondering why I’m even thinking about Christians following the Jihadist road map for gaining converts, I have to admit that it occurred to me only because Heather, at From the Word Go, brought a Bryan Preston post to my attention, challenging Reynold’s prediction that Christians will start using these Jihadist tactics. Heather focuses on Reynold’s argument that Christians will revert to that kind of behavior if they feel that the world rewards those who use it. I think Heather is precisely right in saying that Christians will not go this route because it will never get positive feedback from those who matter — fellow Christians:

This behavior will never be widespread in the Christian community precisely because Christians know they will not be rewarded for it in the manner that Muslims are. Of course self-detonating Christians wouldn’t get sympathy from the media since they aren’t an approved minority with an approved grievance. But it is so much more than that.

Terrorist Christians would not get sympathy from other Christians. Unlike Muslim terrorists, Christian terrorists would not benefit from world-wide excuse making, fund raising, and network forming. Can Christians produce one-off nut jobs who do terrible things? Of course. But that’s all it will ever be. To paraphrase Mao, there’s no sea for the Christian terrorist fish to swim in.

You can read (and, I’m sure, agree with) the rest of what Heather has to say here.

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