Sharing your faith is soon to be a crime in the military

[HaloMagic]

Proselytizing. Like I said.

[mtangelsfan]

LOL, that is one hell of a shade of grey you are talking about.  How would differentiate?

[Glen]

Easy, really.  Casual talk about religion is just that, casual talk about religion.  However, if you keep bugging somebody to go to church with you, or constantly give them fliers for your church, or interject religion into almost every conversation, you've crossed the line.  

 

Yes, I know that's subjective.  So are a lot of things.  However, with this as with most things, usually it can be ended by one party telling the other they don't want to hear it anymore.  

[nate]

It is pretty clear to me, people sharing their faith together is fine, preaching during meetings, trying to convert employees etc is harassment.  It is covered in a yearly harassment meeting for the Fortune 100 company I work for.

[RallyMo]

Service men would not go door to door, only full time missionaries who wear the white shirt and name tag do that, but since they are not military they cannot be court-martialed. 

 

That's not what I was asking. Let's say that a person of any faith that was a service man wanted to go door to door on base:

 

Would they have been allowed to do that six years ago?

 

Also, would missionaries (of any faith) that aren't service men have been allowed on to a base to do the same?

[floplag]

while i think it being a crime is ludicrous, there is a time and place for religious dicussions... places that are not religious in nature or have nothing to do with personal beliefs, are not it. 

The military is an example of not it, but a court matialable offeense is just downright silly.

[Taylor]

Easy, really.  Casual talk about religion is just that, casual talk about religion.  However, if you keep bugging somebody to go to church with you, or constantly give them fliers for your church, or interject religion into almost every conversation, you've crossed the line.  

 

Yes, I know that's subjective.  So are a lot of things.  However, with this as with most things, usually it can be ended by one party telling the other they don't want to hear it anymore.  

 

What if you post on message boards about how evangelism is harrassment?

 

How is that not evangelizing about non-evangelism? Everyone makes truth statements, everyone tells others how they should and should not behave. For you to say, "don't keep bugging me about going to church" you are making a statement about how one should and should not behave.

[mtangelsfan]

The term "proselytize" is pretty broad.  I don't think anyone is talking about a soapbox and megaphone.  At it's best, the most effective kind is the person to person conversation about religion, faith or personal beliefs.  Of course a smart Christian would stop if asked to do so.

[nate]

I still don't think that is the issue.  I would imagine it would be more along the lines of requiring prayer or other religious related activities or beliefs.  It would be a gigantic violation of the first amendment if you said that people couldn't discuss religion with each other.

 

Either way it shouldn't be criminal unless it was abusive or violent.  I could see it being grounds for termination though.

[Blarg]

1) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, how was Chanukah?

     It was great, we had the whole family together, how was your Christmas?

 

2) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, you need to love the lord and bring Jesus Christ into your life because in gospel of John...

     Yeah, well I'm not interested...

    If you don't see the light you are going to hell, in Matthew verse....

 

 

Not hard to see the difference. One is inclusive conversation the other an unwanted sales speech.

 

LOL, that is one hell of a shade of grey you are talking about.  How would differentiate?

[nate]

1) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, how was Chanukah?

 

2) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, you need to love the lord and bring Jesus Christ into your life because in gospel of John...

 

Not hard to see the difference. One is inclusive conversation the other a sales speech.

 

You are talking about a person that thinks our nations laws should abide by his religious beliefs so I doubt he gets the point.

[Glen]

What if you post on message boards about how evangelism is harrassment?

 

How is that not evangelizing and non-evangelism? Everyone makes truth statements, everyone tells others how they should and should not behave. For you to say, "don't keep bugging me about going to church" you are making a statement about how one should and should not behave.

 

 

 

Now you're changing the subject.  I post on the aw message board all the time at work, and yet I still don't preach to my co-workers that they should become Angels fans.  As long as what I'm posting doesn't have an effect on the work environment, it's OK.

 

And yes, I'm making statements about how one should and shouldn't behave.  You could call it one of my personal commandments, if you will.  

[Blarg]

Don't be a nudge, Nate. He understands the difference between a street preacher and an employee but the question is when does it cross the line? It is grey area and then sometimes it is black and white.

[Taylor]

2) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, you need to love the lord and bring Jesus Christ into your life because in gospel of John...

     Yeah, well I'm not interested...

    If you don't see the light you are going to hell, in Matthew verse....

 

Have you ever experienced a conversation like this?

[mtangelsfan]

You are talking about a person that thinks our nations laws should abide by his religious beliefs so I doubt he gets the point.

 Either you are really dense or just lying right now.  I'm choosing the second option.

[mtangelsfan]

1) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, how was Chanukah?

     It was great, we had the whole family together, how was your Christmas?

 

2) Hey Joe, I hear you are Jewish, you need to love the lord and bring Jesus Christ into your life because in gospel of John...

     Yeah, well I'm not interested...

    If you don't see the light you are going to hell, in Matthew verse....

 

 

Not hard to see the difference. One is inclusive conversation the other an unwanted sales speech.

There are several levels in between those options blarg.

[nate]

Have you ever experienced a conversation like this?

 

As an Atheist I have had way worse conversations.  I have been cornered and even harassed daily about going to church or faith groups etc.

 

Outside of my, albeit unfair, ribbing and sarcasm directed toward MT, I am really respectful and quiet about peoples beliefs.  It is frustrated when others are determined to make you follow or try theirs.

[Futch Winkleman]

You are talking about a person that thinks our nations laws should abide by his religious beliefs so I doubt he gets the point.

 

I wouldn't classify MT as a theocrat at all.

 

Far from it, in fact.

[nate]

 Either you are really dense or just lying right now.  I'm choosing the second option.

 

You're right that wasn't fair of me to say about you.  I do feel the line you draw between faith and politics is much more blurry than most though.

[mtangelsfan]

Strange, most of my Christian friends find me irritatingly liberal.  I don't think I have proposed one new law based on biblical principles.  I actually consider myself fairly libertarian.  I'd be interested to see the posts that made you believe that. 

 

I do consider myself more bold with my Christianity are more willing to argue for than most though.  Could be zealousness, but more likely is that I just love to debate.

[Tank]

Easy, really.  Casual talk about religion is just that, casual talk about religion.  However, if you keep bugging somebody to go to church with you, or constantly give them fliers for your church, or interject religion into almost every conversation, you've crossed the line.  .  

MT, this is how I would have answered your question.

[HaloMagic]

You are talking about a person that thinks our nations laws should abide by his religious beliefs so I doubt he gets the point.

I just want to join the chorus of people and state that this post caught me off-guard and it took me a while to figure out it was aimed at MT because the words in it don't apply to him at all. At least not the little I know about him.

[Ray McKigney]

So it's legal to ge openly gay now, but you can't be openly religious?

[HaloMagic]

Comprehension Fail. Or you're just trolling. Which is actually more likely considering you always troll.

[Ray McKigney]

Comprehension Fail. Or you're just trolling. Which is actually more likely considering you always troll.

 

WTF are you talking about? It's a legitimate observation/question.