#honestly when people are purposefully cruel to missionaries it rubs me up the wrong way

[whitegoldtower]

Here’s the thing with the Christians who go door to door to spread the word.

I, personally, would invite them in for a cup of tea or coffee or whatever they prefer. I would cater to them, and be kind, though politely and non-aggressively explain to them why I am not interested.

Why?

Because these people expect hostility. More often than not, they have been sent out by older members of their group, and when they are met with hostility, they will return to essentially be told ‘I told you so’. And it will be used as a manipulation tactic to ‘prove’ that non-believers are ‘evil’ and ‘must be saved’. In the case of, and especially if, the people who come to your door are young folk, it’s likely not their fault.

Thus, with the spider as my guide as a druid…

I welcome them into my web. They might struggle in the silk a little. They might be frightened. They might think I’ll bite their heads off… but they’ll wriggle free and walk away. Hopefully with a new perspective and the realisation that ‘spiders’ aren’t so scary.

Understand that when you’re horrible to these people, you’re not just ‘making them go away’ when they leave. You’re strengthening their doctrine. And they will teach their children or younger members of the group the same thing, when they’re older. And so the cycle continues.

Understand that they’re humans too, and humans are such vulnerable things, prone to influence.