I found this article in my archives - I liked it then and I love it now:
Saturday, May 2, 1998
Blinding People of Other Faiths With Your Superior Knowledge Is Not Letting Your Light Shine
ROBERT KIRBY
For some people, religion isn't a spiritual journey as much as it is an ego trip. Proof seems to be the increasing use of an already popular proselytizing tool: the evangelical insult. To show you what I mean, here are a few downloaded from religious chat groups found on the Internet.
Baptist to Mormon: ``How can you be so stupid?''
Catholic to Baptist: ``. . . workings of a contemptible mind.''
Evangelist to atheist: ``The dog returning to its vomet [sic] is you.''
Fundamentalist to all: ``Babylonian whores!''
However, because I'm LDS, my personal choice for the most ineffective religious dialogue of the year was an e-mail left on an ex-Mormon Web site by two Mormon missionaries: ``You are a total loser.''
If human beings can't come to terms over simple stuff like Classic Coke, it stands to reason that we won't be able to reach a popular consensus about God, either. Still, it's more than just a little ironic that people big on gospel love seem to think the best way to evangelize their faith is to insult someone.
You don't necessarily have to be religious to figure out that this kind of behavior is counterproductive. Tell the truth, how many of you have ever been persuaded to change your views on anything because someone insulted you?
``Floyd, Christ Jesus thinks you're a stinking heap of garbage.''
Stuff like this only makes people dig their heels in harder. After all, why would they want to surrender their views to someone who thinks they are worthless?
So why do people do it? Probably because they are more interested in having their say than in changing minds. Arguing over religion is a waste of time. The general nature of religious belief is that little of it can actually be proved to anyone other than yourself. It requires something that cannot be proved empirically: namely, a leap of faith.
Leaps of faith have one teensy problem. Too often they tend to be based on the circumstances of one's birth and social surroundings rather than one's smarts. For all their self-important blather, most Christians are Christians simply because they weren't born and raised Hindus.
A good way to figure out if this applies to you is how fast you get angry when someone or something challenges your beliefs. If it sends you into a tizzy, chances are that your convictions are more cultural than spiritual. This is not about the freedom to share your religious views with others, but rather about your methods. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't automatically make you wise, something you really ought to be before you go around insulting people in his name.
When Christ counseled his followers to let their light shine as a way to spread the news, he wasn't giving us the Parable of the Bug Zapper, nor was he talking about the religious equivalent of poaching deer with a spotlight. The true test of your faith is the ability to effectively dialogue with people who believe differently than you. If you are insulting them based on your notion of ecclesiastical correctness, it probably isn't working as well as you might think.
Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby lives in Springville. The self-described ``OxyMormon'' welcomes mail at P.O. Box 684, Springville, UT 84663, or e-mail at rkirby(AT)sltrib.com.
Peace - LL