sparkyone Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I'm wondering if anyone has been handed a religious tract of any style since you've been out of Christianity or even before leaving and how you've responded. I don't know how widespread the practice of handing out tracts is, but I used to feel so guilty if I didn't do it, and I've gotten different responses from people,and I've even felt embarrassed for them after I've given one out. So, if you've had this happen, please share how you've handled the situation. It might help me if I'm ever on the receiving end. Thanks. I'm thinking that a simple, "No, thanks", might work just fine. Sparkyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Somebody left a Chick tract on the counter at Wal-Mart once. I don't know the title, it was the one where the guy dies and God sends him to hell because he looked around a brick wall at a blond girl and thought she was pretty. I wonder if Jack Chick is aware that 95& of all people who read his tracts do so for the hysterical laughs. We had quite a chuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I got a few now and then on my car on a parking lot. I'd leaf through them, pity the poor folks who still buy into this stuff, then take them home and toss them in the recycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulQ Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I actually encountered that quite a bit until I handed them back one of my own; the deal was, I'd read their tract if they'd read mine. I actually got mine from a web site called www.jhuger.com where Rev. Jim Huber has written some excellent tracts that can be printed out on both sides of one piece of paper and folded tri-fold. In paticular, I'm quite fond of The Watchmaker, Fred wanted to ski, and Kissing Hank's Butt. Once you start doing this, they generally tend to leave you alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 To be honest, I used to(and still do) burn the the tracts left on my door. These JW's and Bapists would always be coming up to the door wanting to talk about god and hand out pamphlet's, I'd tell them that I wasn't interested in their god. It never really stopped them, even if I'd scare of one pair of Christians another pair would show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llwellyn Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Tracts are the vectors of the Christian virus. Think about it, the Christian thought system is a mental virus, and one of the means it propagates itself is through transmission in the form of tracts. Someont handing you a tract is like someone sneezing virus protein compounds in your face. Not very polite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 I always hand them back and say; "That is extremely rude of you. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" Then I turn my back and let them know that no further communication is wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godlessgrrl Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Most of the time I get tracts left on my doorstep. I toss or recycle them. On the very very rare occasions when someone does try to hand me a tract in person, I usually respond with a "No, thank you" and walk on. Although I'll actually take those little pocket NT's that some folks hand out, because the pages make great collage elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 I found a tract the other day and I read it with my Ex-Christian glasses. What struck me about it was that it didn't convince anyone of anything. They come from the assumption that everyone believes that the Bible is the God's Word. So, in order for the tract to accomplish what it's set out to do, a person must already believe Christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellincoffee Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 There was this one lady outside of Wal-Mart selling candy for a children's relief fund, so I stopped to buy some candy. Her church was doing the selling, so she took the time to proselytize. She happened to believe the same thing my parents' fundy church did, so we had something to discuss. I told her I attended a church like her own (which is true, although I don't believe any of it). She wound up giving me free candy (three more bars in addition to the two I had purchased) and some tracts. She seemed like a nice enough ladym but I can't fault her for "witnessing". I'm the one who engaged her, and she did give me free candy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euphgeek Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Somebody left a Chick tract on the counter at Wal-Mart once. I don't know the title, it was the one where the guy dies and God sends him to hell because he looked around a brick wall at a blond girl and thought she was pretty. Ah, yes..."This was your life." That was a funny one, indeed. There's a parody tract of it (as with most) called "This is your death" and it can be found here: http://www.weirdcrap.com/chick/tyd/tyd.html I wonder if Jack Chick is aware that 95& of all people who read his tracts do so for the hysterical laughs. We had quite a chuckle. I know that's the only reason I read it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkyone Posted December 25, 2006 Author Share Posted December 25, 2006 I found a tract the other day and I read it with my Ex-Christian glasses. What struck me about it was that it didn't convince anyone of anything. They come from the assumption that everyone believes that the Bible is the God's Word. So, in order for the tract to accomplish what it's set out to do, a person must already believe Christianity. This reminded me that the earliest thought that started my journey out of religion was a few years ago when I realized that if one doesn't believe the Bible is God's word then why would it matter what it says in relation to guiding one's life. Seems pretty simple, but it took me a long time to really entertain that thought. Sparkyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I has some guy hand me something last summer. My cousin was visiting, and we were just walking back into the parking lot from a hike in a wooded area. Parking lot doesn't have any cars in it (aside from mine), and there's is no one else around besides my cousin, me, and this unsmiling odd guy with his little cards. My cousin knows how I usually am about religion being put in my face, and she was surprised when I just accepted the little card, said "Thank You" and got into my car. I tossed the card, and my cousin expressed surprise I'd even accepted it. As I explained to her, there was a weird guy in the parking lot, and no so much as a bicycle around, which meant he'd gotten there on foot. Because of where these trails were, that meant he'd walked to get there. And expressing my unbelief publicly is definitely a solid second to not pissing off a crazy nutter willing to walk clear the fuck out to stand in a practically empty parking lot on the edge of nowhere in hopes of handing out a few little cards. Shit, he could have handed me a dead kitten and I would have just said 'Thank You' and calmly left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 To be honest, I used to(and still do) burn the the tracts left on my door. These JW's and Bapists would always be coming up to the door wanting to talk about god and hand out pamphlet's, I'd tell them that I wasn't interested in their god. It never really stopped them, even if I'd scare of one pair of Christians another pair would show up. Don't try scaring them off. If you have the time and want to bother (and want put up with the consequences) meet them on their turf and ask questions. Prove to them how the stuff they believe makes no sense. Or find out exactly what they believe and why. Beat them at their own game. I did that for a few JW pairs on different occasions. I loved it. I learned so much! They never kept their promise to come back with better answers. (They could not answer my questions.) I should clarify about consequences. In the process of challenging their faith you might inadvertently let a few of your own cats out of the bag. It seems people who are used to parrot others and never think on their own believe that the things I ask indicate what I believe. Often they couldn't be further from the truth but they do it all the same. Sometimes they take it and run with it. That kind of thing tells me I need to be careful what I say or ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I found a tract the other day and I read it with my Ex-Christian glasses. What struck me about it was that it didn't convince anyone of anything. They come from the assumption that everyone believes that the Bible is the God's Word. So, in order for the tract to accomplish what it's set out to do, a person must already believe Christianity. I realized that too! When you're a fundy Christian, I know from experience one of the most burning questions in your mind is, "How can other people not be Christian, when it's so obvious that it's the right thing to be?" Not until later did I realize that that only makes sense once you make the assumption that the Bible is God's Unaltered Word. Looking back from outside the herd now, trying to get convinced from a (relatively) unbiased viewpoint, reading these things and trying to believe them is impossible. I guess that's why Christian missionaries target 1) Christians of the "wrong" denomination or the "other" church (because they already believe the basics); 2) people who are religiously unaffiliated but have some deep-seated desire to become Christian (and are thus willing to believe the Bible, if they don't already). It's also why you'll hardly ever see them handing out tracts outside a Buddhist temple, or during a Diwali celebration, or at a Druid festival: they know nobody is going to buy this from an objective viewpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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