Has anyone ever tried to "convert you" to Jesus or any other religious figure at work...

[Libertas1776]

Poll question: Has anyone ever tried to "convert you" to Jesus or any other religious figure at work...

Question to fellow DUers: Have any of your co-workers ever tried to convert you to Jesus Christ, or insert their religion of choice, etc.

This happened to me recently. Let's just say i'm a dish washer and as i'm getting ready to clock out after eight freaking hours of grueling work, i have to wait for this guy to come in and start his shift. Finally, he comes in a few minutes late. I go to the back to check my schedule and as he is putting on his apron, he hands me a "Jesus is your savior" or something of that sort card. I said "no...no...gracias, no para mi," or however best i could garble out my broken Spanish. (Yes, that's right, i'm the token gringo dish washer.) And he looks at me all insulted like, saying,"oh, but he die on the cross si, si para you" etc etc boring boring blah blah. Yeah, thats all i need after an 8 hr day of shit work is to have some whack job proselytize to me about Christ.

I wanted to yell at him and tell him to get to work (We were swamped) God, ya know, Jesus isn't gonna be washing those plates for you! Get your ass out there.:grr: If he tries again, i'm gonna tell him "Yo soy judío...y estoy muy contento con mi religión" (I'm not but i'm making a point) and if he's got a problem with that then i'm gonna complain to management about harassment.


so to reiterate, have any of you experienced something similar at your place of work. I hope not, but we live in a very strange country these days.:eyes:

[arcadian]

1. IBTL

[patrice]

19. Why's it going to be locked?

[RagAss]

2. Interesting...all of the ones that I know like this.... suck at their job too !

[jobycom]

3. Your labeling is going to get this locked fast.

[LAGC]

35. What did he label?

Dishwashers? Hispanic co-workers? Religious idiots proselytizing at work?

[DJ13]

4. Im disabled with a bad leg (nerve damage)

A couple years back I went to the grocery store and bought a few things and had a guy follow me out into the parking lot.

I got to my car and he jumped in front of me, fell to his knees and put his hands on my knee claiming he would "heal" me.

Gave me a pamphlet from his church then walked away.

It kinda creeped me out, but he was a harmless whacko.

[DefenseLawyer]

5. Follow the gourd!

[Iggo]

30. No! Follow the shoe!

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/223245

(For those of you who do not like to click on blind links: Link goes to a site showing a pic of women in robes and false beards with a sandal hanging by a string from a stick.)

[DeSwiss]

31. LULZ!!!!

[Iggo]

32. Thanks!

:fistbump:

[Warpy]

6. There was one at my last job who delighted in telling the rest of us

that we were all going to hell.

Oddly enough, I was the only one she didn't pull that shit on. I wonder why.

:evilgrin:

[Libertas1776]

7. There...

i made the title more PC friendly, happy. Your lucky i didn't say Jesus, Snoopy, and all the other beloved children's characters.

[Aristus]

8. Got it in the South all the time. For background's sake, I'm a Christian, so Jesus is not imaginary

to me. But in the South, it's not enough to be a Christian; you have to be "SAVED!!!"

Kids would come up to me at school all the time and ask me: "Are you SAVED?"

This was before I learned the art of the sarcastic, snarky reply, so I usually just answered "I'm a Christian" and moved on before they could add "Yeah, but are you SAVED???

Anglo evangelicals are teaching our Hispanic countryman some bad shit. Most Hispanics that I've known, however devout they may be, tend to keep their faith a private thing, and don't proselytize.

[Libertas1776]

11. Yeah, sorry

i changed my title, let my own personal feelings influence it too much. I really have no problem with other people's beliefs. Its when they start forcing them on me that i get really pissed. And i live in Metro New York so this is really out of place for me, especially coming from a Hispanic guy. That was very surprising to me. I know they can be very devoutly Catholic but Evangelical? go figure i guess.

[jobycom]

13. Yeah, I was going to say the OP must not be from the South.

It's pretty normal down here. :shrug: I usually just try to convert them to atheism, and they get mad and leave me alone after that. I made one guy--a cop, even--drop it, quit for a month, then agree to come back only if he worked a different schedule than me. :) He regreted bringing it up.

[RagAss]

9. I look them in the eye and say I'm a Zen Buddhist....they never bring the topic up again.

[Libertas1776]

12. I'm gonna have to learn how to say that in Espanol.

[RKP5637]

14. I looked them in the eye and said I was a Satanist (not true), that shook the crap of of them! n/t

[Orrex]

20. Then you haven't met any who were really serious about it, even if they thought they were.

A true hardcore busybody theist will take such an assertion as a direct challenge and, frankly, your implied plea that they bring you into the fold.


Be patient--your day will come!

[RagAss]

27. I hope so.

[tammywammy]

10. Never

At a Starbucks I worked at we did have a customer that would come in an leave tracks everywhere. He tried to have "discussions" with my workers, but I nipped that in the bud. He would get quite heated and upset one of my employees, who was a Christian.

Anywho, I've lived in Texas my whole life, and I work in a very republican dominated area and I've never once had someone try and "convert" me. (No conversion necessary, I am a Christian, I just do not discuss my religious views very often).

[OhioBlue]

15. Do you know him?

Or is he just someone you pass by as you each clock in/out?

I don't mind conversations with people about religion - even if they are coworkers - but they are usually more theoretical, learning type conversations... I've also been in groups of people at work related events when prayers are said. I just bow my head and act respectful. I've never had anyone try to "convert" me.

[patrice]

16. I had a BOSS try to get me to her church once.

I also contracted with the state one summer and there was a whole family of state employees who went around inviting people to Pro-Life fundraisers.

[Orrex]

17. I worked with a hardcore fundy Born-Again Christian who insisted that he wasn't religious

Instead, he claimed, he had "a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."


Sorry, but if you can't go out for a beer with someone, talk to them on the phone, or at least exchange emails and be reasonably sure that you're actually communicating with them, then you don't have a personal relationship with that person.

Eventually, after hearing the same line of shit a bunch of times, I concluded that they frame it that way so that (nominally) they can't be criticized for discussing religion in the workplace, or in school, or anywhere, because they aren't discussing religion. They're discussing their "relationship."

:puke:


I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't get that same fucked-up, smug, patronizing, pitying, self-righteous and holier-than-thou attitude from every Born-Again who learns that I'm atheist.

"Oh," they invariably say. "I'm sorry."

Yeah, well. I'm sorry too. It means that you're going to spend the rest of our time together trying to convert me.



So the answer to your poll question is "yes."

[RKP5637]

23. They think they are "special." What an ego trip for them. I have "0" patience for

people that try to push religion on me. I get nasty quickly. If they've found something so F'en great, good for them. What PO's me is when they try to shove it on everyone else. To me, they have been brainwashed and have received robotic programming / indoctrination.

I also notice when driving the ones with the little fish on the back of their cars are often the rudest. I guess they're on a special mission and everyone else has to get the F out of their way. Idiots...

[TlalocW]

18. I'm in Tulsa, and surprisingly... no

I have had co-workers who are very vocal about their faith. Depending on how they express it, I let it slide or respond... normally sarcastically.

When I was laid off from a programming job, I took a job answer tech support, and I had a shift where for the last two hours, we just sat on our asses because they were updating servers. Why we weren't just sent home, I don't know. Anyway, I tended to read or practice magic tricks quietly since I was a few years older than a lot of my shift-mates and wasn't really interested in their talk. One shift though, one of the more "Christian" workers (I should mention were in buildings owned by and across from Oral Roberts University called the City of Faith) went off on homosexuals, and she just made such an ugly face, I responded, "Wow... I've never seen someone so pretty make such an ugly, hateful face when discussing someone. I wonder if Jesus ever made that face." She just shut up and glared at me the rest of the night while I went back to reading.

I didn't last really long there... :)

TlalocW

[rucky]

21. MLM coworkers are worse.

[customerserviceguy]

22. A long time ago, that happened

A woman I worked with got me into a Japanese form of Buddhism. I was pretty fresh at college, and quite impressionable, but it happened at my job at a campus kitchen back in 1975.

Since then, I've gotten more resistant, but went in and out of various religions for a number of years, the last one was the Bahai faith, also inspired by a co-worker, but he was quite soft-sell about it, and actually inspired me rather than recruited me. But I've been religion free for about the last fifteen years, and intend to stay that way, no matter who I work with.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

41. That's Soka Gakkai.

The cult form of Buddhism. Formerly called Nicheren Soshu.
They chant a mantra to get cars and houses and stuff.

There is Nichiren Buddhism named after a monk by that name but that is different.

The mainstream Buddhist pubs such as Shambala Sun try to ignore them because Soka Gakkai is embarrassing.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

24. Many, many times

One particular co-worker constantly bugged me about being saved. He also gave me Focus on the Family pamphlets and other shit all the time - often leaving it on my chair while I was away from my office with some stupid note like "figured you'd be interested in this" or "I thought of you when I read this". Fortunately, this guy was a political appointee (attorney) and his appointor was thrown out by the voters and he's long gone.

He still invites me to his church whenever he sees me - a church that he describes as "a great place to worship, even if it is attended by a buncha bean-eaters". LOL, he was a piece of work.

Unfortunately, this shit is all too common where I live and work.

[DesertFlower]

25. many times. i seem to draw them to me.

when i lived in new york a guy approached me in the subway. he said "have you been born again". i said "sir, i've been born many many times". he didn't know how to answer.

about a year ago a jehovah's witness came to my door. it was strange because the day before i had some plumbing work done. the young man told me he was a "witness". anyway, he said "you're on our do not call list". that's as far as he got. i said "so you come to my house". i added that he was trespassing. we live on a private road. there are several signs saying it's a private road. some of the other things i said to him, i will not repeat.

[deutsey]

26. The only thing I've experienced at work

is finding a tract from the local Baptist church on a urinal in the men's room. It's one of those with ALL CAPS about going to HELL if you were TO DIE today UNSAVED.

I thought finding it on a toilet was oddly appropriate.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. My aunt gave me a commercial for Jesus.

In 2002 my mother died aged 81. I called my aunt, her little sister, and told her that Mom had died. I also told her that my parents, and my maternal grandmother, all did not believe in god when they died and they were all happy with oblivion. Aunt was shocked. She was a methodist.

She said "I urge to believe" bla blah and I said, "Sorry I don't believe and have no reason to, no evidence, God hasn't spoken to me etc.".

Then she said, "Well when you have a funeral, I want to be there." I was so pissed at her, and under so much strain when my mom died, from her alzheimers/horrible attitude/etc. that I did NOT have a funeral for Mom. I had her cremated, as per her wishes, and she's in a box in the closet. I decided I just couldn't handle a funeral at that time, I still don't know when I will be able to deal with it.

My aunt never realized what kind of damage she did preaching at me. The aunt died in Jan of 2009, and was still a methodist. I drove 90 miles to Bryan TX to the graveside part of it.

I haven't told my cousins about this. But they were real nice at the graveside part and decided to bury any hatchets between our families.

[raccoon]

29. Back in the '80's I worked with this fundie man who tried to convert co-workers.

He professed to be saved and all that, of course.

Once he said about the Civil Rights movement, "The police turned the dogs on 'em and the firehoses on 'em."

I WISH I had thought to ask him if Jesus would do that.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. No, but most of my previous life was as a college professor, and there

are certain unspoken rules in academia, one of which is that you don't talk religion with your colleagues except in the context of an academic discussion.

Does it count if I had STUDENTS try to convert me and convince me that my church wasn't evangelical enough?

[Flipper999]

34. Not at work, but...

I had a guy try to convert me way back in high school. The topic came up when I mentioned some archeology documentary I'd seen where they were excavating the ruins of the Philistine civilization. He got freaked out and started saying that the Philistines were the giant children of fallen angels. I replied that the remains that they left behind looked totally normal and human to me. And then it began...

He would start gazing off into the distance and telling me that he believe God had intended us to meet so that I could turn to Christ. Well, this didn't happen. I think he got frustrated that I never just gave in and said "Wow! Jesus sounds neato! I'll start taking the bible literally!" He found some other fundie student and started exclusively associating with her during class. Oh well.

[vixengrl]

36. I got a JW illustrated version of the New Testament

with some Q&A for group discussions from a supervisor--but I was actually pretty cool ith it because I only get hold of Watchtower once every couple years or so. IO was neat to see the literalism and the pretty darn good cartooning--this is a serious comment on JW art--they have folks who can draw.

But re: my supervisor, I wasn't too upset that she was trying to turn me on to her version of Jesus. After all, I didn't convert on sight of the material. And since I now blog mostly about church/state/political/atheist issues, it enlarged my knowledge. Which is a good thing.

[saltpoint]

37. Not in a work place environment for many years but in other

environments.

To date none has succeeded.

They used to roam through airports with little comic book-like cartoony booklets in which depraved souls humbly embraced Christ as their personal savior and turned their lives around, etc.

[Meshuga]

38. I had a summer job back when I was in college

Where I happened to be the only non-Christian hired out of a bunch of born again Christians. The manager looked like a metalhead but to my surprise he was a born again Christian as well.

One of them tried to proselytize until I told him not to bother. From that point forward they all bonded and acted as if I didn't even exist, ignoring the evil Jesus-less guy.

I had to quit within a couple of days because the work environment was unbearable.

[Beringia]

39. I have had coworkers openly say that paganism is evil

and they were people that called themselves Christian.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. My neighbor said Buddhism and VOODOO were the same thing.

And put up her forearms crossed against it, after she was in my house and I showed her my ancestor altar with a four armed Kwan Yin statue and a Dancing Shiva statue and a Medicine Buddha statue.

She has not been invited back (due to terminal stupidity for several reasons) and she can't figure out why we put up a 6 foot tall wooden privacy fence and have not invited her back.


She's the one with the six foot tall cross in her front yard, with white xmas lights on it.
Before easter it had a white towel hanging off one side. We decided that Jesus must have taken a shower and needed some "Extra Body" shampoo. But we didn't do it!!!


:evilgrin:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

42. It was the converter's work but not mine.

Buses in Brazil have a driver and a cashier, who gets people's money and gives them change as they pass the turnstile. So, this cashier was handing out Jesus pamphlets to everybody as they paid. Fire-and-brimstone pamphlets, no less.

I phoned the company, told the serial number and location of the bus, described this behavior and asked, "Is this proper?" The person at the other side said, "Absolutely not. We're looking into it." A few days later the bus company calls and informs me the guy got a suspension and a mandatory "recycling" course. Good.

So, that's my story of oppressing Christians. I felt positively giddy.