A Buddhist's Guide to Evangelical Christianity

parijataka

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Found this link on Twitter.

Who's that knocking on the door? A Buddhist's Guide to Evangelical Christianity

By Ven. Dhammika

About six months ago there was a knock on my door and I opened it to find two evangelical Christians there. I knew they were evangelicals because they had that fake friendly smile on their faces, which all evangelicals have when they are trying to convert someone.

This was the third time that month that evangelists had come knocking on my door and disturbing me so I decided to teach them a lesson. 'Good morning' they said. 'Good morning' I replied.

'Have you heard about the Lord Jesus Christ'? they asked. 'I know something about him but I am a Buddhist and I'm not really interested in knowing more' I said. But like all evangelists, they took no notice of my wishes and proceeded to talk about their beliefs.

So I said, 'I don't think you are qualified to speak to me about Jesus'. They looked very astonished and asked, 'Why not'? 'Because', I said, 'you have no faith'. 'Our faith in Jesus is as strong as a rock' they insisted. 'I don't think it is' I said with a smile.

'Please open your Bible and read the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 16, 17 and 18' I said and while they flicked through their Bibles I went quickly inside and came out again. One of them found the passage and I asked him to read it out loud. It said, 'He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe shall be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe in my name. They shall cast out devils, they shall speak in tongues, they will handle snakes and if they drink poison it will not hurt them and they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover'.

When he finished I said, 'In that passage Jesus says that if you have real faith you will be able to drink poison and not die'. I took a bottle of Lankem from behind my back, held it up and said, 'Here is some poison. Demonstrate to me the strength of your faith and I will listen to anything you have to say about Jesus'.

You should have seen the looks on their faces! They didn't know what to say. 'What's the problem'? I asked. 'Is your faith not strong enough'? They hesitated for a few moments and then one of them replied, 'The Bible also says that we must not test God'. 'I'm not testing God', I said, 'I'm testing you. You love to witness for Jesus and now is your big opportunity'. Finally one of then said, 'We will go and speak to our pastor about this matter and come back and see you. 'I'll be waiting for you' I said as they scurried away. Of course they never came back again.

Here is a bit of advice. Keep a copy of this Bible reference and a bottle of Lankem ready and every time the evangelists come to your door to harass you give them this test. You might like to have a polanga ready as well.
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From the site - http://www.oocities.org/focussrilanka/index.htm
 
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sydsnyper

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Hope those two realized that their religious practice was more about expansionism than spirituality.

Found this link on Twitter.

Who's that knocking on the door? A Buddhist's Guide to Evangelical Christianity

By Ven. Dhammika

About six months ago there was a knock on my door and I opened it to find two evangelical Christians there. I knew they were evangelicals because they had that fake friendly smile on their faces, which all evangelicals have when they are trying to convert someone.

This was the third time that month that evangelists had come knocking on my door and disturbing me so I decided to teach them a lesson. 'Good morning' they said. 'Good morning' I replied.

'Have you heard about the Lord Jesus Christ'? they asked. 'I know something about him but I am a Buddhist and I'm not really interested in knowing more' I said. But like all evangelists, they took no notice of my wishes and proceeded to talk about their beliefs.

So I said, 'I don't think you are qualified to speak to me about Jesus'. They looked very astonished and asked, 'Why not'? 'Because', I said, 'you have no faith'. 'Our faith in Jesus is as strong as a rock' they insisted. 'I don't think it is' I said with a smile.

'Please open your Bible and read the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 16, 17 and 18' I said and while they flicked through their Bibles I went quickly inside and came out again. One of them found the passage and I asked him to read it out loud. It said, 'He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe shall be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe in my name. They shall cast out devils, they shall speak in tongues, they will handle snakes and if they drink poison it will not hurt them and they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover'.

When he finished I said, 'In that passage Jesus says that if you have real faith you will be able to drink poison and not die'. I took a bottle of Lankem from behind my back, held it up and said, 'Here is some poison. Demonstrate to me the strength of your faith and I will listen to anything you have to say about Jesus'.

You should have seen the looks on their faces! They didn't know what to say. 'What's the problem'? I asked. 'Is your faith not strong enough'? They hesitated for a few moments and then one of them replied, 'The Bible also says that we must not test God'. 'I'm not testing God', I said, 'I'm testing you. You love to witness for Jesus and now is your big opportunity'. Finally one of then said, 'We will go and speak to our pastor about this matter and come back and see you. 'I'll be waiting for you' I said as they scurried away. Of course they never came back again.

Here is a bit of advice. Keep a copy of this Bible reference and a bottle of Lankem ready and every time the evangelists come to your door to harass you give them this test. You might like to have a polanga ready as well.
===================================================

From the site - FOCUS
 

Eesh

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I once told a catholic that I can fully explain your star of Bethlehem and resurrection of Jesus, with Hindu philosophy, but most of your bible will lie in tatters after that.. Needles to say he never accepted my offer.

It is well known that no evangelical dares to debate with with a knowledgeable Buddhist or Hindu or Sikh thinker.
 

jouni

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Your not very polite, I always treat with respect all those hare Krishna guys in our streets. Now matter how funny they seem at the first glance.
 

Peter

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I dont know how many, but those orange gowns sure stand out. Also everybody knows by heart the song "haaree, haare, haareee...."

This is ISKCON and its followers.
 

jouni

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As I have mentioned they are not Indians but members of ISKCON which is a Hare Krishna Consciousness society. They worship Shri Krishna.
In Finland people link them to India. Also mother
Amma , Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, is popular among some Finns. These and the reputation of Goa as a some kind of hippie haven, shape the perception of India in Finland.

A lot of Finns after some personal problems go to India, then they come back and say "In India many people have nothing, still they are happy. I have found my new spiritual self".

Nothing wrong with that.
 
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Ashutosh Lokhande

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In Finland people link them to India. Also mother
Amma , Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, is popular among some Finns. These and the reputation of Goa as a some kind of hippie haven, shape the perception of India in Finland.

A lot of Finns after some personal problems go to India, then they come back and say "In India many people have nothing, still they are happy. I have found my new spiritual self".

Nothing wrong with that.
Goa is a hub of hippies. ppl from all over the world come there for drugs beaches and bitches.


ppl in goa (locals) are very easy going and are happy with the lil necessary things one needs to live life peacefully and happily. as Ganghi had said, "Theres enough in the world for every mans need but not enough for a one mans greed".
 

sam80

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double .................................................................................................................. .
 
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sam80

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jouni

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Yes, the evangelists have sometimes too straightforward and narrow view of Christianity, they should not be taken literally. In Europe they are minority, mainstream Christianity has much more tolerant views.
 

sam80

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Yes, the evangelists have sometimes too straightforward and narrow view of Christianity, they should not be taken literally. In Europe they are minority, mainstream Christianity has much more tolerant views.
generally i don't take it seriously but Worry sometimes . I see very orthodox Christianity in India and seen them hating Immensely of Jews(most Hindus are not even aware about Jews in India) and "pagans" , Guess what they get money from European countries . If they are small minority in European countries then look like they are very influential and rich ...
 

jouni

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I don't know how rich they are, but they have very strong faith, it is a shame if you now think that the whole Europe is like that. Every religion got extremists, that's how freedom of religion works.
 

sam80

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I don't know how rich they are, but they have very strong faith, it is a shame if you now think that the whole Europe is like that. Every religion got extremists, that's how freedom of religion works.
Of-course not I Don't generalize things , but I Believe they are very influential in America/Europe and most common people in Europe and US are even not aware what they do in third world ....
 

jouni

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Of-course not I Don't generalize things , but I Believe they are very influential in America/Europe and most common people in Europe and US are even not aware what they do in third world ....
So what exactly they do? Do you mean that they frighten you with their talks about hell? Do they do something else?
 

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