What methods do people use to get people to join their religion?
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1- When the Romans adopted Christianity as the official state religion for its empire in Europe they standardised and formalised its beliefs so that its citizens would not be consumed by religious disputes. Anyone who did not conform to the official beliefs of Roman Catholicism was a heretic and could be sentenced to torture or death.
2- Then there were the Inquisitions and the Crusades which were also methods of eliminating those who did not conform to the Roman Catholic beliefs and doctrines.
3- After Paganism was wiped out of Europe and it was thoroughly Christianised, European countries, in more recent centuries, vied one with another in colonising other countries. The colonisers would bring with them their language, culture and missionaries who would, just like the Romans did before them, but without the ruthlessness of the Romans, establish the coloniser’s brand of Christianity among the natives.
4- As far as individuals are concerned, if there are followers of a religion who deserve the top award for the most gripping zeal to get people to join their religion it has to be Christians. They will literally risk everything including their lives to “save” souls. Like the South Korean evangelist group who went to Afghanistan, they go into war zones, in areas struck with famine and natural disasters and even into primitive tribes very hostile to any outsider.
5- Although Christianity is split into thousands of sects they are all united by the so called Great Commission in which Jesus in his post crucifixion appearance is reported as saying “go and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
6- There are some worrying problems with that passage. It appears only in the Gospel of Matthew at 28:19-20. It is widely accepted that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are based on that of Mark, but in the oldest manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus, there is no resurrection and therefore no post crucifixion appearance of Jesus. Moreover, if that instruction was really given by Jesus then why was it not followed – there is no record that the disciples baptised “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” There is also little regard paid to “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” because Jesus commanded that even the smallest detail of the law be followed, but evangelists don’t teach that.
7- As for those who get angry and become rude when approached with questions about their beliefs, or ignore such questions, they are going against 1 Peter 3:15 which commands that you “ALWAYS be prepared to give an answer to EVERYONE who asks you to give the REASON for the hope that you have” And to complete the command the verse adds “But do this WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT”