My wife Catherine and I used to study and practice Zen. One morning we were walking toward our car after a night spent sitting zazen at a Zen center with a dozen or so other would-be Buddhas. (Zazen is Zen meditation: you sit; you close your eyes; you try to disconnect from your thoughts; you try like crazy not to sneeze, cough or itch; you try not to panic about the fact that after about a half hour your whole lower body is so asleep you wouldn’t know it if someone harpooned your thigh.)
As we were approaching our car, we saw that a guy who had just pinned a flyer underneath our windshield wiper was now leaving a copy of the same flyer on the car parked behind ours.
The guy gave us a friendly wave. “Hi! I hope you don’t mind me leaving one of these on your car.”
I unlocked the passenger door so that Cat could get in. “No problem” I said. But what he heard, apparently, was, “Please come over and talk to us.”
“It’s for a nearby church,” he said. He was a youngish, fit fellow, sporting an orange baseball cap and a truly winning smile. “Calvary Chapel. Ever heard of it?”
“I haven’t,” I said. I opened Cat’s door; she silently took her seat; I closed her inside. Tucked under my arm was my zafu, the round pillow Zenners use to sit upon whilst trying to merge with The Great Nothing/Everything. The guy nodded toward it.
“You folks study Buddhism there in the center?”
“We do,” I said. “We like Zen. Been at it for a pretty long time now.”
“Oh, is that right? Do you find it helps you with your life?”
A little alarm bell went off in my head. “Actually, yeah. It’s been a really wonderful thing for both of us.”
“But you must know that it can’t give you what the Lord Jesus Christ can. The only way you can ever find what you’re really seeking is to open up your heart to the fact that Jesus Christ is your personal lord and savior.”
The thing about sitting zazen—especially if you’ve just done it for ten hours straight—is that it leaves you feeling like Lake Placid itself. So, in a voice filled with nothing but calm warmth, I said, “That’s great. I mean, I know that for a lot of people Christianity is perfect. We’ve chosen Zen. I’ve got a friend who’s a Hindu. My wife’s dad is Catholic. I guess everybody has to find their own way.”
“But there’s only one true way, friend. And that way is through Jesus Christ.”
I walked around the front of our car to the driver’s side. “Christianity’s a really sound option, for sure.”
“It’s more than just an option. It’s the only way. Anyone who doesn’t repent of their sins and declare the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior is lost to the flames of eternal hell.”
I felt gathering in my stomach that tight ball I get whenever I’m wondering just how crazy someone might get.
With one hand on my door handle I smiled over the top of the car, and said lightly, “Well, that does sound bad. I hope that doesn’t happen to me!”
“Oh, it will. It happens to everyone who chooses any but the one true way.”
And then I made the mistake of talking too much.
“I understand that Christianity works for you,” I said. “And I think that’s outstanding. Your life must be so rich because of your faith. But must Christianity be the only way? Can’t there be other good ways for people to know and experience what you call God? Does everyone who chooses any other way but Christianity have to be wrong?”
“Hey, I don’t make the rules. You can fight against it all you want. But the fact is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. The cost of not accepting him as your savior is the eternal damnation of your soul.”
Through the windshield I saw Cat, quietly looking straight ahead. She could hear us, of course.
I pulled open my car door. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to hope that you’re mistaken.”
“Oh, I’m not, buddy,” said the guy. He raised his voice a little. “But you are. Both you and your wife are condemning yourselves in the eyes of the Lord by engaging in sinful idolatry.”
“All right; I’ll bear that in mind. There aren’t actually any idols in Zen, but I see what you’re saying.” I waved. “Thanks for sharing it. Have a good day.”
As I closed the car door the guy moved around to the front of our car. He held up his hand.
“Stop what you’re doing! Let the Lord into your heart! You please the devil with your sinful ways!”
“Jesus,” murmured Catherine.
“Or one of his ambassadors, anyway,” I said. I started the car. “I wonder if I’m gonna have to run this fool over?”
“You’re lost!” called the Christian. He demonstrated that he hadn’t lost all touch with reality, though, by stepping back onto the curb.
“Repent!” he said. “Accept the Lord! Turn your back on the devil! Rid yourself of your sin!”
I eased out of my spot and started down the street.
“Well,” said Cat. “Wasn’t that special?”
“Can you imagine being God, and looking down, and seeing that? I wonder what Jesus thinks when he sees stuff like that?”
“‘Maybe I should become a Buddhist’? Or maybe, ‘I need to get some new salespeople. People who aren’t totally rude and intrusive? People who don’tthink the way to attract people to me is to scream insults at them’?”
“Or maybe he’d just go, “‘That’s it. I give up. Time for the Apocalypse.’”
That the Christian in the orange cap meant well isn’t in question. Of course he only wanted what was best for Cat and me. But he only repelled us from Christianity, because his evangelizing effort was grounded in what all such efforts must be, which is a lack of respect. By proving that he had no respect whatsoever for our belief system, he proved that he had no respect for us.
Proving that he had no respect for us proved that the evangelizer did not love us, since the best that love without respect can be is patronizing. And by not loving us, that brother utterly broke the second part of what Jesus himself called the greatest law of all: to love your neighbor as you love yourself. (See Mark 12:28-31.) Another reason he absolutely could not love us is because he drove us away from him. And you can’t love someone with whom you have no relationship at all.
That Christian purposefully, explicitly, and directly disobeyed Jesus. Shame on him. And shame on any Christian who does what he did.
Just out: John’s UNFAIR: Why the “Christian” View of Gays Doesn’t Work. (Softcover edition; Kindle edition;NookBook edition). You’re invited to “like” John’s Facebook page, and also his group Unfundamentalist Christians, the motto of which is “Above all, love.”
Patricia
11 Apr 2012Your only mistake in this article is thinking that this person represents Christianity. He doesn’t. Not by a longshot. He may in fact represent nutbars.
Jerome
11 Apr 2012the christians i know don’t act like this, so i’m not sure that’s the proper appellation
Kia
11 Apr 2012Jerome… I like to believe MOST Christians don’t act like this. (although I’m beginning to re-think that belief) But the ones who do put themselves WAY out there and make the ones who “get it” look really bad too. I’ve been accosted like this as well, but I’ve also been respectfully questioned about why I believe the way I do. (though I’m not Zen or Buddhist.)
David
11 Apr 2012At least it was verbal. I was physically accosted by a christian group for being gay. 3 weeks in the hospital, broken ribs, leg, and one bruise clotted and a clot broke free and went to my brain, so I had a stroke from this. In Alabama, it was not considered a hate crime, just a misdirection assault!
Michelle
11 Apr 2012OMG David I am so sorry to read that. I tried Christianity, but it did nothing but leave me with questions that even preachers couldn’t answer. Wicca has left me with nothing but peace inside.
Dean
11 Apr 2012He (apparently) invoked Christ so the “appellation” is correct. If all Christians can’t get on the same page (as it were) there really isn’t much validity to it at all.
Candace
11 Apr 2012Like the author of the story, I really wonder what Jesus and God thinks of them while watching these people do this to others. No not all christians does this, but the majority that do puts a big black mark on the religion. At the moment I’m not into any particular religion but am thinking of trying Zen. Just trying to find the right one for me and not what others think I need. And I can’t for the life of me understand how people are so offened by others because they don’t believe in the same thing. Why does it matter so much what other people do in their own lives and of their own choice?
Genin
11 Apr 2012I have Christan/Catholic friends with open minds. But I loathe the ones who try to force their religion down your throat.
Garry
11 Apr 2012I honestly have no time for repugnant people like him. It is fortunate that I am over 6’6″ and give the impression that I’m rather intimidating(which is completely untrue; I’m really just a big teddybear. You can even walk up and pet me, most days. XD). People tend to give me a wide berth, for which I’m grateful. I try very hard to be a peaceful Pagan as I am a pacifist in most respects, but I certainly do not have the patience of the Buddha and it does not stretch very far. The only Christian I really associate with is an old friend who is very patient and accepting of me, which I appreciate. I truly hope he gets his afterlife, because he is a kind and giving man and I respect him greatly. He’s far from perfect, but we all have our quirks. I despise Christianity on the whole for its horrid evangelical proselytizing practices and its hateful, dogmatic teachings. I’m not too hot on any of the other religions either, but Christianity itself just irks me utterly. I try to see people based on individual actions and not their beliefs. But when you have repulsive people like the man mentioned in the story telling you that you’re going to Hell to burn for Eternity(Especially since he does not know you at all), it’s quite hard not to judge harshly the way he was taught and how hateful it has made him.
lol. Sorry for the long rant. >.<;
Elizabeth
11 Apr 2012People who act like Mr. Orange Baseball Cap annoy the crap out of me. Not just pushy religious people, but all pushy people. I’d like to take a moment to stress that not all Christians are like him though. I am Christian, and have been my whole life, and am proud to say I have friends with many varying belief systems. We have a mutual agreement to respect one another, and can therefore discuss those beliefs without anyone getting offended. If I were to see the couple leaving the Zen center, I might approach them, but it would be out of curiosity for what they practice. The way I look at it, we all think our religion is ‘right’, but we won’t know for sure until we pass on and see what comes next. So please, don’t automatically assume most/all Christians are Jerks. Being a non-jerk, it gets irritating after a while…
Terry
11 Apr 2012Actually I’ve seen it before and nothing get’s through to people like that at all, even pointing out that their aggressive behavior and lack of respect for others beliefs push far more away from the one they claim to worship than it has ever converted. Usually I just try to ignore them but if they don’t stop, I tell them straight out, I have no use for their mythology whatsoever.
Cynthia
11 Apr 2012Respect what other people belief/think/prefer/like/unlike/etc, is it really that hard??
Sarah Jo
11 Apr 2012I do not discredit christians for trying to convert others – it is what the “good book” says to do. But I haven’t met anyone that can do it tactfully. I haven’t met anyone that can be Christ like about it and not judge me for my “sins.” If people acutally understood the bible they would realize jesus/god sees you where you are at…he met people where they were at in life. He did not see their sins as horrible disfiguring abominations but he saw THEM. So many people can regurgitate their scriptures, proverbs and teaching but do they really understand their meaning. I do not claim to understand this universe – what powers life who am I to say that any other person has it wrong?
Caleigh
11 Apr 2012What bugs me is when some Christians say that the bible is not man-made, that it’s divine. Uhhh, what? What, it just fell from the sky, in English (or whatever language you speak/read)? Gimme a break. All religions are man-made and choosing one (or choosing to not have one) that resonates with you and your way to live a fulfilling life is all that matters, and respecting other people’s choices is of utmost importance to living a peaceful life.
LeflerPanda
12 Apr 2012I was hassled simply for having a “Coexist” sticker on my computer. I thought it was a great message, as a UU, but some Christians don’t want all religions to coexist as much as they want to rise up and destroy everyone who doesn’t think like they do. It really is scary to wonder about what goes on in their minds.