Conflict of interests

Hi Rubystars (and Schrafinator if you're following this).When I went to University in England in the late '70s the Atheists were all far too busy getting drunk and trying to get laid to bother even thinking about trying to recruit people.At my Uni the Christians were one of only two groups of people who were banned from going door to door in the Halls of Residence (the other was insurance salesman). Both were banned for the same reason, namely their bad track record of exploting vunerable first year students. Interestingly the Christians - or at least one group of them - had come up with a way to try and get round this. Before I even went to Uni I received a personal letter from a student who was already there (this was before the days of laser printers that could write in human script - at least for the general public, so it really was an individual letter). I don't remember much of the content but the tone was "you will be alone and lost when you leave home, so come and see me and I'll help you". Once I got there and met people/made friends it turned out everbody had been sent a similar letter. Later in my first year I was on the train on the way back after going home for the Easter break when someone who I knew by sight from my Hall of Residence got on and came and sat next to me. Without any sort of casual conversation or preamble he started trying to convince me I should be a Christian.In my experience the only time I can remember Atheists trying to "convert" Christians in normal everyday life has been in response to the Christians trying it the other way.One of the most disgusting things I have ever seen was when I was in the respiratory ward at a hospital (I suffer from a chronic lung condition). The guy in the next bed was in a terrible state - in fact he died not long after the incident I am about to describe. Just after visiting hours had finished two people in their mid-20s showed up at the nurse station and asked to see this guy. They said they were friends of his through his son who went to their Church. I don't if you've ever seen anybody dying of a lung compaint, but the level of suffering is terrible - unable to breath, lungs filling up with fluid which you can't clear, fever, pain and so on. They came and sat next to this man who was, quite literally, on his death bed, and their opening words to him were "Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as you pesonal saviour ?". In the entire time they were with him they were pressurising him to convert. There was not a single word of care or concern, or expression of sympathy.I understand that Christianity is a proselytising (sp ?) religion, but I found what was basically an attempt to bully someone who was suffering in terrible pain and close to death to convert to your own personal faith repugnant. Any excuse about trying to save somebody's soul is just that - an excuse.I just remembered one other incident from my University days which my friends and I found amusing, although the Christians among you may not. Somebody who was a final year student when I was in my first year was a well known miser - if something was free he'd do anything to get it. He was also know for his slightly bizarre sense of humour. The Christians used to hold "come and meet us and see what Jesus has to offer in your life" type meetings where there was free coffee and biscuits (cookies to you ). For reasons known only to himself on one occassion he decided to stand in the corner, raise his arms out straight into the crucixion position and say in a loud voice "What a way to spend Easter". Apparently the looks on the faces of the Christians were priceless.

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