Reply #23: I think they also have a frustration as they see their children leaving [View All]

their faith for our side, too. We're looking at 35-40% of people under 35 claim no religion. That means that the mainstream, liberal churches are looking at a financial crunch coming up, as well as a current, chronic lack of volunteers.

They probably can't articulate it, but they see us, who are far more available to them than the fundies, as competition for bodies and dollars. Thus, since we are the available target, we get kicked for it.

Finally, I'd guess that most of them have never been exposed to great numbers of the non-religious, and so, since we do articulate our positions well, there's the threat of "they might be right", which sets up a tidy little case of cognitive dissonance. Thus, they perceive threats coming at their way of life from us on multiple fronts.

I handle it by hitting alert when they're proselytizing and letting the mods deal with it.

Pcat