So much this. If I'm going into a conversation, I want to converse. It's not a game, or a trick. I hate the "gotcha!" type of "conversation".
A story: One morning, groggy from just waking up, I went to my front porch to enjoy the sun and have a cigarette. A man walked up and said, "Can I ask you a question?" Not fully awake, I said sure. "If you died right now, would you go to heaven?" I suppressed a groan and told him yes. (I do, but not his version; I'm pagan, for reasons that are sufficient for me, but I don't expect them to be sufficient for anyone else.) He, of course, was just getting started on his spiel. I was trapped there for half an hour by his conversation and my good manners.
I think what really offends me about conversion attempts is that, basically, they're sales pitches. Not even good sales pitches, either. They're trying to sell me something, badly, and pretending like it's something I'd never heard of. That's condescending and offensive, and highly unlikely to make me "buy". High-pressure sales tactics for anything are likely to make me walk out, and when it's something as personal as religion, it's just rude and kinda gross. I've done sales. I was pretty good at it. But I hated it, because of all the above reasons. I don't appreciate having that parroted back at me with the expectation that I'm so gullible that I'll fall for these transparent tactics.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2015-07-14 10:58 pm (UTC)A story:
One morning, groggy from just waking up, I went to my front porch to enjoy the sun and have a cigarette. A man walked up and said, "Can I ask you a question?" Not fully awake, I said sure. "If you died right now, would you go to heaven?" I suppressed a groan and told him yes. (I do, but not his version; I'm pagan, for reasons that are sufficient for me, but I don't expect them to be sufficient for anyone else.) He, of course, was just getting started on his spiel. I was trapped there for half an hour by his conversation and my good manners.
I think what really offends me about conversion attempts is that, basically, they're sales pitches. Not even good sales pitches, either. They're trying to sell me something, badly, and pretending like it's something I'd never heard of. That's condescending and offensive, and highly unlikely to make me "buy". High-pressure sales tactics for anything are likely to make me walk out, and when it's something as personal as religion, it's just rude and kinda gross. I've done sales. I was pretty good at it. But I hated it, because of all the above reasons. I don't appreciate having that parroted back at me with the expectation that I'm so gullible that I'll fall for these transparent tactics.