[lbo-talk] Testifying (was something about 2 hrs a weekend)

[bitch at pulpculture.org]

the key is in the testifying these days. it's not proselytizing like going 
door-to-door, but something a lot more subtle. Sort of like a religious 
version of the infomercial where the person testifies to the power of 
christ in her life. if you can show that your marriage or your job or 
success in life or anything, really, is the result of haysooz and that 
personal relationship thingaroo, that's where it's at. it works on people, 
so think those who advocate testimony (remember, works is out, testifying 
is in), the same way it works on people to watch a late night infomercial 
about weight loss, real estate investment, and hair regeneration products. 
once posted about a site I found where they carefully assessed various 
"types" of people -- such as lefties -- and gave believers advice on how to 
approach us in order to find an opportunity to testify to the power of the 
dead guy on a stick.

also, as Debz (in Texas) has often pointed out, the mainline churches and 
some outposts of catholic churches use the same technique more and more.

also, as Ehrenreich pointed out in her latest (I think she did), I know it 
was part of her research, she just may not have included it in the 
published book, one of the ways people "proselytize" these days is to 
provide services such as counseling, child care, summer camp, family get 
togethers/retreats, sports, study groups, job counseling and career 
transition programs, and all manner of things increasingly not provided by 
the government. They claim there are no strings attached, anyone can attend 
a career transition workshop and use the copiers, computers, resume 
services, pep talks, job hunting advice, etc. Very subtle stuff.

BL


>On 3/25/07, tfast <tfast at yorku.ca> wrote:
> > But the real question is what makes some forms of protestant proselytizing
> > more popular than others at different times.  It is no secret that hyper
> > individualized forms of Protestantism have had more success in the last
> > thirty years than their collectivist cousins.
>
>It's not that some forms of Protestant proselytizing are more popular
>than others.  Mainline Protestant denominations, by and large, have
>ceased to proselytize.  I have not met proselytizing Catholics either,
>and they would be in trouble but for continuing influxes of immigrants
>from Central and Latin America, especially Mexico.*
>
>BL
>http://blog.pulpculture.org NSFW