Today in "Americans Abroad", man tries to convince Santa Muerte worshippers to turn to Jesus

[Tochtli79]

So this man apparently thought he could just go into Tepito, probably the most infamous neighbourhood in Mexico City bc it's a known hotspot for crime, trafficking, etc., and get people to stop worshipping Santa Muerte, an occult deity (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Muerte) and turn to Jesus Christ because this white saviour says so. He's honestly lucky he only got pushed away and not hurt. Now while the organization and rituals around this "Saint" are considered pretty sketchy by those not a part of it, it still baffles me how this white man who probably doesn't know much about it beyond "it's devil worship" thought it was any of his business doing this.

And apparently he's also previously harassed people who reenact pre-Columbian dances and "cleansing rituals".



Can you even imagine a brown person going to the middle of a big US city and trying to tell people how to worship or celebrate their heritage? How is it 2020 and some people still think this is ok to do?

 

[I Don't Like]

What a useless human being.

 

[Coyote Starrk]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.


According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

 

[HockeyBird]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.


According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

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They convince themselves that converting people is helping them. Plus they might get brownie points into heaven for spreading the word of god.

 

[sphagnum]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.


According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

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Jesus explicitly gives the Great Commission after his resurrection, telling the apostles to go and make disciples of all the nations, so it's ingrained in the religion.

 

[T the Talking Clock]

Savior behavior at its finest.

 

[Coyote Starrk]

Jesus explicitly gives the Great Commission after his resurrection, telling the apostles to go and make disciples of all the nations, so it's ingrained in the religion.

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Oh I didn't actually know that. Makes more sense I guess, but holy shit is it a dumb thing to do in this situation.


Read the country.

 

[Squarehard]

I would have preferred if he was unlucky.

 

[El Bombastico]

Remember that other "missionary" who went to the North Sentinel island to convert the uncontacted tribes there?

This motherfucker is lucky he was just ignored. Just leave people the fuck alone, Jesus Christ (pun intended).

 

[SaintBowWow]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.


According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

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Yeah but the way their God deals with that stuff is by sending non-believers off to be tortured for all of eternity, and these people actually truly believe that's the case so they think it's their duty in life to prevent people from meeting that fate.

 

[sphagnum]

Oh I didn't actually know that. Makes more sense I guess, but holy shit is it a dumb thing to do in this situation.


Read the country.

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They don't care - missionaries often really truly believe God is on their side and they are carrying out his will. If they die, they die, and that's because God decided it was time - otherwise, they have nothing to fear. Example, Hebrews 13:6:

6 So we can say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

 

[Damaniel]

Jesus explicitly gives the Great Commission after his resurrection, telling the apostles to go and make disciples of all the nations, so it's ingrained in the religion.

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This is the very thing that turned my wife away from Christianity - the combination of the mandatory recruitment combined with punishment for not doing so (and therefore not being a 'good enough' Christian due to having faith but not doing works). She'd read the Bible, see what was said there, talk to her pastor and teachers (she went to a Christian high school) and they'd tell her not to worry about it in one breath, and that she would go to hell for not spreading the word in the next. Who should have to be subjected to that, especially at such a young age?

EDIT: I should also add that her church was somewhat more on the evangelical side (though not as extreme as some of the stuff you see in the Bible Belt). Still, they still had a huge hard-on for martyrdom and didn't stop too far short of promoting the idea of self-sacrifice through spreading the word of God. Some denominations of Christianity are a literal death cult.

 

[El Bombastico]

Yeah but the way their God deals with that stuff is by sending non-believers off to be tortured for all of eternity, and these people actually truly believe that's the case so they think it's their duty in life to prevent people from meeting that fate.

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"God is love!"

*eternally tortures anyone who doesn't worship him the right way*

 

[Coyote Starrk]

They don't care - missionaries often really truly believe God is on their side and they are carrying out his will. If they die, they die, and that's because God decided it was time - otherwise, they have nothing to fear. Example, Hebrews 13:6:

6 So we can say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

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Insanity.

 

[Menx64]

Dude is lucky he didn't face the wrong people there.
That guy needs and old and effective punch in the face to see if he stops.

 

[AwwBubbles]

He keeps fucking around he's going to end up missing watch.

 

[dom]

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.

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Think of this in terms of religious natural selection - religions which seek to convert people will spread much more efficiently than ones that don't.

On an individual basis, missionary work can be seen as either furthering the word of God (a good act which they might be rewarded for) or as saving other people, or both. If you believed you were genuinely saving people's souls for all eternity, that's a pretty good deed, right?

According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

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"Don't bother trying, everything works out" is not a tennet of Christianity, no.

 

[BossAttack]

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

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If anything its a European thing. How does OP think Christianity spread but through forceful conversion by Europeans?

 

[danm999]

I recognise this guy he was causing similar trouble in Australia last year and got a similar response;

'Shut up please!' US anti-abortion preacher triggers backlash on Australian train

This was the moment a US anti-abortion preacher delivered a sermon on a packed Sydney commuter train on April 1. The preacher Phillip Blair, founder and director of the Torch of Christ Ministries based in Los Angeles was onboard this packed train as part of the church's missionary work...

www.newsflare.com

 

[Septimus Prime]

They don't care - missionaries often really truly believe God is on their side and they are carrying out his will. If they die, they die, and that's because God decided it was time - otherwise, they have nothing to fear. Example, Hebrews 13:6:

6 So we can say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

Click to shrink...

Yeah, and because they're saving your immortal soul for all eternity, it's worth any price to do so.

 

[danm999]

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

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This guy is specifically an American phenomena in that he is a radical Evangelical trying to convert people who are already Christians to his own denomination.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

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Prolly because American evangelicals have been making the news lately playing doctor in Africa without any medical training, or getting shot to death by arrows haha.

 

[Waluigi's World]

I recognise this guy he was causing similar trouble in Australia last year and got a similar response;

'Shut up please!' US anti-abortion preacher triggers backlash on Australian train

This was the moment a US anti-abortion preacher delivered a sermon on a packed Sydney commuter train on April 1. The preacher Phillip Blair, founder and director of the Torch of Christ Ministries based in Los Angeles was onboard this packed train as part of the church's missionary work...

www.newsflare.com

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You can get away with that stuff in Australia but do that in Mexico and there's a good chance you end up missing. Incredibly dumb of him.

 

[danm999]

You can get away with that stuff in Australia but do that in Mexico and there's a good chance you end up missing. Incredibly dumb of him.

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As scary as drunk bogans can get I'd take them over the cartel yeah

 

[DorkLord54]

A lot of these people probably consider themselves Christians anyways, seeing Santa Muerta veneration as just another form of saint veneration, so this just makes it even sadder (of course, being an evangelical, he might think all Catholics are non-Christian heretics, so there's that).

 

[mute]

Definitely don't miss these assholes hanging around campus from my college days.

 

[Dehnus]

Oh I didn't actually know that. Makes more sense I guess, but holy shit is it a dumb thing to do in this situation.


Read the country.

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Dumb? Oh yes, but death it's a reward in this case. Says so straight in the text, with quite a bit of supportive text to back it up. In a way Christianity is like a suicide cult! But you need to get others to kill you for converting them, also the more you suffer the more brownie points you get. It's where that victim mentality comes from.


Of course not all Christians behave like this, but there certainly is precedent.

 

[That1GoodHunter]

Context: Live in Mexico

Truly, these people have no idea what shit they are walking into. Mocking people's religion in that sort of joint will get you to "go missing". And when people "go missing" here for fucking with locals... It's usually incredibly brutal, like "you are going to end up as a thumbnail for a shock site" level brutal

 

[maruchan]

Guy is lucky to be alive And not hanging from a bridge.

 

[hateradio]

Can you even imagine a brown person going to the middle of a big US city and trying to tell people how to worship or celebrate their heritage? How is it 2020 and some people still think this is ok to do?

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It doesn't mater what year, what century.

Colonialism is alive and well. (It's basically white supremacy for most places.)

 

[BossAttack]

Can you even imagine a brown person going to the middle of a big US city and trying to tell people how to worship or celebrate their heritage? How is it 2020 and some people still think this is ok to do?

Click to shrink...

Um, I hate to break it to you but that does happen in major US cities. We just ignore them. Though to be fair, they're usually loony Christian preachers.

Some black dude was breaching near the Washington monument the other day about white evangelical, Jesus loves you no matter what, Christianity is a lie. How you gonna burn in hell if you don't stop sinning which includes masturbation and homosexuality or any deviant sexual behavior.

Nobody paid him any mind.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

A lot of these people probably consider themselves Christians anyways, seeing Santa Muerta veneration as just another form of saint veneration, so this just makes it even sadder (of course, being an evangelical, he might think all Catholics are non-Christian heretics, so there's that).

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Hilarious, as Catholics pretty much see all Protestants (at least historically speaking) as heretics, and they came first as far as Christianity is concerned.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

Can you even imagine a brown person going to the middle of a big US city and trying to tell people how to worship or celebrate their heritage? How is it 2020 and some people still think this is ok to do?

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Sure, have you not heard of the Black Israelites before?

 

[anamika]

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

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Nope, not all religions. It's in Christianity because it's in their religion - to convert and spread the word because Jesus wants it.

 

[gcwy]

Ah it's this clown

 

[entrydenied]

Will never understand why Christian Zealots feel the need to worry about who other people worship or have sex with.


According to the Bible doesn't their God deal with all of that shit in the end? Why bother yourself with it if it supposedly works itself out when it's all over?

Click to shrink...

Sometimes sone people are just judgemental bastards and the Bible appeals to them as a means to exercise that part of their character. " I just want to save all of you?! Don't you want to join your Christian friends and family in Heaven?!"

Don't know why you're phrasing this as an American thing. Trying to spread the word of a religion is basically a core tenet to any religion.

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Not really. The only religion I see wanting to convert and recruit members are Evangelical Christians. Like no one has asked me to go their "temple, mosque or shrine "to be saved" or "helped", except Evangelical Christians, despite living 36 years in a multi religions country.

 

[microtransaction]

Fuck religion

 

[Aurica]

Santa Muerte sounds super metal.

 

[Agnostic]

This is basically an everyday, or at least weekly, experience if you live in a big city like Chicago.

 

[Kernel]

"God is love!"

*eternally tortures anyone who doesn't worship him the right way*

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The best part is how God is broke and always seems to need money from his worshippers.

 

[Deleted member 31817]

Nope, not all religions. It's in Christianity because it's in their religion - to convert and spread the word because Jesus wants it.

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Mate have you looked at other religions lol.

Just because American evangelicals are the most obnoxious about it in the present day doesn't mean that spreading religion wasn't a core tenet of mostly every religion.

 

[anamika]

Mate have you looked at other religions lol.

Just because American evangelicals are the most obnoxious about it in the present day doesn't mean that spreading religion wasn't a core tenet of mostly every religion.

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Where in Jainism, Sikhism, Budhism, Hinduism etc. does it say that spreading religion is their core tenet? Have you heard of followers of these religions invading other lands to spread their religion, have missionaries spread their religion, preach to convert others to their religion, do things like the guy above is doing?

It's just the Abrahamic religions and there too mostly Christianity.

 

[Akira86]

Mate have you looked at other religions lol.

Just because American evangelicals are the most obnoxious about it in the present day doesn't mean that spreading religion wasn't a core tenet of mostly every religion.

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sounds like you've been Occidentally poisoned. Not every religion is Christian or evangelist. Some faiths only accept you if you're called, they don't go out looking for you.

Because they don't want everybody, they ain't got time for all that. Only some want to be leading large flocks of men and use religion as a tool of control rather than interfacing with the world around them.

 

[Deleted member 31817]

Have you heard of followers of these religions invading other lands to spread their religion, have missionaries spread their religion, preach to convert others to their religion, do things like the guy above is doing?

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Yes

Buddhist missionaries predate Islam by a couple hundred of years as just one example.

 

[anamika]

Yes

Buddhist missionaries predate Islam by a couple hundred of years as just one example.

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Alright, what about Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism then? Hinduism is rather exclusionary as far as I know. One has to be born a Hindu. No converts accepted. So why would spreading their religion be their core tenet?

 

[Deleted member 31817]

Alright, what about Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism then? Hinduism is rather exclusionary as far as I know. One has to be born a Hindu. No converts accepted. So why would spreading their religion be their core tenet?

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I said mostly every religion, not every single one.

First it was just christianity, then it was just abrahamic religions, now it's just those and Buddhism (wow 4 of the largest religions what a coincidence). Should probably stop moving the goal posts before I bring up other religions lol.

 

[Akira86]

Sounds like you're ignorant to religious struggles outside of the west if you think missionaries don't/didn't exist in ot

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I dont...recall saying that.

 

[subpar spatula]

Alright, what about Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism then? Hinduism is rather exclusionary as far as I know. One has to be born a Hindu. No converts accepted. So why would spreading their religion be their core tenet?

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Spreading of religion is a tricky thing to unfold. People actively spread religion through various conscious and subconscious ways. The world itself would be way different religiously if people were given the chance to accept certain religions by choice without repercussion. I would suspect any kind of religion that still exists that doesn't accept converts or markets itself or even tries to get outside attention is either incredibly small or doesn't exist anymore. Religion is just another kind of risk war on secondary board on top of the original.

Yes, not everyone is that guy at the street corner with a megaphone, but it isn't wrong to say that religion and its followers are designed to get more followers. They cannot really, though, like, imagine if the Pope asked for a Christian army in this day and age to do his bidding. That wouldn't work well on the world stage.

 

[Deleted member 31817]

I dont...recall saying that.

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Yeah I posted it by accident and deleted it. Still wild that you accused me of being Western focused when this thread devolved into people ignoring religions that aren't Christianity though.