My street preachers are more hard-core than your street preachers. They're out there in the Florida sun, with temps in summer reaching 38C. No shade. Long sleeve shirts. And it's freakin hot. And the ones that usually stand on the street corners don't sit either.
We used to have a guy that dressed as Jesus and held up a huge cross all day long. He stood at the entrance to a bridge in the sun and no shade. But he died. Not from street-preaching, or cross-bearing or anything. Just normal natural causes.
Wow! You've found the very place I was talking about in the shopping centre of Birmingham. I have to walk close by to get between train stations. There is a big bookstore within yards, which puts me off going there too often. On one occasion a lone woman evangelist and the Muslims were trying to drown each other out. In the image it looks like the beards are being told to tone it down a touch. At this time of the year it's going to get even worse because the German Christmas market has just opened and the area becomes a magnet for street preachers.
I travel around Birmingham centre reasonably often. One time (last year?) there was a bloke walking around tied to a cross with a couple of other geezers dressed as Roman soldiers. Wankers.
Ah! Waterstones bookshop! Difficult to walk past...
I have NO BELIEF in the existence of a God or gods. I do not have to offer evidence nor do I have to determine absence of evidence because I do not ASSERT that a God does or does not or gods do or do not exist.
We had one set up in a local park a few weeks back. Had a loudhailer. Didn't have the necessary permit from the local council and simply ignored the ranger's instructions to desist.
The council greenkeeper turned on the inground sprinklers. Hillarity ensued.
Religious traditions are the fault lines along which societies fracture when placed under stress. -- Sam Harris
The Serpent wrote:We had one set up in a local park a few weeks back. Had a loudhailer. Didn't have the necessary permit from the local council and simply ignored the ranger's instructions to desist.
The council greenkeeper turned on the inground sprinklers. Hillarity ensued.
solazy wrote: I am talking about the centre of Birmingham. This is the hotspot of religion in the UK. It is not unusual to find Christian evangelists and Muslims yelling out at passers by and only yards away from each other. It's like a fevered sales pitch.
That credulity should be gross in proportion to the ignorance of the mind that it enslaves, is in strict consistency with the principle of human nature. - Percy Bysshe Shelley
^^Hey it's Tim the Enchonta! No street preachers or demonstrators of any kind up here. We have people ringing bells for the Salvation Army. That's as hardcore as it gets. I've encountered street preachers when living in Boston though, and there's always one or three...dozen in NYC when I visit. I usually just ignore or say as little as possible until they leave me alone.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
We have a couple of Bible waving nutjobs who shout at passers by in the shopping precinct. Everybody ignores them except for the occasional tramp who will stop to yell drunken insults back at them. At weekends there is also sometimes a couple of local Ahmadiyya muslims peacefully standing by a table of pamphlets. They don't bother anyone but wait for people to approach them. By the station you have the JW's politely offering Watchtower copies. All in all, reasonably civilised. I just side step them all. I don't have the time or patience to argue with that type.
That credulity should be gross in proportion to the ignorance of the mind that it enslaves, is in strict consistency with the principle of human nature. - Percy Bysshe Shelley
Japan doesn't really do public religion. Occasionally you'll see some kind of Christian group standing outside a station with a flag or poster or something, but the acolytes usually just stand there holding a copy of the book that they are pushing, waiting to be approached. By contrast, I was in Korea a few weeks back and I went out in Itaewon in Seoul. It's a very bustling nightlife district with bars, clubs, restaurants of every variety and the red light district that used to cater to the soldiers form the nearby American base. (Now closed I believe.)
A Korean man, toting a bible, was walking among the crowds of Friday night hedonists bellowing, in English, about lakes of fire, burning torture for eternity, repent, all the rest of it. Real hell fire and brimstone stuff, at a deafening volume and in a pretty aggressive tone.
The blank faced entitlement to bellow vile threats to people in the street that this fellow projected was just symptomatic of the corrosive effects of true faith on both the reasoning and social skills of individuals thus ensnared.
solazy wrote: Wow! You ve found the very place I was talking about in the shopping centre of Birmingham. I have to walk close by to get between train stations. There is a big bookstore within yards which puts me off going there too often. On one occasion a lone woman evangelist and the Muslims were trying to drown each other out. In the image it looks like the beards are being told to tone it down a touch
All that area is completely pedestrianised which makes it ideal for street preachers. But they generally will not engage you unless you do first unlike the chuggers who have to because they want your money
A MIND IS LIKE A PARACHUTE : IT DOES NOT WORK UNLESS IT IS OPEN
What's a chugger? I thought a chugger was someone who guzzled their beer.
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
It is an acronym for charity muggers. These are people working for charities that try to entice the public to join them by making small direct debit monthly payments to them
A MIND IS LIKE A PARACHUTE : IT DOES NOT WORK UNLESS IT IS OPEN
"There are two ways to view the stars; as they really are, and as we might wish them to be." - Carl Sagan "If an argument lasts more than five minutes, both parties are wrong" unknown Self Taken Pictures of Wildlife
T'here's a regular Watchtower stand* near Uni, but that's about it for street preachers in my area.
*They hand out flyers, asking if you've heard about Jesus/End of Days, etc, but don't actively preach once you've made it clear you're not interested.
"Respect for personal beliefs = "I am going to tell you all what I think of YOU, but don't dare retort and tell what you think of ME because...it's my personal belief". Hmm. A bully's charter and no mistake."
solazy wrote: Wow! You ve found the very place I was talking about in the shopping centre of Birmingham. I have to walk close by to get between train stations. There is a big bookstore within yards which puts me off going there too often. On one occasion a lone woman evangelist and the Muslims were trying to drown each other out. In the image it looks like the beards are being told to tone it down a touch
All that area is completely pedestrianised which makes it ideal for street preachers. But they generally will not engage you unless you do first unlike the chuggers who have to because they want your money
Yes, that place also used to be a chugging hotspot and I remember getting involved in a heated argument with one of them once. Remember that the preachers are also after your money, but not in the direct debit sense. Nobody should ever divulge their bank account or telephone details, but vulnerable people do so unfortunately. I guess any part of a major city is a nightmare. While Birmingham is a great city that corner of New Street and High Street is to be avoided. While walking through a pedestrianized zone in another town I was told I would burn in hell if I did not believe in God. I reported that incident to the council but It probably fell on deaf ears. This begs the question as to what is burning in hell? Is it my body, after cremation? Shouldn't be. Is it my soul? But that isn't combustible. So what are they talking about?
It's the 'Everlasting Life' crap they are on about. First they prey on the gullible's fear of dying, then once they've convinced them of the nonsense that you can live forever, then they hit them with Heaven & Hell rubbish (but we can make it all better if you give us money).
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I have NO BELIEF in the existence of a God or gods. I do not have to offer evidence nor do I have to determine absence of evidence because I do not ASSERT that a God does or does not or gods do or do not exist.
The local elim is out a lot where I live. Two bright young women approached me and offered to pray for my leg to be healed. Problem, no probs with my legs, I have issues elsewhere that cause limping as a symptom.
I was quite polite, they were cheerful and smiling, but it made me think, they are not thinking about what they are doing and why something may look as it does.
Are street preachers misunderstanding reality and trying to impose faulty myths?
"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"