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10 passengers we love to hate: Day 9 -- passengers who try to convert you
Here we are on the ninth day of the "passengers we love to hate" series. Today's pick is the enthusiastic proselytizer who desperately wants to convert you to his or her religion. Far more than merely wasting the flight attendant's time or hogging the baggage claim area, this brand of annoying passenger will question your morality, insist you are going to Hell (pictured here) and proudly proclaim they have all the answers.
Now let me just say that I feel everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Freedom of religion is a basic foundation of any decent society, but that also includes freedom from religion. You don't know me, you don't know what I believe, and you don't have the right to harass me for an entire flight trying to convince me to change to your way of thinking.
I seemed plagued by this sort of passenger. At least once a year I'm stuck next to one of them, usually on a long international flight. Once I had an entire high school group of evangelicals who tag team preached to me all the way from the U.S. to Bulgaria.
My religious friends joke that maybe God is trying to tell me something. The problem with that theory is that these annoying fellow passengers come from all different religions. Maybe God is trying to tell me not to listen to people who claim to know what He wants.
Plus I think God would send some better emissaries. Every member of the Mile High Preaching Club I've had to deal with has been astonishingly ignorant about different faiths, and sometimes pretty shaky about their own. One of those high school evangelicals insisted the Bible was literally true and the only foundation for a proper life, then admitted he hadn't read it all. Please do your homework, and if I want to talk to you about your religion, I'll ask. If I don't ask, read the inflight magazine and show me some respect.
Is that so hard? I have friends whose beliefs range from Orthodox Judaism to hardcore atheism, and not a single one of them tries to convert me, not even when we debate religion. They can disagree with me without calling me evil or ignorant or wrong. I don't take kindly to that sort of treatment, especially when I have jet lag.
Judge not, lest ye be judged. (Matthew 7:1)
Filed under: Airlines, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
john Jun 11th 2009 12:09PM
I have two ways of dealing with evangelicals, the first is when they say I'm going to hell, I reply "yes, in a handbasket" and hurry along, the second way is to reply "I'm Mormon, Have you excepted Jesus Christ as Your personal Savior?"
That usually sends them running.Try it. (btw, I'm Catholic)
Chris Jun 11th 2009 1:40PM
I haven't had one of these on a flight, but unfortunately both my Mom and my brother fall into this category and they drive me absolutely batty! I finally told my Mom, "look, my wife and I are both very happy with our spiritual decisions and we don't have any plans to change them anytime soon"
If I was sitting next to someone on a flight that was acting that way, I would ask them politely to stop and if they didn't, I would very happily put my earphones in and listen to some Gwar or something :-D
M-D Jun 12th 2009 2:36AM
I've always found that the best way to stop the proselytizing passenger (or anyone generally gabby) is to break out the noise-canceling headphones. Obviously you can't use them until the plane reaches cruising altitude, but I've found that just having them around my neck once I'm seated says "I'm putting these on just as soon as I can, so don't even bother."
iomatic Jun 12th 2009 4:50AM
Usually my reply is along these lines:
"Is it your sad, pathetic life that makes you want to push your illusion of religion? Are you feeling inadequate or something? Why don't you find the meaning of your life without others; is it so hard? Good luck with that."
That's usually followed by me shutting the door, or donning my headphones.
Sean McLachlan Jun 12th 2009 8:56AM
Iomatic, I've found that the frequency of sad, pathetic, inadequate people tends to be the same in the religious and secular communities. You don't have to believe in God to think like a fundamentalist.
You all have some great ideas for avoiding conversation, but the problem is they only work with people who have enough social skills to recognize that their conversation isn't welcome. By definition, this brand of annoying passenger chooses to ignore these signals and forges ahead with the preaching. Cranking Gwar, however, now that holds promise. I'll have to try that next time.
John LS Jun 30th 2009 11:30AM
"Mile High Preaching Club," I thought that was hilarious.
Thomas K Jul 26th 2009 2:36AM
One of the reasons I left evangelicalism after 20 years is that they claim to have all the answers. I respect their missionary zeal, but God is so much bigger than they are. For example, to declare that someone is going to hell if they don't believe certain things about the Lord Jesus or the Virgin Mary is wrong. God, not us, decides in His absolute freedom who will be saved and who will not be saved. We humans cannot set limits on God's divine freedom. Yet, evangelicals continue to make grand pronouncements about who will and will not be saved.
This having been said, these conversations may be annoying but maybe you can get something out of them. It was through evangelicalism that I first learned about God and the Bible, but as my understanding of God, His Word, and his Church grew and matured I left evangelicalism and found my spiritual home in the Orthodox Church. We don't know what God's plans are; He may also have plans for you that you do not know about.
-Thomas K
boredwell Aug 5th 2009 4:24AM
Sunglasses is your best defense here, I say. If that doesn't work, pretend your deaf.
The easiest approach is the most honest, tell them: I'm not interested.