Spreading the word to Fundimentalist Christians?

[nekk]

Hi, my name is Nic, the newbie 15 year old here, and I have been enjoying myself at these forums for a bit, and I have learned much about the loving touch of His Noodly Appendage. My father is a fundamentalist Christian, and he has me going on a youth trip to Disney World (yay! ) with a group of fundamentalist Christian kids (boo! ). They are probably going to realize I am not a Christian somewhat early on in the trip, and chaos WILL ensue. I would like to know, would it be a bad idea to evangelize the love of the FSM to some of these poor, unsaved souls? Or would they not pick up on it? They aren't the smartest kids, and they are very much brainwashed, so I dunno how effective His word would be in their mind.

Thank you, more seasoned Pastafarian evangelists, for taking the time to teach me about spreading His love.

Questions about my father and his Churchplace are accepted, also, if anyone is interested :)

[Edd]

Just because you will have a captive audience doesn't mean you have to preach to them. That is actually one of the aspects of other religions I dislike most. Pastafarians, in general, cultivate a 'live and let live' approach. Be proud of who you are but don't mock others unnecessarily; they should be able to enjoy the trip as much as you do even if they happen to believe in something as silly as a creator that intentionally made the world the way it is.

[nekk]

Just because you will have a captive audience doesn't mean you have to preach to them. That is actually one of the aspects of other religions I dislike most. Pastafarians, in general, cultivate a 'live and let live' approach. Be proud of who you are but don't mock others unnecessarily; they should be able to enjoy the trip as much as you do even if they happen to believe in something as silly as a creator that intentionally made the world the way it is.

I understand, but I fear that they will try and do the same to me. In this situation, I would like to present my views in the same manner they present theirs. I suppose "evangelizing" isn't the correct term, more like "defending".

[DavidH]

You have a very fine line to tread here, Nekk, it would test the skills of a professional diplomat.
The way I have often played it is: joke about their religion and the FSM. But lightly. They will want to be serious, but nobody likes to come across as a spoilsport or humourless. If you get it right you can keep them joining in your joke, unwilling to spoil the party, and take them further along the road of irreverence than they really want to go.
This has often worked for me, but not always, and it could backfire on you.
However you play it, I reckon you won't go far wrong if you can keep it lighthearted. Edd is so right about that.
Good luck!

[Cardinal Fang]

I'd personally go with "if you don't tell me about your religion, I won't tell you about mine". If they still can't resist, then go for it - they opened the door, all you have to do it follow their cues - and have fun. They tend to work out very quickly it just ain't worth it.

CF

[Ubi Dubium]

Welcome Nic.

On a trip like this, I'd advise you to tread very carefully. At 15, on this trip you are dependent on the chaperones to look out for your well-being, and to get you safely back home. And I will assume that the adults are also fundamentalists, and might not take kindly to your spreading the Good Word about His Noodliness. If that's not the case, and the adults are not fundies, I might have different advice.

I'd recommend caution and tact here. If you evangelize, especially early in the trip, I'd envision a long miserable trip for you at the very least. If they are the crazy sort, they might even decide that they can't have you along for the rest of the trip. I've heard of such things happening. Dont risk it.

If the subject of your beliefs comes up, say that it's private, and you don't care to discuss it. You can let them have the full blast of the Noodly Goodness once you are safely home. Except that, whatever you say may get back to your dad, and you haven't told anything about how understanding he is or isn't. You are still going to be dependent on your parents for several years at the very least, it's best if those years can be tolerable.

[nekk]

Thank you, everyone, for the great advice! I will keep it in mind while I am on my trip, and I will try to have a good time, despite religious differences :)

I will be away from tomorrow to about 3 days later, but I will try and remember to post back here letting you know if anything happened :)

--Nic

[nekk]

Ahoy! Just returned from me trip, and I must say it was great fun, once I got past the religious brainwashing :)

Only a few people engaged about my laptop screensaver, the FSM in all His glory, and nothing got too out of hand (yay!).

My favorite religion related moment was when a youngin', probly 13 or so, was caught throwin' a penny into a fountain and makin' a wish fer sum good luck. Th' youth couns'ler scolded him for his "Superstitiousness" for what seem'd to be about 5 minutes at th' least, sayin' that throwin' pennies in a fountain doesn't do any'thin fer anybody, and it is a waste o' time and energy. They then joined th' rest o' th' group, an' proceeded to pray that everyone in the park that day would get saved!

Also, I was a bit disappointed in the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride... I di'nt see His Noodlyness anywhere!

But, overall, it wasn't a bad trip, and I had a good time (even tho' it was a bit cold fer some of the rides ther, splash mountain was cert'inly one of 'em! So cold! :S )

[ET, the Extra Terrestrial]

My favorite religion related moment was when a youngin', probly 13 or so, was caught throwin' a penny into a fountain and makin' a wish fer sum good luck. Th' youth couns'ler scolded him for his "Superstitiousness" for what seem'd to be about 5 minutes at th' least, sayin' that throwin' pennies in a fountain doesn't do any'thin fer anybody, and it is a waste o' time and energy. They then joined th' rest o' th' group, an' proceeded to pray that everyone in the park that day would get saved!

Epic facepalm moment, there. I wonder if the youth counselor fostered (or will foster) a belief in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy in his or her own offspring, or how he/she feels about having such superstitions dumped on him/her by his/her own parents. It never ceases to amaze me how the rules only apply SOME of the time.
Glad to hear you had fun, Nekk, and hopefully you'll be a regular around here going forward! Happy Monkey!

[DavidH]

Good news, nekk, well played. The annoying thing to me is that the youth counsellor was IMO quite right about the coins thing.

Glad you had a good time, have a happy monkey.

[bacon]

Many times the people who operate the fountains clean the change out and donate the proceeds to charity. So, sometimes it does do some good.

[nekk]

Thanks everyone for responding :D

I kinda have a noob question I was wondering about... What is "Monkey"? I assume it is a holiday? I thought the holiday was called holiday :x

[TwistedSister]

Thanks everyone for responding :D

I kinda have a noob question I was wondering about... What is "Monkey"? I assume it is a holiday? I thought the holiday was called holiday :x

I had the same question when I first joined. If I have this right, we say Happy Monkey to include all the Holidays this time of year and not just Christmas since some of us do not celebrate Christmas.
I am sure someone out there can explain it better.

[Ubi Dubius]

On Pharyngula two years ago, a godbot commenter said, "Until then, happy monkey! (or what ever non Christmas evolution people say) ". It has spread from there.