Posted on 03/14/2018 6:29:55 PM PDT by marshmallow
The two terms are essentially synonymous. "Proselytism /ˈprɒsəlɪˌtɪzəm/ is the act of attempting to convert people to another religion or opinion."
False. Don't use a secular dictionary to define a religious term as used by a religious body.
Here is the definition given by the famous Jesuit priest, Fr. John Hardon, in his Catholic Dictionary:
PROSELYTIZE. Originally to convert someone from one religion to another, either by bringing a person to full acceptance of the new faith and ritual or at least sympathy with it. The more common meaning, however, is to induce people to change their religious affiliation by using unfair and even unscrupulous means. (Etym. Greek proselytos, to convert to Judaism; literally, one who has arrived.)
It’s not a religious term and is universally used. Just because some catholics coined a made up arbitrary meaning to a very common word, to be used only within the confines of one church, doesn’t change the real meaning of the word.
When Jesus looked at St. Peter and said “You are my Rock”, I’m pretty sure proselytism is what he had in mind.
“It’s not a religious term and is universally used.”
IT IS A RELIGIOUS TERM as we are talking about how a religion uses it. For crying out loud what part of reality are you missing?
“Just because some catholics coined a made up arbitrary meaning to a very common word, to be used only within the confines of one church, doesn’t change the real meaning of the word.”
Read this carefully: Many Jews use it this way too. So do many Eastern Orthodox. http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles2/MathewesGreenProselytize.php So do many Protestants. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/lutherans-warn-vatican-against-simpler-conversions/2013/01/23/81876d8a-6597-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html?utm_term=.9d2814e1e39e So do many Hindus. Here’s how one Hindu organization puts it: “Predatory proselytism is a term we use at the Hindu American Foundation to describe various unethical methods used in the attempt to gain converts. An ethical conversion is born of genuine faith, belief, study and/or religious experience that creates a true commitment to the new faith.”
So, we see that you are wrong again and again. You were wrong about what the word meant in the context used. You were wrong about it being some sort of exclusively Catholic term used only in the Catholic Church. What will you get wrong next?
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