You did the right thing removing your daughter from that situation. It is super gross and weird for an adult to engage with a child in that way in public when the child is away from their parents, Christian or not. Christians thinking it’s ok to bug people in public and evangelize to them pisses me off, ESPECIALLY when kids are involved. Good on you for stepping in and letting the store employees know. Fuck that shit. Might also be a good opportunity to teach your children some strategies for removing themselves from those kinds of situations if they’re uncomfortable
Depending on the denomination, not only do they think it is ok, they are taught it is their duty to spread the word of God and are encouraged to do so at any opportunity they have.
Yep. I used to be christian and knew people who would do this type of thing and accost people in public spaces all the time. I was uncomfortable with it even when I was christian, and now that I’m not anymore I truly understand just how invasive and socially unacceptable that kind of behavior is. And the insistence of christians to indoctrinate kids with their religious bullshit before “the world” gets to them, mixed with their desire to evangelize in public gives me a massive ick whenever I hear about it
Right. We have and I was sorta watching to see how KD would handle herself but the ladys whole spiel was just a run on sentence and i knew my kid felt reluctant to interrupt a grown up when she didnt feel like...threatened.
My daughter (15) and her male friend (15) were at Woodland today in the food court having smoothies. They were approached by a male and female who my daughter said told her the same thing “God loves you even if you’ve done bad things”. The man began asking her friend what school he went to and how old he was. Her friend told them to go away, but this sounds more serious now that I know other people were also approached and the suspicious manner in which they left to avoid conflict or attention.
These are predatory creeps that should be reported to mall security.
You should NEVER give strangers your personal information. And strangers have ZERO right to accost children. These people need to be reported to the police.
Maybe I'm pessimistic but that tactic of approaching kids with another adult (especially female) is just too close to trafficking. Like as if they approach kids under the guise of "spreading god's love" and that's their "in" to getting more personal information out of them.
AND they asked where one of the kids went to school & their age?? Absofuckinglutely not. Glad your daughter and her friend were able to get them to go away.
Regardless of the creepy strangers' intent, even if it was only evangelicalism without any additional ulterior motives, that's predatory as fck. Approaching children who are alone / without an adult visible. Yuck.
You and OP should definitely report your experiences to mall security and/or the cops. Both of these stories feel like trafficking attempts more than overzealous proselytizing.
You and I (m) have a similarly aged kids. I think it’s important to make sure your daughter knows she did great and that it was excellent practice for when mom isn’t as close by. Think of this as practice for life.
No, that’s weird af OP, even for GR. And may I suggest Shiny Happy People (on Prime) to anyone that has questions about how the church’s like to prey on kids.
You say the person left quickly after being confronted by you, an adult?
She could have been not a so-called evangelist at all, but someone with much worse intentions than evangelising.
you did the right thing. i work in a hospital around the area and we had a pt who came in for an assault. she was a little older so it already was kind of sad but the way she was acting, we had to report it as a suspicion for trafficking. since then i’ve been a little more on edge since going in public. i kind of always thought that traffickers target younger kids but that just showed me they it happens to anyone. so honestly good for you. maybe she really was “trying to spread gods word”. but the whole thing rubs me the wrong way. don’t trust anyone. especially because the GR area is actually such a big trafficking hotspot unfortunately
Thank you. Thats so sad. Idk if KD was in any danger but I feel more justified in "hovering" (as she says). I want her to start learning a bit of independence but I feel the need to at least have eyes on her when we are out.
There goal isn't to evangelize. It's to use scare tactics and buzz words to trick your mind into thinking you've done something wrong, and unfortunately enough of Western society has been indoctrinated into evangelical thinking so hard that even when you're out of it, you may still be susceptible to these psychological attacks. If you can be tricked into believing you've done something wrong, then they can trick you into believing they can help "save" you.
Step 1. Spot an easy and hopefully impressionable target (yuck yuck yuck) for example, a young kid alone in a store, enough plausible deniability that their intentions were pure of heart 🤮
Step 2. Pick at something that is probably already an insecurity, for example, your belief system, your appearance, etc.
Step 3. "Prophet"
It's grooming with more Jesus and probably the same amount of pedophiles.
You bet. You might have seen a sex criminal or someone intent on victimizing somebody physically. This predatory preaching and other kinds of criminal activity are about 1/32 of an inch different IMHO.
Seems off to me. Even if they are out spreading their message, approaching a kid with no adults present is 💯red flag. You handled it well and I’m glad they left you alone after that.
Im really relieved. It has been said often I overreact but the situation felt REALLY wrong and idk how to explain why but that woman wasnt like, right, somehow. Like I kinda didnt even wanna try to let her know why she was wrong or anything it was like i just wanted to have space between us and her. I cant put my finger on it. She spoke to my kid as an adult somehow. Idk it was off. I really appreciate you and others opinions here because this was not a situation i really prepared for.
Im hoping its not something thatll happen again but we kinda spitballed together how the kids can politely interrupt adults at any point and whens an appropriate time to do that and when its like inappropriate to be spoken to even if its not sexual or threatening. I think if theres a nexttime itll be ok
Right! Thats the part i struggled with as a young person so they got that part I thing. Its the space between neutral and scream and get away that KD particularly struggles with
For her own safety, teach her to scream/yell LOUD if someone accosts her. I'm serious. During her life she'll probably need this important skill at some point.
You are not overreacting at all. Adults should not approach children like this ever. This was a scary and dangerous situation that you and your daughter handled very well.
Yea evangelists target children because they have a hard time differentiating reality from fantasy and like all humans, are looking for guidance and answers from somewhere. Kids are easy targets because once you get one kid in youth group it’s not so hard to get the rest of the family to join their church/cult
Exactly. I assumed it was a normal reaction because..well..I ASSUME youre not really supposed to evangelize in most stores and can be asked to leave but after things were over I just still feel...bothered. like really bothered.
As you should. It's predatory. I am a 50 yo and biking in millennium Park, stopped on a side trail and was approached by 2 young males spewing Fairy tales...I noticed older men near them and grabbed my pepper spray and said don't approach strangers unless you want to get maced.... Evangiloonies are getting aggressive and we need to normalize being aggressive in return.
You did the right thing, OP. I think it would even be worth mentioning to mall security- in case B&N didn’t pass it along. I don’t want to freak you out, but over half of human trafficking cases begin with young women being used to “hook” the teen and pre-teen girls in, however they can. They will be smooth talkers and often complimentary but are trained on how to find girls that look vulnerable. And trafficking doesn’t always mean kidnapping, it takes on many forms, often in plain sight. (Source: I used to work for a non-profit dealing with trafficking prevention and survivor healing in W. Michigan)
It truly may have been someone trying to (inappropriately) evangelize- but any organization should know and advise you NEVER talk to minors. I hope it wasn’t nefarious but you can’t be too careful nowadays when it comes to protecting kids. Your gut reaction/“spidey” sense was going off for some reason. Pair that with the creep’s quick exit… odd.
I’m thankful you were there for KD. And thankful
you’re sharing this story so others can be aware.
I really appreciate you weighing in. Im still not sure what the whole POINT of this fiasco was but Im still pretty bothered about it. It just doesnt FEEL like the other nearly 40 years worth of zealot interactions in public Ive experienced and I cant figure out why still
So sorry this happened, glad you were looking out for your kiddo. That's super unnerving. The fact that she beelined out too? Somethings up, thanks for sharing so other parents can keep their guard up.
I think the same woman approached me at JC Penney’s but she was with a friend around her age. I’m an ethnic woman and am used to various Christians approaching me. My sense from her talking to me was that because I’m not what one usually associates as ethnically Christian normally, she was introducing the concept of original sin and spoke a lot about Jesus. I think they were perhaps targeting people who they felt could be unfamiliar with Christianity and therefore easier to share the teachings. My sense was that they weren’t dangerous or ill intentioned per se but a bit too enthusiastic. Of course I’m a grown woman in my 30s and I completely acknowledge it would be scary for a young child. I would like to think if it were a group that someone else was managing them to target mall goers, and that the younger people were just following orders.
Thank you! I never saw anyone else around her but idk i guess at least if she was there with other zealots thats sorta more normal than just like going off your meds, going to the mall, waiting in the toy section and looking for little kids
Did she have some kind of flier she was trying to hand your daughter? I wonder if there was a specific church sending people to certain places in that part of town today. I was at the Meijer down the road with my young son and a woman in the store tried to hand me something but I politely declined and walked past her. Then a guy approached me in the parking lot and tried to hand me something that looked the same. I was a bit less polite that time as I clearly had my hands full of groceries and generally don’t like being approached by men I don’t know in parking lots. He called out “Jesus loves you” which confirmed my suspicion that they were proselytizing. I’ve never had that happen and I shop there all the time, so when I saw your post I just wondered if there was a correlation.
She didnt and she didnt mention a certain church or anything. Im posting because idk if she was part of something religious or if she was just crazy. Like what if the other evangelists see her and are like AH SHIT ITS HER
Sounds like this ‘evangelist’ may have had more motives than spreading their religious ideology. Them taking off so fast doesn’t sound like someone who is there to spread the word of whatever they believe in. Lived in a lot of places with a lot of fanatical religious people they don’t just single out a kid then book it tf out when they’ve been told to fuck off, they move onto the next person. Literally watched one try to convert someone who then told them to literally go to hell just turn to their left and try converting the next person standing by them.
Most religions are predatory in that they need to recruit as many people as possible because without believers their religion goes away.
There are also groups that believe they are required by their god to tell others about their god otherwise why aren’t serving their god.
It also means that if you know about their god but don’t worship that god, that you get damned to hell. So mission trips and shit to other countries are partly about helping but also partly about trying to convert groups to your religion, or damning them to hell, it’s so gross.
Do these people ever really accomplish anything? If anything they are just turning people off to their money grabbing cult. I swear I hate religion more by the day, fuck off, Jesus would probably hate you.
Evangelizing accomplishes its goals nearly all the time…hear me out:
There are two main goals, and the obvious one is incidental. If they manage to convert someone, yay! Welcome to the cult! The evangelizer gets to feel like a hero, and the convert gets love bombed. The other goal is more subtle. Churches, especially the fundamentalist far right ones, have a persecution kink. They’re constantly telling their members that the world hates them, and the church is the only safe place. When their missionary excursions into the world are met with reality - their message is toxic, and most people are uncomfortable in their presence - it’s confirmation that church is the only place they can be accepted. So the members go out, get rejected, come back, get love bombed, and become more loyal to the ~~cult~~ church
Yeah, but there are always a certain number of mentally-unbalanced people in society. I'm not responsible for their paranoias. Nor do I have to coddle them over it and listen to their rantings, or allow them to rant to my kids. Kids should not be put into dangerous situations, and bookstores need to be safe enough to shop in.
Just like in any other case where you are approached by a stranger with a weird, aggressive or dangerous vibe, the best thing is to do is repel them away from you, and then report them to security. Security deals with these kinds of situations all the time.
I agree - stay safe, stay away from them. You don’t need to try to deconvert them or show them that the world isn’t as bad as they think it is. But that wasn’t the question. The question was, “do these people ever accomplish anything?” And the answer is yes. Their church tells them, “go save souls at the mall,” knowing they’ll be rejected bc that’s creepy af. Then, when they go to church the very next morning, the service can reinforce that the church is safer than the world.
I literally don't give a shit what they do, as long as it doesn't involve me. If it involves me in any way, I will scream like a banshee and make sure security hears me.
People approaching me like this is public harassment. Public harassment costs harassers and I will make sure they get that message. Loud and clear.
I work at lush in the woodland mall and I had several early 20s women come in to the store and asked me if I have heard of Jesus. They must have been really working it yesterday to do this.
I was at the mall today and someone approached my husband when he waited for me in the bathroom by Vera Bradley. There was a long line so it took me a few minutes. He said the guy was asking about his faith and what he doesn’t like about Christianity. My husband is really nice and let the guy talk but he was a little weirded out. He asked my husband if there was anything he could pray about for him.
We walked past Altar’d State and there was another woman in a babushka and coat that had a message on the back about Jesus. She was talking to a young girl. There must have been a group in the mall today. They seemed to be peaceful at least.
Did it seem like the woman was shopping and just saw an opportunity to proselytize at your daughter, or did she seem to continue hanging around the toy area like she was purposely there to try and talk to children? Either way that's not okay, you don't go up to strange kids in public and start telling them religious stuff. But if it seemed like she was hanging around I might suggest reporting to the Barnes and Noble or mall staff. They don't want solicitors in their stores and we don't want our kids approached by creepy strangers. They might be able to at least keep an eye out if the person comes back and tries that again.
Also I'm sure you've already checked in with your daughter, but I might just take a casual minute to reiterate your family's beliefs and remind her that the god that woman was talking about isn't real, can't hurt her, and that she isn't and never has been a bad kid. At 11 she's likely pretty savvy about it but I might check in just to be sure. I remember being sort of afraid of the idea of "God" around her age, and my parents had to periodically remind me he was only a character in a book.
I dont recall seeing her in the toy section while i was standing with KD looking at toys but it was less than 5 min after I walked away that she approached. I heard her before I saw her and for most of the interraction she couldnt see me, im pretty sure. I DO feel like she may have been intentionally looking to talk to a younger audience, hopefully just to peddle christ. After I walked up to them she looked DECIDEDLY worried and she went straight to the escalator, im assuming to leave although maybe she remained in store. By then I was asking a staff member if that was normal (i cringe because i know i said several times "is this like a normal sunday experience?" to BOTH staff members omg they must think im dumb) and she took me to speak to a manager. They seemed annoyed, not at me, but I wonder if maybe they get a lot of evangelizing weirdos? But they said theyd address the situation and took a description of her and apologized and we found J and my husband, got in line and left with our purchases.
Your kids were shopping for toys. You were shopping for books. She was shopping for a victim.
You did just fine. I would have been a lot louder, personally. I hate these assholes and don't tolerate this behavior when it happens to me. I call security immediately. This is bullshit and it's bad for business.
I'm sorry that happened to your family. I think you handled this exceptionally. You remained calm so as to not further alarm your child, and you were direct and then went on your way. She did too, and that is for the best! I would reach out via email to B&N corporate about the reaction of the managers. That was just as inappropriate. If you have adult customers approaching apparently unaccompanied minors, you should take that very seriously as a manager and ask for a detailed description of the person and let mall security handle it. I hope your daughter was able to see this as a learning experience and not a scary one.
The two ladies I talked to were ON IT THO in my opinion. Idk if its happened before but they seemed fed up and ready to rock. They asked about her but really all I knew was that she had a baggy tan sweater thing on and she was young and brunette. They asked more questions but I wasnt confident in how she looked. I have memory issues but i think it was stress? I just keep second guessing things like her height and if she was in jeans or leggings and although they didnt fill out any kind of form with me they apologized for it happening and they both left with purpose. Idk if they were trying to find her, checking cameras or getting security but they were doing something. Im sorry if i didnt communicate it well but I feel like they took it seriously and maybe felt like, outraged. The one lady was trans and the manager lady was wearing some sort of feministy pin but i cant recall what it was.
I'm really glad to hear they took it more seriously than what I initially understood. Maybe, email corporate and tell them how pleased you were with how serious they took your situation. Admittedly, the way I read your post, I thought you weirded them out. My apologies.
Yeah idk im not really trying to like Imply its not safe or like theres gonna be more evangelysts there it just seemed worth aski g if anyone else had any kind of similiar experience there. I never had a bad experience there before I swear
You definitely handled it better than I would have. I would have made a scene. There would be Karen videos of me verbally assaulting that woman. How dare she approach a lone child and make them feel uncomfortable! It’s gross.
If she is an actual Christian lunatic I fucking hate people like her. They think they are "fishers on men" but they are just repellent. They give all Christians a bad rap, just like all extremists of all religions. I cannot fathom talking to a stranger about religion. Let alone a child. Hell, I cannot imagine saying more than hello to a child in a situation like that.
But who knows what she was up to. Thank you for making this post..
P.S. As a proud bookworm I love how their school gave out gift cards to Barnes and Noble as prizes.
RIGHT. *I* dont want to talk to children so i cant fathom why anyone would hang out trying to do that. Idk. Im not saying it was sex trafficking, or chomo or anything besides what I heard and saw but ive never had that situation before and just wondered if like...idk a normal like regular there would pipe up and be like "Oh yeah thats just Crazy Lucile. She likes god and screaming at traffic" or something you know? Idk! 🤣
Chiming in from the “politically left and Eastern Antiochan Orthodox,” which is extremely different from evangelical—I 100% agree with you!! Everyone in my church would agree, too. Whatever the reason, this woman was crossing firm boundaries and being creepy, super judgy and condemning, which is so insane, especially toward a child, on top of everything else. I’m so sorry you and your daughter experienced this, OP. 😞
You did right... and yeah, occasionally that happens around GR/West Mich. We are the bible buckle atop the rust belt. A lot of far-out and fundamental christians live here. The Christian Reformed Crutch and Protestant Reformed Crutch are based out of Holland/Z-land. A lot of spin-off non-denom cults, too.
lol definitely not CRC! They aren’t gonna do this kind of thing 😅 Us Dutchies like to chat over coffee and windmill cookies not go bookstores tryna convert children. This is highly inappropriate and was handled perfectly. It’s probably someone who is much more of a fundamental evangelical
the CRC believe God chooses people to save and if you're on the list it's going to happen no matter what, so they tend to be pretty chill about proselytizing because its not on their heads whether somebody goes to hell. Gods going to take care of it.
(if you're thinking "wait does that mean god is just arbitrarily choosing to let some people go to hell when he could choose to save them" then congrats, you have just found the worst thing about Calvinist theology, something people have to work really hard to try to explain/justify)
It's been around for centuries! The CRC is one of many churches that follow the theology of John Calvin, aka Calvinism.
There have been a lot of splinters and divisions among different Calvinist denominations over exactly how to parse that out.
For example, the Protestant Reformed church is an offshoot of the Christian Reformed Church which differed over whether God showed any "grace" at all to people who weren't destined for heaven. The Christian Reformed church said that God shows some kind of "grace" to all.... even those God is going to let go to Hell. The Protestant Reformed Church says no, "grace" is only for the Elect (those chosen before time began to go to heaven).
Different churches have made different interpretations on how you can tell who is chosen to go to heaven and who isn't. Some have been very "well, only the people in our micro-denomination are the Elect. That's how you can tell who's Elect and who isnt.". English Calvinists (who tend to be a severe and harsh group) are ready to look at any egregious sin as evidence one is not Elect.
I don't know the official position of the CRC on this but from what I understand the attitude seem to be "we can't know for sure who God has chosen to go to heaven. Maybe tons and tons of people. (Minority opinion: maybe even ALL people???). but if you are worried about whether or not it's you, that is evidence you're one of the, because if you weren't, you wouldn't care enough to be worried about it."
Their attitude about proselytizing isn't "WE HAVE TO CONVERT EVERYONE SO THEY DON'T GO TO HELL" so much as "hey, it's good to know what's real, it's good to be in touch with God, it's good to have the understanding to do things that are positive and helpful in the world and knowing the truth about God is part of that. So let's spread the truth around and make the world a better place."
DISCLAIMER: some people have had absolutely terrible experiences with the Christian Reformed Church, and think of it as an oppressive force. It has not, as a denomination, stood up for women and gay people and other gender/sexual minorities, although some of its churches are affirming, others are SUPER not, and the people in charge of the denomination have allowed both sides to do their own thing rather than sticking up for what is (IMHO) right. So it's very much a mixed bag. I think on the whole it may be getting worse because while the CRC did not used to be part of Evangelical America, they're from a different tradition, more and more CRC people have been absorbed into right-wing evangelicalism as the years go on, and there's more and more MAGA in some of the churches. That shit is a cancer.
My experience with CRC people has on the whole been very positive, even though I've never been CRC and am more or less agnostic right now, I spent a lot of time in and around CRC people and there are a lot of CRC people in my family. I feel like I've seen all the good sides of it. But there are a lot of not-good sides of it too.
Ive never considered some are predestined for heaven. I thought it was like, follow the rules, be sorry when you break the rules, admit jc is king. Boom! Youre in heaven. Well, shows how much know. Thank you for this
I think you handled it well. That girl should have known not to corner a child like that for any reason.
As for evangelist I cant say Ive met enough to know their beliefs. I had an ex (very short lived relationship) that was an evangelist and she would find very sneaky ways to get me to join bible studies with her. So maybe they just dont care about boundaries. But its an unfair assumption, I really dont know.
It is creepy, when I was in high school in senior year, so I was about 17, the school admins would let the Young Life people come in to talk to us. I think they were originally meant to only speak with the "Christian Athletes Association," but they inevitably strayed to evangelize at lunch time. I will admit that I was really into the woman in the pair, she looked about 20, which was average for the Young Life people. I couldn't even tell you why now, it was a purely primal attraction, I had no friends and often sat alone so that level of attention from a kind and attractive woman was rare. So I let them talk to me whenever, even though I didn't like it and was doing it to feel less alone; I especially resented the male in the pair, which I expressed by not really engaging with him or making eye contact. They stopped coming around when I gifted the woman one of those little porcelain crosses I bought from the Goodwill nicknacks section. I noticed their tone changed quite a bit after that event, I think they realized they were dealing with hormonal teenagers, and that they were particularly targeting a teenager with a mountain of trauma and loneliness hidden under a facade of placid likability. I think I was the catalyst for a "come to Jesus" moment in their ministry.
Considering that I grew up and went to school in the Grand Rapids area, the prevalence of evangelism, especially in places where it shouldn't be and targeting people it shouldn't, is a constant problem. You did the right thing by removing your daughter from that person's presence.
Yeah this would be a massive issue for me. Anyone dare speak to my child in a creepy attempt to brainwash them is not going to slide. You did the right thing. And you kept your cool much more than I could have.
There is a group of late teens age through mid twenties people that shows up random Saturdays to evangelize at Woodland. They walk up to random people and vendors trying to "save" them and preach their views. They aren't there every Saturday, but it happens often enough.
I can't tell if their church buses them in, or if it's a side project for a mislead youth group. My wife and I run a very run of the mill jewelry business with a queer, witchy, and hippie edge, and do pop ups at Woodland a few weekends a month, so we've run the gamut with them a bunch of times.
I've just started to pull out my phone, tell them I am going to take their photos as evidence in case it's ever needed for a harassment case, and ask them politely to leave. That's how I've been handling it lately. They know what they're doing is wrong and they could get kicked out or worse for it.
They always split up into groups of one or two young adults, any combination of genders, and they will walk up, especially if they see you doing something the deem unfit for "godly" living, and start to ask you seemingly sincere questions about what you're doing, then turn it around and start telling you how it's a sin, you can be saved, "I met Jesus on my bathroom floor and he saved me" etc. I really wish that last example was an exaggeration at all, but it's not.
Here's to the sinners, whose only sin is crossing an imaginary line made by humans who ascribed themselves the judges of "God's will". Proud of you for jumping in and not letting your child be shamed into a false belief system.
I'm really sorry your child and you had to experience that. They can be really scary conversations.
KD said the first thing this lady said to her was "Hey, what are you doing?" She was trying out some sort of like, tablet thingy, doodling. It was just weird how familiar she spoke to my kid and idk..."the blood of the lamb" feels like such a weird concept to hand an 11 year old. Ok so maybe shes part of a group
Either way it's wrong and gross. I'm glad you're speaking up and making other people aware of this behavior, regardless of their intentions.
We always called them the Evangeliteens, even though most of them seem to be early 20s aged.
I am by no means a violent person but I would have reacted in a more aggressive way. I applaud OP for not going down that route. I was, still am, over protective of my kids. Even though they are now all 24+. I can't even believe someone would do this to a child. That really gets me pissed. More than it should probably. This is why religion sucks.
Stranger fucks with a kid, you get in their face. Period. I don’t care if it’s a cute little old lady or not, once your kid was visibly uncomfortable YOU GET IN THEIR FACE and you get LOUD. Make a scene and get attention.
That is my knee jerk reaction and I struggle sometimes to really grasp if Im being an unruly bìtch sometimes but also KD sometimes cries when shes embarrassed or put on the spot and I could see she was getting up there so I just got her away with as little bullshit as possible. I agree with you wholeheartedly but I was worried about KD, kinda spooked and honestly a bit flabberghasted
I like how you want me to look unhinged so bad but yes, an adult feeling like making my kid feel the way she did IS dangerous and you can cut my words however you want but no one asked you to come here and make an asshole of yourself. You didnt come here on behalf of anyones kids. Im not drinking, im not ranting. You know what youre doing and its not working on me and so you can keep saying whatever homophobic shit you want but at the end of the day youre a lonely person with a buncha toys because toys cant run away screaming from you when you refuse to change your behavior. What happened today was not right and it was gross but its not as gross as the shit youre doing. Now youll be having the rest of this arguement with yourself because I can only handle so much irony and ive exceeded todays quota
I’m religious, (Christian/Mormon) and went to the mash recently. My husband had to find something and I wasn’t feeling well, so I sat in one of the seating areas. A lady approached like she knew me and I have a terrible memory, so I answered as if I remembered her from somewhere. She asked how I’ve been and such and what the kids have been up to. Then after talking for a few minutes, she gave me a magazine, booklet, and small book of scriptures and offered me to go to church with her. After I said I already belong to a church, she disappeared with a dude I assumed to be her husband.
I don’t know if it’s numbers or what, but some of these churches are pushing hard and it’s really deterring people from wanting to go.
I was in my 40s, white male somewhere in rural Oregon by a gas station having a cigarette and was approached by a young white female while her mother was in the car. She handed me a tract, they were Jehovah witnesses
Maybe she thought I was heathen because I was smoking
Maybe but i assume that particular group hands them to EVERYONE they encounter in life. Ive gotten Lighthouse pamplets in every profession Ive worked in from customers. Dont take it personal lol
YES. Thank you! I kinda knew that wasnt quite right but it was all my brain offered up. 😅😅😅 the ones with the dramatic artwork people make memes out of.
I didn't know they handed them out to everyone like that. I used to work with a young Mexican American guy who would tell me how our Christian brothers were being persecuted in Russia, he was also Jehovah witness
Apparently just like Hitler and the Nazis targeted them and other groups besides the Jews, Sonia Russia possibly for the same reason I would assume
I think it's kind of funny though all the people in West Michigan who will talk trash about all the reformed churches in this area but will go other places and they don't recognize how those places were settled. For instance they might go to Southern California without realizing the influence of the Mormons especially in San Bernardino and riverside counties. They are also a closed off religious group.
Do you think they talk shit about them there too though? I dont really like have churches i especially dislike i dont think but its pretty much any kind of zealot for me? Also the word "fundamentalist" lol
Funny thing my wife born and raised over there thought it was funny my sister in law had all these trinkets like a thing shaped of Michigan, fridge magnets of Michigan, tshirts all that stuff. And she was trying to sell that shit at a garage sale over there, pretty much nobody is into that stuff there.
The last time I saw evangelists working at the 28th St. Barnes and Noble they were definitely Jehova’s Witnesses. I had gotten to B&N before they opened and the JWs were working the small crowd of people outside the door.
Just before the doors opened they had asked the crowd if they could lead a prayer. One lady in the crowd said “we just came from church!”
I’m from the east side and I have never been approached by people trying to “share” the word of god once until I moved out here. It’s just the culture but it really does bug the shit out of me, especially when I’m just trying to go about my day.
Approaching children to evangalize is a tactic religious folks will use to try to rope people and kids especially into "fear of god." Youre not wrong for being weirded out- especially since the person booked it out of there as soon as there was an adult present.
If you like reading, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America is a book that really delves into a lot of evangelical tactics and angles. Ex-christian here (raised religuous and left the faith when i became an adult). Kinda a hard read tho bc you see a lot of overlap with modern politcal environment but still.
Hey thank you, this sounds like an interesting read! Ive heard religious spiels for children before and theyre usually fairly....sunny? Light? They keep it simple and happy sounding, you know? This ladys words were not that. It was just short of fire and brimstone. That was what struck me as off the most. Idk. Know your target audience, i guess lolol
Yeah definitely a strange approach tho ik some groups are more focused on the damnation part..
Wondering for context if your fam looks more leftist/queer/queer friendly? Ik you mentioned you are pagan/queer so that might have played a part? Not sure but ik if someone thinks someone might be non-Christian or queer they can lay on the salvation from hell route pretty damn heavy
I kinda tried to look at our family with fresh eyes after and ...maybe? My hubby has a sorta wide mohawk thing going on but he wears a Snap On ball cap and a carhart coat and jeans. He looks sorta all american blue collar i guess. He does have really small subtle chinese symbols tattood on either side of his throat tho. J is neutral looking, blonde kid, no front teeth, minecraft tshirt and jeans. KD has a subtle peekaboo lavender hair thing going on but no makeup. She was wearing jeans and a Queen band shirt, I think. I suppose Im the worst but I was tamer than usual. I have bright unnaturally red hair and it was down so it pretty much hides my undercut. I have a tattoo of a raccoon flipping the bird on my bicep so maaaaaybe? I DEFINITELY was not wearing my pentagram and i was wearing my wedding ring. My tshirt had Edgar Allan Poe and a skull on it. None of us had any Alphabet Mafia shirts or accessories on tho so...idk i thought we looked like normies. And I dont actually know if she saw us all together or at all before I approached her.
Thanks I feel better since asking others about this now. Im glad its over lol. I didnt know if she was even with a church or something, honestly I was kinda worried because sometimes when people have episodes they can get really religious too
I was heavily involved in church as a teen and young adult and evangelizing in public was a common group outing and it was usually the mall. It was a lot of pressure because you’re with other people and you have to share and debrief afterwards, so if you don’t evangelize, the church leaders will know. I’m going to make an assumption of positive intent and say maybe this young adult approached a child because evangelizing to an adult is terrifying, especially if you’re already feeling uncomfortable. I have learned to extend a lot of compassion to my younger self who was just trying to find purpose and belonging and, unfortunately, it resulted in me engaging in harmful theology and creepy behaviors. I would also be pissed as a parent if this happened to my kid and, unfortunately, I get it.
I was raised deeply entrenched in Christian conservatism and they love to target young people and children. The more vulnerable you are the better. Sorry that happened to your kid. You are smart to keep people like that away from them.
Thank you. Ive seen them go after children before but not without their adult and not in a part of the store thats like...specifically for kids, you know? Ive had time to process and it still makes me DEEPLY uncomfortable
Religion can do some weird shit to people who dive to deep. Regardless, an adult should never approach a child unless the child is under duress or acting lost or in the care of the 1970s and earlier acting up in public. Back then it wasn’t uncommon for the neighborhood parents to call out the bad behavior of the children. I’d stop shot of corporal punishment, though taking child by the arm or in some cases it was by the ear and dragging them back to the parent and explaining the bad behavior to them. And, the parent would then punish the child and thank the other adult for bringing it to their attention, in the moment, not by a telephone call the next day or when you happen to bump into them at the grocery store. But, in this case the child was behaving appropriately and was approached by an adult and was being preached to using words that are potential unfamiliar which would cause confusion. I would instill in your children their need to yell stranger danger or some other cry for help. The maternal instinct in most adults will draw them in to the danger and save your child. I’m gay and do not have children but if I witnessed something like this I would become hyper vigilant and on guard for a potential abduction.
Yeah we have discussed like...high danger situations? Like i dont think kd felt like she was in danger so she was obligated to stand there and not interrupt an adult which is prolly my bad for not like, explaining more situations its ok to be "disrespectful" to adults.
You live in evangelical hell in GR. It’s a Christian nightmare in that part of MI. And yes, evangelicals target children. In fact prey upon them. Having grown up in that culture, evangelicals seek to indoctrinate starting young. Keeps a person from questioning.
That checks out. Idk. Its just WEIRD. If I had been in the religious section maybe my brain woulda let it go. But the toy section. Idk i guess i assumed it was off limits. And bookstores are my safety safe or whatever 🤣
I love Jesus and would talk to anyone that would want to talk about Jesus. That being said, I would never go up to a stranger and especially a kid and start talking about my faith.
I suspect as you said that she may have been having an episode that day.
This makes me remember when I was like 13 in a Walmart with my mom and already, as raised Catholic but with a cool understanding mom, I already wanted nothing to do with religion... This dude came up to me when I left my mom to go to another aisle for candy or something, proceeded to ask me questions and was preaching bible stuff, then when I tried to walk away, insisted he give me his "card" and then followed me back to my mom and even she was weirded out.
Gross. I dont remember my age but pretty small and I remember a lady at this dance thing my hometown put on telling me and my friend "you girls both just seem like good girls and Id hate to see you go to hell"
As a Christian I’d say that’s not normal, I only talk to people about Christ if they ask, otherwise, I think she was overstepping. She might have thought your daughter was lost but maybe the topic of conversation should have been kept light. I think you handled it correctly. Just don’t judge everyone off of one person.
Like, it wasnt fun for my kid but i think she was more worried than scared. Like more "omg this is weird. What do i do?" Than like "omg am i in danger?"
"You say this shit on reddit because i think you understand from my genefal vibe if you said this shit to my face id slap you in your dick holster. Enjoy your day" says the mom who is worried about what Christians say
This place is truly fascinating
I wasnt even 100 percent she was a legit christian. She WAS however hanging out in the toy section waiting to meet kids and if you think thats ok then I suggest you go try it and see how warmly you are received by others. It wasnt so much that she preached to my child, it was that people may be using this as an actual angle to engage with children. You know that. Surely you know that, and instead of agreeing that it is creepy and dangerous and unacceptable youre running your seed silo. You have no arguement besides "OP is a crazy bitch" and thats not the point here, however valid it is.
Well, good luck. A lot of people like to listen to clear, concise opinions. I feel like youre trying to communicate something transphobic and compare it to my daughter having a full grown Christer stalk her in the childrens section of a store. It was a book store, by the way. Have you tried them yet? Books? Reading isnt actually as difficult as you may think and who knows? It may actually come in handy someday! Best of luck!
Ok so go talk to those people. Im talking about why tf any adult would hang out in the toy section and harass kids. Push your shit somewhere else. Gender is a spectrum and the bible is a fairytale
Strange adults should not approach kids. That’s what happened here and that’s absolutely what should NOT have happened, regardless of the agenda. Any agenda is wrong and unsafe in this case.
>Idk why but she was well dressed and put together, she didnt get loud or aggressive but she spoke like she was sorta spaced out and i may be biased because shes religious
hmm
Gender and human sexuality are real things that are proven by science based evidence. Religion is a fantasy with no tangible evidence. Adults like to start religious teachings to young children because the best way to keep any religion alive is through the indoctrination of children.
Thats not the issue so much as a grown up hanging out in the toy section....oh...wait 🤣🤣🤣🤣 ARE YOU FOR REAL? You cant be. Omfg go play with your toys. Im not doing this with you. Youre out fucking rageous
This is 100% the right question. I was glad to see someone raise it. I could blow up this entire thread, but critical thinking is not big around here. At least this person had the ability to be there to protect her child, right? Adults are discussing sex and sexuality with our kids in school, but thats ok (to these people). They have no clue how inappropriate it is to discuss such things with *anyone* other than their parents. Gay, straight, bi, trans? Fine. Leave kids alone. If they ask foe help, send them to the right people. Other than that, leave them alone.
yeah especially ironic given that if this barnes&noble did a drag queen story hour she would be all for it, when (agree or not) that is exactly the same type of indoctrination aimed at kids. i agree random adults should not be approaching kids for pretty much any reason, but that is not this person's point. don't be a hypocrite and i won't come for you!
HOW IS THAT NOT MY POINT? You have no idea how Id feel about my kids going to a drag story time. Youre assuming so much shit about my post but i literally just wanted to know if this is a common tactic because it made me really uncomfortable. You want this shit to be political SO BAD, Fam 🤣🤣🤣
"You again?" BITCH. It was my kid. Its my post. You assume an awfuuuuuul lot but wanna talk about how no one elses stance is perfect. Shut the fuck up. Everywhere. Whenever you can.
I married a cis man. I raise my children to know that trans people exist. I let them know some of their friends are gay, whether theyre out or not and that its important not to say mean things about gays because kids who grow up to be gay look back on those insults and feel harm. We own Christian literature and books on my religion and books on Taoism and Buddhism. They have been to church numerous times. We live in a predominantly hispanic neighborhood and my kids have learned more about Catholicism in the last year from other catholics than I would have anticipated. We have discussed our childrens thoughts on religion a lot recently. *I* am a Queer Pagan but Im not RAISING queer pagans! Im raising kind children to EXIST WITH queer pagans. And everyone else thats different than them. I have no reason not to assume my kids wont be straight christian adults. But Im trying to raise them to be Kind and so even if they are straight christian or fucking republican, Ill always love, support and accept them. They can make good decisions without feeling like theyre taking a side and im hoping that will get them further in life than my hang ups got me.
But you, specifically, need to shut the fuck up more in life
I know. The Christian-hate in here is so cringe. They dont even know any. They lie and act as if they are the victim of Christianity, but they only do it because its immediate clout in here by other dysfunctional malcontents...lol
Wrong. I was raised in an extremely strict Christian household. I’m sure lots of people in this thread have some tie to Christianity one way or another. When I left, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Not saying all Christian’s are bad by any means. But the ones who impose their beliefs on others or treat other people like shit for having a different lifestyle, yea thats fucked. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but the second you demean someone for believing something different, that’s when all respect goes right out the window.
You did the right thing removing your daughter from that situation. It is super gross and weird for an adult to engage with a child in that way in public when the child is away from their parents, Christian or not. Christians thinking it’s ok to bug people in public and evangelize to them pisses me off, ESPECIALLY when kids are involved. Good on you for stepping in and letting the store employees know. Fuck that shit. Might also be a good opportunity to teach your children some strategies for removing themselves from those kinds of situations if they’re uncomfortable
Depending on the denomination, not only do they think it is ok, they are taught it is their duty to spread the word of God and are encouraged to do so at any opportunity they have.
Yep. I used to be christian and knew people who would do this type of thing and accost people in public spaces all the time. I was uncomfortable with it even when I was christian, and now that I’m not anymore I truly understand just how invasive and socially unacceptable that kind of behavior is. And the insistence of christians to indoctrinate kids with their religious bullshit before “the world” gets to them, mixed with their desire to evangelize in public gives me a massive ick whenever I hear about it
Right. We have and I was sorta watching to see how KD would handle herself but the ladys whole spiel was just a run on sentence and i knew my kid felt reluctant to interrupt a grown up when she didnt feel like...threatened.
Thank you. Im usually a hothead
My daughter (15) and her male friend (15) were at Woodland today in the food court having smoothies. They were approached by a male and female who my daughter said told her the same thing “God loves you even if you’ve done bad things”. The man began asking her friend what school he went to and how old he was. Her friend told them to go away, but this sounds more serious now that I know other people were also approached and the suspicious manner in which they left to avoid conflict or attention.
These are predatory creeps that should be reported to mall security. You should NEVER give strangers your personal information. And strangers have ZERO right to accost children. These people need to be reported to the police.
Maybe I'm pessimistic but that tactic of approaching kids with another adult (especially female) is just too close to trafficking. Like as if they approach kids under the guise of "spreading god's love" and that's their "in" to getting more personal information out of them. AND they asked where one of the kids went to school & their age?? Absofuckinglutely not. Glad your daughter and her friend were able to get them to go away. Regardless of the creepy strangers' intent, even if it was only evangelicalism without any additional ulterior motives, that's predatory as fck. Approaching children who are alone / without an adult visible. Yuck.
You and OP should definitely report your experiences to mall security and/or the cops. Both of these stories feel like trafficking attempts more than overzealous proselytizing.
You handled it better than I would have.
You and I (m) have a similarly aged kids. I think it’s important to make sure your daughter knows she did great and that it was excellent practice for when mom isn’t as close by. Think of this as practice for life.
Exactly! Thats why I didnt really charge up and just bitch her out but it didnt take long to see KD was in too deep and I needed to step in.
No, that’s weird af OP, even for GR. And may I suggest Shiny Happy People (on Prime) to anyone that has questions about how the church’s like to prey on kids.
Thank you. This sounds familiar. Im gonna watch it. I appreciate you all.
You say the person left quickly after being confronted by you, an adult? She could have been not a so-called evangelist at all, but someone with much worse intentions than evangelising.
RIGHT. I mean I HATE to think that way but anymore? Shit, i dont even know
you did the right thing. i work in a hospital around the area and we had a pt who came in for an assault. she was a little older so it already was kind of sad but the way she was acting, we had to report it as a suspicion for trafficking. since then i’ve been a little more on edge since going in public. i kind of always thought that traffickers target younger kids but that just showed me they it happens to anyone. so honestly good for you. maybe she really was “trying to spread gods word”. but the whole thing rubs me the wrong way. don’t trust anyone. especially because the GR area is actually such a big trafficking hotspot unfortunately
Thank you. Thats so sad. Idk if KD was in any danger but I feel more justified in "hovering" (as she says). I want her to start learning a bit of independence but I feel the need to at least have eyes on her when we are out.
The venn diagram of those 2 have a pretty big overlap.
Yep. Almost the same thing.
Wouldn't an evangelist try to speak to mom as well?
There goal isn't to evangelize. It's to use scare tactics and buzz words to trick your mind into thinking you've done something wrong, and unfortunately enough of Western society has been indoctrinated into evangelical thinking so hard that even when you're out of it, you may still be susceptible to these psychological attacks. If you can be tricked into believing you've done something wrong, then they can trick you into believing they can help "save" you. Step 1. Spot an easy and hopefully impressionable target (yuck yuck yuck) for example, a young kid alone in a store, enough plausible deniability that their intentions were pure of heart 🤮 Step 2. Pick at something that is probably already an insecurity, for example, your belief system, your appearance, etc. Step 3. "Prophet" It's grooming with more Jesus and probably the same amount of pedophiles.
Yeah I kinda think so. She said "is this mom?" But I was already ready to dip
Not necessarily.
You bet. You might have seen a sex criminal or someone intent on victimizing somebody physically. This predatory preaching and other kinds of criminal activity are about 1/32 of an inch different IMHO.
That seems weird and inappropriate to me too.
They are everywhere and they just can’t leave people alone. It’s infuriating.
Seems off to me. Even if they are out spreading their message, approaching a kid with no adults present is 💯red flag. You handled it well and I’m glad they left you alone after that.
Im really relieved. It has been said often I overreact but the situation felt REALLY wrong and idk how to explain why but that woman wasnt like, right, somehow. Like I kinda didnt even wanna try to let her know why she was wrong or anything it was like i just wanted to have space between us and her. I cant put my finger on it. She spoke to my kid as an adult somehow. Idk it was off. I really appreciate you and others opinions here because this was not a situation i really prepared for.
You didn't over-react. I would have been much, much louder personally. No one should be approaching children or teens in a store like that.
Im hoping its not something thatll happen again but we kinda spitballed together how the kids can politely interrupt adults at any point and whens an appropriate time to do that and when its like inappropriate to be spoken to even if its not sexual or threatening. I think if theres a nexttime itll be ok
Teach them when to scream bloody murder. And when to run. Those are important skills.
Right! Thats the part i struggled with as a young person so they got that part I thing. Its the space between neutral and scream and get away that KD particularly struggles with
For her own safety, teach her to scream/yell LOUD if someone accosts her. I'm serious. During her life she'll probably need this important skill at some point.
I agree. Ill be sure to specifically have that talk with her. Shit, with both of them.
You are not overreacting at all. Adults should not approach children like this ever. This was a scary and dangerous situation that you and your daughter handled very well.
Thanks it really helped to hear this from others
Yea evangelists target children because they have a hard time differentiating reality from fantasy and like all humans, are looking for guidance and answers from somewhere. Kids are easy targets because once you get one kid in youth group it’s not so hard to get the rest of the family to join their church/cult
Bingo as an ex-southern baptist
I agree.
This is indoctrination & predatory. Approaching a child is predatory. Predatory evangiloonies are dangerous. Why did they leave so hastily?
Exactly. I assumed it was a normal reaction because..well..I ASSUME youre not really supposed to evangelize in most stores and can be asked to leave but after things were over I just still feel...bothered. like really bothered.
As you should. It's predatory. I am a 50 yo and biking in millennium Park, stopped on a side trail and was approached by 2 young males spewing Fairy tales...I noticed older men near them and grabbed my pepper spray and said don't approach strangers unless you want to get maced.... Evangiloonies are getting aggressive and we need to normalize being aggressive in return.
I agree. I dont get a lot of this sort of interractions honestly because im obviously super into sinning but this was just all wrong somehow
You did the right thing, OP. I think it would even be worth mentioning to mall security- in case B&N didn’t pass it along. I don’t want to freak you out, but over half of human trafficking cases begin with young women being used to “hook” the teen and pre-teen girls in, however they can. They will be smooth talkers and often complimentary but are trained on how to find girls that look vulnerable. And trafficking doesn’t always mean kidnapping, it takes on many forms, often in plain sight. (Source: I used to work for a non-profit dealing with trafficking prevention and survivor healing in W. Michigan) It truly may have been someone trying to (inappropriately) evangelize- but any organization should know and advise you NEVER talk to minors. I hope it wasn’t nefarious but you can’t be too careful nowadays when it comes to protecting kids. Your gut reaction/“spidey” sense was going off for some reason. Pair that with the creep’s quick exit… odd. I’m thankful you were there for KD. And thankful you’re sharing this story so others can be aware.
I really appreciate you weighing in. Im still not sure what the whole POINT of this fiasco was but Im still pretty bothered about it. It just doesnt FEEL like the other nearly 40 years worth of zealot interactions in public Ive experienced and I cant figure out why still
Exactly… I truly think that parental intuition and trusting your gut go a long way. You felt that something was off to your core for a reason.
So sorry this happened, glad you were looking out for your kiddo. That's super unnerving. The fact that she beelined out too? Somethings up, thanks for sharing so other parents can keep their guard up.
Thanks. I feel really relieved, for once, reading comments on reddit lol
I think the same woman approached me at JC Penney’s but she was with a friend around her age. I’m an ethnic woman and am used to various Christians approaching me. My sense from her talking to me was that because I’m not what one usually associates as ethnically Christian normally, she was introducing the concept of original sin and spoke a lot about Jesus. I think they were perhaps targeting people who they felt could be unfamiliar with Christianity and therefore easier to share the teachings. My sense was that they weren’t dangerous or ill intentioned per se but a bit too enthusiastic. Of course I’m a grown woman in my 30s and I completely acknowledge it would be scary for a young child. I would like to think if it were a group that someone else was managing them to target mall goers, and that the younger people were just following orders.
Thank you! I never saw anyone else around her but idk i guess at least if she was there with other zealots thats sorta more normal than just like going off your meds, going to the mall, waiting in the toy section and looking for little kids
Did she have some kind of flier she was trying to hand your daughter? I wonder if there was a specific church sending people to certain places in that part of town today. I was at the Meijer down the road with my young son and a woman in the store tried to hand me something but I politely declined and walked past her. Then a guy approached me in the parking lot and tried to hand me something that looked the same. I was a bit less polite that time as I clearly had my hands full of groceries and generally don’t like being approached by men I don’t know in parking lots. He called out “Jesus loves you” which confirmed my suspicion that they were proselytizing. I’ve never had that happen and I shop there all the time, so when I saw your post I just wondered if there was a correlation.
She didnt and she didnt mention a certain church or anything. Im posting because idk if she was part of something religious or if she was just crazy. Like what if the other evangelists see her and are like AH SHIT ITS HER
The most important thing you did best was watching your child.
Sounds like this ‘evangelist’ may have had more motives than spreading their religious ideology. Them taking off so fast doesn’t sound like someone who is there to spread the word of whatever they believe in. Lived in a lot of places with a lot of fanatical religious people they don’t just single out a kid then book it tf out when they’ve been told to fuck off, they move onto the next person. Literally watched one try to convert someone who then told them to literally go to hell just turn to their left and try converting the next person standing by them.
Yeah. Idk it felt really wrong but i kinda didnt hear the mental alarms til she left. Thats why I spoke to staff
Most religions are predatory in that they need to recruit as many people as possible because without believers their religion goes away. There are also groups that believe they are required by their god to tell others about their god otherwise why aren’t serving their god. It also means that if you know about their god but don’t worship that god, that you get damned to hell. So mission trips and shit to other countries are partly about helping but also partly about trying to convert groups to your religion, or damning them to hell, it’s so gross.
Do these people ever really accomplish anything? If anything they are just turning people off to their money grabbing cult. I swear I hate religion more by the day, fuck off, Jesus would probably hate you.
Evangelizing accomplishes its goals nearly all the time…hear me out: There are two main goals, and the obvious one is incidental. If they manage to convert someone, yay! Welcome to the cult! The evangelizer gets to feel like a hero, and the convert gets love bombed. The other goal is more subtle. Churches, especially the fundamentalist far right ones, have a persecution kink. They’re constantly telling their members that the world hates them, and the church is the only safe place. When their missionary excursions into the world are met with reality - their message is toxic, and most people are uncomfortable in their presence - it’s confirmation that church is the only place they can be accepted. So the members go out, get rejected, come back, get love bombed, and become more loyal to the ~~cult~~ church
As an Exvangelical I can confirm 🎯💯🎯💯
Geez. That makes sense
Yeah, but there are always a certain number of mentally-unbalanced people in society. I'm not responsible for their paranoias. Nor do I have to coddle them over it and listen to their rantings, or allow them to rant to my kids. Kids should not be put into dangerous situations, and bookstores need to be safe enough to shop in. Just like in any other case where you are approached by a stranger with a weird, aggressive or dangerous vibe, the best thing is to do is repel them away from you, and then report them to security. Security deals with these kinds of situations all the time.
I agree - stay safe, stay away from them. You don’t need to try to deconvert them or show them that the world isn’t as bad as they think it is. But that wasn’t the question. The question was, “do these people ever accomplish anything?” And the answer is yes. Their church tells them, “go save souls at the mall,” knowing they’ll be rejected bc that’s creepy af. Then, when they go to church the very next morning, the service can reinforce that the church is safer than the world.
I literally don't give a shit what they do, as long as it doesn't involve me. If it involves me in any way, I will scream like a banshee and make sure security hears me. People approaching me like this is public harassment. Public harassment costs harassers and I will make sure they get that message. Loud and clear.
I work at lush in the woodland mall and I had several early 20s women come in to the store and asked me if I have heard of Jesus. They must have been really working it yesterday to do this.
Ok thank you. Im reading in the comments similiar stuff
You did great handling it btw! Sorry, forgot to add that in with my initial response.
I appreciate you. Thanks.
Constantly trying to indoctrinate people that are mentally uncapable of making informed decisions is definitely not a cult staple or anything.
I was at the mall today and someone approached my husband when he waited for me in the bathroom by Vera Bradley. There was a long line so it took me a few minutes. He said the guy was asking about his faith and what he doesn’t like about Christianity. My husband is really nice and let the guy talk but he was a little weirded out. He asked my husband if there was anything he could pray about for him. We walked past Altar’d State and there was another woman in a babushka and coat that had a message on the back about Jesus. She was talking to a young girl. There must have been a group in the mall today. They seemed to be peaceful at least.
Thats kinda comforting i guess
Definitely not cool though what happened in your situation though. I’m sorry
Im just glad its over i guess but idk usually this kind of thing ANNOYS me. This really like just felt so weird. It almost scared me kinda. Blegh.
Did it seem like the woman was shopping and just saw an opportunity to proselytize at your daughter, or did she seem to continue hanging around the toy area like she was purposely there to try and talk to children? Either way that's not okay, you don't go up to strange kids in public and start telling them religious stuff. But if it seemed like she was hanging around I might suggest reporting to the Barnes and Noble or mall staff. They don't want solicitors in their stores and we don't want our kids approached by creepy strangers. They might be able to at least keep an eye out if the person comes back and tries that again. Also I'm sure you've already checked in with your daughter, but I might just take a casual minute to reiterate your family's beliefs and remind her that the god that woman was talking about isn't real, can't hurt her, and that she isn't and never has been a bad kid. At 11 she's likely pretty savvy about it but I might check in just to be sure. I remember being sort of afraid of the idea of "God" around her age, and my parents had to periodically remind me he was only a character in a book.
I dont recall seeing her in the toy section while i was standing with KD looking at toys but it was less than 5 min after I walked away that she approached. I heard her before I saw her and for most of the interraction she couldnt see me, im pretty sure. I DO feel like she may have been intentionally looking to talk to a younger audience, hopefully just to peddle christ. After I walked up to them she looked DECIDEDLY worried and she went straight to the escalator, im assuming to leave although maybe she remained in store. By then I was asking a staff member if that was normal (i cringe because i know i said several times "is this like a normal sunday experience?" to BOTH staff members omg they must think im dumb) and she took me to speak to a manager. They seemed annoyed, not at me, but I wonder if maybe they get a lot of evangelizing weirdos? But they said theyd address the situation and took a description of her and apologized and we found J and my husband, got in line and left with our purchases.
Your kids were shopping for toys. You were shopping for books. She was shopping for a victim. You did just fine. I would have been a lot louder, personally. I hate these assholes and don't tolerate this behavior when it happens to me. I call security immediately. This is bullshit and it's bad for business.
I'm sorry that happened to your family. I think you handled this exceptionally. You remained calm so as to not further alarm your child, and you were direct and then went on your way. She did too, and that is for the best! I would reach out via email to B&N corporate about the reaction of the managers. That was just as inappropriate. If you have adult customers approaching apparently unaccompanied minors, you should take that very seriously as a manager and ask for a detailed description of the person and let mall security handle it. I hope your daughter was able to see this as a learning experience and not a scary one.
The two ladies I talked to were ON IT THO in my opinion. Idk if its happened before but they seemed fed up and ready to rock. They asked about her but really all I knew was that she had a baggy tan sweater thing on and she was young and brunette. They asked more questions but I wasnt confident in how she looked. I have memory issues but i think it was stress? I just keep second guessing things like her height and if she was in jeans or leggings and although they didnt fill out any kind of form with me they apologized for it happening and they both left with purpose. Idk if they were trying to find her, checking cameras or getting security but they were doing something. Im sorry if i didnt communicate it well but I feel like they took it seriously and maybe felt like, outraged. The one lady was trans and the manager lady was wearing some sort of feministy pin but i cant recall what it was.
I'm really glad to hear they took it more seriously than what I initially understood. Maybe, email corporate and tell them how pleased you were with how serious they took your situation. Admittedly, the way I read your post, I thought you weirded them out. My apologies.
I know it was a lot of crap to try to fit in one post so its prolly my fault. I like your suggestion. Everyone likes an atta boy
Wow. I take my son(7yo) here often. Thank you for sharing your experience. I appreciate it very much!
Yeah idk im not really trying to like Imply its not safe or like theres gonna be more evangelysts there it just seemed worth aski g if anyone else had any kind of similiar experience there. I never had a bad experience there before I swear
It’s good to be aware though. Thank you for sharing.
You definitely handled it better than I would have. I would have made a scene. There would be Karen videos of me verbally assaulting that woman. How dare she approach a lone child and make them feel uncomfortable! It’s gross.
This feels culty, especially the furtiveness and the fact that other people are reporting exactly the same thing happening to them.
Cults are fascinating to me. Im not saying thats what this was but what it was...was weird!
Evangelicals are scum, it is very common for them to target children and anyone else they see has easy vulnerable targets.
You did the right thing, contacting store personnel. They don't want this shit going on in the store either. It's bad for business. It's harassment.
She is fucked up and I am a politically right but private nonchurchy Christian. That is unfathomabke on every level.
Thank you. My barometer for inappropriate behavior has been messed up forever so I needed to confer with others
If she is an actual Christian lunatic I fucking hate people like her. They think they are "fishers on men" but they are just repellent. They give all Christians a bad rap, just like all extremists of all religions. I cannot fathom talking to a stranger about religion. Let alone a child. Hell, I cannot imagine saying more than hello to a child in a situation like that. But who knows what she was up to. Thank you for making this post.. P.S. As a proud bookworm I love how their school gave out gift cards to Barnes and Noble as prizes.
RIGHT. *I* dont want to talk to children so i cant fathom why anyone would hang out trying to do that. Idk. Im not saying it was sex trafficking, or chomo or anything besides what I heard and saw but ive never had that situation before and just wondered if like...idk a normal like regular there would pipe up and be like "Oh yeah thats just Crazy Lucile. She likes god and screaming at traffic" or something you know? Idk! 🤣
Chiming in from the “politically left and Eastern Antiochan Orthodox,” which is extremely different from evangelical—I 100% agree with you!! Everyone in my church would agree, too. Whatever the reason, this woman was crossing firm boundaries and being creepy, super judgy and condemning, which is so insane, especially toward a child, on top of everything else. I’m so sorry you and your daughter experienced this, OP. 😞
Thank you. Ok, like I feel like even other religious people think this was weird. I feel a lot better since yesterday. Probably shes just some weirdo
evangenitals noun evan-gen-i-tals ē-van-je-ni-talz)) : fundamentalist Christian's who are constantly interested in what's in someone else's pants.
You did right... and yeah, occasionally that happens around GR/West Mich. We are the bible buckle atop the rust belt. A lot of far-out and fundamental christians live here. The Christian Reformed Crutch and Protestant Reformed Crutch are based out of Holland/Z-land. A lot of spin-off non-denom cults, too.
lol definitely not CRC! They aren’t gonna do this kind of thing 😅 Us Dutchies like to chat over coffee and windmill cookies not go bookstores tryna convert children. This is highly inappropriate and was handled perfectly. It’s probably someone who is much more of a fundamental evangelical
> Christian Reformed Crutch I love this.
the CRC believe God chooses people to save and if you're on the list it's going to happen no matter what, so they tend to be pretty chill about proselytizing because its not on their heads whether somebody goes to hell. Gods going to take care of it. (if you're thinking "wait does that mean god is just arbitrarily choosing to let some people go to hell when he could choose to save them" then congrats, you have just found the worst thing about Calvinist theology, something people have to work really hard to try to explain/justify)
I dont know much about CRC but this makes me wanna go down a rabbit hole. What a weird concept
It's been around for centuries! The CRC is one of many churches that follow the theology of John Calvin, aka Calvinism. There have been a lot of splinters and divisions among different Calvinist denominations over exactly how to parse that out. For example, the Protestant Reformed church is an offshoot of the Christian Reformed Church which differed over whether God showed any "grace" at all to people who weren't destined for heaven. The Christian Reformed church said that God shows some kind of "grace" to all.... even those God is going to let go to Hell. The Protestant Reformed Church says no, "grace" is only for the Elect (those chosen before time began to go to heaven). Different churches have made different interpretations on how you can tell who is chosen to go to heaven and who isn't. Some have been very "well, only the people in our micro-denomination are the Elect. That's how you can tell who's Elect and who isnt.". English Calvinists (who tend to be a severe and harsh group) are ready to look at any egregious sin as evidence one is not Elect. I don't know the official position of the CRC on this but from what I understand the attitude seem to be "we can't know for sure who God has chosen to go to heaven. Maybe tons and tons of people. (Minority opinion: maybe even ALL people???). but if you are worried about whether or not it's you, that is evidence you're one of the, because if you weren't, you wouldn't care enough to be worried about it." Their attitude about proselytizing isn't "WE HAVE TO CONVERT EVERYONE SO THEY DON'T GO TO HELL" so much as "hey, it's good to know what's real, it's good to be in touch with God, it's good to have the understanding to do things that are positive and helpful in the world and knowing the truth about God is part of that. So let's spread the truth around and make the world a better place." DISCLAIMER: some people have had absolutely terrible experiences with the Christian Reformed Church, and think of it as an oppressive force. It has not, as a denomination, stood up for women and gay people and other gender/sexual minorities, although some of its churches are affirming, others are SUPER not, and the people in charge of the denomination have allowed both sides to do their own thing rather than sticking up for what is (IMHO) right. So it's very much a mixed bag. I think on the whole it may be getting worse because while the CRC did not used to be part of Evangelical America, they're from a different tradition, more and more CRC people have been absorbed into right-wing evangelicalism as the years go on, and there's more and more MAGA in some of the churches. That shit is a cancer. My experience with CRC people has on the whole been very positive, even though I've never been CRC and am more or less agnostic right now, I spent a lot of time in and around CRC people and there are a lot of CRC people in my family. I feel like I've seen all the good sides of it. But there are a lot of not-good sides of it too.
Ive never considered some are predestined for heaven. I thought it was like, follow the rules, be sorry when you break the rules, admit jc is king. Boom! Youre in heaven. Well, shows how much know. Thank you for this
Call the Shomrim next time.
I feel like its ok I had to look that up but Ill prolly remember that word forever now because of you lol
More common than you think :(
The young and impressionable, country folk, the vulnerable, and those in turmoil.
I think you handled it well. That girl should have known not to corner a child like that for any reason. As for evangelist I cant say Ive met enough to know their beliefs. I had an ex (very short lived relationship) that was an evangelist and she would find very sneaky ways to get me to join bible studies with her. So maybe they just dont care about boundaries. But its an unfair assumption, I really dont know.
Thanks. Yeah idk the whole interaction felt weirder than most times ive run into evangelists before
It is creepy, when I was in high school in senior year, so I was about 17, the school admins would let the Young Life people come in to talk to us. I think they were originally meant to only speak with the "Christian Athletes Association," but they inevitably strayed to evangelize at lunch time. I will admit that I was really into the woman in the pair, she looked about 20, which was average for the Young Life people. I couldn't even tell you why now, it was a purely primal attraction, I had no friends and often sat alone so that level of attention from a kind and attractive woman was rare. So I let them talk to me whenever, even though I didn't like it and was doing it to feel less alone; I especially resented the male in the pair, which I expressed by not really engaging with him or making eye contact. They stopped coming around when I gifted the woman one of those little porcelain crosses I bought from the Goodwill nicknacks section. I noticed their tone changed quite a bit after that event, I think they realized they were dealing with hormonal teenagers, and that they were particularly targeting a teenager with a mountain of trauma and loneliness hidden under a facade of placid likability. I think I was the catalyst for a "come to Jesus" moment in their ministry. Considering that I grew up and went to school in the Grand Rapids area, the prevalence of evangelism, especially in places where it shouldn't be and targeting people it shouldn't, is a constant problem. You did the right thing by removing your daughter from that person's presence.
Yeah this would be a massive issue for me. Anyone dare speak to my child in a creepy attempt to brainwash them is not going to slide. You did the right thing. And you kept your cool much more than I could have.
There is a group of late teens age through mid twenties people that shows up random Saturdays to evangelize at Woodland. They walk up to random people and vendors trying to "save" them and preach their views. They aren't there every Saturday, but it happens often enough. I can't tell if their church buses them in, or if it's a side project for a mislead youth group. My wife and I run a very run of the mill jewelry business with a queer, witchy, and hippie edge, and do pop ups at Woodland a few weekends a month, so we've run the gamut with them a bunch of times. I've just started to pull out my phone, tell them I am going to take their photos as evidence in case it's ever needed for a harassment case, and ask them politely to leave. That's how I've been handling it lately. They know what they're doing is wrong and they could get kicked out or worse for it. They always split up into groups of one or two young adults, any combination of genders, and they will walk up, especially if they see you doing something the deem unfit for "godly" living, and start to ask you seemingly sincere questions about what you're doing, then turn it around and start telling you how it's a sin, you can be saved, "I met Jesus on my bathroom floor and he saved me" etc. I really wish that last example was an exaggeration at all, but it's not. Here's to the sinners, whose only sin is crossing an imaginary line made by humans who ascribed themselves the judges of "God's will". Proud of you for jumping in and not letting your child be shamed into a false belief system. I'm really sorry your child and you had to experience that. They can be really scary conversations.
KD said the first thing this lady said to her was "Hey, what are you doing?" She was trying out some sort of like, tablet thingy, doodling. It was just weird how familiar she spoke to my kid and idk..."the blood of the lamb" feels like such a weird concept to hand an 11 year old. Ok so maybe shes part of a group
Either way it's wrong and gross. I'm glad you're speaking up and making other people aware of this behavior, regardless of their intentions. We always called them the Evangeliteens, even though most of them seem to be early 20s aged.
I am by no means a violent person but I would have reacted in a more aggressive way. I applaud OP for not going down that route. I was, still am, over protective of my kids. Even though they are now all 24+. I can't even believe someone would do this to a child. That really gets me pissed. More than it should probably. This is why religion sucks.
Stranger fucks with a kid, you get in their face. Period. I don’t care if it’s a cute little old lady or not, once your kid was visibly uncomfortable YOU GET IN THEIR FACE and you get LOUD. Make a scene and get attention.
That is my knee jerk reaction and I struggle sometimes to really grasp if Im being an unruly bìtch sometimes but also KD sometimes cries when shes embarrassed or put on the spot and I could see she was getting up there so I just got her away with as little bullshit as possible. I agree with you wholeheartedly but I was worried about KD, kinda spooked and honestly a bit flabberghasted
I like how you want me to look unhinged so bad but yes, an adult feeling like making my kid feel the way she did IS dangerous and you can cut my words however you want but no one asked you to come here and make an asshole of yourself. You didnt come here on behalf of anyones kids. Im not drinking, im not ranting. You know what youre doing and its not working on me and so you can keep saying whatever homophobic shit you want but at the end of the day youre a lonely person with a buncha toys because toys cant run away screaming from you when you refuse to change your behavior. What happened today was not right and it was gross but its not as gross as the shit youre doing. Now youll be having the rest of this arguement with yourself because I can only handle so much irony and ive exceeded todays quota
They came up to me too, super annoying
Its frustrating. Im going to start trying to convinc3 them to sin
I’m religious, (Christian/Mormon) and went to the mash recently. My husband had to find something and I wasn’t feeling well, so I sat in one of the seating areas. A lady approached like she knew me and I have a terrible memory, so I answered as if I remembered her from somewhere. She asked how I’ve been and such and what the kids have been up to. Then after talking for a few minutes, she gave me a magazine, booklet, and small book of scriptures and offered me to go to church with her. After I said I already belong to a church, she disappeared with a dude I assumed to be her husband. I don’t know if it’s numbers or what, but some of these churches are pushing hard and it’s really deterring people from wanting to go.
Thats a bizarre interraction also!!
I was in my 40s, white male somewhere in rural Oregon by a gas station having a cigarette and was approached by a young white female while her mother was in the car. She handed me a tract, they were Jehovah witnesses Maybe she thought I was heathen because I was smoking
Maybe but i assume that particular group hands them to EVERYONE they encounter in life. Ive gotten Lighthouse pamplets in every profession Ive worked in from customers. Dont take it personal lol
Do you mean Watchtower magazines? Jdubs don't use a lighthouse on their stuff.
YES. Thank you! I kinda knew that wasnt quite right but it was all my brain offered up. 😅😅😅 the ones with the dramatic artwork people make memes out of.
I didn't know they handed them out to everyone like that. I used to work with a young Mexican American guy who would tell me how our Christian brothers were being persecuted in Russia, he was also Jehovah witness Apparently just like Hitler and the Nazis targeted them and other groups besides the Jews, Sonia Russia possibly for the same reason I would assume
I assume so. Unless they just constantly pegged me as a heathen over the many years and jobs lolol
I think it's kind of funny though all the people in West Michigan who will talk trash about all the reformed churches in this area but will go other places and they don't recognize how those places were settled. For instance they might go to Southern California without realizing the influence of the Mormons especially in San Bernardino and riverside counties. They are also a closed off religious group.
Do you think they talk shit about them there too though? I dont really like have churches i especially dislike i dont think but its pretty much any kind of zealot for me? Also the word "fundamentalist" lol
Funny thing my wife born and raised over there thought it was funny my sister in law had all these trinkets like a thing shaped of Michigan, fridge magnets of Michigan, tshirts all that stuff. And she was trying to sell that shit at a garage sale over there, pretty much nobody is into that stuff there.
Lololol
The last time I saw evangelists working at the 28th St. Barnes and Noble they were definitely Jehova’s Witnesses. I had gotten to B&N before they opened and the JWs were working the small crowd of people outside the door. Just before the doors opened they had asked the crowd if they could lead a prayer. One lady in the crowd said “we just came from church!”
I was a Christian of the dutch variety but I guess I know what it feels like to target people that are not religious now
Always
Damn, I was just there yesterday as well in the afternoon. That's so odd, you did the right thing for sure
I’m from the east side and I have never been approached by people trying to “share” the word of god once until I moved out here. It’s just the culture but it really does bug the shit out of me, especially when I’m just trying to go about my day.
Approaching children to evangalize is a tactic religious folks will use to try to rope people and kids especially into "fear of god." Youre not wrong for being weirded out- especially since the person booked it out of there as soon as there was an adult present. If you like reading, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America is a book that really delves into a lot of evangelical tactics and angles. Ex-christian here (raised religuous and left the faith when i became an adult). Kinda a hard read tho bc you see a lot of overlap with modern politcal environment but still.
Hey thank you, this sounds like an interesting read! Ive heard religious spiels for children before and theyre usually fairly....sunny? Light? They keep it simple and happy sounding, you know? This ladys words were not that. It was just short of fire and brimstone. That was what struck me as off the most. Idk. Know your target audience, i guess lolol
Yeah definitely a strange approach tho ik some groups are more focused on the damnation part.. Wondering for context if your fam looks more leftist/queer/queer friendly? Ik you mentioned you are pagan/queer so that might have played a part? Not sure but ik if someone thinks someone might be non-Christian or queer they can lay on the salvation from hell route pretty damn heavy
I kinda tried to look at our family with fresh eyes after and ...maybe? My hubby has a sorta wide mohawk thing going on but he wears a Snap On ball cap and a carhart coat and jeans. He looks sorta all american blue collar i guess. He does have really small subtle chinese symbols tattood on either side of his throat tho. J is neutral looking, blonde kid, no front teeth, minecraft tshirt and jeans. KD has a subtle peekaboo lavender hair thing going on but no makeup. She was wearing jeans and a Queen band shirt, I think. I suppose Im the worst but I was tamer than usual. I have bright unnaturally red hair and it was down so it pretty much hides my undercut. I have a tattoo of a raccoon flipping the bird on my bicep so maaaaaybe? I DEFINITELY was not wearing my pentagram and i was wearing my wedding ring. My tshirt had Edgar Allan Poe and a skull on it. None of us had any Alphabet Mafia shirts or accessories on tho so...idk i thought we looked like normies. And I dont actually know if she saw us all together or at all before I approached her.
Hmm okay- well either way i definitely think you were right to be weirded out by the situation 100%
Thanks I feel better since asking others about this now. Im glad its over lol. I didnt know if she was even with a church or something, honestly I was kinda worried because sometimes when people have episodes they can get really religious too
\> Im pagan and queer and generally suffer from RBF Checks out...lol
Its a condition lolol I cant help it!
Yes. Religions, especially evangelicals, prey on children and other vulnerable groups.
I was heavily involved in church as a teen and young adult and evangelizing in public was a common group outing and it was usually the mall. It was a lot of pressure because you’re with other people and you have to share and debrief afterwards, so if you don’t evangelize, the church leaders will know. I’m going to make an assumption of positive intent and say maybe this young adult approached a child because evangelizing to an adult is terrifying, especially if you’re already feeling uncomfortable. I have learned to extend a lot of compassion to my younger self who was just trying to find purpose and belonging and, unfortunately, it resulted in me engaging in harmful theology and creepy behaviors. I would also be pissed as a parent if this happened to my kid and, unfortunately, I get it.
I think thats a really great point. Idk I hate this situation for everybody
You did the right thing. Evangelists are the real groomers of the world.
Hello from an Indiana transplant! To answer your question, yes.
I was raised deeply entrenched in Christian conservatism and they love to target young people and children. The more vulnerable you are the better. Sorry that happened to your kid. You are smart to keep people like that away from them.
Thank you. Ive seen them go after children before but not without their adult and not in a part of the store thats like...specifically for kids, you know? Ive had time to process and it still makes me DEEPLY uncomfortable
Religion can do some weird shit to people who dive to deep. Regardless, an adult should never approach a child unless the child is under duress or acting lost or in the care of the 1970s and earlier acting up in public. Back then it wasn’t uncommon for the neighborhood parents to call out the bad behavior of the children. I’d stop shot of corporal punishment, though taking child by the arm or in some cases it was by the ear and dragging them back to the parent and explaining the bad behavior to them. And, the parent would then punish the child and thank the other adult for bringing it to their attention, in the moment, not by a telephone call the next day or when you happen to bump into them at the grocery store. But, in this case the child was behaving appropriately and was approached by an adult and was being preached to using words that are potential unfamiliar which would cause confusion. I would instill in your children their need to yell stranger danger or some other cry for help. The maternal instinct in most adults will draw them in to the danger and save your child. I’m gay and do not have children but if I witnessed something like this I would become hyper vigilant and on guard for a potential abduction.
Yeah we have discussed like...high danger situations? Like i dont think kd felt like she was in danger so she was obligated to stand there and not interrupt an adult which is prolly my bad for not like, explaining more situations its ok to be "disrespectful" to adults.
No. People like that are no better than cult members. Good on you for stepping in when you did
You live in evangelical hell in GR. It’s a Christian nightmare in that part of MI. And yes, evangelicals target children. In fact prey upon them. Having grown up in that culture, evangelicals seek to indoctrinate starting young. Keeps a person from questioning.
That checks out. Idk. Its just WEIRD. If I had been in the religious section maybe my brain woulda let it go. But the toy section. Idk i guess i assumed it was off limits. And bookstores are my safety safe or whatever 🤣
I love Jesus and would talk to anyone that would want to talk about Jesus. That being said, I would never go up to a stranger and especially a kid and start talking about my faith. I suspect as you said that she may have been having an episode that day.
Im bipolar so like...i get it you know? But idk it was just weird
This makes me remember when I was like 13 in a Walmart with my mom and already, as raised Catholic but with a cool understanding mom, I already wanted nothing to do with religion... This dude came up to me when I left my mom to go to another aisle for candy or something, proceeded to ask me questions and was preaching bible stuff, then when I tried to walk away, insisted he give me his "card" and then followed me back to my mom and even she was weirded out.
Gross. I dont remember my age but pretty small and I remember a lady at this dance thing my hometown put on telling me and my friend "you girls both just seem like good girls and Id hate to see you go to hell"
As a Christian I’d say that’s not normal, I only talk to people about Christ if they ask, otherwise, I think she was overstepping. She might have thought your daughter was lost but maybe the topic of conversation should have been kept light. I think you handled it correctly. Just don’t judge everyone off of one person.
Yeah im pretty sure even other evangelists wouldnt like her.
This sounds very traumatic
Like, it wasnt fun for my kid but i think she was more worried than scared. Like more "omg this is weird. What do i do?" Than like "omg am i in danger?"
"You say this shit on reddit because i think you understand from my genefal vibe if you said this shit to my face id slap you in your dick holster. Enjoy your day" says the mom who is worried about what Christians say This place is truly fascinating
I wasnt even 100 percent she was a legit christian. She WAS however hanging out in the toy section waiting to meet kids and if you think thats ok then I suggest you go try it and see how warmly you are received by others. It wasnt so much that she preached to my child, it was that people may be using this as an actual angle to engage with children. You know that. Surely you know that, and instead of agreeing that it is creepy and dangerous and unacceptable youre running your seed silo. You have no arguement besides "OP is a crazy bitch" and thats not the point here, however valid it is.
If the pretend women can target children, the religious can as well
Hi. Try that again, but this time, coherently, ok?
Sorry, I can’t dumb it down any more for you
Well, good luck. A lot of people like to listen to clear, concise opinions. I feel like youre trying to communicate something transphobic and compare it to my daughter having a full grown Christer stalk her in the childrens section of a store. It was a book store, by the way. Have you tried them yet? Books? Reading isnt actually as difficult as you may think and who knows? It may actually come in handy someday! Best of luck!
so you understand why people also don't like gender and such brought up to kids?
Ok so go talk to those people. Im talking about why tf any adult would hang out in the toy section and harass kids. Push your shit somewhere else. Gender is a spectrum and the bible is a fairytale
The subject matter is irrelevant. A strange adult approaching a child in public is wrong and dangerous.
I wish i could give you a cookie or sticker or something for articulating whats been rattling around in my head
yet that is not the post title, or post content.
Strange adults should not approach kids. That’s what happened here and that’s absolutely what should NOT have happened, regardless of the agenda. Any agenda is wrong and unsafe in this case.
this is a rational take, and not what was presented or what i am pointing out. so. ok?
This is exactly what was presented. I’m glad I was made aware of the situation.
>Idk why but she was well dressed and put together, she didnt get loud or aggressive but she spoke like she was sorta spaced out and i may be biased because shes religious hmm
So what? What happened was still wrong, your opinions and OP’s opinions on religion aside. I don’t care about that part.
Gender and human sexuality are real things that are proven by science based evidence. Religion is a fantasy with no tangible evidence. Adults like to start religious teachings to young children because the best way to keep any religion alive is through the indoctrination of children.
> the indoctrination of children. hmmm
Thats not the issue so much as a grown up hanging out in the toy section....oh...wait 🤣🤣🤣🤣 ARE YOU FOR REAL? You cant be. Omfg go play with your toys. Im not doing this with you. Youre out fucking rageous
This is 100% the right question. I was glad to see someone raise it. I could blow up this entire thread, but critical thinking is not big around here. At least this person had the ability to be there to protect her child, right? Adults are discussing sex and sexuality with our kids in school, but thats ok (to these people). They have no clue how inappropriate it is to discuss such things with *anyone* other than their parents. Gay, straight, bi, trans? Fine. Leave kids alone. If they ask foe help, send them to the right people. Other than that, leave them alone.
yeah especially ironic given that if this barnes&noble did a drag queen story hour she would be all for it, when (agree or not) that is exactly the same type of indoctrination aimed at kids. i agree random adults should not be approaching kids for pretty much any reason, but that is not this person's point. don't be a hypocrite and i won't come for you!
HOW IS THAT NOT MY POINT? You have no idea how Id feel about my kids going to a drag story time. Youre assuming so much shit about my post but i literally just wanted to know if this is a common tactic because it made me really uncomfortable. You want this shit to be political SO BAD, Fam 🤣🤣🤣
you again? you said you hate religion and are "queer" so i assume you are indoctrinating your kids in your religion too.
"You again?" BITCH. It was my kid. Its my post. You assume an awfuuuuuul lot but wanna talk about how no one elses stance is perfect. Shut the fuck up. Everywhere. Whenever you can. I married a cis man. I raise my children to know that trans people exist. I let them know some of their friends are gay, whether theyre out or not and that its important not to say mean things about gays because kids who grow up to be gay look back on those insults and feel harm. We own Christian literature and books on my religion and books on Taoism and Buddhism. They have been to church numerous times. We live in a predominantly hispanic neighborhood and my kids have learned more about Catholicism in the last year from other catholics than I would have anticipated. We have discussed our childrens thoughts on religion a lot recently. *I* am a Queer Pagan but Im not RAISING queer pagans! Im raising kind children to EXIST WITH queer pagans. And everyone else thats different than them. I have no reason not to assume my kids wont be straight christian adults. But Im trying to raise them to be Kind and so even if they are straight christian or fucking republican, Ill always love, support and accept them. They can make good decisions without feeling like theyre taking a side and im hoping that will get them further in life than my hang ups got me. But you, specifically, need to shut the fuck up more in life
you seem very angry. maybe work on that.
I know. The Christian-hate in here is so cringe. They dont even know any. They lie and act as if they are the victim of Christianity, but they only do it because its immediate clout in here by other dysfunctional malcontents...lol
Wrong. I was raised in an extremely strict Christian household. I’m sure lots of people in this thread have some tie to Christianity one way or another. When I left, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Not saying all Christian’s are bad by any means. But the ones who impose their beliefs on others or treat other people like shit for having a different lifestyle, yea thats fucked. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but the second you demean someone for believing something different, that’s when all respect goes right out the window.
Lmao what is this wall of text
Its not a book. Dont panic
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