Do these people really believe slinging verbal abuse in the streets is going to convert anyone to their way of thinking?
IIRC there was a great discussion of this on Slacktivist a year or two ago, including many recovering fundamentalists.
The upshot is no, they're not really doing it to convert you, though that's what they tell themselves. They're doing it because status in their group requires that they spend a certain amount of time "witnessing" and "spreading the Word". They get "points" for trying, even if their methods are actively repelling people from Christianity. That repulsion even helps their group cohesion, because then they can feel all special and misunderstood, scorned by the World/Flesh/Devil.
no subject
IIRC there was a great discussion of this on Slacktivist a year or two ago, including many recovering fundamentalists.
The upshot is no, they're not really doing it to convert you, though that's what they tell themselves. They're doing it because status in their group requires that they spend a certain amount of time "witnessing" and "spreading the Word". They get "points" for trying, even if their methods are actively repelling people from Christianity. That repulsion even helps their group cohesion, because then they can feel all special and misunderstood, scorned by the World/Flesh/Devil.