Who to Proselytize?

Today I would like to address the question, Who to proselytize? Not that I will answer the question completely – certainly I will not; just this simple question itself raises some other questions, most notably, Why proselytize?

So on to that second question. I think that there can only be two answers to this: the first is that you think you are right about a certain belief -- let’s say Christianity, just to be broad – and you believe that Christianity condemns nonbelievers to eternal damnation, but also that Christianity rewards believers with eternal salvation, and you want people to be saved rather than damned; the second is that you think you are right about Christianity, and Christianity makes you happy, and therefore you want to share Christianity with everyone.

If you fall under the first camp, you most certainly have an obligation to proselytize. Otherwise, your lack of effort is the damnation of others; and while you might be saved in the end, you want others to be happy, too, in the end; and besides, your indifference would be your own damnation. If you don’t fall under the first camp, if, for instance, you believe that God can still welcome nonbelievers into Paradise, then proselytism is not a requirement for you because your proselytism has no effect on another person’s salvation or damnation. But you might still fall into the second camp if you believe that God can save nonbelievers.

This brings us back to the first question, Who to proselytize? If you think that salvation and damnation depend on belief, well then, you’d better get to work; your target is everyone who doesn’t believe what you believe. If you don’t think that, however, but you do find that your faith brings you happiness, then for you proselytism is nothing more and nothing less than your ongoing conversation with others about happiness.