Have you ever have tradesmen over to give you a quotation on work? You always get one or two that are sure to let you know they’re “Christian”…and they have little fish on their business cards. What about car salesmen who drop the same line…I’ll give you the best price, I’m a Christian you know.
I did a tour of daycare places this weekend and half the people we talked to dropped the “I’m a Christian” line…like its some sort of qualification or badge of honor.
I’ve never had anyone pitch services to me and say, “I’m a Jew” or “I’m an athiest” or “I’m a Zen Bhuddist” it just seems to be the “Christians” who use their religion for marketing purposes.
I’m going to ask the next person who drops the “I’m a Christian” line on me for a good hook up to some Meth and male escorts.
I’m going to ask the next person who drops the “I’m a Christian” line on me for a good hook up to some Meth and male escorts.
i’ve never had anyone propostion me for business or a sale and then drop “btw, i’m a christian”. never, not once…and i’ve lived a lot of places. you must have some kind of weird epidemic of christian foot-in-mouth disease going on where you live. or is it possible that you are overstating the case just a little?
and your clever comeback would be just as rude, boorish, and insulting as the behavior of these so called “christian” salespersons.
Matt- If you are in SF area (as am I) it’s pretty rare to hear someone so outspoken about their faith. Californian’s, in regards to faith, are very close to the vest compared to the rest of the country.
I don’t think the fish in the corner of an add or business card is “in your face” though.
Well at least when they drop that line on you, you know to not do business with them. If they screw up, they will just say that’s the way God wanted it to be.
I was a business owner for many years. Almost any time I did business for a church or someone who used the fish symbol, I had trouble getting paid on time. Many of the churches also thought I should give them a discount. One of the worst was a Catholic church and the preist in charge. He was an overbearing jerk. I ended up firing them as a customer.
Not even the ads in my weekly Church Happenings has ads with fishes on them. I just looked at it to be sure and not one ad (which covers both sides of the last page) even states that they (the business) are christian. Well except for the funeral home and christian book store.
Are you sure the “fishes” aren’t really ribbons that say “support the troops”?
Never? Your local newspaper doesn’t have small business ads with little fish in the corner?
a yellow pages ad with a christian fish in the corner is bit different than the picture you paint of pushy salesmen who try to close the sale with “i’m a christian…wink, wink”. i’ll say it again…this has never happened to me. if you have your panties in a bunch over a christian fish on some plumber’s truck, then i really can’t relate to you. why don’t you go ahead and call up one of these evangelical for-profits and tell them your funny joke. you could really show them!
Matt,
Yes I have seen this too and I find it rather humourous. I suppose the assumption is that a christian is less likely to be dishonest or harm your children. Personally I don’t see what your religious affiliation has to do with your business dealings but, hey, maybe I’m just naive. I very nearly pulled my son out of his daycare when I found out about all of the religious promotion that was going on. After a lengthy discussion with the owner we agreed that a daycare is not an appropriate place for proselytization. In her defence, she had no idea that this would be offensive to anybody which, as I told her, is the problem.
I wonder if the term"christian" will carry the same weight in another 10 yrs or so. At the rate we are going now maybe we will hear people proclaiming their homosexuality instead or putting little rainbows in their ads. Perhaps the big news story in 10 yrs will be that a male escort lowered himself to sleep with an evangelical and was outed by a gilted lover.
I have no problems with the proselytizing, they can try and make my 8 week old find Jesus all they want…she is more concerned with finding her mouth with her thumb. Its the assumption that its somehow a mark of good character…“I’m a Christian…therefore I’m a good trustworthy person”…that bugs me.
I happen to be a practicing member of a large Italian based Christian denomination myself and I wouldn’t let my child within an asses roar of the so called “christians” who educated me.
Like you say, organized religion is probably one or two more scandals away from the “I’m a Christian you know” whisper being a thing of the past.
My mother once argued that if I didn’t take my kids to church, “how were they going to tell right from wrong?” Silly me, I thought that was the job of the parents, not a church (temple, mosque, whatever). There is the assumption made by SOME people of faith that you will be morally bankrupt without a weekly deposit from the religion of their choice.
I wonder how it would pan out if the discriminators became the discriminatees?
We used to have a old fur trapper who trapped muskrats on the edge of our property in MT. He would always introduce himself with, ‘I’m a christian and I hope you are too.’ Somehow it loses some of it’s meaning if you say it while bashing in a muskrat’s head with a rock.
My piano tuner once tried to save me. I also had a guy who changed a flat for me on the freeway try to save me. I’m sure this had nothing to do with his religious persuasion, but he didn’t tighten the lug nuts adequately and I almost lost a tire.
You always get one or two that are sure to let you know they’re “Christian”…and they have little fish on their business cards. What about car salesmen who drop the same line…I’ll give you the best price, I’m a Christian you know.
Next time that happens ask them to tell you what Jesus did to the money changers at the temple.