Power of Persuasion…. Part 1

The Power of Persuasion: How and Why

Islamic Militants may not know that  persuasion has tremendous power to convince listeners.

  • Jesus taught His followers to use persuasion
  • He showed them how to win without attacking their opponents

(We shall discuss how to win without attacking as we progress.)

WINNING WITHOUT ATTACKING
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Jesus demonstrated the power of persuasion when He communicated with hostile or difficult people.

The Samaritan woman had lived with several men. She needed salvation. However, because of the hostility  between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus knew she would not accept the truth from Him, a Jew. Jesus, therefore, started a friendly dialogue to make her talk to Him. She was surprised that a Jew would ask a Samaritan water to drink. Jesus ignored her remark and dealt directly on her spiritual need.

He led her patiently to the point where she could assimilate the truth and admit her  sins. With enmity out of the way, and Jesus now a friend, she could ask for the living water that Jesus said He had.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I conquer my enemies when I make them my friends.”
Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness.”

Coercion, hate and violence do not win people’s sympathy.

Militants use violence to promote their religion, and yet they claim they promote a peaceful God and a peaceful religion.

  • The Bible presents a tolerant and peaceful way
  • Jesus told His disciples to use persuasion

Jesus gives true peace…

” Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27: New King James Version)

Christ’s Spirit makes us tolerant

Before he became a Christian, Paul persecuted Christians. But when he became a Christian, he learned the way of the Master Jesus – persuasion.

Why militants can’t tolerate others

They were trained from childhood, by their parents, peers and community leaders, to express themselves through violence. They were not allowed to exercise their own freewill to accept God, but were forced to do so.

Growing up in such environments, they copied the violent behaviors of those who influenced them, and became violent. When they fail to convince people, they become frustrated and end up attacking people. They call their violence ‘peace,‘ because that is how they know peace to be.

John Locke said,
“…true and saving religion consists in the inward persuasion of the mind, without which nothing can be acceptable to God.” (John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1990; page 20)

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Read Rockeybell’s testimonyhttp://www.peacemakersteam.com/rockeybells-testimony.html

Jesus exhibited a perfect spirit of tolerance.

The disciples were angry with some Samaritans who would not allow Jesus into their city. They wanted to call fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans just as Elijah did in 2 Kings 1:9-12. Jesus rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” So they went to another village.” (Luke 9:51-56)

Jesus said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45; New King James Version).

We hear of Boko Haram killing innocent people – destroying towns and villages. Yet we know that the Almighty God is peaceful and loving. They abduct women, and rape some of them. Can the victims accept that Boko Haram presents peace?

People will, therefore, continue believing that Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and all militants are violent.

To be continued

God’s Executioners: Killing in God’s name… Part 1

Does God need executioners?

Does the Almighty God, who has the ultimate power to do what He pleases, need human beings to force other people do His bidding?

Can’t the Almighty God fight His own battles?

How can we really tell who is fighting on God’s behalf, since many different religious organizations or sects claim to be fighting for God’s cause?
Can all the different religious people, with their differences in doctrines, be fighting for God?
God is not the author of confusion. 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (New King James Version). So how can God instruct all the different groups to go out and kill in His name, with their contradictory doctrines?

Murder in God’s  Name

  • In Nigeria, the Islamic militants, Boko Haram, stormed a secondary  school in Yobe and killed 29 boys and burnt the school to the ground. The Police reported that some of the student’s bodies were burnt to ashes.
  • In Maiduguri, fighters killed 90 people in an early morning attack on a remote village. Gunmen surrounded the village of Izge, near the border with Cameroon, sprayed it with bullets, and set off explosions to burn down houses.

These brutalities are done in the name of the Almighty God, “The Compassionate One,” the “Ever Merciful God.”

Jesus taught His followers to conquer by persuasion; not by force

Jesus Christ taught his followers to express their views or beliefs by love. He told His followers they should not compel people to accept their message, (Luke 10:10-12.), because He came to promote peace. That means, Christians who indulge in violence and brutalities are not obeying their Master Jesus.
Using persuasion may take time; that is why violent-minded people do not want to take that course. However, that method is devoid of the deaths, pain and sufferings that follow violence and suicide bombings.

If you are patient, you can use persuasion to get people to accept your suggestions or views.

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Welcome to “Conquering Without Being Violent.”

Conquering Without Being Violent  WIN WITHOUT ATTACKING  Conquering Without Being Violent 001

Can Violent Militants Change?

Daily we read of Islamic militants (Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, ISIS, etc.), The Lord’s Resistance Army, and suicide bombers using violence to press home their demands. They attack and kill innocent people as they force their decisions and beliefs on them.
School pupils explode in anger and shoot their colleague pupils and teachers.
Islamic militants abduct girls from schools in rural African communities, claiming their religion does not allow females to have education. They rape some of them, impregnating them in the process, and eventually sell them or compel them to marry men the girls do not love.

A loving God does not use hate to make people love Him

“Conquering Without Being Violent” discusses how persuasion convinces people rather than force.
Abraham Lincoln said, we conquer our enemies when we make them our friends.
Jesus told His followers never to use force to make people accept their views. He told His followers to love their enemies; not to hate them.

Topics to discuss on this platform include:

  1. Engaging  people in peaceful dialog
  2. Disagreeing without being offensive
  3. Defending without being polemical

You can conquer by persuasion without being violent

Do you get angry easily?
Are you violent in your reactions?
Do you want to form a new loving and patient habit?
Do you want to turn enemies into friends?

Discussions will include:

  • Using gentle ways in presenting views.
  • Training our angry emotions to calm down in angry situations.
  • Helping the brutish husband to learn to listen.
  • Helping a disrespectful child to learn to listen and obey.
  • Helping the cantankerous wife to learn to listen.
  • Helping the opinionated boss to learn listen to other views.

Truth should be able to persuade and draw people to one’s cause

A person who is persuaded to abandon his or her position voluntarily, will see it as his or her own decision; he or she does not feel coerced.

Is there hope for the chronically angry person?

Why do some people get angry easily?
Can the violent person change?
Can the hot-tempered person change?

Can we control our emotions?