Why Do We Proselytize?
Why do people proselytize? The term in it's religious context means to convert someone from another belief to your own religion or creed. Outside of religion attempts to convert are also going on all the time. Conservatives try to convert liberals, feminists try to convert men and Coke wants to convert Pepsi drinkers. Indeed I would say the need to proselytize lies at the heart of every type of debate large or small. We always want the other person to see things our way. The motives for this seem blurry at times. Most religions say they want to convert their fellow beings to prevent eternal damnation, continuous reincarnation or some other cosmic calamity. Politicians of all stripes say their point of view is the only one that will prevent the destruction of society and therefore they must save the rest of us from ourselves. But given that proselytizing almost almost always includes some form of threat, veiled or otherwise, it seems unlikely to me that altruism is the motive. There are practical reasons for it. A church can't survive without enough members to pay the bills anymore than a corporation can survive without customer loyalty and shareholders. But if the practical needs are met for the group, why continue to convert new members? Indeed human groups are not satisfied unless everyone is "in" and no-one is "out" even if the out group is such a small minority as to pose no tangible threat. This speaks a lot to why intolerance is so prevalent among human beings. If another group is impotent why not simply ignore them and go about your business? There are plenty of theories on this from anthropology and behavioral psychology, mostly involving complicated ideas about group and individual identities and deep psychological needs carried over through evolution. I don't dispute any of this. I am not a scientist or a theologian, just a musing musician. I'm interested in the subjective need to convert others to one's point of view and I think it comes down to uncertainty. No matter how well we've examined our data and our reasoning. No matter how well we've argued our theology, philosophy, or politics. No matter how we have questioned the assumptions that form our personal view of ourselves. There is always doubt. Deep down we know we're always on thin ice. One new observation, fact, idea or revelation can bring the whole thing crashing down. It only takes a small stream of water to compromise the integrity of a dam and wash away all we once thought we knew. As long as there is one unbeliever, one holdout, one dissenter there is always the possibility that some flaw might be revealed that would shatter our sense of self and group into a thousand pieces. In this way those who hold differing points of view become an intolerable threat to us. A threat we must unconsciously always defend ourselves against. This also makes "if you can't beat em, join em" a sound strategy for survival. That is why I think we proselytize. Speaking of proselytizing. I think tonight I'll invite some vegetarians over for barbecued lamb.
