Question for Jews : What type of deceptive tactics have you seen Evangelicals use in trying to convert Jews ?

Answer 1

dapperdan spoke very well on this issue. I agree wholeheartedly with everything he said and respectfully suggest that the reference links he gave are valuable resources for Jews to help educate our own about the deceptive tactics.
I have had a great many encounters with deceptive tactics over the years. I will only relate a very small portion in a long answer!

In the late 80s I came across a magazine at the hospital where I was employed, it was titled Israel my Glory. The organization that created this magazine is deceptively titled Friends of Israel and I remember they were out of Pennsylvania. In the magazine there were articles speaking of their love for the Jewish people and in the next breath/line, such statements as the crafty Jew can make black seem white and white appear black in their effort to deny Yeshuah. I remember this was an article about how some orthodox chasidic Jewish men had tried to "set up" a "Jewish believer" in a series of craftily worded questions and how they were "unable" to trip him up. The whole article was obviously ignorant about many aspects of Judaism as some of the things they claimed the learned Orthodox Jews could not answer were things this Reform Jew learned as a child and any Jewish child with a minimum of Jewish education would have known easily. The MOST offensive thing I found in that one issue was an article that was instructing parents to teach their children to be missionaries to Jewish CHILDREN! They instructed that it was important for their children to first establish trust and invite them into their homes, and to make sure that the children tell their missionary target children NOT to discuss their conversations with their parents!!!!! THAT was a HUGE RED FLAG OF DECEIT and it is the method of the PAEDOPHILE , not the method of someone who has a child's best interests at heart! To make matters WORSE they were offering for SALE a series of VHS tapes to INSTRUCT young people on how to be effective missionaries on the playground and to their Jewish school friends! I wrote a harsh letter at the time to the magazine and never received a response.

Years later my own child was targeted on a playground ( in KINDERGARTEN mind you ) by children using some of the SAME TECHNIQUES described in the article that I'd read a DECADE earlier! Because I had told my son before he ever went to school that ANY time and for ANY reason, if someone tells you, DO NOT tell your parents about something..that is ALWAYS a huge red flag to you that it is the VERY thing that you should tell them immediately. ( this covers everything from enticement to drug use, to apparently, playground missionaries!) He said that the children told him that they felt sorry for him. They told him that while "your mom and dad probably love you" we didn't realize we were misleading him on a path that would send him to burn in hell. They also told him that they loved him and all Jews. They didn't want him to tell me about their talks because " your parents won't understand" about their love for him. Little parrot playground missionaries. I later spoke with one of the parents. She denied she ever taught her child to say any such thing. She apologized and he never has had another incident like that happen. Hmm, but now where would a child learn this, then? It was so scripted it was impossible to have come from the mind of a kindergartener! It fit the article I'd read a decade earlier so eeerily that I wondered if they didn't even have those exact tapes!

I think too many Jewish parents still see "messianic Jews" as some kind of a fringe cult and don't realize the money and the efforts involved by large groups of evangelic Christians who sincerely believe that they must do WHATEVER it takes to bring Jews around to professing Jesus so Jesus will return! They sincerely believe that until that happens he won't. Our existence..our being Jewish and refusal to accept their replacement theology is seen as a massive obstacle and when we refuse to see their "truth" ..they quickly turn from LOVE to hate..often in the same breath as was evidenced by just that ONE issue of "Israel My Glory".

Another common ploy I discovered in online chat room missionaries were evangelics posing as "Rabbis" or as Orthodox Jews who had come to Yeshua because Judaism didn't fulfill them. They often had fluent Hebrew proficiency ( more than my own ) but their perspective of Torah and of Jewish history was distinctly non-Jewish and from the perspective of one who had read the Tanakh through the lens of the New Testament. That's hard to describe to one who hasn't read both texts, but growing up in the rural south, I'd long ago read the Christian Bible from beginning to end and understand that Judaism from that view is VERY different than the reality. Jews who have not read the Christian Bible from cover to cover I have discovered are not as quick to notice this distinction but will often become puzzled by some of the things the poser says as they know it doesn't fit Judaism. They just don't recognize where it came from. I discovered as well that there are many Orthodox Jews who are being deceived sometimes with greater ease than those of us who may not know as much Hebrew or observe strict ritual..those of us that the more strict Orthodox view as apostate. The reason they sometimes do not recognize that fundamentalist evangelics are coming to them to seek conversions ( to Chabad AND other Haredi yeshivas) and will spend a few years in depth study and outward ritual and practice to then go try to "convert" the Reform/secular/disenfranchised/ and more importantly..their own fellow evangelic christians who think all this outward garb makes them really a Jew...Their level of conviction to CONVERT the Jew is that strong that they will HIDE their belief in Jesus and Christianity until they are able to actually receive a formal Orthodox conversion.! I have MET this kind of person ,, IN Person in my own community, a former Assembly of God member who outwardly appeared more Jewish than my Orthodox Bubbe.

THIS kind of deceptive tactic has led to something IN the Jewish community that is painful as well..SUSPICION of new converts who appear to be so immersed in Jewish observance that they try to " out Jew the Jew".
Sincere converts may feel as if they are being discriminated against as they are continually questioned FOR their sincerity! This is so painful to me because some of the most wonderful Jewish people I've known were Jews by choice and Judaism teaches us that it makes NO difference if you are a convert or a Kohenim..you're a JEW, period.

It is true that while these efforts of conversion to Jews don't usually fool Jews who know Judaism, they DO fool most Christians who are being told that Jews are "bigoted" to the "completed" Jew who has "come home to Yeshua". They're creating a wave of Jew hate that Jews haven't before had to deal with here and there is both denial and frustration in how to deal with this.

This form of deceptive evangelism is the worst thing to happen to Jews IMHO since the Nazis in terms of creating Jew hate as there are now..in some communities across the US..more evangelic Christians claiming to BE Jewsish than there are Jewish people in the community! The vast majority of their adherents were not of Jewish heritage to begin with but converts from other ( usually Protestant) Christian denominations. When Jews speak out against their deception..we are being called BIGOTED! That is so topsy turvy to me. It is in NO way bigoted to NOT want your religion hijacked nor to have people who are NOT A PART OF your religion speak as representatives OF it!
And they're messing up their own kids with a very mixed up sense of self, since this tactic began in 1967, a generation of thousands of "messianic" kids have grown up with a self-concept of being Jewish but having Christian beliefs. I truly pity these young people. They feel alienated from what they think are "their own" yet often demonize Judaism more than the Christian who calls themself a Christian! They think Jews hate them!! This is so very sad.

Another ploy by the Christian evangelic is that this is being called a "division" or "split" of Judaism as the Protestant/Catholic division of centuries ago.

That is completely false, too..as this is in NO way a division within Judaism. ALL branches of Judaism agree that these people are not practicing Judaism. This is the ONE thing all Jewish faith branches agree upon! Position statements have been issued by every Rabbinic organization from Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox. This has actually clearly shown that there is more similarity of belief between ALL branches of Judaism than the various branches of Christianity..it is a matter of CUSTOM and RITUAL and level of OBSERVANCE of Torah law that differentiates the branches of Judaism.

This is a CHRISTIAN movement that is NOT supported or funded by any Jewish organization on the planet. The Chief Sephardi AND Chief Ashkenazi Rabbis of Israel have official proclamation that they are not of the covenant of Israel and not considered Jewish under the law of return. This is clearly not a division within Judaism but an attempt to DIVIDE from OUTSIDE of Judaism.

Christians should be outraged as well, rather than support and embrace deceptive efforts to bring people into their folds. Embracing a faith should be about HONESTY.

If this offends Christians..and I HOPE it does offend GOOD CHRISTIANS enough to do something to REIN in their own. The many many millions of dollars a year spent in efforts to convert Jews could much better be used in efforts of charity. One source I read said that last year alone in the United States alone, $250 Million was spent..I know the Jews for Jesus organization alone spends well over 20 million a year. This does not count the many millions that they're sending to missionaries embedded in Israel now. Look at all the Christian television networks and you will find a number of shows devoted to nothing but converting the Jew. Watch those shows and you will see for yourself some of the deceptive tactics. It isn't hard to uncover them. Education is important.

For Christian readers of my answer..here is a link to help you understand what Jews believe and why some of the things missionaries tell us make NO sense to the Jewish way of belief. Jesus shall forever remain insignificant to our connection and faith in God. Jews do not condemn you for your efforts to connect to God through Jesus, but it is not the method of the covenant of Israel and the faithful Jew. If you cannot respect our right to be Jews then you cannot love the Jews. If you want to take away from Jews the very thing that has kept the Jewish people alive , then you cannot love us.
Israel respects and honors the rights of Christians to their holy places and to worship there in peace. Please respect the rights of Jews to worship God in peace, too.

note above to bonsai: Thank you. I KNOW that there are a great MANY Christians who are pained by these tactics. I consider many of them among my dear friends. I don't live near many fellow Jews and I thank GOD that the majority of Christians don't act this way. Unfortunately I also see that my community is more accepting of anti-semitism now than in decades past and often the excuse given is that the Jews are bigots to the" completed Jew or believing Jew in Jesus". I hope more like YOU will help to show how harmful it is to both our peoples.

Shalom.

Answer 2

I've never experienced deceptive tactics from evangelicals. I have found that they are pretty open about it....convert or go to hell; Jesus loves his special people-the Jews; etc. etc. It doesn't work and it never will work. The people who evangelize are usually not good at it and it can be easily recognized for what it is. I don't mean to offend anyone....you just aren't good enough at evangelizing to get Jews to convert.

Answer 3

Evangelicals are taught various techniques to repackage Christianity to make it more palatable for Jews.

"Don't use the word 'cross,' call it a 'tree.'"

"Don't say Jesus, call him by his Hebrew name Yeshua."

"Don't call it Christianity, call it 'Messianic Judaism.'"

Frankly, I find it insulting to both religions. In the marketplace of ideas, if you really feel that yours is the best product, why resort to blatant false advertising? Slogans like "Jesus made me kosher" are confusing and ridiculous. The claim made by evangelical groups is that you can worship Jesus and still be Jewish. That's true - you could still be Jewish - but you're no longer practicing Judaism. You're a Jew following a non-Jewish religion.

Mainline protestant ministers have come out against groups like Jews for Jesus for their use of deceptive tactics, which I find comforting inasmuch as it shows that not the entire Christian world has gone crazy. The primary deception among evangelicals today is to preach Christianity with a Jewish veneer, with all the dreidels and tallesim and scrolls and things, and call it Judaism, to call an evangelical church a synagogue, and to call a Jewish convert to Christianity a "completed Jew."

Again, these people are doing a disservice to Jew and Christian alike. To Jews, they're lying, simple as that. To Christians, they're suggesting that Christianity isn't compelling enough on its own - it needs to be passed off as something it isn't to attract people. Christianity is a fine religion - it's not for me (or my fellow Jews), and it's not without its flaws. But truly devout Christians tend to make good people. But these charlatans who are not content to be Christians, and to let Jews be Jews - they get no respect from me.

More info:

www.jewsforjudaism.org
www.messiahtruth.com
www.simpletoremember.com

Answer 4

I once saw a christian go over to a woman in a cafe in Jerusalem and start telling her what a wonderful religion Judiasm is, and how much good the Jews did for the world etc. etc. BUT they made one mistake, by not accepting Jesus as the messiah blah blah blah...
Lol, the woman listened politely and then said that she's not into these religious things.
I've also seen the regular "Jesus loves the Jews" kind of cr@p.

Answer 5

Christianity is a FEAR based religion used to control the masses!!
Because fear is the most productive tool these mind control cults have to win over and keep followers.
Source(s):
Remember, "god" is nothing more than a nonsense word created by man to explain away all of the things we can't yet understand.

Religion is a disease of the mind, born of fear, which has done nothing but bring untold misery down upon the human race.
If you can't get someone to convert willingly through preaching, fear is the next best tool.

Christianity for instance is based on two principles:

1. If you believe, you will be rewarded with the prospect of an eternity in Heaven when you die.

2. If you don't believe, you will be rewarded with the prospect of an eternity in Hell when you die.

For Christians:

God is all-loving, all-wise and all-merciful, so long as you submit to becoming a slave - salivating and singing heaps of praises on him for all eternity.

Much like an Earthly dictator who rules his subjects under rule of tyranny - submit or suffer.
Two methods in which religion spreads

1)Violence
2)Child Indoctrination

Answer 6

the attached site deals specifically with countering the deceptive lies of evangelicals targeting jews specifically.

Answer 7

According to widespread reports, many of which are probably true, Christians have, for the last 2000 years, been offering Jews eternal life, escape from the penalty due to their sins, and eternal happiness in the Kingdom of God, if only they would accept Jesus Christ as their savior, and be baptized.

Those bastards!

Answer 8

I'm Christian, but not evangelical. I take issue with your question, as it implies that ALL evengelical Christians use deceptive tactics.

If someone wants to learn about my beliefs, I will share them--but I will never initiate an effort to discuss them.

I guess maybe I know that you cannot coerce or fool anyone into becoming Christian--it must be of a person's own free will, with informed consent, for a conversion to be other than meaningless.

Christians who think otherwise are merely meeting their own needs to be evangelical, instead of concerning themselves with the spritual welfare of the other person.

They are well-meaning, for the most part, and I think that the question and many of the answers are small-minded and uncharitable.

Answer 9

I am not a Jew but I wish to extend an apology to any of you who have felt deceived, persecuted or coerced in any way to convert. That is not what real Christians are about. I would ask for your forgiveness on behalf of some fools that make the rest of us look bad.

Answer 10

I have a friend who converted for the simple fact that he did not want his children to be circumcised, at a young age

but rather to have the choice to do it at sexual maturity

Answer 11

Their ruthless attempt to convince all ppl that Jews have low moral standards... that we are somehow manipulative and they are righteous.