This morning I woke up to a flyer on my car windshield.

It said,

"Family looking to buy a car! Call Amanda"

And then it gave their phone number.

At the bottom of the little flyer though it said

"Jesus Loves You! John 3:16"

It just struck me as an odd thing to put on your ad. What does jesus have to do with looking to buy someone's used car? How do they know he loves me?

My guess is they were hoping some fellow christian would see it and not give them an unfair price. My cynical side thinks that's stupid.

Also I was kind of annoyed someone would leave a scripture on a strangers car. No other religion does this.

"No other religion does this."

I wonder if that's true. I wonder if you go over to Saudi Arabia, or someplace like that, if you'd get a little note like, "Don't forget to decapitate an infidel today! :) Quran 8:12"

There is actually an effort by a young Muslim in the Washington, D.C. area to post inspirational verses with positive messages from the Quran, on brightly coloured sticky notes or construction paper, visibly in public places. The messages are delivered as a peaceful protest against anti-Islamic ads. The poster's stated intent is to combat Islamophobia, promote peace and tolerance, and build a more positive reputation for Islam and for Muslims. The effort is called the Quran Project.

If he really wanted to promote peace, he'd be out telling his fellow Muslims to stop murdering people in the name of religion. That'd do wonders for the faith's public image!

Leaving a note with a verse from a faith's scripture is not uncommon in some areas. But it does seem a bit unusual to combine that with a 'buying a car' ad.

Forever21 writes the same verse on shopping bags, and In-n-Out writes the same verse on drink cups and food wrappers.

Confirmed by people who shop there.

Correction: The same verse at In-n-Out is written on soda cups. Other verses are written on other food and drink materials. Confirmed by Snopes.

Oh its a very common verse.

But it still seems strange to me.

Those are establishments. They are known for doing those things.

This was my personal property where I didn't expect it on an unsought for car ad... that's what made it odd to me.

Understood. It's certainly not common (at least in the USA) and may have been rather unexpected.

Perhaps the intention was that the verse would be seen (according to the Christian faith believer) 'at the right place in the right time' for the person to take inspiration from the Bible, to remember or to believe in God, or to decide to accept that faith.

Maybe.

It doesn't come across that way. That's probably what In-N-out does.

This feels more like something for personal gain (getting the better deal)

Which is very shallow.

Then again some christian sects believe that regardless of who you are you must accept jesus at least once or you bound for hell. So they may have been trying to save my soul. But it was still on a car ad and therefore not a missionary effort. (Still different in my mind than an establishments choice such as In-N-Out)

It's quite possible that the poster was indeed trying to get a better deal, by reminding you of your faith. But then, the approach chosen would be quite exclusionary - with the target group limited only to the people of the Christian faith who believe in the validity of the Bible (or at least, of that particular Bible verse), while there are plenty of God believers of other faiths who might likewise be motivated to give a better deal (or at the very least, not to cheat) by a reminder of their faith in God.

'you' meaning Christians of course (not necessarily any posters here - and many of us are not Christians!) Sorry.

This is a pretty conservative area (my home). Most people here identify as christian. Its not very diverse.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2014 03:25PM by nonsequiter.

Ah, that explains well why the poster would think it is not too 'strange' to post something like this on a stranger's car!

I suppose. It still struck me as an odd combination.

It is most definitely unusual, even in such conservative areas.

this is why I think we as exmormons should be more devout about stamping "mormonthink.com" on to anything and everything we share with others.

Haha, that really gives a comical image.

In theory, I agree and disagree.

If someone asks me, I have no problem sharing.

But I dont want to bombard people with my beliefs like I was taught/guilt tripped to do in mormonism/christianity.

well, the trick is to do it silently. I would never pass out a card that said mormonthink. But I have no problem writing it with a sharpie in the BOM at the Marriott :)

That website would have no relevance to the vast majority of people who are not Mormon and who have no legitimate interest in Mormonism. It might be rather annoying for them to see it, or at the very least it might be strange to them to see it posted or publicized.

Arguably the same could be said of unwanted promotional religious messages/websites of other faiths. That said, it's quite common to see proselytizers or preachers who come to gain attention, support, or new believers to a faith. It's quite uncommon to see 'anti-preachers' promoting criticism of another faith.

you are forgetting the curious cats. You may open up your BOM and see my sharpie writing and think "hmmm...someone wrote something here. oh well" but it may stick in your mind and make you curious as well. Curious enough to actually google it.

If the website is posted somewhere randomly or where it would be out-of-context and not relevant (as was the Bible verse reference on the car ad) then it could be an annoyance or at least strange. That is what I was referring to.

Perhaps curiosity could still motivate searching in such a case, but it would still seem out-of-place and might be rather pointless if the curious person was not interested in taking up Mormonism in the first place.

Referring especially to the previous post which suggested stamping the website 'on to anything and everything we share'.

Plus, particularly if it is unsolicited or out-of-context, it then might make the Mormonism critics simply look like hate-filled people who just want to spread their anti-Mormon/anti-faith message everywhere with malice or in revenge. That might not make such a good impression and could possibly even backfire.

I see your point. You could have just used my name btw instead of saying the previous post lol. I wouldn't randomly pass out cards to try and change people's mind. I was saying that in response to crazy Christians doing so, you could at least fight back with something similar. The only people that really think ex-Mormons are hate filled are Mormons. The normal public might think it's a little extreme, but they wouldn't have a persecution complex and be so butt hurt to see a link to something that may change their mind if missionaries show up at their door. This may only be effective in Utah. But I have only written it in hotel BOM's. I would assume that if you bother to open the BOM at a hotel, that you may be affected by seeing a mormonthink.com stamp.

No, some cooky group who they call Christian is out to proselytize. No one puts cards on cars asking for someone to tell of a car for sale. That is a ploy to get you to come to Sun. Services. What a joke.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2014 03:31PM by honestone.

affinity fraud

It is just a way to gain your trust. When the phrase "I'm a good christian" comes out of the mouth of someone trying to sell/buy something from you then you need to run. Same goes for writing bible verses on flyers! Run away!

It just says "I'm pious, so you must consider me honest and deserving." I consider it deceptive and likewise am repelled by it.