The Earnest Pentecostal
Kasia July 7th, 2008
As my beloved mentioned in his blog post, we went to check out Chatham’s first effort at a “Taste Fest” on Saturday.
Now, when you call something a “Taste Fest”, call me crazy, but I expect there to be, you know, food for sale.
Chatham’s no Detroit (for better and for worse), but they do have, you know, restaurants. They also have at least a small variety of ethnic groups that could have been tapped to serve food. I’m thinking of the Italians, the Portuguese, the Poles, and the Slovaks, at the very least, plus of course your garden-variety Scotch-Irish and French-Canadian folk. I mean, I know poutine is gross, but I’m quite sure the French legacy has left more to French-Canadian culinary palette than that…
Anyway, it wasn’t so much of a “taste fest” as a combination block party and sidewalk sale along the main drag of town, King Street. They’d rented some of those inflatable kids’ romper rooms (think Moon Walk) and had those set up in the street, as well as some musicians stuck at various intervals playing Nirvana, some light jazz, and what sounded like a so-so Janis Joplin cover. Some of the restaurants had extended their tables out into the sidewalk/street area, and a lot of the shops had either put out tables of wares or were inviting people in to check things out.
Canuck and I did, however, see a sign advertising Breyer’s ice cream, which is my absolute favorite brand; and it was quite hot, so we went in to buy me a cone.
Well. That shop is owned by an earnest Pentecostal man, who was dead set on trying to save us from the Big Bad Catholic Church.
I should mention he was raised Catholic.
A lengthy discussion ensued, which included his following us out to the sidewalk as the shop got busier and we tried to let him get back to, you know, his livelihood.
Next time I have some money, I’m picking up a copy of Deacon Alex Jones’ No Price Too High and an extra copy of the Common Ground DVD Father John made with Kensington Community Church and dropping them off as gifts for him. Canuck joked that the Pentecostal churches probably all have “Wanted” posters in the back with Deacon Alex’s picture on them, warning people against talking to him or reading anything he writes. I hope not - it would be a shame to completely waste my money…
What drove me the most bonkers about the whole encounter…well, two things. First was how he clearly misunderstood Catholic doctrine in several areas, including that pesky little question of salvation. He obviously thought it was “works salvation”, no matter how many times and different ways I tried to tell him it wasn’t.
Second, he was all over the map with his apologetics. I’m a very linear thinker, and I tend to proceed from A to B to C with bridges in between. Throw me six different trains of thought in as many minutes, and I’m apt to get dizzy and not be able to respond effectively. It wasn’t quite the “buckshot” approach that the Jehovah’s Witnesses use, but it wasn’t entirely dissimilar from that either. Drives me up a wall…give me a point and let me counter it, then counter my point. Don’t go skipping from one topic to another to another and another!
You know. Kind of like this somewhat scattered post. Don’t do that. 
Don’t argue with Jaibee - for both of our sakes!
LOL!!! You can also get free stuff from Catholicity.com …. if they still give out free stuff. Its been years since I checked.
I’m with you in sticking to one point at a time. I’m VERY linear!!
I should mention he was raised Catholic.
That sounds like the notable point for EVERY bloody person I’ve tried to—–for lack of a better word—-witness to.
Nothing succeeds like an absolute bloody misunderstanding, to misquote a classic.
Clam, the buckshot approach isn’t limited to JWs. The fine folks in my old evangelical church would do the same thing. They would start out with one objection, and once answered, they would move onto their next one (without acknowledging the answer already given).
How in the world did this earnest Pentecostal determine that you were Catholic? I mean, do Pentecostal ice cream peddlers typically ask the religious preference of each customer? Or, were you wearing something distinctively Catholic?
Oh, he was making small talk - asked if we were from Chatham, and when he found out I was from Detroit, asked about the Presidential election. I looked a little taken aback, because what he said was odd “which one of these guys is going to save this world of ours?” or something like that. My guess is he was looking for an opportunity to “witness” - he then asked if I was “born again” or something, so I was pausing to debate how to answer that…and it all went downhill from there.