Pee Word

The 'P' Word - PROSELYTIZING - is one of those words that has been invested with particular power and meaning in recent times.

Even the word itself seems rather UGLY. In contemporary usage it carries a sense of 'unwanted', even, 'forced' conversions imposed on unwitting victims by those 'peddling religion'.

This sense has been given greater power with the growing widespread belief that no-one should be encouraged to change from one religious or faith system to another. Those engaged in 'mission work' or other proclamatory means of making known the various religious viewpoints are thus increasingly viewed as anti-social types, threatening to subvert peoples' 'identity'.

From this base, even the 'declaration', 'reminding', or 're-telling' of themes, concepts and values with any religious basis in almost any public fora (including Wiki) can so easily be dismissed using the PWord and thereby rendered unacceptable. Similarly those responsible for such acts or statements are by definition 'proselytizers'.

The application of the PWord (as with the 'FWord' - fundamentalist ) thus generally has the (desired?) effect of damning the group or individuals so labelled to the community at large. This often subverts the possibility of a fair or unbiased hearing or reading for the persons or articles concerned.