We all have met them. They are everywhere. They are the ones who have an inner soap box that they feel must be stood upon so that they can shout out to the world their theories of how the world actually should be. They are the ones who feel quite “passionately” that their opinions matter more than they actually do. They are the ones who feel that they have to change the world. Basically, they are the ones that think that everyone should think and act the way THEY do otherwise the world will go to hell in a hand basket. These people are pretenders.
People can be very short sighted. They don’t tend to see the big picture of things. They are so worried about forcing “change” on everyone else that they miss the changes that are already occurring right there under their noses. Change is a constant thing…most likely the ONLY constant thing in our Universe. It happens. And, like the grass that will not grow any faster if we tug at it, change will not happen any faster than it naturally and organically is going to simply happen.
Yes, our world can be quite messed up with how we treat others and our environment. And yes, there does need to be someone to be the voice of reason who will stand up for those having difficulty standing up for themselves, or for the environment that does not have a voice in the face of corporate industry. These are worthy causes. But when one is willing to attack total strangers and make horrible assumptions about what their motives in life are just so that their own views are heard then one becomes irrelevant in the process of the desired change. People STOP listening if all they hear is whining, complaining or screaming about how horrible someone else is and how they just “don’t get it” about (fill in the blank). People get tired of that behaviour really quickly. And when they do get tired of it they will either distance themselves from the Evangelizer or they will begin to challenge the Evangelizer’s need to Evangelize. Either way, they, too, end up on the Evangelizer’s hit list. This is a form of emotional assassination…and Evangelizers are very skilled in the art of emotional assassination.
But they are equally skilled in the art of “victimhood”. The Evangelizer will, when not getting their way in a situation or conversations, twist the circumstance around in their head and start playing the victim as a means of finding some way to guilt or shame the other person into falling in line with their way of thinking. And if the person does not fall in line, then they will begin character assassination of that person, trying to get all their friends and relatives to hate the person who basically has done nothing more than disagreeing with their twisted thinking. This narcissistic method (this is all about ME but it is NEVER MY FAULT) has ruined lives and relationships for thousands of years and it is still very active in the human psyche.
I have run into many an Evangelizer over my many years in this life. I will always walk away. And yes, then I am their target. But eventually they just get bored of me because I won’t give them any energy. At least I won’t after I have told them exactly what I think of them. Once that is done, my mission is complete and I leave it alone. They can have their own misery and leave me out of it. And the character assassination is something that dies down fairly quickly. People won’t jump on the Evangelizer’s wagon for very long before they become aware that they, too, are a potential target. And many won’t even hop on that wagon in the first place.
The saddest part of it is that often what the Evangelizer is beaking off about is actually a worthy cause, but one that is being done no favours by the Evangelizer’s approach. And if the Evangelizer were to back up a bit, to just shut up for a moment and LISTEN and WATCH, they would see that the change is already under way. People are already shifting. No one needs to be bullied into thinking anything. They will come to it in their own time, in their own space, and it will be so organic in nature that it will become a common way…a way that, once achieved, will be such a standard that people will look back at the old way and shake their heads in wonder at the fact that just 50 years ago everyone thought this or did that and NOW look at how far we have come! Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to desired change. When one waits it out, they will more likely live long enough to see that change. But when one tries to force the change, they are only delaying the process. After all, if you tug at that grass to try to make it grow, you will only be damaging the root system.