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I was stationed at Norfolk Naval Base in the early to mid 80s and the place was swarming with sailors. There usually wasn't much to do during liberty, but we found our own fun. One weekend I went off with a couple of friends to spend the night at a friend's house. The three of us went off to buy some beer because often that's all there is to do in a navy town.

As we approached the market there was a group, about six or so, of very loud, verbally abusive Christians trying their best to use boot camp techniques to preach the gospel. Their idea was to shout verbal abuse to sailors passing by in a threatening manner on the sidewalk. It was mostly personal taunts like "you like sucking on that pipe, boy? You think it makes you look like a man?" (I used to smoke a pipe then) and "yeah walk on by, you're the devil and you avoid the word of God!"

We hoped they wouldn't get any closer and do something physical, and they didn't, but it really upset us. It particularly upset my friends who were Christians (I was an atheist at the time) and hoped I wouldn't judge all Christians by those maniacs on the sidewalk.

We talked about it after we got our beer and got back. I told them that with the exception of those zealots, all of the Christians I knew were generally good and decent people, and that they were using the wrong approach if they wanted to convert people and save souls. They should bring them in with kindness and friendliness and find a middle ground to talk. Their approach only drove people away because they were afraid of the insane method of preaching they used.