Ok, last blog of the evening (call it a blog-u-copia if you will):
I had a strange run in with an odd fellow last night. I was on my way to a dinner party and had stopped to stick something in my bag and a older, uncle Walt crazy-eyed and bearded mad man stopped and asked me if I needed some help (he asked in Hebrew, I looked confused, he asked in English) and I replied that I was on my way to a dinner. The following is a heavily paraphrased account of the resulting conversation:

He: So where are you from?

Me: Canada

What brings you to Israel?

I work up at the Baha'i Centre.

Oh, (talking a little step back) you're one of those...

Ummm...yes, I'm a Baha'i.

I see. And how did you get involved with those people?

Well, my mother is a Baha'i. So I was raised as a Baha'i.

Aha. And how did she get involved with those people? What church did she used to go to?

(At this point I was beginning to think that I should excuse myself but my curiosity got the best of me.)
Well, she used to go to the Unitarian Church.

Oh, another bunch I have a problem with. I see.

And what church do you go to kind sir?

Oh you know, Pentecostal, Baptists, a few different ones.
You see, in the Bible it talks all about this, (it was here that he launched into a 15 minute dissertation about the biblical prophecies regarding Babylon and Jerusalem and many other ancient cities that are now buried in sand. He also mentioned that Saddam Hussein had tried to rebuild Babylon "and look what happened to him! Living in a hole under a hut in Iraq! Ha!". Any attempt of mine to interject anything during this time was met with uncle Walt raising his voice and soldiering on undeterred. I again contemplated excusing myself and running for my life, but again, curiosity got the best of me and I stuck with him until finally he lost his train of thought and asked me another question.)
And your religion believes that Mohammed was a prophet doesn't it? And compares Mohammed to the Lord Jesus doesn't it? (after speaking Jesus's name, he dropped to one knee and uttered a short prayer under his breath)

Well, yes it does.

How can you compare anyone to Jesus! Jesus is the Lord! There is no difference between the two! The first born of God is God! (at this point he was actually yelling)

And Mohammed?

Mohammed? Mohammed?!? Mohammed is from Satan! The Koran is simply stolen from the Bible! We have proof! Manuscripts from two hundred years before Mohammed was even born!

Wha...

And your religion is simply another perversion of the Bible! A deviant form of Islam! And when I tried to go up to the Baha'i Centre to talk to someone, no one would talk to me!

(gee, I wonder why...)
Well, I don't think you understand what the Baha'i Writings say about Jesus and Christianity. You can find Baha'i books at the library here in Haifa, maybe you should check them out. You might find them very interesting.

What? I don't care about your writings! I don't want to read about your Faith! It's you that needs to understand!

Wait. Hold on one second. You expect me to stand here and patiently listen to what you have to say, but you won't take the time to find out about my religion? The one that you're so vehemently attacking? I'm sorry, if you're not at least going to do yourself the favor of investigating something for yourself, then I really need to go. Good night. (My curiosity satisfied, and my dinner getting cold, I decided to move on.)

Wait!...er, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just trying to help you. You need to find Jesus. I'll pray for you.


That was pretty much the end of the conversation. I told him something about me not being offended and that I appreciated his concern and thanked him for the prayers, but really I had pretty much had enough. I mean really, what's the proper reaction to being called a deviant Satan worshipper? Very odd. Though I really wished I had have asked him what he thought of the Jews. In whose country he was living. That would have been interesting.