I appreciate it, thank you

"some scrambled eggs with a heart beat"?? I wish you hadn't phrased it like that, it was very sickening wording. I have suffered 2 miscarriages, and I love my "scrambled eggs with a heart beat" just as much as I love my living 5-year-old daughter. To the baby, to God, to me, to family and friends, to people who care, there is nothing in this world more important than some scrambled eggs with a heart beat.

Amen!

Nicely put. While I do believe that the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, I think that modern society blows it hugely out of proportion. Everybody sins every day, that's why we need Jesus. My two best friends are gay, and they know how I feel about it, but it doesn't matter because I love them and value their friendship (and just because their brand of sin is different than mine doesn't mean that I am in any way better than them).

you think it's better to live and let live. Both are valid viewpoints :)

say something because you just never know who will be willing to listen. Is it conceited to think that your way is "right"? Almost assuredly. But I would certainly hope that if someone saw me doing something that they strongly felt wasn't right, they would care enough to kindly share their view with me. I have been approached several times in strange places by people who represented a different religion than mine, and whereas we did not see eye-to-eye and probably never would, I always felt so warmed that someone saw this mom strolling around with a baby in a stroller and thought, hey, I'm going to try to make a difference in this random lady's life :) They could have just stuck their head in the sand and ignored me, but they went outside their comfort zone to strike up a conversation about a less-than-conventional topic. I guess you would have been offended, and lots of people are and have every right to be. It's just a matter of opinion. I think it's better to try to help people,

business and just concentrate on trying to help. Now with this, I have gotten extremely positive reactions, extremely negative reactions, and everything in between. Because every person is different, everyone's story is different, everyone's day is going differently. Yes, I am a stranger, no, it is none of business. For whatever it's worth, my mother and I are both autistic, and she jokes that having less of a "sense" of what is and is not socially appropriate probably makes evangelizing much easier. And are we really helping anyone? Who knows. Maybe no one! But if even one person was receptive, it was worth it. Now, it's worth noting that "we" are not "changing" anyone's mind. I believe only God can do that. But we can plant a seed. As far as smoking or exercising or anything else goes, you're absolutely right, unless the person wants to change for themselves, nothing is going to happen, and nothing you are going to say is going to spur them to action. But I still feel like you should

Very well thought out response :) It's interesting that you bring up religion - my mom calls herself a "freelance minister", preaching at jails, retirement homes, wherever she can form a group. I used to do it with her (I'm a pretty horrible speaker though, so I would sing the hymns, and she would do the sermon, and together we'd have a little service), but I recently had a baby, so I've taken a break from it. But, even though I'm not actively holding church services, I still try to spread the gospel where I can. The guy helping me take my groceries to the car, the woman cutting my hair, whoever's next to me on a plane, whatever. I suppose you would say that is incredibly rude. And, you know what, it is! It's intrusive and personal and socially unacceptable. So why do I do it? Because if you truly believe that someone is in some sort of serious trouble, religious, health-realted, emotional, whatever, I think you should put aside whether or not it's rude to stick your nose in someone's

I actually think that, yes, if you think somebody does need "saving" from something you think is harmful to them, you should absolutely say something and not turn a blind eye. They can choose to ignore you, but if you say nothing, you're basically saying, "I don't care enough about you to take a moment of my time to try to help you." Of course, you should do it out of a place of love and in a nice way - a condescending lecture isn't going to convince anyone. They can disagree with you and go on doing their thing, and that's okay. And, obviously, there's a time and place for these conversations.
I recently lost my grandmother, a very strong and otherwise healthy lady, to stage-4 lung cancer at a young age because she was a chronic smoker. Now whenever I see someone smoking, I feel compelled to stop and share my story. I've never gotten a negative reaction - I usually get a "Thanks, I needed that" or a "I've really been meaning to quit". You never know, you might really help someone!