Talk:evangelize

Someone with an axe to grnd just removed the second sense, which is supported both by Websters and the OED of evangelism being to be zealous and vocal in support of a cause.
 * I didn't see the deletion, but have rewritten the definitions from scratch. SemperBlotto 08:14, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July 2015
I would like to request verification of the sense 'To preach the Quran and sunnah to non-Muslims'. Kaixinguo~enwiktionary (talk) 23:28, 15 July 2015 (UTC)
 * The original etymology and primary definition was specifically Christian ("to tell the Good Story"), but I would say that the expanded definition is to "tell people about any ideology or religion in an attempt to convert them", which would subsume the RfVed definition, and include, e.g., "Apple evangelizing" and the like. --Catsidhe (verba, facta) 00:03, 16 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Perhaps I should have put it in the 'tea room'. Anyway, there is something problematic about the definitions as things stand. Kaixinguo~enwiktionary (talk) 00:08, 16 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks User:-sche for improving this sense. Kaixinguo~enwiktionary (talk) 10:05, 18 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Perhaps a "by extension" tag would be appropriate? Anyway, I do think the word is especially pertinent to Islamic preaching. To "evangelize" someone to Hinduism (for example) sounds very odd to me. But I guess that is just because Christianity and Islam are the most active proselytizing religions. The new definition also strikes me as rather broad; can you "evangelize" someone to Marxism? Just my two cents. Aperiarcam (talk) 09:12, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, you can:
 * Marxism at Work: Ideology, Class and French Socialism During the Third Republic:
 * "Guesdist parliamentarians, when not evangelising for socialism, proposed prosaic amendments to obscure bills, conscientiously fulfilling their legislative role within the 'bourgeois state'."
 * --Catsidhe (verba, facta) 09:51, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Touche. Still skeptical about Hindu "evangelism," but seeing as Hindus don't tend to proselytize, I suppose the rarity of the phenomenon doesn't have to reflect on the applicability of the word. Aperiarcam (talk) 10:07, 21 July 2015 (UTC)