Jesus Saves

One afternoon while I was in Chattanooga last summer, I was contentedly taking a hike with my dog, minding my own business. I got back to my car that was parked on the side of the road at the trail head. Parked behind me was some guy. As I got to my car, he approached me.
"I just wanted to give you this," this complete stranger says to me.
He handed me a Bible.
I gave him a funny look and tried to give it back. I'm sure I could find a Bible at my house. He gave it back.
"I saw your bumper stickers and I used to think a lot like you do. Before I was saved."
A brief synopsis of the ideals I have on the back bumper of my car consists of messages of Peace, Coexist (i.e. multiple religeons can coexist peacefully), a Presidential campaign sticker promoting a Stewart/Colbert ticket for the 2008 elections, and namaste (the light in me honors the light in you - i.e. respect people and their differences). On a side note, while I am aware of the slighly hippie tendencies of my bumper stickers, they at least force me to be a nicer driver - because, really , with those messages on the ass of your car, you can't really be an asshole driving. I hate hypocrites. But when he commented on my stickers, I couldn't even respond for a minute because I couldn't wrap my head around the concept of my non-hateful, pro-lovin' bumper stickers being against anything specifically Christian. That was a frightening thought. So, before driving off, I stopped and asked him, "Why?" Because I could not pass up the opportunity to fight it out with one of these condescending Christian evangelists that give Christianity a bad name.
The explanation that ensued was mind boggling. It reaffirmed the fact that you really cannot argue with stupid people. I am so disappointed that I couldn't argue with him rationally about it. The general message I left with from him was that people are born with evil in them. People are inherently bad. Jesus must save them from that evil. Eastern religions, on the other hand, are based on the idea of the goodness of the person, which is clearly a terrible thing. I don't claim to be immaculately perfect or pure or anything, but I also can't bring myself to believe that people are evil. I couldn't even comprehend the metaphors he was using because they simply didn't make sense. I was astounded. Offended, bemused, and shocked. And above all, unconvinced and repulsed.