Nobody wants to manipulate people into the faith.  Unless you’re Baptist, or Pentecostal, I guess (jokes!).  People are afraid that you don’t get a real discipleship commitment out of a teenager if you emotionally terrify them into thinking they’ll die in a fiery crash on the way home from this youth meeting, and they’ll burn in hell for all their newly budding sexuality.  So we try to make faith commitment a rational decision, we’ll talk you into why it’s a good idea to get saved…usually on the pivotal night of camp when your emotions are already high.

I don’t know if there is a way to avoid “manipulating” people when it comes to religion.  The “religion of the heart” that John Wesley encouraged required preachers who preach with conviction, who preach what they believe in the hopes that others will be convinced that it is the truth.  If that’s manipulation, well, crap.