Is it rude to proselytize or is it obeying God’s will? Dr. Michael Ray Smith, associate professor of mass communication at Campbell University, examined the practice of proselytizing and the characteristics of conservative Protestants in two articles published in the “Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication, and Media.””Proselytizing continues to be regarded as rude bordering on evil by many,” Smith writes of the way the practice is viewed in the 21st century. “In the Christian subculture, proselytizing is regarded as aggressive missionary zeal where one group loses members to another group. However, Para church ministries such as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association focused on converting a person to become a believer and follower of Christ regard the sharing of the Gospel not only legitimate religious activity but activity that is commanded by scriptures.”Smith is an award-winning writer, photojournalist, academic, and conference speaker who is the author of four books. His latest, FeatureWriting.Net, is a step-by-step analysis of how writers can get published using ideas obtained from the Internet.In 1988, Smith began his teaching career at a state school in the South. Since then, he has taught journalism at a private college in Pennsylvania, directed a journalism program at a liberal-arts college in Indiana and served as chair of a graduate journalism program in Virginia.As a journalist, Smith spent a decade in newsrooms as a reporter and editor and penned more than 3,000 articles for publications such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Baltimore Sun, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He recently returned from a missions conference in St. Louis where an editor from the Miami Herald and Smith helped 20 students from across the United States publish a 16-page tabloid newspaper every day for a week.Smith received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of Maryland in College Park. He went on to earn a master’s degree in communication from Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. He earned his Ph.D. from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. He is a recipient of the Archie K. Davis Fellowship awarded by the North Carolinian Society, an organization dedicated to promoting and increasing knowledge and awareness of North Carolina history.
Smith contributes to encyclopedia on religion and communication