Pope Benedict XVI once said, "The greatest work of charity is evangelization." Of course, following Christian tradition, "charity" is synonymous with "love." So, the greatest act of love that you, a human being, can give to another, is to inform them of (and hopefully recruit them to) the Christian faith and the peace and love of our lord Jesus Christ.
Ugh.
As pagans, one of the basic tenats of our faith is that we do NOT evangelize. In fact, most pagans that I know are very much against evangelization in general, especially what I call "active evangelization" or "door-to-door evangelization" where one is accosting strangers and aquaintances with unwanted religious advances. I have always said that the quickest way to alienate someone is to ask, "Can I talk to you about Jesus Christ?" But that goes for any deity.
The truth is, active evangelization is inherently disrespectful, especially in a modern, western setting (but really anywhere), where most people have been exposed to one or more religious traditions. Why? Not only is the so-called evangelist asking if you are so oblivious to the culture around you that you haven't heard of Christianity or considered it as a religious option, but that the path you have decided to follow (or not) is inherently worse than what they are about to offer. It ultimately comes down to "my god is better than your god," which can further be refined down to "my way of life is better than your way of life." To see the results of such thinking, one needs only to look back through history, in which we see many long years of war, colonization, forced assimilation, and so on.
However, in our culture today, we don't really see anything quite that violent (unless you are on tumblr--in which case, you should get off tumblr). Evangelization has become gentler. No one is putting you in thumb screws to force you to convert. The worst you're going to encounter in America, at least, are smartly dressed strangers knocking at your door at god-awful times of the morning. Some might call this a more effective way of evangelizing. People see how great your life is going, so when they ask, "How do you do it?" you can attribute all your successes to Whomever. Or, you get someone who is down on their luck, and offer them help...with a caveat. Some would call this gentler, but also more sinister--insidious, if you will.
Having spent most of my adult life around devout Christians, I can assure you that on a basic level, most of them do not have sinister intentions with their clumsy attempts to evangelize you. They genuinely believe in what they are trying to foist off on you, and really do think that your life will be better with their deity in it. They have also been taught from a very young age that evangelizing is something that they are morally obligated to do. However, this naivete disappears the higher you go up the ladder. The money and power of televangelists, pastors who receive a salary from their churches, and high-ranking priests (who are more politicians than holy men) are dependent on getting the little people and their wallets to join their ranks. This is essentially how organized religions support and sustain themselves. Think of it as a global pyramid scheme.
So, where does this leave us? If you're a Christian, wait until someone shows signs of being receptive to your religious advances, just as if you were in a bar situation trying to pick someone up. You don't hit on the person who is doing their best to ignore you. Also, consider inspiring change in other people by setting a good example. Live out the words of Christ, instead of the mandates of the Church.
If you're a pagan like me, it's really a non-issue. Our gods don't need us to reach out to others, and some witches still espouse secrecy as part of their tradition. In my experience, the old gods have a way of snagging the people that they want. However, when someone becomes aggressive with you because of what you believe, or they make unwanted advances, don't respond in kind. Don't respond at all, if it so pleases you. If you have to say something, be firm, but polite. You're not interested, and you'd thank them not to bring it up again. Hate only breeds more hate.
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