At a conference of religious leaders, three of the most prominent individuals got into a discussion of which of them had the strongest faith and ability to convert the heathens. One was a Catholic Priest, one a Baptist Minister, and one a Jewish Rabbi.
As the night went on, and each one's claims became more fanciful, one of them claimed "I bet I could convert a bear." Rather than challenge the claim, the other two insisted they could convert a bear as easily as he. They decided they would make it a challenge, each would find and attempt to convert a bear the next weekend in Yellowstone National Park.
After that weekend, the Priest and the Minister happened to bump into each other at the local hospital, where each was making the rounds to visit patients from their particular denominations.
"I did it!" claimed the Priest. "I read to the bear from the Catechism, sprinkled him with holy water and next week is his First Communion." The Priest did have a few scratches on him, but nothing bad.
The Minister also had a few small cuts and bruises, but nothing major. "I too succeeded in my efforts. I found a bear by the stream, preached God's holy word and he let me baptize him in the river."
The two of them rejoiced in their successes and were about to part ways when a couple of paramedics came rushing by with a gurney on their way to the emergency room. On the gurney was the Rabbi and he was a mess. He had cut and bite marks all over him and at least a dozen broken bones. He was barely conscious, but was able to identify his colleagues as they followed alongside him. He gestured them close to his mouth and in a strained voice he said to them, "maybe I shouldn't have started with circumcision."
