Crossing the line

**Warning: This is a religious rant and may offend some people. I apologize in advance if it offends you, but I feel I must get some feedback.

Is there such a thing as taking your religion too far? Perhaps shoving it down someone's throat is a bit too much? Don't get me wrong, I believe in witnessing to people and spreading God's word, but I think there is an imaginary line that can be crossed when you say too much, do too much, and get to the point where you are forcing your beliefs on someone.

Saturday night some friends and I went to dinner at a restaurant in an area of town called Five Points. Five Points is the college area, complete with bars that are mostly frequented by college kids. Although the bars are mostly the college-aged crowd, there are quite a few good restaurants, one of which we dined at, and we decided after dinner we'd walk across the street to one of the bars. Well, outside on the corner were a group of people I generally refer to as "bible beaters" (Urban Dictionary says a bible beater is one who takes his religion to radical extremes and usually knocks on your door or stands on a corner trying to get people to convert to xyz religion) The man below resembles one of the men from Saturday night (just so you get the idea of what I am talking about):

They yell at people walking by, hold up signs that say things like, "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life eternal." Now, don't get me wrong, I fully agree with this verse. However, I do not think that their style of witnessing is effective. They're generally yelling at drunk college kids walking from bar to bar. Often times, people retaliate and yell some not-so-nice things. I usually try to ignore them. I am a Christian and I feel like if I am enjoying a few drinks in moderation, I am not committing a mortal sin. My parents always told me that if I was of legal age and partook in a few alcoholic beverages in moderation that was okay (and we're Southern Baptist, too- which some may disagree and say no alcohol at all, but this was how I was raised). I'm not saying that my beliefs are the right ones or the wrong ones, but I don't need someone standing on the corner shoving a Bible in my face and basically implying that I am going to Hell for even being in a bar.

The worst part of it all, though, and the part that really made me irate was the fact that at 10:00 on a Saturday night in an area filled with bars and people drinking, there was a child holding up one of their signs. If I had to guess the little boy was about 8 or 9. Now, if these people are so moral and righteous, then one would think they would have more parenting skills than to use their child in this way...at 10:00 at night when he should have been in bed resting for church the next morning. There is no way I would ever take a child and submit him to the kinds of things I know people yell at them. I am sure there were things that a child should not hear, and to have a kid out on the corner in an area filled with bars seems negligent to me. I know they were trying to use the child to make people listen, but I find this to be just as bad, if not worse, than people partaking in a few alcoholic beverages.

I was outraged, to say the least. I, of course, did not say anything, but it has really been under my skin since Saturday night.

What are your thoughts about this? Do you feel that these people crossed a line?