So I’m working my way through the Book of Mormon at the moment. I don’t know how far along I will make it until I need a break. I find the style of it to be a little aggravating (it uses the phrase “and so it came to pass” the same way a hyperstereotypical valley girl says the word “like”). The story itself is slow-going, interrupted frequently with religious lectures. Which is good, because that’s partly why I am listening and have already discovered something pretty big that I did not know, but a fair amount of repetition. I am finishing up the second book of Nephi, the closing of which mostly seems to be a rehash of Isaiah. I might should have gone with the comic book, but I decided to go with the source material.
By way of bizarre coincidence, some missionaries stopped by today. I said, with a voice serious enough that they didn’t see an opening, “I am not interested.” They gave me a card and went their merry way.
For those of you that weren’t HC readers, I had to deal with missionaries when I was living in Deseret. I made the mistake of being a little too nice on the upfront, at which point they were hard to get rid of. Nice guys, to be sure, but I wasn’t really interested in being sold. I still have the Book of Mormon they gave me, though, with the underlined portions they told me to read.
I actually wouldn’t have minded talking to them about what I’d read, but I didn’t want to run into the same problem I had last time. Though I don’t doubt that they might be interested in telling me about this or that, I would be wasting their time since I am not a convert and I felt that by merely talking to them about it I might be giving them the wrong impression (even if I say, as I did last time, that I am not interested in conversion). It’s sort of like continuing to hang out with that girl that you’ve told you’re not looking for a relationship that she says she understands but quite frankly you know you should not believe her.
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Egads. A book Mark Twain referred to as “chloroform in print.”
So I’m working my way through the Book of Mormon at the moment.
I thought you were referring to the Tony award winning musical at first.
It’s sort of like continuing to hang out with that girl that you’ve told you’re not looking for a relationship that she says she understands but quite frankly you know you should not believe her.
I would have reversed the analogy. It’s like a girl who gets invited to a concert to a band she loves by a creep. If she says yes, it is under false pretenses, even though there is no explicit quid pro quo. Saying yes to the missionaries is implictly saying you are open minded to being converted. Discussing the book with them for the sole sake of discussion is being a tease.
Good lord. You have far too much time on your hands. Start reproducing NOW.
I thought you were referring to the Tony award winning musical at first.
No, but I look forward to seeing that eventually, when it makes itself available one way or another.
Saying yes to the missionaries is implictly saying you are open minded to being converted. Discussing the book with them for the sole sake of discussion is being a tease.
That was the conclusion that I ultimately came to. I wasn’t sure if that was the case or if they might just prefer a respite from having doors shut in their face. Since we’re in an area with a significant (albeit not overwhelming and not enough for things to be adversarial) Mormon population, my guess is that it would have been more in the time-wasting category.
Saying yes to the missionaries is implictly saying you are open minded to being converted. Discussing the book with them for the sole sake of discussion is being a tease.
If they’re at all experienced in what they’re doing they will know very quickly. When I first started working in sales I got all excited whenever a potential customer displayed even the slightest degree of interest in what I had to offer. This of course often led to disappointment. By now, though, I can tell very quickly whether a “tell me more” potential customer has a genuine interest in the products and/or services I sell, or whether the expression of interest is being done out of politeness or boredom or for some other reason that won’t lead to a sale.
It’s probably the same way with religious missionaries.
I felt that by merely talking to them about it I might be giving them the wrong impression
Really? Mormonism’s not too common around here, so I don’t really know what they’re like, but I’ve reached a point in my spiritual evolution where I love talking to almost anyone about their beliefs, purely for interest’s sake. I’d chat up some Mormons if I had the time, just to find out more about them. For better or worse, the BoM is an important document, and good for you for giving it a go. So refreshing compared to knee-jerk anti-religionism.