Look, There's The Elders

I was at my sisters house one time helping her do some demolition. Another sister of mine was with me. While we were busy, who should come up knocking on the door but the Mormon missionaries AND a local ward member. We told them that we didn't live there, but they still wanted to discuss "churchy" stuff with us. I finally had to leave the room and go "work" on something else until they left.

I repeated to my sister several times, "Shoot me if I was ever that nerdy." I can't believe that at one point in my life I went on a mission and said those goofy, ridiculous things. Now, I can hardly stand to look at them. I don't hate them personally; they are honestly trying to do what they feel is right. Still, the message they carry is a huge fucking lie. I call them the "cult recruiters".

One time a pair of Elders knocked on my door, introduced themselves, and asked if we've ever heard of the church (in Utah, who hasn't?) I told them that we were members, (which is true; I haven't officially resigned yet) and that I haven't been to church for several years. They proceeded to tell me how important it all is and asked if there was anything they could do to get me to go back. I politely declined.

Another time I was approcated by a pair of sister missionaries on a college campus. I told these girls the same thing, I am an inactive member. I was a little more open with these girls and told them that I'd lost my faith. They were very nice and friendly, as all Mormon missionaries are, and they invited me to pray to gain my testimony back. They left me with a pamphlet which probably got fed to the shredder.

The thing about these "cult recruiters" is that they have this big, booming testimony of the church and yet they know so little about it. They think they are literally the personal representatives of Jesus Christ. They think they are saving peoples souls by manipulating them to join the church. I remember having investigators who wanted to join but the parents would not allow them to. I remember thinking that we should baptize them anyway, without parental concent, because the church is true and it needed to be done. Of course now, if I was the parent in that situation, I would be beyond pissed off if they did that to my child without my concent or knowledge.

The age of 8 is FAR too young for a person to make a lifetime committment to any religion, especially one as demanding as the LDS faith. Personally, I think it should be against the law for a minor to join any church, even with parental concent. After all, even if a parent concents for their minor child to smoke, it is still against the law until they turn 18. But then again, the constitution guarantees religious freedom for all. The problem, is that most people do not realize that religious freedom also includes non-believers. I have every much right to not believe as they do TO believe.

The Mormon missionaries have no idea what they are really doing and I wish they would just leave me and the world alone.