Monday, October 8, 2007

Sharing the Gospel

Members of the LDS church are under tremendous pressure to "share the gospel" with everyone they know. They are taught that if they do not, the sins of that person will be upon their shoulders and they will go to hell even if they lived an otherwise worthy Mormon life. When the church is not preaching about tithing or home teaching, they are pumping members up to go out and recruit. "Every member a missionary," is a phrase often heard.

As I was semi-listening to General Conference this weekend, once again, I heard a talk about missionary work. I had never thought of it before, but I realized that this is another time consuming burden taken off of me that I no longer have to worry about.

I mean come on, does ANYBODY like having religious fanatics trying to convince them to change religions? Once in a while, maybe, if they are not already established into a religion. Most people are happy with their beliefs and don't like it when their holier-than-thou neighbor tries to convert them.

Why does it matter so much that I try to convince everyone to believe what I believe? What supreme authority stated that my beliefs are correct so therefore everyone else needs to believe them too?

The bottom line is this. I believe what I believe and I let others believe what they want to believe. Trying to convert people to the Mormon gospel is just another burden that I no longer have to be worried about. The idea that I will be responsible for other peoples actions is completely absurd.

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