My own religious beliefs being somewhat, unconventional, I'm usually a pretty tolerant person when it comes to other creeds. I'm glad people have them and that they give them fulfillment in their lives they would otherwise lack. I'm a very live and let live type of person, you know, if it makes you happy, I'm happy for you, even if I don't understand it. I even go so far as to have one of those funky bumper stickers where the word coexist is spelled out with different religious symbols, and I truly believe that we can, as long as we show mutual respect.
Enter the missionaries. Having lived in Utah for most of my life, I'm pretty much used to them. "No thank you, I'm not interested in hearing about your savior." "Thank you for your concern about my immortal soul, but I'm fine, really." "No I don't need anything, and I don't think I need you to come back either." I'm usually much nicer than that last one. My problem with missionaries is fundamental. You can't show mutual respect when one of you is trying to convert the other. That's nothing new though, it's always been that way.
What's new is a couple of them cornered my 15 year old kid while he was talking to a friend, gave him a book of Mormon and started talking about their god. I'm not sure if it's illegal to try and convert a minor in Utah without parental permission, but I'm sure it ought to be. I tried to track the pair down but as of yet I have been unsuccessful, they weaseled my address out of my kid though so I'm hoping I'll run into them soon, and I can tell them- Well, I'm not sure yet what I'm going to tell them, but I am not pleased and it probably won't be very friendly. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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