Posted by:
frogdogs
(
)
Date: June 14, 2012 02:08PM
Went to choir practice last night in the Episcopalian church I go to.
Somehow got into a conversation with a "cradle to grave" Episcopalian about why Mormons go on missions.
It seemed to be news to her that the reason Mormons serve missions is to convert, not to alleviate human suffering.
My parish goes on annual missions to Kenya. We don't do it to convert. Time spent there isn't on presentations about "the gospel". It's about being of use to those we visit.
Those who go on these missions don't come home with a brag (or shame) sheet of who they converted or didn't convert. In fact, that would be seen as strange and out of place. The point is being there, and being of some use, hopefully meaningful, to the life of the community of people we were in contact with. We're building relationships that have nothing to do with "right belief". The end goal isn't conversion: it's making life better.
The fundraising we do for a foundation to provide monies to send kids to school isn't about making sure they're baptized as Christians. Many of the kids that we send to school aren't baptized. The goal is to provide them with the financial means to complete 8th grade, and even better - graduate high school and be in a position to go on to college and ultimately be able to contribute to the community they live in. Kenya is a beacon in Africa in this regard, exemplary in its government for promoting the importance of education and trying to implement it, yet I can't remember the last time I read news about the LDS church publicly supporting the educational goals of getting more kids through primary school in Kenya and fundraising for that effort.
If they do it, it's all off the books and secret, since they don't make their budget public (and suspect they're too busy wasting money on building temples all over the world).
Over breakfast with a fellow parishioner a week ago, I discussed a woman whom the parish has "made friends" with. Once again, it has nothing to do with conversion or what religion she belongs to. She never comes to our church, and she will never be in a position to donate. But she is alone in the world. A few people in the parish have, using the parish's resources, seen to it that she has gotten the ID she needed to have access to public services so that she has food on the table. The parish sees to it that her rent is paid. Volunteers in our parish take her to medical appointments and see to it that her dog - her only companion in the world - is also gotten to the vet when need be.
I don't bring up the above example to pat anyone on the back: but to point up the difference. In being a part of Mormonism, this kind of thing never happened unless there was conversion involved. This woman, from all reports, is not easy to deal with, and yet from the time she first came to the attention of someone in the parish a handful of people cared enough to do something to help her. The parish supported them, without micromanaging the situation beyond reason.
So, as a Christian, I do admit that I care whether Mormonism is seen as Christian because despite the considerable flaws of both, the two are wildly different in practice in the world.
Any random person can claim they're a Christian. For anybody claiming to be Mormon, they're held to a different standard: proof of baptism/confirmation. So it does seem easier to criticize the Christians of the world: they're a ragtag, nutty, wildly fractured bunch that can include highly educated, principled and deep-thinking individuals as well as Bubba Hypocrite living in a trailer park and spending his days watching reality TV. They're all over the map, yet Mormons are afforded the distinction of being able to hold themselves apart as a "special", "devout", worthy of respect minority, with their unique "family values". They are not, in our wider culture, truly subjected to the deserved cricticism the Christian world is rightly held to. They're handled with kid gloves.
As someone who left the church 20+ years ago and who has spent the last 20+ years living in the northeastern U.S., I can assure you nobody knows *squat* about Mormonism beyond vague notions of past polygamy, and the current no drinkie, no smokie "purity" code. If they think of mormonism at all, it's because they know one seemingly upstanding mormon family or individual, and because of that they seem to hold it in an awe of "respectability" that it in no way deserves.
In my mind, Christianity, particularly the robust and thinking Christianity that dominates liberal mainline churches across America today - deserves far more respect than Mormonism.
So yeah - I care if Mormonism is seen as "no better, no worse than" Christianity. There are significant differences, in my opinion and experience.