The (plenty of) Mormons I have met are all really nice, friendly people. Missionaries on duty might be different (more goal-oriented, probably) but I bet you they’re still nice. Unless you’re just concerned about wasting their time, what are your strong unreasonable aversions?
It feels dishonest because if their goal is to convert me, calling on me is a waste of time. I know I’m not going to convert. I can satisfy this aversion by being honest up-front about not being likely to convert. I bet if I tell them I nevertheless want to keep the book and look at it a little, they’ll still come over and give it to me. That way I’m being honest; and from a more consequentialist point of view I’m not wasting anyone’s time but my own because converting people to Mormonism isn’t a great goal anyways.
Another aversion is telling me that I’m going to disagree strongly with what they have to say, and that suppressing disagreement will be awkward and that expressing disagreement will be rude. I can respond to this aversion by deciding beforehand how to approach the conversation: I could either have the goal of learning what Mormonism means to them, or I could practice expressing disagreement.
An actual reason for not casting Summon Mormon Missionaries is that the LDS Church will have my contact info forever, and will pester me in the future. If I can remove that cost, I’ll do it.
An actual reason for not casting Summon Mormon Missionaries is that the LDS Church will have my contact info forever, and will pester me in the future.
Speaking from experience, they won’t. I called them once for a free Book of Mormon. They came over and I said thanks for the book and but I don’t want to convert. They made a follow-up call, but I haven’t heard from them since.
If you really want a paper Book of Mormon but want to avoid interacting with
people who will try to convert you I recommend checking a store that sells
stuff that was donated to it (e.g.,
Goodwill or Salvation Army in the US). These places often sell books for a
dollar or less.
(Because Mormons like to give copies of the Book of Mormon away, there are a
lot of them that get taken to thrift shops when non-Mormons get rid of old
stuff; because of supply and demand, I think you’re less likely to find a copy
in a regular used bookstore.)
(Insults to people’s holy books rot13ed out of a possibly
excessive sense of politeness:
Or jnearq; abg sbe abguvat qbrf vg vapyhqr n Obbx bs *Rgure*, nf sebz jung
yvggyr V’ir ernq bs vg, vg vf *rira zber obevat* guna gur Wrjvfu naq
Puevfgvna fpevcgherf.)
It feels dishonest because if their goal is to convert me, calling on me is a waste of time.
Their goal is to earn their heavenly reward (or possibly ‘new earth’ reward, not sure on the details). The heavenly reward scheme is not based on commission but on the work that they do so you are not doing them a disservice.
The test for dishonesty I’d use here is: Would a missionary (or their superiors in the Church) be dismayed if they learned that a potential new latter-day saint had been leading them on? I suppose the answer is yes, no matter the theology.
I predict that if, when you ask for the book, you say “there is zero chance of me converting, I just want it for reference”, they will send it to you, and follow up, anyway.
The (plenty of) Mormons I have met are all really nice, friendly people. Missionaries on duty might be different (more goal-oriented, probably) but I bet you they’re still nice. Unless you’re just concerned about wasting their time, what are your strong unreasonable aversions?
It feels dishonest because if their goal is to convert me, calling on me is a waste of time. I know I’m not going to convert. I can satisfy this aversion by being honest up-front about not being likely to convert. I bet if I tell them I nevertheless want to keep the book and look at it a little, they’ll still come over and give it to me. That way I’m being honest; and from a more consequentialist point of view I’m not wasting anyone’s time but my own because converting people to Mormonism isn’t a great goal anyways.
Another aversion is telling me that I’m going to disagree strongly with what they have to say, and that suppressing disagreement will be awkward and that expressing disagreement will be rude. I can respond to this aversion by deciding beforehand how to approach the conversation: I could either have the goal of learning what Mormonism means to them, or I could practice expressing disagreement.
An actual reason for not casting Summon Mormon Missionaries is that the LDS Church will have my contact info forever, and will pester me in the future. If I can remove that cost, I’ll do it.
Speaking from experience, they won’t. I called them once for a free Book of Mormon. They came over and I said thanks for the book and but I don’t want to convert. They made a follow-up call, but I haven’t heard from them since.
Hee hee hee.
The contact info thing probably is an actual problem and a legit reason to hold back.
If you really want a paper Book of Mormon but want to avoid interacting with people who will try to convert you I recommend checking a store that sells stuff that was donated to it (e.g., Goodwill or Salvation Army in the US). These places often sell books for a dollar or less.
(Because Mormons like to give copies of the Book of Mormon away, there are a lot of them that get taken to thrift shops when non-Mormons get rid of old stuff; because of supply and demand, I think you’re less likely to find a copy in a regular used bookstore.)
(Insults to people’s holy books rot13ed out of a possibly excessive sense of politeness: Or jnearq; abg sbe abguvat qbrf vg vapyhqr n Obbx bs *Rgure*, nf sebz jung yvggyr V’ir ernq bs vg, vg vf *rira zber obevat* guna gur Wrjvfu naq Puevfgvna fpevcgherf.)
Their goal is to earn their heavenly reward (or possibly ‘new earth’ reward, not sure on the details). The heavenly reward scheme is not based on commission but on the work that they do so you are not doing them a disservice.
The test for dishonesty I’d use here is: Would a missionary (or their superiors in the Church) be dismayed if they learned that a potential new latter-day saint had been leading them on? I suppose the answer is yes, no matter the theology.
I predict that if, when you ask for the book, you say “there is zero chance of me converting, I just want it for reference”, they will send it to you, and follow up, anyway.