I’m personally not at all surprised that the success rates are so low. If the evangelists had actually internalized the idea that they’re doing it to save people from hell, they’d take it much more seriously. Instead, it’s generally framed as a matter of duty to the religious community, or a sign of personal virtue for making the effort at all. It doesn’t need to have a significant success rate to sustain itself, although I imagine that if it were inefficient enough that most door to door evangelists had never heard of a successful conversion, they might reevaluate their methods.
If you really wanted to convert others though, not merely to do the most that was comfortable, or convince yourself you had made an honest effort, I think that the mainstream Mormon approach would not be the most effective method. Or rather, it doesn’t take the approach far enough. Maybe I’m merely projecting an atypical attitude, but I think it would be far more effective to dedicate your life to moral causes. Give away everything you own, work your hands to the bone to give away more, try to set a standard that would make Ghandi look undercommitted. The number of people who will be impressed and interested in the beliefs of a mere upstanding community member is nothing compared to that which would be interested in a moral paragon.
Of course, one might argue that people will be driven off if they suspect that the religious beliefs demand too much of them, but while religious believers tend to claim status from the efforts of the most exemplary members of their faith, they rarely try to meet their standards. Also, I’m highly skeptical of any argument that states that the most effective approach conveniently intersects with what is most comfortable.
I’m personally not at all surprised that the success rates are so low. If the evangelists had actually internalized the idea that they’re doing it to save people from hell, they’d take it much more seriously. Instead, it’s generally framed as a matter of duty to the religious community, or a sign of personal virtue for making the effort at all. It doesn’t need to have a significant success rate to sustain itself, although I imagine that if it were inefficient enough that most door to door evangelists had never heard of a successful conversion, they might reevaluate their methods.
If you really wanted to convert others though, not merely to do the most that was comfortable, or convince yourself you had made an honest effort, I think that the mainstream Mormon approach would not be the most effective method. Or rather, it doesn’t take the approach far enough. Maybe I’m merely projecting an atypical attitude, but I think it would be far more effective to dedicate your life to moral causes. Give away everything you own, work your hands to the bone to give away more, try to set a standard that would make Ghandi look undercommitted. The number of people who will be impressed and interested in the beliefs of a mere upstanding community member is nothing compared to that which would be interested in a moral paragon.
Of course, one might argue that people will be driven off if they suspect that the religious beliefs demand too much of them, but while religious believers tend to claim status from the efforts of the most exemplary members of their faith, they rarely try to meet their standards. Also, I’m highly skeptical of any argument that states that the most effective approach conveniently intersects with what is most comfortable.
Of course, in this context, it’s easy to see how putting one’s beliefs into their proper perspective and fully internalizing them can be a tremendous disadvantage. It’s no wonder if most people interpret their religions to only demand as much of them as is convenient.