In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

You may have seen them walking door-to-door in your neighborhood, riding their bikes down the street, or have been approached by them in the parking lot of your local Walmart. They wear nice conservative clothing, like dark suits or nice blouses (for women) and have a black name tag prominently displayed. Only their last names are engraved on these tags, preceded by the title “Elder” or “Sister”. These are Mormon missionaries.

These young men and women (and some older women and couples) take time away from their normal lives to serve their church as missionaries, taking their beliefs to the far ends of the world. They are well trained, spending hundreds of hours in the classroom before setting foot on your door step. Their approach is based on proven methods of gaining the trust of those they talk to and then leading them to understand and accept their beliefs as being valid, and maybe even true.

One might think of them as ministers, as they themselves often do. However, the truth is that these missionaries are little more than sales representatives for a very large world wide corporation, and recieved little to no training in actually ministering to people. They are trained to find, teach, and baptize. Period.

How do I know this? Simple. I WAS a Mormon missionary.

There were many occasions where, as a missionary, I found myself in situations where people really needed guidance. They were seeking the will of God, and needed inspired counsel. I always did my best to lead them down what I thought was the right direction. I would, as a priesthood holder, bless them and seek inspiration myself to say the words that hopefully would help these people while giving the blessing. I always felt inadaquate. Ministering to people like this was not in the training manual for missionaries.

Why would members of the Mormon church seek out missionaries, knowing that the missionaries were not qualified, when they were in need of ministering? I’ve thought about this a good bit, and the only conclusion I’ve been able to reach is this: Missionaries do not have authority in the church to act as judges, and they are hesitant to cause any fiction with members who support missionaries by way of referrals and food. In other words, they are safe. Members attempt to use missionaries to bypass the authoritarian judgement of chuch leaders. Missionaries ought to be as, or more, spiritual than those leaders; right?

That, of course, is debatable.

Of course, with so much in life, and especially when religion is concerned; it’s all about perception. The eager missionary’s counsel is seriously considered and their blessing accepted as being inspired. It’s just sad that Mormons don’t have a real, safe ministry to seek comfort from.

No one wants to admit that they don’t have a firm grasp on any subject they are involved with, especially on a subject as contentious as politics. We all want to feel we are on the right side of things. Often, not unlike our religious beliefs, we defend our political party or views to the very end, even if that means leaving rational thought behind and blinding ourselves to valid arguments made in opposition to our political leanings.

Often in discussions with people who, like me, have separated themselves from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the term “cognitive dissonance” is used. Wikipedia defines it as being “an uncomfortable feeling or stress caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously”. This stress will grow over time in someone who struggles to retain a viewpoint contrary to an opposing view that they allow themselves to be exposed to which may be equal to or stronger than their own. We often “shelf” these arguments away in the back of our mind in order to avoid the stress that will occur if we were to really consider them. The problem is that eventually, over time, this mental shelf will become so heavy that the person will not be able to avoid the contrary arguments and will have to deal with them at some point. The shelf collapses. The collapse can be extremely difficult and painful as the person realizes that everything they have defended for so long was not valid.

As with religion, it’s hard not to chose a side in politics and attempt to stick with it. While there does seem to be a rising tide of people calling themselves independents, even they find it difficult not to be polarized as a group. I often call myself a “moderate progressive”. I lean a little to the left.

Yesterday I called myself a Democrat in a conversation. I knew as soon as the label came out of my mouth that I was going to regret it. It’s not that anyone reacted negatively, but more about how I would be working that statement over in my head again and again. The reality is that I am not a Democrat, but I am supporting the Democratic candidates that will be on my ballot this election season. I’ve contributed time and money to these candidates and will continue to do so. I have not joined their party, but I have joined their campaigns.

One of my fundamental beliefs, and something I learned my my ordeal with Mormonism, is that I could in all likelihood be wrong. In addition to that belief is the acceptance of that likelihood. I’m trying hard to apply that to politics as well and not blindly follow anyone just because they call themselves a Democrat.

Another fundamental belief is that I always reserve the right to change my beliefs or ideas concerning a subject based on the best possible information available to me. I don’t consider this to make me a weak person, regardless of how the media portrays politicians who change their positions. I think anyone should reserve this right and use it when needed. While I am a strong supporter of Barack Obama, I’ll be one of the first to call for his removal from office if he betrays my confidence.

I know that I’m politically immature. I can’t cite the official names or record numbers of bills. I have a hard time remembering the names of politicians, even key ones, and I’m not always up to date with the latest legislative struggles at the various levels of government. I know I should be more in tune with what’s going on, but I haven’t been. There are some things that guide my political thinking right now and cause me to support my Democratic candidates in the hopes that these things have a better chance at becoming a part of our nation.

• We should realize that the balance of power in the world if shifting. In many ways, we have fallen behind as a nation. We need to approach our international relations with this in mind. I have every bit of faith that we can rise to any challenge presented to us, but we must first acknowledge the problems we face and genuinely seek ways to overcome. I don’t think it’s any less patriotic to recognize the need for improvement. I love my country and I am deeply disturbed when it’s citizens turn a blind eye to the difficulties we are facing while saying “all is well”.
• Cutting back on welfare and other types of aid to those in need is not a viable solution. A firm program of government assistance needs to be available to those who need it. However, a strict program of accountability should be applied for these programs. Government assistance shouldn’t be seen as something that anyone is entitled to, and there should be limits to its use. This assistance should move beyond the sending of a monthly check. Opportunities should be the focus of our welfare system at all levels. When needed, the government should give a hand up and not just a hand out.
• We need a more transparent government. Taxpayers should be able to know where tax monies have been spent and who is responsible for the flow of that money. We’ve made some good strides in accomplishing transparency, but there’s still more to do.
• The law of the land should not be dictated by the beliefs of some of the people. The continual invasion of religious leaders in the politics of our nation is a major issue for me. No one should have to live their lives according to the beliefs of another. It is against the very principles of our founding documents! I am dismayed that Evangelical leaders have so much clout in Republican politics. If anything, their involvement has caused the crumbling of the conservative platform, turning it into something contrary to freedom and small government; covering it with a thinly veiled agenda of religious interference.
• I am for freedom and small government. The government should not be any stronger or larger than it needs to be. People need to voice their opposition when the government attempts to encroach upon the their freedoms.
• We need fiscal responsibility. This means increasing taxes when needed, lowering taxes when possible and maintaining a balanced budget. It also means that tax dollars need to be spent for the purposes they were collected and their use should be transparent.
• The tax code needs to be simplified and fair.

Those are just a few ideas that I find myself agreeing with. Some are more liberal, and others are more conservative. Some I believe in deeply, while others are more flexible. All are subject to change if I see a valid reason to do so.

Sign for Something is a diverse group of members and friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) united in their desire to speak their conscience on the matter of civil marriage. We each have our own views on this issue, but we stand united in the belief that each individual should have the civil right to marry the spouse of their choice and to have that union recognized by civil authorities. This runs contrary to the LDS church’s current policy, which asks its members to actively work toward making marriage between one man and one woman the only legal option. Our goal is to empower members of the LDS church in sharing their views and making political decisions for themselves.

The group is currently collecting letters to be submitted on their site from which they will be later printed and hand delivered to the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City.

You can head over and read my submitted letter by clicking here.

You may have already read an AP article about a Florida man excommunicated for being gay writing his friends and family in California asking them to stand up and walk out of church services this past Sunday as leaders throughout the state read a statement from central church leadership in Salt Lake City asking Latter-day Saints throughout California to rally in support of a state marriage amendment in reaction to homosexuals being allowed to marry.

Today I joined a Facebook group called “Sign for Something” which is taking a stand against ecclesiastical encroachment in government, especially where gay marriage is concerned. There is also a website under construction at http://signforsomething.org/.

I believe strongly that no person should should be affected by the beliefs of any church unless that person submits themselves to the authority of that church by becoming a member.

And for members of a church that don’t agree with the actions of their church, they should respond by leaving. There is a growing movement of disaffected Latter-day Saints to do just this. A current thread at PostMormon.org is organizing such a movement, and believes they will see over one thousand current members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints submit their resignations in response to the church’s meddling in the politics of California. This group should also have a website up to facilitate this action soon.