I'm not a Mormon myself, yet that hasn't been an obstacle for my life to be affected by Mormonism in some way or another. Right now, I'm just gonna refer to one particular instance: One of my gym buddies who's about my age (24) and got baptized a couple of years ago mainly because her girlfriend at the time was a member of the church.
Before meeting that chick, this fella used to be pretty much like any other average guy here in South America, that is, fond of booze, cigarettes, partying and whatnot. His life, it seemed to me, revolved around juvenile ideas of belonging to a group by letting others dictate his every thought.
When he started dating this girl--who by the way is also a friend of mine--, she would attend her usual Sunday classes and meetings while he would just feel a bit curious about the whole thing. As for my role, well, I did accompany him to some outdoors activities with the Mormons--soccer matches, barbecues, hikes, etc.--because I realized that was getting important to him, but I made sure to tell him that despite the good things he could see I myself knew I didn't belong to the church, so his likely future membership was up to him--I simply wanted to know his reaction to and feelings on the church. In the end, he learnt more and more about it and became a member.
His Catholic family didn't show much support, so I tried to be there for him. His girlfriend, my friend, was naturally thrilled: He would let go of habits that were consuming him. But such happiness didn't last long after a while.
When he told his girlfriend he'd decided to be a missionary, she didn't seem to be that supportive because she didn't know if she could wait for his return. This he told me, as well as more stuff that was bugging him.
The other day we went jogging and he told me that he wasn't that sure of the veracity of the doctrine. I was absolutely shocked, not because of the source of his doubts, but because of his lack of conviction ahead of a missionary work. How could a guy who'd soon be a missionary possibly be talking to me about the scriptures not including the creation of dinosaurs? His comments did nothing but support my own view of the Book of Mormon as religious fiction, but I simply opted for asking more about his take on the whole thing. He went on to say he thought it could all be a lie, to which I responded that if he called a lie an idea certain people decide to cling on to as a way to go through their tough lives, then I might probably agree with him, but though that perception might be assertive, so could the fact that those lies can save lives--or destroy them; it's up to every individual.
I finally told him that having strong religious conviction should be the most important thing, because science and religion can hardly approve of each other. His lack of response spoke volumes, I think. Right now, I don't want to bring up the topic because I want him to think things through on his own and find his own answers. In a couple of weeks' time, he'll be off the city.
This just reminds me that my oldest brother used to be a missionary himself, and he never showed a doubt.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2014 12:22AM by pierot.

If the guy has doubts, he's gonna be miserable. And sounds like he might lose the girl that he joined for too. It's all stupid.

I'm curious though...how do the lies save lives?