So what REALLY gets me angry is that parents (mainly mothers) post gushy facebook statuses abou their son/dsughter getting called to dangerous areas for their missions. EG, "So thrilled to announce that our eldest son, nephi has been called to serve in Durban, South Africa!" with no concept of the danger that poses to a young white guy. Do they really fail to comprehend that it is unsafe to drive with the car windows oen, or with doors unlocked, that hoe invssion, murder and rape is so common place that South Africans are leaving in tens of thousands just to live fear free lives. But all the mormon mommies are "Oh how wonderful/what a blessing,etc" It makes my blood boil!

Check Google for the most violent cities in America. The cult has to come up with other ways to seek converts. It's getting too dangerous for missionaries.

Bad spelling?

They're despicable as parents.

It's okay, the Lord called them there. I am sure that since the Lord I soured the general authority to make the call that they will be protected. Divine revelation, thank goodness. I mean, if they weren't inspired, and were just winging it, that might be a problem, but these guys are real prophets just like the ones in the Old Testament. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Oh, and if t does then the person was either unworthy, or called to continue their mission in the spirit world...

overit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what REALLY gets me angry is that parents
> (mainly mothers) post gushy facebook statuses abou
> their son/dsughter getting called to dangerous
> areas for their missions. EG, "So thrilled to
> announce that our eldest son, nephi has been
> called to serve in Durban, South Africa!" with no
> concept of the danger that poses to a young white
> guy. Do they really fail to comprehend that it is
> unsafe to drive with the car windows oen, or with
> doors unlocked, that hoe invssion, murder and rape
> is so common place that South Africans are leaving
> in tens of thousands just to live fear free lives.
> But all the mormon mommies are "Oh how
> wonderful/what a blessing,etc" It makes my blood
> boil!

I have been to South Africa---and while I was there I survived two different instances where my life was imminently going to be terminated had it not been for the very kind and fortuitous intervention of two different people on my behalf.

I was in Tshwane/Pretoria (in the first instance), and on my way to Polokwane/Pietersburg (in the second instance), which is a long distance from Durban, so I have no experience with anything in the Durban/KwaZulu-Natal/Indian Ocean part of the country. Nevertheless, what leaps out at me is that LDS missionaries probably do not get to choose their areas of contact, and therefore they are not able to choose "safer" areas in their provinces or cities over "less safe," or actually positively-known-dangerous, parts. One important component of personal safety in South Africa is certainly the right and the ability to choose one's level of danger---and I am concerned that LDS missionaries probably do not have this right.

In the first instance above, I THOUGHT I was in a totally safe area (in every possible way, it could have been a film double for Woodland Hills, California, the community in Los Angeles I grew up in), but I was just-off-the-plane ignorant and I went exploring, not realizing that the "safe as home" look and feel of the land didn't necessarily convey the warnings I needed of potential dangers.

In the second instance above, I was mistaken about where the on-ramp to the N1 freeway was, and even though I had a detailed street map of what was SUPPOSED to be the general area I was in, the area I then blundered into (and was then trapped by traffic in), was a total BLANK on my street map (on the map, it looked like a gigantic swath of perhaps agricultural land, rather than a very highly-populated community with streets, etc.), so I had no idea where I was, or how I could get out of the growing-ever-more-serious and incendiary situation I suddenly found myself in.

My serious question is whether the LDS missionaries who are out-and-about are being given proper instructions about where to avoid, and what to do if they suddenly realize that their lives are in danger. Cutting and spearing implements (many improvised) are enormously common, and in many areas rape is just as common, and mob situations can easily get out hand, most especially if there is no sangoma around to diffuse the sudden escalation in mob violence. (I still thank the woman who saved my life in the Pretoria suburb of Lynnwood, and the sangoma who saved my life when I blundered into the outlying Pretoria-area township.)

Plus, on a purely practical basis: although being instructed to keep the car windows up and the doors locked are important advisories, even MORE important to is to teach the missionaries to "Reflex LEFT!!!" (I twice got into dicey, potentially catastrophic, situations when I was driving, and EACH TIME, despite my knowledge to the contrary, I reflexed right---as I had been taught to do all of my life, of course---which almost resulted in me causing head-on collisions!!! I am very grateful to the South African drivers who were driving in the opposite direction on those occasions, and who were, thanks to their driving skills, able to avoid my sudden driving idiocies as I careened hard and head-on into THEIR lanes.)

A common South African saying is "Get wise!"

If LDS missionaries are in Africa (ANY part of Africa) they need to "Get wise!" fast. Their lives could, very seriously, depend on it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2017 06:23AM by Tevai.

Tevai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> overit Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So what REALLY gets me angry is that parents
> > (mainly mothers) post gushy facebook statuses
> abou
> > their son/dsughter getting called to dangerous
> > areas for their missions. EG, "So thrilled to
> > announce that our eldest son, nephi has been
> > called to serve in Durban, South Africa!" with
> no
> > concept of the danger that poses to a young
> white
> > guy. Do they really fail to comprehend that it
> is
> > unsafe to drive with the car windows oen, or
> with
> > doors unlocked, that hoe invssion, murder and
> rape
> > is so common place that South Africans are
> leaving
> > in tens of thousands just to live fear free
> lives.
> > But all the mormon mommies are "Oh how
> > wonderful/what a blessing,etc" It makes my
> blood
> > boil!
>
> I have been to South Africa---and while I was
> there I survived two different instances where my
> life was imminently going to be terminated had it
> not been for the very kind and fortuitous
> intervention of two different people on my
> behalf.
>
> I was in Tshwane/Pretoria (in the first instance),
> and on my way to Polokwane/Pietersburg (in the
> second instance), which is a long distance from
> Durban, so I have no experience with anything in
> the Durban/KwaZulu-Natal/Indian Ocean part of the
> country. Nevertheless, what leaps out at me is
> that LDS missionaries probably do not get to
> choose their areas of contact, and therefore they
> are not able to choose "safer" areas in their
> provinces or cities over "less safe," or actually
> positively-known-dangerous, parts. One important
> component of personal safety in South Africa is
> certainly the right and the ability to choose
> one's level of danger---and I am concerned that
> LDS missionaries probably do not have this right.
>
>
> In the first instance above, I THOUGHT I was in a
> totally safe area (in every possible way, it could
> have been a film double for Woodland Hills,
> California, the community in Los Angeles I grew up
> in), but I was just-off-the-plane ignorant and I
> went exploring, not realizing that the "safe as
> home" look and feel of the land didn't necessarily
> convey the warnings I needed of potential
> dangers.
>
> In the second instance above, I was mistaken about
> where the on-ramp to the N1 freeway was, and even
> though I had a detailed street map of what was
> SUPPOSED to be the general area I was in, the area
> I then blundered into (and was then trapped by
> traffic in), was a total BLANK on my street map
> (on the map, it looked like a gigantic swath of
> perhaps agricultural land, rather than a very
> highly-populated community with streets, etc.), so
> I had no idea where I was, or how I could get out
> of the growing-ever-more-serious and incendiary
> situation I suddenly found myself in.
>
> My serious question is whether the LDS
> missionaries who are out-and-about are being given
> proper instructions about where to avoid, and what
> to do if they suddenly realize that their lives
> are in danger. Cutting and spearing implements
> (many improvised) are enormously common, and in
> many areas rape is just as common, and mob
> situations can easily get out hand, most
> especially if there is no sangoma around to
> diffuse the sudden escalation in mob violence. (I
> still thank the woman who saved my life in the
> Pretoria suburb of Lynnwood, and the sangoma who
> saved my life when I blundered into the outlying
> Pretoria-area township.)
>
> Plus, on a purely practical basis: although being
> instructed to keep the car windows up and the
> doors locked are important advisories, even MORE
> important to is to teach the missionaries to
> "Reflex LEFT!!!" (I twice got into dicey,
> potentially catastrophic, situations when I was
> driving, and EACH TIME, despite my knowledge to
> the contrary, I reflexed right---as I had been
> taught to do all of my life, of course---which
> almost resulted in me causing head-on
> collisions!!! I am very grateful to the South
> African drivers who were driving in the opposite
> direction on those occasions, and who were, thanks
> to their driving skills, able to avoid my sudden
> driving idiocies as I careened hard and head-on
> into THEIR lanes.)
>
> A common South African saying is "Get wise!"
>
> If LDS missionaries are in Africa (ANY part of
> Africa) they need to "Get wise!" fast. Their
> lives could, very seriously, depend on it.

This is scary stuff. I've only had three nieces and nephews reach missionary age, and none went. (Two were from wife's side with less LDS influence, and one chose not to delay his education.) As the others approach missionary age, my wife and I have decided that we will covertly attempt bribery [with as much college money as we can afford without jeopardizing the college funds of our own offspring] to dissuade any niece or nephew who is called to what we consider a dangerous location. It's always possible that the kid we attempt to bribe might tell his or her parents, which would cause friction within the family, but I can live with the friction more easily than I can live with something predictable happening to one of our nieces or nephews in the mission field. We will also offer financial assistance to any niece or nephew whose parents make financial support for getting through college contingent upon serving a mission. I hope my siblings and their spouses are not so backwards as to metaphorically twist their kids' arms in such a manner, but I've seen it happen before in the extended family with people I would have sworn were too enlightened to engage in such practices.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2017 07:07AM by scmd.

The Mormon mothers main goal is to impress other Mormons, especially other Mormon mothers. That is how you win the Game of Mormon Thrones. Their children's performance is key to winning and the possibility that the children could be injured physically or psychologically is a necessary risk they are willing to take. It goes far beyond just dangerous missions.

Of course it makes you angry, overit, because we are all angry over it.

But they have magic underwear. What could go wrong?

Durban, SA? Proves you know little about South Africa. Durban is incredibly safer than most American large cities, petty crime notwithstanding. I assign you to do some reading about Durban, Pretoria, Cape Town, and South Africa in general. Want dangerous? LA. Chicago. Parts of London. All of Russia. Abuja. Lagos.

cludgie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Durban, SA? Proves you know little about South
> Africa. Durban is incredibly safer than most
> American large cities, petty crime
> notwithstanding. I assign you to do some reading
> about Durban, Pretoria, Cape Town, and South
> Africa in general. Want dangerous? LA. Chicago.
> Parts of London. All of Russia. Abuja. Lagos.

I don't know if your post is directed at me personally, cludgie, but regardless of who it is directed at, what you are saying here does not accord with the crime statistics of South Africa ("Durban, Pretoria, Cape Town, and South Africa in general"), or with what it is like "on the ground" for those who are walking, driving, or living their lives on that ground (whether temporarily, or as permanent residents---and also regardless of what race or ethic group you, or those who are committing the crimes, belong to). Black-on-black crime stats are horrendous...black on white crime, [comparatively] less so because whites can usually afford to "buy" some kind of mostly-effective security in one way or another (gated and guarded communities, excellent alarms on vehicles, etc.).

To say that Los Angeles (as a whole) is more dangerous than South Africa (as a whole) is just not true. I got into serious trouble specifically because where I was staying (in Lynnwood, Pretoria) was a clone of where I grew up (in the western San Fernando Valley), and I spent my growing up years roaming around the Woodland Hills countryside, and taking the Greyhound bus to central L.A., all on my own, for research trips to the Central Library and to Little Tokyo (plus City Hall, etc.). I thought I knew how to take care of myself in that "kind" of terrain and community, I thought I WAS "wise"...and if that woman had not been walking on the dirt road behind Die Werf, and if she hadn't laid into the guy that was high on glue or whatever and was preparing to attack me (he backed off fast!!!), I would have died, or been VERY damaged, right there on that dirt road that looked and smelled exactly like the Woodland Hills I grew up in, under eucalyptus trees that were EXACTLY the same as the ones I grew up with.

South Africa is one of my favorite countries in the world...but in no way would I say that it was "safer than Los Angeles"---even in my "old" L.A. neighborhood (basically 39th Street, and Santa Barbara Avenue/now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and Western) the way it is TODAY, where the crime stats are not only high, but notorious (by L.A. standards).

I don't know where you are coming from on this, but I suggest that you Google something like "crime statistics in Durban, South Africa," "crime statistics in Pretoria, South Africa," (etc.) and you will see that, at least as of the last twelve months or so (reading the dates on the reports that came up when I did this), there is still a huge crime problem in South Africa (as a whole), and certainly it is "huge" enough that it is of concern to anyone who is driving on the roads or highways, or going about their daily life (going to the supermarket, etc.).

I really don't know where you are coming from on this.