If you are emotionally vulnerable, you might fall for the scam.
So, the question is really how many emotionally vulnerable people (and their potential lifetime coerced donation potential a/k/a "tithing") does it take to offset the the number of people who finally leave...
TSCC goes for the Jugular: when you are most vulnerable. My husband's relative was recently widowed and somehow, the church or the missionaries found out about it and showed up at his door right after the funeral. They were convincing him to get baptized with the promise he would be together with his wife. My husbands' family were really worried that he was going to join the church so they called my husband to see if he could talk sense into the relative. He called him and explained how TSCC is a scam and don't fall for it. He was able to convince him and he told the missionaries no, thank goodness.
The missionaries often scan the obit pages. The closest relatives are usually listed, often include which city and state they live in. The missionaries then get the addresses and hit those places.
I've actually had missionaries tell me they do this.
Most people give religion a pass and do not hold it to the same standards as any other part of their lives. It's more about wanting something to be true than researching to find out if it is. They'll always get a second opinion on a serious health procedure, but when it comes to religion they think it's just a preference. Coke or Pepsi? Mormon or Catholic? There are so many religions, so why not choose the one that matches your idea of what you would like it to be Sedan or SUV?
Our MP told us to watch for people who had lost a loved one or were fighting a serious illness because that was the Holy Ghost's way of preparing to accept the gospel. Sickening or Disgusting?
Perhaps that's why their growth rates are stagnant or negative in most "developed" countries, and their only real growth is in "developing" countries. You know, the ones with lots of desperately poor people who mostly don't have internet access...?
I would add that the church not only grows in areas where most people don't have Internet access, it also grows in areas where people are simple, easy to teach, obedient and not very curious.
Some people are more trusting than others. Some are downright gullible.
I think this comes into play when the missionaries inevitably warn them "And don't pay attention to those horrible lies you will read online about The One True Church."
A critical thinker would've flare on that and gone immediately to the internet. A gullible person buys into it, and may even at that point feel like they've been welcomed into something special that the world is out to destroy.
"A critical thinker would've flare on that and gone immediately to the internet. A gullible person buys into it, and may even at that point feel like they've been welcomed into something special that the world is out to destroy."
I think your half right. A gullible person buys into it. For missionaries, finding the gullible people is simply a matter of knocking on enough doors.
A critical thinker wouldn't go to the internet. Why? A critical thinker doesn't need the internet. There's really nothing a missionary has to say that isn't laughable on its face - to a critical thinker.
thingsithink Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A critical thinker wouldn't go to the internet. > Why? A critical thinker doesn't need the > internet. There's really nothing a missionary has > to say that isn't laughable on its face - to a > critical thinker.
Sorry. I fat-fingered my post (on my phone). I meant to say that on hearing from a missionary "Don't go to the internet," a critical thinker WOULD go to the internet."
Nearly drowning you at 8 - against your will, and better judgement - isn't exactly recruiting. It's body snatching. Brain washing. Heart smuggling. Indentured Servitude.
In places like West Africa, it's not just gullibility. If you join, you get to hang with educated Americans and attend services in one of the best buildings in town. Mormons do value certain types of education, and that may be a good value you want your kids exposed to.
In short, hanging out with Mormons may look like a potential economic boost in some quarters, and that may well be true.
I know this will make anyone who claims to be TBM really angry if they are dishonest. But the honest ones all accept that my thinking is right on target for success. I think the best way to bring in new people in the modern information age will be through our beloved website. Its obvious that a lot of questions are being asked about our wondrous legacy. But when people can quickly go to our official website and quickly find official truthful answers to any of their questions then they will say to themselves "wow what an honest Church; I want to start investigating to learn for myself whether or not its a true Church or not".
If the Church wasn't so remarkably honest, transparent, and truthful on things then we wouldn't be able to call it a true church. We'd have to call it a fraud or some other disparaging label. However thanks to the beloved "continuing revelation" principle we can rest assured that the Saints, and everyone in the lines of authority and responsibility, will do all they possibly can without delay or any runaround games to try to get people the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth on any questions they have. Its so important to do so in order that Satan can't be easily tempted to cause people to think doubtful thoughts that could get them on the path to disassimilation with this wondrous work.
Twin cousins of mine were recruited only about four or five years ago (I found out later, actually, that only one ended up being baptized). The sister who got dunked recently married an RM, and she is hard-core, full-on TBM. I posted here in early July about how I heard from another relative the sad story of how her parents, siblings and other relatives were left standing outside the Oakland temple, and how rudely they were treated by the TBM guests at the reception afterwards... They were even asked to help clean up after the reception!
Anyway, this young woman is only in her late 20s, graduated from a respected UC campus, has parents with advanced degrees in the hard sciences...not exactly someone who isn't tech-savvy or who hasnt grown up with the Net. What I have heard from relatives who know her better is that she really, really wanted a religion to belong to, as she was raised with none... You'd think she would have at least investigated the mainstream faiths her parents were raised with (Catholic dad, Buddhist mom), but for whatever reason she looked into Mormonism. She's now living in Rexburg and is working full-time to support hubby while he studies at BYU-I.
Frankly, I don't understand how anyone joins Mormonism, Scientology, Islam or any other extreme belief system, but obviously if you have a burning desire to belong to a strict belief system, all the information in the world won't make a difference.
Needy people are desperate for ANYthing that makes sense. On the surface Mormonism appears to have easy answers for life's big questions,
#1. Where did I come from? #2. Why am I here? and #3. Where am I going?
Mormon answer:
#1. The Pre-Existence, aka, heaven. #2. To pass a test of your faith to determine if you're worthy to get back to heaven. #3. To outer darkness if you don't pay God (the Cult) his GD money Lebowski!
We overemphasize the importance of the church's beliefs. On the surface, it may seem that they matter and that people actually believe them. But subconsciously, people want security and comfort and benefits. You can fool yourself into believing, or simply fake it to get those benefits.
My wife joined because she liked the culture - emphasis on family, and children, and the husband supporting her while she raised the kids. Law of chastity and modesty and all.
There is also a ready social network wherever you go. And my wife likes the domestic life - decorating, cooking, crafts, etc, that many in the church also like.
Once I left the church, and she saw I wasn't going to change our lifestyle, she bailed with me. And you discover her understanding of doctrine was a mile wide and an inch deep. Never took it too seriously, or thought deeply about anything. Just repeat the mantra to fit in.
And most of us are tribalists - doing or believing dumb stuff to be accepted by our family, church, gang, tribe, political party or whatever.
Free Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We overemphasize the importance of the church's > beliefs. (...) You can fool yourself > into believing, or simply fake it to get those > benefits. (...) > Never took it too > seriously, or thought deeply about anything. > Just repeat the mantra to fit in. > > And most of us are tribalists - doing or believing > dumb stuff to be accepted by our family, church, > gang, tribe, political party or whatever.
Right on. We used to have a lot of immigrants who joined and went inactive. Sometimes they would come back and introduce new immigrants from the same town or family, who took lessons, were baptized and went inactive too. It seemed these people wanted to fit in with their friends. Hence they wanted to be inactive members of the same church.
I was watching a nature program not long ago and I noticed that among most species, young animals seem to learn very quickly to avoid the things that hurt them or hurt other members of their group. It usually takes only one attack or one negative interaction for the animal to learn avoidance of danger and stay close to his pack.
Homo sapiens seem to be different. They can see something dangerous happen to a friend or relative and still think there will be a different outcome when they try the same behavior. Think of driving drunk or texting and driving. Homo sapiens can deny to themselves that they have been hurt and continue to receive harm repeatedly without changing their behavior. Think battered wives. Homo sapiens can be in extreme danger and deny that they need any assistance. I saw a woman who was too embarrassed to ask for help when she was choking. She died in the women's room because she didn't want to choke in public.
I think humans are one of the strangest species on this planet. It's a wonder we are not yet extinct. The internet cannot keep humans from being oddly human.
So many good points by those posting on this thread.
Most people need to have an ideology to hold onto, that they feel is the answer to the world's problems.
People need to belong to a group, and it's even better if the group is tight-knit and uniform the world over (like going to McDonald's for your meals when touring Shanghai or Mali - the certainty of it gives you security).
People need stability, and the family teachings appear to provide this - a stable, family group to belong to forever. An antidote to a world that's tearing itself apart.
Its all about the beaten and the broken in my honest opinion. Sad thing is they get worse the farther and deeper they get in the religion. I know this by my own experience i thought God would heal my physical problems if i went to church and paid tithing but i never healed and only got worse i felt very betrayed but i still feel i can recover from all the nonsense i witnessed.
I have wondered the same thing. As a lifelong member, I could "accept" a few odd things. If, however, I was a new investigator one google search and thirty minutes of reading would end my interest. Also, NO ONE has any good answers to the questions and apologists only confuse the issue.
I have a good answer to all of it---it'd FAKE. Pretend--all of it.
JS was a fake leader- he did everything he told others NOT to do.
JS remixed 5 books into the BoM, using 3rd grade english.
JS was a Pedophile and woman abuser, which is still practiced today in some places. Threatening and scaring women and girls into his sexual deviate conduct on his whims.
JS practice of polygamy, et al., is disgusting the way he went about it. He did everything he told others not to do and said it was the law.
The BoM is a fictional novel. An easy read, great stories, but NO DNA evidence, in this whole world, that any of it existed!
IF anyone can get past all this and be "okay" with it, que sera, sera.