In <199610041936.MAA29441@idiom.com>, on 10/04/96 at 12:36 PM, "John C. Randolph" <jcr@idiom.com> said: .Attilla Says: .>but what inflames the anti-mormon passions the most is the .>paid clergy of other organized religions whose employment is .>the paid ministry to their flock. Mormons threaten their jobs; .>the mormons have no paid ministry; it is all part of our .>"callings" to do the Lord's work. .Well, speaking as one who has occasionally been called anti-mormon (although, .I'm *really* not that specific!) The only time I feel any anti-mormon ."passion" is when I want to throttle one of your missionaries. I like .sleeping in, and being awakened by a kid who wants me to join a religion is .really offensive. . come, come, John... you would deny those bright, eager faces of our missionaries, who spent several years earning the money to be able to support themselves on a two year mission? and, they do not "ask" you to join our religion; they are only offering you the chance to "investigate" our religion; your decision to join is based solely on your willingness to pray, by yourself, asking the Lord if joining the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints is the _right_ thing to do, a true Church of Jesus and the Lord. It is not for our missionaries to ask you to join the Church; they are only to assist you in your _investigation_ of our Church. Don't worry, I realize some overreach their mission authority with their enthusiasm. However, if you are ever pushed by a missionary, send his/her name to me and I will pass the information along to the mission leadership that they might pause and potentially dampen his/her fire a little bit. it happens, as to be expected. BTW, the mission leaders are adult couples who volunteer for 3 years. we had a man in our ward who was close to 70 accept a calling with his wife to oversee land acquistion and construction all over the Far East --he was out there almost 10 years -- he and his wife had 11 children and he is now close to 90 --still going (falls asleep in his chair after dinner....). please just remember these kids are filled with their youthful zeal and the exuberance of their mission. they are some of our best kids, and they are giving two years (10% of their life to date) for their service. I really regret that I did not go on a mission at 19 --interrupting college for 2 years. Harvard had no provision for it, and I surrendered my chance over 37 years ago. .If the LDS church would just give up this damnable proselytizing, I'd find .you no more objectionable than the Tibetan Buddhists (whom I actually hold in .rather high regard, . our Articles of Faith include the missions. our first missionaries covered amazing distances in the mud, and generally on foot starting in 1830, the year the Church was founded, covering much of the Eastern U.S. and Canada plus very rewarding missions to England, Europe, Scandinavia, and even to Australia/NZ/Tahiti in the first 15 years. there is an enormous population of LSD members in the Solomon Island area today. and we belief that everyone should be permitted to practice religion in any way they choose (or not choose), only asking that we be shown the same consideration. we will even fight to grant you that right! or give you, without cost, the use of our chapels if you do not have your own. For instance, the Catholic Church managed to start their congregations in Utah by using our chapels in the 1850s. .although they're never going to convert me either!) . try investigating and see if you still can make that statement! <g> what would you do if you found yourself "volunteering" to accept the LDS faith? .-jcr .PS: I do think it's a Good Thing that mormons don't pay the clergy. . accepting the call to be the Bishop is an enormous responsi- bility, sometimes without much encouragement in some wards where there are spiritual or family problems above the norm. We are not perfect. .One positive for LDS. Did you pick up that idea from the Ba'ha'i? I seriously doubt it; Joseph Smith never would have known about the Ba'ha'i, or even Buddism. -- "I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." --Will Rogers