Monson in Boot Camp: What is the point of this story?

I think one takeaway is don’t compromise who you are because of peer pressure.

Now on to what rubs me wrong, the subtle communications:

1) The girl left behind in the theater. She did a good job of radiating shame for staying.

2) Porn shoulders. I do like the way the girl expresses her disinterest in the dress, “It’s not really me.” It was a nice nonjudgmental way to say no thanks. Then the one friend turns to the other friend and gives her a “get a load of her” look. She just said “It’s not really me.” not “That dress doesn’t meet my standards.” so I’m not sure why the look.

3) This one really gets me. The guys looking at something on their phone. “You guys shouldn’t be looking at it either.” We can stick to our values without trying to impose them on other people. It might have been porn, it might have been a selfie and the protester believes that taking a picture of someone steals their soul. Bottom line, I like the message of standing for what you believe in, I don’t like the message of shaming others to toe your line.

I do feel we should respect other people’s standards but does that pendulum swing both ways. Can the CK kids respect the standards of the TK kids? That doesn’t mean they have to participate in activities that don’t meet their standards but maybe it means less policing other people.

I take it as a reminder message we shouldn’t be too shy to just say who we are and be proud to stand up for it.

I don’t particularly like wearing it on my sleeve, though, because it can be presumptuous that people care about religion, and that makes things awkward sometimes. It depends on the situation. Yes…I’m a mormon…but I don’t need to go around telling everyone because that is not the most important thing about me. “Hello, I’ll be your waiter tonight…and I’m a mormon.” My guess is that could lead to an experience or two from one or two groups that come to dine and really like it, talk about who they know in Utah, find commonalities and it make a great story in church. And the other 98% of the time it is either weird to patrons or flat out offensive.

I guess some people like the 2% chance of having a story to tell in Sacrament meeting.

I guess I’m just not that personality where I’m “in your face” about my religion and beliefs. And because of that, I guess I don’t have great stories to tell all the time. That’s just me.

I actually like the takeaway message that you shouldn’t assume you are the only Mormon in any given group, because there might be others.

I agree…and I also don’t assume that just because someone else is mormon that automatically makes them good and trustworthy.

Back in the day I often wondered what the point of Elder Monson’s talks were. Seriously, it seems like all he did was tell stories. He did evolve and his more recent talks as president are much better IMO. In fact, I really liked the 5 minute ones last conference!

Some people are just story tellers. There are a couple high councilors in our stake who pretty much do what TSM used to do, tell stories. There are others who never tell stories and tend to expound doctrine. And there are some in between. It’s just differences in style. So from that point of view I can cut story tellers and TSM a break, even if I don’t always get the point.

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) when I was in the army there were only three recognized religions with services on post: you were either Jewish, Catholic or Protestant. Mormons were considered Protestant, and I don’t think that has changed (correct me if I’m wrong), but they have added Muslims services. Since it wasn’t a long, long, LONG time ago like TSM, maybe it wasn’t as clear to him that Mormons were considered Protestant as far as the US military was concerned. Also, back in those days in the military and in basic training, if you chose not to go to religious services you were given undesirable tasks (because the drill sergeants wanted the free time, which they didn’t get if people stayed behind). As a side note, I was not LDS during basic training, but there were a couple and they went to the Protestant services.

I guess my issue is that they seem to be trying to turn a totally innocuous interaction (I don’t think for a second the drill instructor cares what religion Monson or anyone else is) into some sort of tale of persecution. The chief petty officer’s sneering tone of voice makes it seem like we are supposed to identify him as the bad guy. I think if I had been shown this video as a youth, I would have thought, Wow, that’s so unfair that TSM is being persecuted for his religion! I may have even taken it a step farther and seen it as confirmation bias that TSM was somehow foreordained to become prophet.

The comparison to current real-world events rings a little false for me. “One time my friend showed me porn on his phone” isn’t really the same as “one time my drill instructor asked me what religion I was.” There are plenty of stories of people being persecuted for their beliefs, LDS or not. This really isn’t one of them.

The first time I heard this story, I was waiting for TSM to finish it. But he never did. What about the other Mormons in his battalion (who also didn’t leave when the Jews, the Catholics, and the Protestants departed)? Were there any Muslims or Hindu or atheists still standing there after the three major religions had been dismissed? (Wouldn’t those atheists have been just as brave as TSM, standing alone for their lack of beliefs?) Did he and the other Mormons decide to go to the Protestant service after all (that’s what I would have done) or go off to their barracks and hold an unauthorized sacrament meeting, or what? Had nobody told TSM ahead of time that they only held religious services for the three major religions?

Okay, okay, I’m overthinking it again 😆

It was an experience that had an impact on him. He wanted to share it, hoping it would have an impact on others.

It resonates with lots of people.

It doesn’t resonate with others.

The point is whatever each of us gets from it – and I think there are plenty of points to get from it, since there are plenty of people to get points from it.

It’s no different in that regard than the stories we tell here.