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Just curious about what you think about the implications for StayLDS of the new thrust for missionaries to be proselyting online. Is it likely we will find them here? What kind of situations could develop? Generally (with many exceptions), people who post here have a fair amount of experience in the church, don’t want to detract from the faith of others, and find traditional answers to traditional questions about the church unsatisfying. I personally would probably find myself not responding to traditional answers to the vexing questions as I would not want to detract from the missionaries’ own faith.
I might also respond by helping them understand the mind of a less-active/semi-active or conflicted active person, and perhaps even coach them on possible ways of approaching people about faith issues, preaching tolerance, love, lack of judgmentalism, and helping them understand the truth about less activity — that you don’t often get in face to face wards.
It will be interesting to see how the church organizes the missionary force to use social media in an organized way.
If that happens, the admins will treat them just like we treat everyone else – and I mean that sincerely. For example, I would have no problem banning a missionary, if s/he didn’t follow the rules of etiquette for this site – and I also would have no problem contacting the MTC or even Church Headquarters and explaining why.
Ray’s answer +1. There are some missionaries who would do well with this kind of site, but there are many who would not. I can’t imagine the Brethren want young, impressionable elders and sisters lurking in the corners of the Interwebs where they might find un-correlated history and doctrine. :angel: I would have thought they’ll have a heavily limited access to the Internet. I’d imagine staylds is on same the list as xxx websites. If they are online across the full range of bloggernacle/mormon related sites, they are going to get exposed to negativism about the church…It will be interesting to see what the policies are. Perhaps they are limited to using only certain sites, at the mission office where there can be limits on where they go and what they see. I would imagine there would be a selection process in place to ensure that missionaries with strong testimonies are the ones who interact with negative people. And there would likely be training on how to respond to certain comments, which ones to ignore. If the approach is like the age-old approach to proselytizing, they may only spend their time on sites where there are sincere lurkers (“the elect”).
They won’t have unlimited access. That is certain. The top leaders aren’t stupid.
I’ve heard it’s the opposite of a blacklist. On a blacklist, some sites are blocked. In this case, only specific sites would be allowed, which is very similar to the reading list that was allowed to be taken with you on a mission when I went. There were only about 4 or 5 approved books in addition to the standard works. Of course, once FB is in, it seems to me that the genie is out of the bottle. FB allows secret groups that can’t be monitored by someone else. It also allows you to embed links with videos. Kumahito wrote:I can’t imagine the Brethren want young, impressionable elders and sisters lurking in the corners of the Interwebs where they might find un-correlated history and doctrine.
:angel: This is my opinion also!
I would be shocked if the Church sent online missionaries to anti-mormon or unorthodox-mormon sites to refute anything being said. I think that would be completely out of character. I assume this will be much more along the lines of having a presence online, for those that are interested. A blog is a much more likely scenario. I have friends and family all the time telling me that they have a blog. I don’t have time or interest to follow a blog. Others do. It does no harm to me that people blog or that others follow blogs. I thnk most of us are fairly seasoned and acquainted with the arguments. Younger/inexperienced mishies might have a shock. About a year ago some sister missionaries came to visit an inactive Mormon friend of mine who lives in Denmark. He did alot of research on the net about lds church history which contributed to his leaving the church. But, he was always kind to the missionaries and fed them regularly which most members did not. When the sisters asked why he left the church, he asked them if they knew about Joseph Smith’s other wives and that he was married to women whose 1st husbands were still alive. These young sister missionaries knew nothing about Joseph Smith having other wives and were shocked. When the young missionaries come to my house on occasion to try and reactivate me they also ask why I left. I tell them I do not want to shake their faith and would rather not talk about it. On one hand I am concerned about missionaries going through a crisis of faith, because I know how hard that is and how it shakes your world. On the other hand early church leaders have things like:
J. Reuben Clark: “If we have the truth, [it] cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed.”
George Albert Smith: “If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak.” Journal of Discourses, Volume 14, Page 216
John Taylor: “I think a full, free talk is frequently of great use; we want nothing secret nor underhanded, and I for one want no association with things that cannot be talked about and will not bear investigation.” Journal of Discourses, Volume 20, Page 264.
The past 20 years I have I have not experienced this. Questioning or seeking answers outside of the standard works was not allowed and is why my husband and I stepped down from our callings. It will be interesting how this plays out. But, I do believe God can turn all things for our good.
Ooh, great quotes. Mind if I copy paste them onto the quotes collection in Support? You can take anything from anyone that is posted her and repost it there. I agree BN. It would be tragic if missionaries show up here…not because it will disrupt this site, but a mission is hard enough as it is. They don’t need to reading and interacting with cynical SOBs like cwald and spock.
If, when, missionaries show up, I for one will be on my best behavior and pretty well just ignore them all together.
PS. nice to hear from you again BN. It’s been awhile. A little nostalgia from the old days when females ruled the staylds board…BN, Canada Girl, just me, Flower, hawk….
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