Fishers of Men

[_RockSlider]

Sometimes things strike me as odd. For example, The Hawaii Temple; one of the first ones ever built.
The Home dock and the organizers of direction/activity also play a role here. Where is the focus, where are resources utilized?
Japan seemed to be focused on relatively early in missionary expansion programs. Very little of Christianity to be found there, even today. Not many converts, and yet those that do tend to be very orthodox, at least based on my limited interactions with a daughter in law from Tokyo .

[_moksha]

Refined, when speaking of a more humble culture, is there an acknowledgment that this humility might be synonymous with being less sophisticated and more susceptible to sales pitches?

My use of humble was to describe the means by which they live. However, it does raise an interesting thought. I do think that things like honesty, good-business dealings, etc. may be practised to a greater extent in some cultures. Therefore, straight-forward dishonesty might catch a person from an outside culture unawares, while people from the same dishonest culture have learned to carry around a healthy suspicion.

Liz is right about there being no dishonesty on the part of the missionaries. My guess is they believe everything they say and are probably unaware of anything to the contrary. The testimonies they deliver to the "Prospect" are given with genuineness (unless they have been instructed to fake it till they make it - but even then it has fidelity to the given instruction).

Truth Dancer has posed an interesting thought: With no internet access, they are less easily dissuaded after the initial contact. It also occurs to me that being from a more polite culture may have an influence as well.

[_Redefined]

Yes, very good point about the internet access. I guess the question wasn't specifying a time period, but nowadays I think that would make or break the deal.

Okay, I can agree that it wouldn't be dishonest or predatory of the missionaries themselves (extenuating circumstances asside), but I was thinking more along the lines of the organization itself. . . and even in the broader sense of any type of missionary work. . . which brings up the thought of maybe missionary work (clarifying as proselytizing and such, not good work like missions to help build houses or feed the poor in the name of the missionaries theology) by its nature is inappropriate.

I'm still just trying to work this out, though. Thanks for everyone that is helping to sort it out.

[_Inconceivable]

Generally, I think that man tends to seek out religion more when he is struggling. When things are going well, and your family is prospering, it is easier to simply put religion off to the side.

I think there's a little more to this. As a missionary I thought I saw this as well.

Prosperity

Prosperity can also bring balance into one's life. It gives them options. A structured religeon doesn't necessarily fit a prosperous paradigm (unless you already belong to it). Yet a person can still live a life of contribution etc.

The Internet

Nowdays, I think the internet will destroy the Mormon craft. It is just too easy to google and find actual facsimilies of documents like the Nauvoo Expositor, geneological records, the pinebox doctrine and other troubling subjects.

Overfished Waters..

The church would like to have one believe that the waters are just fished out in some areas. Reality is that most people are not like fish. Humans are generally a little smarter than the rouse of well hidden fish hooks or catch-all nets.

Just before I served in Australia in the early '80's, they used this tool called the Baptismal Discussion. It was a Penecostal type hammer session where the missionaries would introduce the church and baptise all in one evening. This caught so many distressed fish that most went bad. So the procedure was outlawed (much like the dynamiting of a pond is in most western countries). It later evolved into the troubling 7 day baptism program.

by the way, I have never heard of the phrase Hunter's of Men. Sounds a little creepy. There is, however, biblical references of shepherds hunting down wolves and killing them.