Missionary

To the Editors of The Crimson:

John P. Thompson's piece "Spiritual Soliciation" (April 15, 1986) struck home. Being approached by a smooth-talking vacuum salesperson is offensive enough, but to feel similarly manipulated regarding deeply held personal beliefs is both threatening and disillusioning. I have encountered my share of aggressive proselytizing groups and have known the discomfort of superficial religious encounters. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), I have also known this discomfort from the dispensing end, and have felt the pain of realizing that in my sincere but clumsy efforts to live and share my religion, I have offended someone. I thus emphasize with much of Mr. Thompson's defensiveness.

I wish only to add a personal thought about the difficulty of missionary work. It is natural to want to begin an interaction with small talk. There is nothing inherently deceptive or insincere about this element of social relations. Whether in a job interview or setting up a date, chit-chat is a comfortable way to say that you are a real person, someone with common as well as unique characteristics, and to allow the other person the same opportunity. Just how much superficiality each of us needs or can tolerate may vary; sometimes we may dispense with it all together. Perhaps especially when doing missionary work, it is understandable to want to establish one's legitimacy as a complete person, rather than as a one-dimensional religious fanatic, through such preliminaries. If these preliminaries are inherently manipulative, so then are all efforts at amicability. I was offended to sense that Mr. Thompson felt that my or anyone's religious convictions could not be heartfelt or sincere if I prefaced my espousal of those beliefs with this natural ice-breaking.

Yet I admit the tendency to break the ice is often excessive, sometimes manipulative. Persons wanting to share their religious convictions must constantly deal with determining when it is most appropriate to share those beliefs. Often we may err on the tentative side; we are not unstereotyped as erring on the blunt side. Our failings are not a sign of hypocrisy or intentional deceit, but of our human imperfection in attempting divine service. We will continue to err, and we will continue to improve our sensitivity by hearing those like John Thompson voice their feelings when they are offended. I am sorry that he has been hurt so much as to believe that such efforts at missionary service and the faith that underlies tham are somehow not genuine. Steven Huefner '86