Last week I had some Mormon missionaries speak to my class about their faith. We were studying rational choice theories of religion, and so the Mormons are a good fit because they spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of their faith when they tell it to others.
They spoke for 40 minutes (which was actually a little too long) about their beliefs without an ounce of cynicism or embarrassment. It struck me as very different than at the university, where we're conditioned to either not talk about our religious beliefs or if we do, to distance ourselves from our beliefs--either with disclaimers or intellectual analysis. But these Mormons were both emotionally engaged and completely sincere in how they presented themselves.
The only time they go flustered was when a student asked about whether the Mormon church had a history of racism.
They spoke for 40 minutes (which was actually a little too long) about their beliefs without an ounce of cynicism or embarrassment. It struck me as very different than at the university, where we're conditioned to either not talk about our religious beliefs or if we do, to distance ourselves from our beliefs--either with disclaimers or intellectual analysis. But these Mormons were both emotionally engaged and completely sincere in how they presented themselves.
The only time they go flustered was when a student asked about whether the Mormon church had a history of racism.
3 comments:
And so were you convinced by their theology? How well did they do? Did anyone ask them the archaeological questions that have bedeviled them for decades?
By the way, that was a great idea to give them a chance to speak.
I thought they did well for how young they are. No one asked about archaeological or other historical challenges.
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