It happened. Again. I was having a really cool conversation with someone, talking about different cultures, experiencing life in a big city vs. a small town, our educational system and when I said I had to run, after 30 minutes, he did it. He asked if he could give me some literature from the LDS Church for me to read. I felt my heart sink. This is actually only the 2nd time this has happened since coming back to Logan, and I've prepared myself. I said to this person what I said to the other person...sure, I'll read your literature, if you'll read mine. To the last person I gave a book on Buddhism. Not sure what to give this one.
Here's the thing. At first I felt crushed, like we'd had this cool conversation and all he wanted to do was convert me. Then I tried to look at it from a different perspective. I love sharing things I'm excited about, including my beliefs. We were discussing different cultures and I did mention that I'm not Mormon, so I'm hoping this person just saw it as a way to share something cool with me. Part of me realizes he was trained, as a missionary, to convert those non-believers, which makes me sad, because I don't want that to be how people see me. I am a believer! I believe in helping out one another. I believe in questioning everything around us. I believe in learning from others who share very different views...I'm not always good at practicing this belief, but I do believe in it. I believe there may be a god, there may be a heaven, that the Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Sufis, Methodists, Catholics may be right, but no matter what, if there is a god, that god would not punish me for not declaring myself "something". A god who is able to do what we proclaim a god to do is not a god which bothers with labels.
I'll feel better about all of this if the person really does read what I give him and really uses it to question his own beliefs, as that is what he is asking me to do.
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This post was really interesting to me. I've been thinking a lot about what you wrote. It gave me a valuable new perspective as well. I hope that what I say comes across right. I like that you said that after being initially upset, you tried to look at it from a different perspective, realizing that it's natural to want to share something you're excited about with people. I'm curious to know what he shared with you, actually, and if he read what you gave him. You don't know me very well, just from the few times I've volunteered at Adams but I also served a mission for the LDS church, and would like to clarify that the reason I went on a mission and still share my beliefs with others is to give people who want to learn about the church and to enjoy what I have found, an opportunity to do so. Of course, that means that I sometimes meet people who didn't want to hear what I have to say, but if I never asked, I would never know, and neither would they. So, take it as a compliment that he wanted to share something so precious to him with you. I believe that every person deserves the chance to hear and I respect their right to choose what to believe.
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