stemelbow wrote:Where do you think I said I have a problem with the bus company saying this? I don't. I'm just saying this is making a big deal out of nothing.
Hey, the church is a big deal made out of nothing, and yet you keep talking about it, making it a bigger deal than it deserves. That just happens sometimes. What can ya do?
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Some Schmo wrote:Hey, the church is a big deal made out of nothing, and yet you keep talking about it, making it a bigger deal than it deserves. That just happens sometimes. What can ya do?
Well then we're all the same. We all make big deals out of nothing. huh?
Love ya tons, Stem
I ain't nuttin'. don't get all worked up on account of me.
i have almost first hand knowledge of missionaries in the manchester mission aggressively using bus contacts to seek potential members.
my daughter served there in a british sign language and speaking capacity -she related many stories of watching for deaf people to board a bus or to surveil the bus for deaf or usually older men and women who seemed lonely or were alone. however knowing my daughter's personality, i know she was not the aggressive type but much more compassionate.
this was a daily activity for both sisters and elders- and she and her companions brought about 20 older people into the LDS church that way over her 18 months. for the deaf there was zero followup by members so most deaf converts dropped out within 6 months.
Joey wrote:Looks like the link may not be working. Here is the content of the article from the UK Gardian
Bus company asks Mormons to leave passengers alone The polite request comes as Stagecoach customers in Lancaster complain of being targeted by missionaries
Stagecoach is taking action following complaints from passengers and drivers in Lancaster.
Rick Seymour was travelling on the Second Amendment bus service from Lancaster to Morecambe last Tuesday afternoon, and heard a conversation between three young men.
Two of the men, he said, were Mormons using the bus as a way to engage members of the public to tell them about their love for Jesus.
Mr Seymour said that he had been "engaged" by Mormons on two previous occasions while travelling on a bus, and in a letter to Stagecoach Bus Company said: "I firmly believe that the Mormon Church is using your service as a place where the public cannot escape the attempt to indoctrinate them."
The 31-year-old, of Heysham, Lancashire, added: "Whilst I respect that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs or none, telling others that their beliefs are misguided or plain wrong is wrong in itself. Practice your own personal beliefs in your own home and do not ram it down others' throats. I hope that Stagecoach will write to the Mormon Church in Chorley and tell them their behaviour is unacceptable."
Stephie Barber, operations manager for Stagecoach in Lancaster said that bus drivers had recently reported similar incidents.
"We do not permit any commercial or other organisation to promote their products, services or views through direct engagement with passengers on our services," he said.
"In cases where we are made aware of any activity of this nature, we follow it up with the organisation involved.
"We are also doing so in this particular case to make our position clear."
But Robert Preston, England Manchester Mission President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, said he considered the 140 young people in the north west of England actively engaged in trying to convert people as "persistent and courageous".
He added: "They will sit next to someone, and they will introduce themselves and try and have a good conversation to explain a point of view that someone might never have heard before. We do encourage this, but we would not want people to feel intimidated.
"If it becomes clear that someone does not want to hear that message they should move away."
I *think* the they in the President's statement refers to the missionaries moving and not the passengers.
Either way, this is an obnoxious proselyting technique and should be abandoned altogether.
sethpayne wrote:Either way, this is an obnoxious proselyting technique and should be abandoned altogether.
Really? I don't think it's obnoxious at all, but probably a little rough on the kids who have to approach strangers in such a bold fashion.
Sarcasm duly noted. :)
You make a good point though. When I was a missionary I HATED being asked by mission leadership to tract during dinnertime or to do so-called "street contacting." Thankfully I was in a mission where there were plenty of people asking us to come over and to teach or do service projects so I didn't spend the majority of my time doing this type of thing. If I had been in a mission where I had to tract all day, I would have very likely gone insane.
sethpayne wrote:really? you don't think approaching captive strangers is obnoxious?
I don't. Religious beliefs don't exist in a vacuum, and should be part of public discourse, just like conversation about the weather. People need to think more about their faith, and the best way to do that sometimes is in polite but perhaps passionate conversation with some fresh faced youth trying to live their own convictions.
It would be obnoxious to me if they were doing some kind of lame shtick, or being gimmicky.