Missionary Age Lowered to 18 for males, 19 for females

[_son of Ishmael]

That's the momentous revelation? I am guessing a lot of members feel duped like when Ralphie uses his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring to crack a top secret message only to discover that it's a crummy commercial for Ovaltine.

[_angsty]

Maybe the sexism is in your own mind. For girls it does make sense to make it at nineteen. This way, if they have a desire they can leave earlier and then when they return at 20 something, they can continue with schooling etc. It is a matter of life enhancement.

Oh lulu, thanks for quoting that gem or I would have missed it.

why me, thank you for continuing to represent your people (although I'm sure many of them wish you would cease). I've had you on ignore for ages, and although I've enjoyed this good chuckle, I'll now go back to my usual policy of not addressing people who are demonstrably impervious to reason. It's good for a laugh once in a while, but too much of it in a row is just depressing. I prefer to discuss Mormonism with more worthy representatives, ie, those who actually believe it, live it, understand it, and are capable of saying things that, if explained, eventually make some kind of sense whether I agree with them or not.

[_keithb]

Of course that is a possibility. I'm just looking for a justification outside the need to differentiate that it's a commandment for males to serve and more of an option for females :)

Believe me, I'd like to hear a practical reason for it myself-- it certainly would be a relief for once. I'm just not willing to give the benefit of the doubt considering the church's robust history of blatant and unapologetic sexism.

I think that there are several reasons why the Mormon church did this, as outlined in my previous post. I think that the main reasons though are to increase the size of the missionary pool and to increase retention among young adults.

Also, I really think that the Mormon church is moving in the direction of having obligatory missionary service for women, maybe even relying on them for the bulk of the missionary work eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if the church has done studies where they discovered that women are easier to retain in the church on average, particularly when they're return missionaries. So, the church is going to try to convert and keep women early.

I think this also has the added benefit of putting pressure on the men in the church to stay active as well by using the women as levers. There are a lot of guys who would like to either be inactive or less-active in the Mormon church who stay active because they want dates. So, if the Mormon church can place even more emphasis on being a return missionary (for both sexes) and in church activity, then probably more men will stay active.

[_son of Ishmael]

I can still see that you guys are still american centered. It is a world wide church....Lets try to think world wide and not just from Utah.

If I remember right, you are OK with being American (Utah) centered when it comes to the City Creek Mall

[_angsty]

I think that there are several reasons why the Mormon church did this, as outlined in my previous post. I think that the main reasons though are to increase the size of the missionary pool and to increase retention among young adults.

No doubt, but that doesn't explain the sexist age gap.

[_Elphaba]

How about this: young men in america usually go off to school at 18. By nineteen many have one year of school behind them. Now, after high school they can go off to a mission and when they return, they can start school. Sound good?

Maybe the sexism is in your own mind. For girls it does make sense to make it at nineteen. This way, if they have a desire they can leave earlier and then when they return at 20 something, they can continue with schooling etc. It is a matter of life enhancement.

, indeed. Your attempt to justify a different policy for each gender is nonsensical.

[_cafe crema]

Believe me, I'd like to hear a practical reason for it myself-- it certainly would be a relief for once. I'm just not willing to give the benefit of the doubt considering the church's robust history of blatant and unapologetic sexism.

Maybe the sexism is in your own mind. For girls it does make sense to make it at nineteen. This way, if they have a desire they can leave earlier and then when they return at 20 something, they can continue with schooling etc. It is a matter of life enhancement.

It doesn't make sense for women to start at 19, it would make sense for them to start at 18 like the men. It didn't make sense for the men to start at 19 with that lost year and it doesn't make sense for women to now have lost year.

[Guest]

What if any explanation was given by the prophet and his spokesmen for why young men and women should have different qualifying ages for a mission?

(As I said above, I find it bizarre that the CoJCoLDS could possibly think that conversions to their church might be increased by sending out even younger and less mature kids to ask adults to make life-changing choices. But then I suppose that just shows that I don't understand the Gospel.)

(Edited to remove tautology)

[_The Mighty Builder]

So much to yawn about. If anything the age should be disregarded and EDUCATION paramount. A college education is much more important and certainly would help in teaching Mormon man god's doctrine.

[_Yoda]

I think that there are several reasons why the Mormon church did this, as outlined in my previous post. I think that the main reasons though are to increase the size of the missionary pool and to increase retention among young adults.

No doubt, but that doesn't explain the sexist age gap.

They explained the age difference at the press conference. They said it works better when the women are slightly older.

I thiinnk they are tryiing to discourage romance in the mission field, but I don't think the year difference willl really do that.