A couple of Mormon missionaries I ran into recently prompted me to question whether we truly are free to choose our own religion. Recently, I was approached by two young men who, while admirable in their appearance, were anything but with their intentions. Devoted Mormon followers, their mission was to bombard me with a number of benefits associated with the Mormon religion in the hopes that I, too, would join in their faith.
I am not against Mormons or any other religious practices for that matter. What I do not agree with are the tactics these two individuals used. Out of sheer kindness and much confusion, I allowed the men to walk me the rest of the way home and agreed to listen to what they had to say. Until the moment we reached my doorstep I listened earnestly to their plea, accepted a copy of the Mormon Bible and gave them my name when they asked me for it. While apprehensive about the fact that I had allowed them to converse with me for such a lengthy time, I entered my apartment intending to leave it all behind me. I was wrong.
The following weekend, I received a phone call from one of the men and informed him that I was not interested in receiving any further information. By the end of the weekend, I had received 15 phone calls from the same number, five of them within 20 minutes of each other. Because I was visiting friends in Milwaukee, I was expecting a number of calls, a few of which were cut off in my attempts to ignore the incessantly bothersome calls from the Mormon group. When I returned home for the weekend, I reexamined the Bible they had given me and found a number of readings termed \assigned"" and a message notifying me that I would be called in order to gauge my responses.
In high school, I had many friends who did not practice Catholicism as I did. However, I would often attend church with them on Sundays at their places of worship out of respect and understanding. I even had a very close Mormon friend and witnessed some of the limitations her faith placed on her daily life.
However, I was never once persuaded by these friends to alter my own ways of living or pressured to join in their religious practices. While these people were my friends, not strangers like the two men who approached me, I would expect the same level of consideration. I do not roam the streets of Madison prompting each passerby to change their way of life, and neither should you.
I couldn't understand why these men were trying so desperately to gain followers if they truly believed in what they were doing. Faith shouldn't be based on number of believers, but by a strong internalized faith of one believer himself. Just a couple days ago, I saw the same men approaching students after class and found a different route to my next class just to avoid their presence. I wondered how I had let these unrelenting messengers instill such a fear in me.
The fact is, if spreading the message of faith is important to an individual or their faith community, there are a number of ways to extend the word. If someone is looking to bring faith into their lives, they will approach flyers and church banners to gain information about religious functions. Informational booths could be set up in which the interested party could approach the faithful for themselves and pursue more information. Contacting students over radio and e-mail would allow people to decide individually if they wish to tune out the message or not. The list of alternatives is endless.
Freedom of religion can remain intact, but it involves allowing people the space they need to choose their faith on their own. If I ever choose to change the faith community with which I associate, I want it to be done on my own terms under the conditions of which I feel most comfortable. Until my wish becomes a reality, I guess I'll be forced to take the path to class which ensures as little unrelenting pursuit as possible by the Mormon men in suits.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
