Criticism of Mormonism/Websites/FutureMissionary.com/No Investigators, No Dinner



A FAIR Analysis of:
FutureMissionary.com
A work by author: Anonymous

A FairMormon Analysis of FutureMissionary page "No Investigators, No Dinner"

FAIRMORMON'S VIEW OF THE CRITICS' CONCLUSIONS


The positions that the FutureMissionary article "No Investigators, No Dinner" appears to take are the following:

  • That mission rules prevent missionaries from obtaining adequate meals due to a "no investigator, no dinner" policy.
  • That "If your mission is one that skips dinner, be sure to keep a close eye on your physical as well as mental wellness. Let your mission president know immediately if your health starts to fail as a result of this rule." We believe that a better approach would be to simply eat something.

FAIRMORMON'S RESPONSE AND SUPPORTING DATA


The author(s) of FutureMissionary.com make(s) the following claim:

The website claims that "more and more missionaries seem to be going home hungry. This is a result of the 'No investigators, no dinner' policy."

FAIR's Response

  • There is no such thing as a universal "no investigators, no dinner" policy. Each mission president can create his own rules.
  • This seems to be a result of the author's own experience on a mission in Brazil. Lunch is the large daily meal, and "dinner," as we experience it in the United States, doesn't exist.
  • A missionary is never prohibited from buying their own food if they are hungry.


The author(s) of FutureMissionary.com make(s) the following claim:

The website implies some sort of brainwashed culture of obedience that is so strong that a missionary will let himself starve. The author states "It’s natural to feel pressure to be obedient, but it’s important to remember that your health comes first."

FAIR's Response

  • If you don't have a dinner appointment, then buy something to eat. If you are fasting, then don't fast to the point of exhaustion.
  • Of course, fasting is a principle that is taught for a specific purpose, but there is no such thing as a mission rule that requires missionaries to starve themselves to the point of sacrificing their health as an incentive to seek out investigators.