Now that I've got your attention, I want to share an idea about Mormons. We've seen them at airports, in third world countries, and have rejected them at our doorstep countless times. But maybe there is something to be learned from these missionaries that has nothing to do with Joseph Smith or polygamy.
I read a very interesting feature article in Bloomberg's Business Week magazine. It describes the two-year missionary program that male Mormons complete after high school. In God's MBA's: Why Mormon Missions Produce Leaders, writer Caroline Winter takes us inside the Provo Missionary Training Center, which dispatches 20,000 young Mormons to the farthest corners of the planet. The author suggests that this experience might be the reason there are a disproportionately high number of Mormons who have leadership positions in business and politics. With two Mormons currently running for President, I wonder if there might just be some truth to that. Romney did his mission in France (Winter recounts some juicy anecdotes about his time there) and Huntsman served in China. And if so, is it the fact that these pre-adults are going abroad that gives them an advantage, or is it the regimented, disciplined lifestyle? Or is it the fact that they have one of the toughest sales jobs on the planet?
To me, this logic makes perfect sense. Sell something really, really difficult. Then sell something a little more marketable. Suddenly, selling the more marketable thing must seem like a breeze. I mean, once you've converted someone to another religion, selling software products or apple pie or yourself as the Republican nominee must seem much easier in comparison. Perhaps we should model a national program after the Mormon missions. Instead of pushing a new set of religious beliefs, we push a new set of American products, creating jobs, reducing the deficit, and maybe just producing a new generation of leaders in the process.
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| Sorry guys, I'm not interested, but perhaps you'd like to run my company one day. |
1 comment:
You make an interesting point here. I'm a sophomore journalism student at a Christian University in California, and combining politics and religion fascinates me. Converting someone to another religion is no easy task, but neither is running a country. When you convert someone to another religion, you’re focusing on THEM (just one), but when you’re running a country, you’re looking to make a decision for 300,000,000 people. I don’t think that with Mormons going abroad gives them any advantage in politics. I think it gives them an idea of what happens outside of the US, but I think their good morals and regimented, disciplined lifestyle definitely adds to their appeal. What do you makes people with religious beliefs in politics so appealing to the public? Is it because of their generally good morals? Is that what makes Americans so attracted to politicians with religious beliefs? They think that religious leaders will make the best decisions? As a Christian, I don’t see my evangelizing as pushing religious beliefs on someone. I see it more as showing someone Jesus Christ’s love and showing them my beliefs, but I don’t push my beliefs on them. I definitely think we need to push for more jobs, American products, and everything else you named. However, I don’t think that comparing converting someone to other religious beliefs to national politics matches up. I think they are two opposite ends of the spectrum.
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