Criticism of Mormonism/Websites/FutureMissionary.com

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A FairMormon Analysis of the critical website FutureMissionary.com

If you, as a missionary, are asked a tough question, it’s your duty to answer them. It’s the only way you can ever expect someone to trust you. To be able to answer truthfully, you need to know the truth. That’s why we created FutureMissionary.com.
—FutureMissionary's advice to prospective missionaries, "What if You Were an Investigator"

Overview

The website futuremissionary.com is designed to shake the faith of prospective missionaries by blindsiding them with troubling issues related to Church history. The site's anonymous authors claim to be returned missionaries, and write as though they are "believing" members who naively accept controversial statements and ideas without question. The most prominent and detailed page on the website is "A Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony." The authors claim that such blatant materials will help to prepare missionaries for questions and challenges they will face. In reality, the letter and other material on the site only introduce attacks on the church without discussing crucial context and explanations that would help readers fully understand the material. The approach and tone of the FutureMissionary site resembles that of MormonThink.com before MormonThink became openly antagonistic toward the Church in late 2012.

The specific content of the FutureMissionary.com website is addressed in the articles listed below

Letter to a CES Director (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/a-letter-to-a-ces-director/) The FutureMissionary website posts a letter which is popular among ex-Mormons called "A Letter to a CES Director: Why I Lost My Testimony" The letter lists all of the popular criticisms of the Church. It is what is referred to in ex-Mormon circles as an "exit story." The FutureMissionary site authors claim that this letter will help prepare missionaries for questions and challenges, but because the authors offer no answer or fuller explanation whatsoever for the letter's arguments, posting the letter seems intended to shake readers' faith.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "10 Things every Pre-missionary Should Know"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/10-things-every-pre-missionary-should-know/) This FutureMissionary article concludes, among other things, that you should not "spread lies, even if they serve a higher purpose," that your girlfriend will probably not wait for you, but not to worry since "you’ll get to come home and marry a girl waiting for her missionary," and that "You’ll probably have a gay companion." This last point is illustrated by a photo of two male missionaries holding hands. The authors imply that most missionaries, in the course of proselyting as trained, will "spread lies," but the authors' evidence for that assertion is weak and one-sided.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "Black Mormons"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-do-mormons-believe/black-mormons) This FutureMissionary article expends a lot of effort inferring that the Church opposes interracial marriage by presenting quotes from Church leaders in the late 1800's and 1950's which forbade it. This quote-mining of non-doctrinal sources is a common anti-Mormon tactic. Then, even after briefly noting that interracial marriages are performed in the temple today, the site only speculates that this prohibition "no longer applies." The authors betray no understanding of recent statements from LDS leaders which are perfectly clear that racism is repugnant and unworthy.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "The Prophet Joseph Smith"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-do-mormons-believe/the-prophet-joseph-smith/) This FutureMissionary article lists several issues related to Joseph Smith. The responses are generally correct, although very simplified and presented so as to generate negative emotional responses instead of further historical study. The page states that Joseph was a Freemason, that he practiced polygamy, that he used a seer stone to translate the Book of Mormon, and that he didn't kill anyone at Carthage Jail.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "The Book of Abraham"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-do-mormons-believe/the-book-of-abraham/) This FutureMissionary page misrepresents the position of LDS Egyptologist John Gee by claiming that he is "the only LDS Egyptologist who confirms Joseph Smith’s translation" of the papyrus. The reality is that Dr. Gee, as well as every other LDS and non-LDS Egyptologist that has examined the surviving fragments of the Joseph Smith papyrus, agrees that those particular fragments record a funerary document and they do not contain the text of the Book of Abraham. In fact, the Church acknowledged this in its January 1968 edition of the official Church magazine, the Improvement Era. By misrepresenting Dr. Gee's position, the site's authors betray either a dishonest attempt to discredit the Book of Abraham, or else a total lack of understanding of the relevant history of the book and its translation.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "Polygamy & Polyandry"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-do-mormons-believe/polygamy-polyandry/) This FutureMissionary page claims that "Heber C. Kimball, Brigham Young, and other prominent LDS leaders shared their wives with other men." There is no evidence to support this claim.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "Mormon Beliefs & Science"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-do-mormons-believe/mormon-beliefs-science/) This FutureMissionary page strives to prove that Latter-day saints must hold to fundamentalist beliefs that conflict with science. Their arguments are extremely misleading.

A FAIR Analysis of FutureMissionary page "What if You Were an Investigator"

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/what-if-you-were-an-investigator/) This FutureMissionary page concludes that missionaries should simply "be honest" with their investigators by knowing and answering any question having to do with Church history. However, in order to be "honest," the prospective missionary would have to be familiar with every single potentially controversial issue related to Church history. The author recommends an answer to investigators such as "Yes, there have been a lot of horrible atrocities committed by members of my faith, even leaders, and there is no excuse for that."

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

Summary: ( http://futuremissionary.com/no-investigators-no-dinner/) This FutureMissionary article states that there is a "No investigators, no dinner" policy, and that this "rule" can jeopardize a missionary's health. There is no such policy, and there is no requirement for a missionary to risk their health. We do agree with part of the author's conclusion that states that "If your mission is one that skips dinner, be sure to keep a close eye on your physical as well as mental wellness."