A Vast, Untapped Potential?
By Rory on Oct 25, 2006
Our missionary program is a machine – it churns out thousands of young men and women each year (along with a smattering of retired individuals and couples) eager to venture forth and proclaim the gospel. I served, and although I have never used the term “best two years” when referring to it, I do consider it to be an important time in my life and instrumental in my growth and maturity.
That said, at this point in my life (some 30 years away from retirement) I have no desire to serve again. Zero. None. Nada.
But what if there was another option?
What percentage of young people serve a mission? Has that ratio gone down due to the “Raising the Bar”? I don’t have numbers (anyone?), but of those who either do not want to serve a proselyting mission or of those who do not qualify, why not have a Service Mission option?
A service mission could be a flexible commitment and offer areas of special focus – foreign language, medical and healthcare service, engineering, teaching, conservation, research, etc. It would be a program designed to challenge young people, encourage them to sacrifice for others, show them the world, and make a difference. It’d be the Gospel in Action. Only requirement – you must study the gospel, but not proselyte. You are here to learn and serve, to study the words and life of Christ and make them manifest in your own. It could even have a motto:
We don’t knock down doors, we build bridges.
Yes, there is always the Peace Corps. But why not institutionalize a service-oriented mindset and ingrain it in our own culture? I’m not talking about the Elder’s Quorum Heavy Lifting Brigade or the “I’ll cook you a meal” service, I’m talking about down and dirty, real sacrifice service. Christlike service.
Consider that we have a vast, untapped resource of experience in the Church. The leadership in these Service missions would come from our retired members – retired doctors, nurses, dentists, corporate leaders, engineers, teachers, you name it. They sign on for longer stints and have the opportunity to lead younger service missionaries in making a difference.
Imagine the conversation in a Bishop’s office:
Bishop: Are you ready to serve a mission?
Young Person: I don’t think so, it’s not really something I want to do.
B: What are your plans?
YP: I’m going to apply to college; I think I want to be an engineer.
B: Have you thought about a Service Mission? You could help build wells and infrastructure in third world countries, learn about the career and work from an experienced engineer. It’d look great on a college application, and you could elect to serve for anywhere from 6 to 24 months…
Or…
YP: I think I want to go into healthcare…
B: You could work with immunization programs, work in clinics, or help educate people about sanitation and…
Or…
YP: I really want to become a biologist…
B: You might be interested in serving in one of our research and environmental missions – you might be working in a conservation program, or teaching about agriculture and sustainable practices…
Or even…
YP: I really don’t know what I want to do.
B: How about a general service mission? You could spend a few months in each of the different areas, getting to know the work and find your interest. Who knows what you might find to be your passion? In the mean time, you would be busy helping and serving people, and learning valuable lessons.
There would certainly be challenges in implementing such a program, but we have the organizational history to do it. We have the people capable of filling the positions and making a very really difference.
What would be the drawbacks? Is our millennial outlook too focused on conversion numbers NOW to be able to allow for long-term seeds planted through such service? Would you be interested in a mission dedicated solely to service?
I’ve thought about the prospect of Service Missions, and I really think it would be a wonderful program. I wouldn’t be at all surprise if the Church institutes such a program some time in the future.
I know a number of people who have traveled to China as volunteers to teach English, for periods ranging from a few months to a year. I’ve thought, why doesn’t the Church send service missionaries to do the same thing? I think we do send some on service missions, mostly elderly couples, but why not get young singles, or even young marrieds, involved? I think it would be wonderful to spend a summer with my wife doing some kind of service abroad on behalf of the Church.
I think such a program would do a lot for goodwill, it would probably get more people serving who wouldn’t have served a traditional proselyting mission, and it would help us fulfill our Christian mission.
Comment # 1 by Steve M. | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
The “Raising the Bar” issue would still arise with service missions, if they were expanded in the way you suggest. The new missionary standards are not just about worthiness. They are also about weight. Yes, I ‘ve heard the outright denials that there are any height/weight requirements. I served as a stake executive secretary, however, and the stake president had an actual chart, provided to him by church headquarters, which showed the limits. Exceptions to those limits were on a case-by-case basis, but had to be justified by factors such as VERY serious athletic involvement, etc.
This has nothing to do with worthiness or ability to serve. It has everything to do with IMAGE, and public relations. When the church made the most recent Joseph Smith movie, they conveniently saw to it that overweight volunteer extras were cast as the “bad guys” (yes, I’m one of the Missouri mobbers). Not one overweight person was cast as one of the Mormons, despite the fact that Willard Richards weighed about 400 pounds during the era being portrayed. Someone in SLC has decided that “fat = bad public image,” and it is showing up in a variety of circumstances.
The result? I know of one young man, the son of a recent/former stake president, who is a real gem. He shows kindness and compassion to those around him. He lives the standards of the church. He has been denied the opportunity to go on a mission, however, because he is overweight, and has not succeeded in rapidly dropping enough pounds. He not only misses that opportunity to serve and grow, but his church record now portrays him as one of those “unfaithful” men who never answered the call to serve. There is still a social stigma in the church toward those men who do not serve missions, and it’s not likely to change any time soon.
I actually had some experience with this. Despite the fact that I served an honorable mission, a whole chain of ward clerks neglected (despite several reminders) to record that fact on my church membership record. Therefore, each time I entered a new ward, the record portrayed me as a man who had been a member since the age of 13, but had not bothered to serve a mission. It was finally corrected after one bishop made a rather blunt statement about me “not having served,” which demonstrated his consequent judgment.
I don’t have to be a prophet to predict that many young men will go inactive in the church because they were denied the opportunity to serve missions–through no current worthiness issue–and felt the resulting sting of disapproval.
Comment # 2 by Nick Literski | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
Steve M:
Short term stints are actually a great idea. A summer spent on sabbatical serving on a specific project, or even a few weeks in a relatively close area. Another organization that does this is Global Volunteers.
Nick:
Whoa - I must be way out of the loop, because this is the first I have heard of any weight guidelines. Is it really a deal breaker? Are they based on BMI? Is it different for Elders/Sisters? I’d chalk this up to legend, but I’ve known you long enough not to dismiss it. Any details?
Comment # 3 by Rory | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
Rory,
It’s not legend. I saw the chart, though I didn’t get a chance to examine it in great detail. I also saw and heard the stake president explain to the presidency that he had strict instruction that the chart NOT to be shared outside stake presidents and bishops (in other words, the persons responsible for interviewing and submitting papers). It was a chart based on height vs. weight, though that naturally takes BMI into consideration, doesn’t it? I honestly don’t recall whether it was different for males vs. females. This was all phrased in the sense of being able to handle the “physical demands” of a mission.
The training emphasis connected with this was that bishops should be working with the young men in their wards, and if a young man was getting overweight, he should be encouraged to lose weight so that he could be “prepared to serve” when the time came for his mission. The sad part, of course, was that this came with no warning to young men who were already close to mission age when the “guidelines” came out. As with any of the other “Raising the Bar” issues, any exceptions have to be specifically argued by the stake president, and waivers are not handed out lightly.
As for the corrollary example I gave regarding the Joseph Smith movie, they filmed a good portion of it in Illinois, where I was living at the time. They recruited local extras. In fact, they recruited a non-LDS group of period re-enactors to add to the Missouri mobbers, and specifically encouraged them to bring their tobacco, if they used it (’cause you know, if they chewed on screen, you’d KNOW they were the bad guys)! All of the Missouri mob scenes were filmed near New Salem, Illinois, and we “fat guys” were perfectly welcome to play the “bad guys.” Then the crew came to Nauvoo to film scenes which involved more of the early Mormons. The casting recruiters openly stated that they only had costumes up to size 14 for women, and that they could not use overweight men. (Interestingly, nearly all the local girls and women who were hired as extras had long, blonde hair.) They made some weak comment about how people weren’t overweight in the subject time period, but as I said, Willard Richards was about 400 pounds in the Nauvoo era.
I appreciate that last comment of yours, Rory. I really do try not to go off half-cocked.
Comment # 4 by Nick Literski | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
The weight restriction is a surprise to me too. Is this some kind of new restriction? There were a couple of Elders in my mission pushing 300, and in Taiwan, 300 looks like 400.
I’d describe my mission the same way Rory described his — don’t regret a thing, but wouldn’t do it again. Actually, I have a recurring dream (nightmare?) that I have been called on a second mission and can’t get out of it. The details are hazy, but the feelings (dread, anxiety, doom) are the same… I think, “but I’ve got my job, my wife and kids… I can’t do this!” which is overcome by some invisible force or expectation that I can’t not do it. Strange.
Love the service mission idea and have thought about it a lot. Wish our current two-year missions could be divided in two, one year proselyting, one year servicing. Considering the talent, dedication, numbers, $$$, of the members of the Church, such a project really could move mountains. However, we seem to have our attention and resources fully engaged in a war against “the adversary” (sin in the form of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, gambling, pornography, drinking/drugs, and other “last days” evils). I’m not suggesting one or two of those aren’t worth fighting, but oh that we could turn our attention and resources into fighting the adversary in the form of poverty, third-world and inner city education, disease, civil rights, child welfare, and so on…
How many converts would we win if such were our focus?
Comment # 5 by Matt Thurston | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
Matt,
The weight restriction is “new” in the sense that it went in at the same time they “rose the bar,” which is what, two years ago now? Maybe three?
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of which “adversaries” the church seems intent on fighting. When the First Presidency had their anti-marriage-equality letter read over pulpits two weeks in a row, that was unprecedented, so far as I know. One of my first thoughts was how nice it would be if they found poverty, abuse, etc. important enough to send doubled calls to action.
As an interesting aside, some of these “service missions” have unfortunate side effects. There are some administrators in the church (such as the temple president in Nauvoo) who believe that “missionaries” and “volunteers” should replace church employees so far as possible. This saves the church money, but it also results in unemployment for people who are trying to raise families.
Comment # 6 by Nick Literski | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
I wonder what my recent dream about my local stake president means, in the terms of the weight issue you folks (Matt, Nick and Rory) are discussing?
This local SP had originally approached me almost two years ago at a public performance of the Messiah, where his wife was the orchestra’s concert master. My wife and I were there as previous guest soloists. The SP, knowing I had been excommunicated years earlier in another stake, came over to where we were seated and invited me to talk if I so chose.
Thus began a spirited dialogue plus email exchanges-until he recently threw up his hands and refused to write to me any more. He was not used to being challenged, but I was troubled by this sudden abandonment by what I’d thought was a good faith exchange.
Then, as usually happens when I’m faced with a situation I can’t figure out consciously, I had this dream, where my wife and I were to meet with the SP and his wife at a restaurant. We arrive before they and are shown to a pre-arranged table, which I am informed has been set up for disciplinary purposes. When the SP arrives with his wife, I see that she is OBESE (who looks nothing like his Concert Master wife). The dream continues and I deal with it in other standard ways that I’ve learned over the years.
But there is a message in this dream that I am not getting. Somehow there is something about overweight that purvades our culture and society at subterranean levels. I am plagued by this personally, as is much of my active LDS family. What do you suppose it could symbolize? Any ideas?
ENK
Comment # 7 by Zhenya/Eugene | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
Fun stuff to think about, Rory. Thanks!
FWIW, our SP had a young man in our ward lose fifty pounds before he let him put in his mission papers, but he also had another one save $1000 before he’d let him serve, as well. I figured he was just being uber-enthused about the bar-raising stuff. No idea there might be a chart, etc. Interesting!
ENK, sorry no idea what the obesity of the person in your dream could mean. I’ve always liked to think of my own heft as my just having a spirit so large that it was constantly urging me to eat enough M&Ms so it could fit in my body a bit more comfortably…. Think my rationalization machine is working a bit overtime?
Comment # 8 by Dan | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
I’m not sure what strategy the Church will employ that might suscessfully overecome the “Mormons aren’t Christians” tag. But I have sometimes thought that it will require reducing, if not eliminating, the proselytizing of people who are members of Christian Churches. The alternative may very well be service based mission, which still would maintain the “education” componet designed to ground young men and women as faithful members.
Comment # 9 by Parker | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
I get really, really sad when I think of all the actual work 50,000 young people could be doing instead of going door to door telling everyone that they’re unhappy for being in the wrong church. Since my mission, I’ve had a few great oportunities to do service and I’d take that over prosyltizing any day. I also think that we’d get stronger converts if people saw those shirts, nametags and ties out there practicing “true religion” instead of preaching.
My wife and I are returned missionaries, and we’re both greatful for our experience. But I don’t want my own kids to go on that kind of mission. I want them to serve. I pray that the church will have an expanded program for service missions by then. If not, I’ll encourage my own kids to go a different route.
just my $0.02
Comment # 10 by Rick | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
also, the weight thing. When I was a missionary one of our elders got sent home for weighing too much. We couldn’t believe it. I’m already a pretty heavy guy…….and i’ll admit that on a few frustrating days I’d stop by the all-you-can-eat chinese buffet to try to “eat myself home.”
Comment # 11 by Rick | Oct 25, 2006 | Reply
Dan and Rick,
There is surely a silent message in the heaft, isn’t there?. I sincerely believe we need to find it. Dan, I know you well enough by now to sense that in your case this is not an unconscious case of “inflation”, as I believe it might be in the case of my own inner SP’s wife–his emotional side??
When and if we can solve the inner truth of this societal and cultural issue, we will have made a HUGE (no pun intended) step in becoming free to be our true selves, living transparent lives and coming to true (versus pseudo, per Scott Peck) community.
ENK
Comment # 12 by Zhenya/Eugene | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
Rick,
You said,
“If not, I’ll encourage my own kids to go a different route.”
What would you encourage your kids to do? College? Or is there some other service oriented opportunities that you would encourage them to consider?
Comment # 13 by McKay Curtis | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
From this September’s New Era (p. 33): “Just before his 19th birthday, Neil, then weighing about 400 pounds, learned he’d have to lose more than 120 pounds to drop to the recommended maximum weight for a missionary his height.” This isn’t being kept secret.
Comment # 14 by John Mansfield | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
I have a friend who was too big to go on a mission. So instead, she went to a little Alaskan village to teach school. She’s very good and makes a difference.
Plus - she gets paid!
Comment # 15 by Stephen Carter | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
John M:
Thanks for the reference, it makes sense that it couldn’t be a secret if there are specific standards to be met. I just had never heard of this, and it surprised me.
I guess it’s been a while since I cracked open a New Era.
Comment # 16 by Rory | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
Let me guess, John. I’m betting the article went on to say that this young man had such a fervent desire to serve deity, that he went right to work, and lost even MORE than the 120 pounds required of him, and now he’s a super-missionary example of righteous devotion.
The underlying message, of course, would be that if you can’t seem to drop the weight, then you’re just not valiant enough. After all, didn’t they recently canonize that 11th commandment, “Thou shalt adhere to the weight standards admired by American society at your given time period”?
Comment # 17 by Nick Literski | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
Zhenya.
Huh?
Comment # 18 by rick jepson | Oct 26, 2006 | Reply
I don’t mean to de-rail the topic too much but my Catholic friend was talking to me today about various Mormon topics, Word of Wisdom, BYU, missionaries, etc. We specifically discussed the irony that we are told to not partake in a number of substances in order to keep our body clean and holy yet it seems just as bad if not worse to become grossly overweight. I’m not talking about everyone being super skinny, I’m just referring to being healthy.
Anyway, I love the idea of a service mission. Doing service work is to me the best way to set a Christ-like example and people are a lot more likely to listen to a “message” after you have fed them, etc.
Comment # 19 by Denae | Oct 27, 2006 | Reply
Denae,
There are many ironies in our adherance to the W.o.W. But equally ironic is the ridiculous notion that skinny means healthy. The world is full of unhealthy skinny people. I’ll never have a six pack: even at my very best i’ve got a ponch. But a LOT of people with a lower BMI than mine cant follow me up a mountain and sure cant hang with me on a mat.
And Zhenya, not sure why you’re comfortable psychoanalyzing me since we’ve never met. That’s quite a liberty to take. Anyway, drop me a line if you ever want to wrestle.
Comment # 20 by Rick Jepson | Oct 29, 2006 | Reply
McKay,
I don’t know what to suggest to my kids. If they want to prosyltize, they’re certainly welcome to. But I think there are better ways to help the world and better ways to grow up. There was another thread a little while ago about mormon moratoriums and this got explored a little. I happened to find myself on my mission, and so cherish the whole experience. But I think there are other ways to do it.
Comment # 21 by Rick Jepson | Oct 29, 2006 | Reply
Rick, re #18.
Obesity. What is it? Why is it? Maybe it can become a matter to be addressed sympathetically and lovingly, rather than as something to be embarrassed about or condemned. The Church missionary program has made it a disqualifying and often heartless issue, as discussed above.
Perhaps it is like a reoccuring dream that keeps coming up until one gets the message? Is it anything specific? Is is culturally connected? I don’t think it’s simply a lack of discipline or willpower. Or is every case unique?
I have a lot of active Mormon relatives that suffer with this condition. I think it is cultural issue, but I can’t figure it out. These relatives are are typically hard to talk to, because they are ashamed or embarrassed and go through meaningless motions to appologize for their condition. There are so many in the Church, as well as the society at large. They are another example of a vast, untapped potential.
Comment # 22 by Zhenya | Oct 29, 2006 | Reply
I’ll take a stab at the meaning of the dream, E, intuitively and then with a dose of reasoning stirred in for good measure. Consider the following… She was overweight in the dream (in noted contrast to her actual physical appearance) in order to provide a message to you that she was the one uncomfortable with her husband’s communications with you and was the influence whereby all communication stopped. Obesity is sometimes a way we protect ourselves and comfort ourselves, from that which we fear addressing. It can be one way of hiding and escaping. Her fear of her husband communicating at great length with you would not be known to you, unless it were “revealed?” A good husband may be the head, but a good wife, as the neck, knows which way to make him turn. Just a thought.
Comment # 23 by Saijin | Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
Again, I’m always stunned by people’s eagerness to psychoanalyze. Particularly when its (I assume) without credentials and its on an online forum with strangers.
What I’ve been trying to hint at in my last few posts….aparently not strongly enough…..is that a guy like me with a few extra pounds really, really, really isn’t interested in a bunch of people “taking a stab” at why he’s fat. In fact, it basically makes me want to take it to the mattress.
So. Maybe let’s get back to the subject of this thread.
: )
Comment # 24 by Rick Jepson | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
Saijin: Again, your insight into my dreams ring true. Thank you.
Rick: And thank you for breaking what appears to be an embarrassed silence from our Sunstone Blog audience by candidly expressing your feelings. Is your “mattress” for sleep or for wrestling? Either way, I’m pleased to address your concern for “credentials”.
First, about the subject of this thread, surely we are on to something really, really, really important!. We are considering a much more vast untapped potential not only of missed missionary opportunities for true service rather than the thin soup of proselyting, but of the untapped potential of our collective cultural interior–our feelings and our dreams, and our collective fear of expressing ourselves to each other, even if we are strangers. The fastest way I know to build true community is to share our dreams with each other. I know what I’m talking about.
Second, allow me to inform you that Saijin was an important helper in a company I was building over 14 years ago in Ventura, California, having to do with practical applications of dream work in business and industry, as well as in personal life. Until three weeks ago I had not had any contact with her since those exciting Ventura days. Then, out of the blue, she chased me down through my web site to tell me an interpretation of a dream I had been struggling to process for more than 40 years! Of all the dreams she could have chosen in looking at my “Memorable Dreams” URL section, she chose the one that was most important to me. After having been impressed to focus on that dream, she had awakened the next morning with an interpretation in her mind. So confident was she in its meaning that she had to contact me. That was amazing to me all by itself, but her interpretation rang so true in me that I, myself, was “stunned”. Furthermore, Saijin’s insight was identical to my wife’s, who had not bothered to tell me her own view when I shared it with her many years ago, because she thought it was so “obvious”. Well, it was not so obvious to me, until she (Saijiln) felt compelled to express it to me. Saijin knew from our having worked together, that I was perfectly capable of standing my own ground if her take didn’t ring true to me. She also knew (being familiar with my well-tested dream work process) that I discouraged interpreting the dreams of others. (My process looks at the dynamics of dreams, rather than their interpretation.)
Third, as far as my most recent dream that Saijin has “taken a stab at”, it was most appropriate. So appropriate. in fact, that I’m going to put down here for your inspection, should you be inclined to give it attention. I call it “The Church of the Holy Restaurant”. Note that the raw dream is given in regular type while the reworked part is in itallics.
The Church of the Holy Restaurant, (Reworked elements in itallics)
With Birgitta at a local restaurant waiting for Russ P [local SP] and his wife. We are seated at a small round table with white table cloth set in a certain way. I’m informed that sometimes the setting is configured to indicate a disciplinary purpose. I ask if our table is so configured and am told that it is.
I ask that we be relocated to a table setting with a regular setting. Birgitta and I are led to another table nearby, which has such a regular setting.
Soon Russ and wife (who is obese UNLIKE his external wife) come in. I stand and cordially greet them both with a hand shake. Russ sits to my right, Birgitta is on my left, and Russ’s wife sits across from me next to Birgitta. The two women are acquainted and greet each other with affection. I am pleased with their connection.
[Before their arrival we become aware that our young daughter is at their home, which we had not known about. Apparently she is being kept there in secret, but has made a clandestine telephone call to us and keeps us on the line while she is required to do something. Soon we hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner. After a while we hear beautiful mature piano playing. This is followed by more elementary playing of the same theme. Apparently it is our daughter signaling us. Birgitta and I wait for the right moment to discuss why our daughter is in their home.]
Russ seems puzzled by the relocation and setting of the table. I tell him that I had the original table changed, along with its disciplinary setting configuration. He says nothing, but seems to understand my having redirected the prior arrangement and accepts the unexpected change.
After the usual opening pleasantries, I say:
“Russ, just so there is no misunderstanding, I learned that our original table had been “set up” in a certain way that seemed strange and inappropriate. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
Russ nods. His wife does not seem to know what we are talking about and turns to Birgitta to engage in a separate conversation.
I continue, “Where shall we begin our conversation? I assume we have an agenda. I sent you a letter recently in response to your last letter to me with some suggestions of topics. Do you agree with those topics or do you have a list of your own?”
Russ answers, “Eugene, I think the list you sent is much too intense and confrontational and I don’t want our discussion tonight to be unpleasant.”
“I agree with that wholeheartedly, Russ, so what are your suggestions for modifying or adding to what I sent to you?”
Russ says, “Perhaps we can begin with the last topic you offered, which is Birgitta’s recent reconciliation in Ogden?”
I say, “Excellent idea! That may very well cover all the bases and eliminate the need to discuss the other items. Let’s see how this plays out. Birgitta, tell our guests about what happened after we had had dinner with my friends Don and Mae, who drove down from Logan to meet us half way from Salt Lake.”
Birgitta proceeds to relay her experience with having called her first husband MF (a Jew) prior to our arrival in Ogden and their agreeing to meet to resolve long standing family matters of over 40 years..
After dinner, we are traveling together to another place, apparently to talk with more privacy. Then Russ notices that I do not have my briefcase. I become alarmed, realizing I’ve left it at the restaurant. He and I immediately begin racing back to the restaurant, hoping that we will find the briefcase in tact
Arriving at the restaurant, we find my briefcase at the Maitre de’s desk. All is in order. I express my relief and thanks to Russ for his observant eye. We return to our wives to bring closure to our evening, since Birgitta’s story has brought new insight and purpose to this first dinner meeting.
Birgitta and I follow Russ and wife to his home in our respective vehicles to pick up our daughter. It seems understood that she will not come back here, but I want to make it explicit and say:
“Russ, I don’t think I need to say that our daughter won’t be back here, do I?”
“It won’t be necessary, Eugene. I think the matter is closed.”
“I do hope so.” We shake hands all around. Birgitta and I put our daughter in our car to return home as our daughter falls fast asleep in the back seat.
Comment # 25 by Eugene | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
Eugene: no offense intended. Sorry if it was given. When it’s my own obesity (which seems to be overstated in this thread), I’m gonna get a little defensive. : )
Anyway, I get overly candid and don’t mean to. I’ve done it a lot on this blog before..
Also, “take it to the mattress” is a Godfather term.
Comment # 26 by Rick Jepson | Nov 4, 2006 | Reply
Sorry Nick and company, but I bet this is a very practical consideration and has nothing to do with PR or image. Being extremely overweight affects general health, ability to walk in rough terrain, ability to bike all day, and in some cases your ability to get an airline ticket. There are many people who are worthy to serve who can’t do so for other reasons related to their ability to serve effectively under stressful physical conditions. This is just one of those IMO.
Comment # 27 by Ted | Sep 30, 2007 | Reply