"Mormon Student"

[Fred Gedicks]

It's been literally years since I posted on this site, but I am a regular lurker.

I'm not sure that "choice" really solves anything, but FWIW, here is my answer to Paul's question, as an active (if slightly heterodox) Mormon.  And like a lot of religious or theological questions, the answer is complicated, so I hope this is not too long.

Formally, a mission is optional.  There is no LDS church doctrine or policy which prevents a young man from full participation in all the ordinances of the church if he fails to serve a mission.  I know a number of older men who did not serve missions when they were young who are fully engaged in church leadership positions.  (As some of you may know, Mormons have a lay priesthood.)

Informally, however, there are powerful influences that make serving a mission at age 19 culturally or socially, if not theologically, mandatory for young men.  (For women, a mission is truly optional--i.e., formally and informally.  Don't make me explain why.)  The entire youth program of the church is focused on getting young men to serve missions at 19.  Church leaders talk about it incessantly.  If you choose not to go, a variety of informal social/cultural penalties are triggered.  All your  church buddies disappear on their own missions.  People (including your parents) wonder why you're not going, whispers of "worthiness" or "testimony problems" circulate in the hallway.  Active Mormon women won't date you, or won't date you seriously.  In youth congregations you won't be considered for the more responsible callings.  You're viewed as spiritually "less than."

It is possible to serve a mission at a later age--my recollection is that young men remain generally eligible until age 25, and occasional dispensations are made for those in their late 20s.  The experience of the church, however, is that those who don't serve at 19 get caught up by life--school, work, women, marriage, etc.--and rarely serve at a later date.  Hence the focus on 19.

Of course, once you get married and settle into a Mormon ward, no one is going to be asking you on a regular basis, if at all, if you served a mission.  In fact, some folks believe it's a little impolite to ask, unless you know the person well (which, I suppose, is evidence of the informal belief that good Mormons serve a mission).

The bottom line is that there is no doubt among active Mormons--really, none--that if one's aspiration is to be a fully active, believing Mormon male who faithfullly lives the principles of the church, then you serve a mission, and you serve it when you're 19.

To reiterate a point that someone else suggested, I have little confidence that a court gathering evidence and trying to make a finding on this point would get it right.

Fred

Frederick Mark Gedicks
Guy Anderson Chair & Professor of Law
Brigham Young University Law School
504 JRCB
Provo, UT 84602-8000
(801) 422-4533
(801) 422-0391(fax)
gedicksf at lawgate.byu.edu