The Eternal Perspective

Short story made long, I left the LDS church and I’ve never been happier about my personal belief system.  I stated this fact when visiting with some friends in September 2018. I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody personally or in the church's upcoming general conference brought up this idea, and the “fact” that I had simply lost my eternal perspective.  Well sure enough in the October 2018 general conference it happened. I have provided a link to the talk Taking Upon Ourselves The Name of Jesus Christ by Elder Robert C. Gay.  At the time of the talk Robert was a member of a presidency within the LDS church leadership.    

You may be asking yourself what I was doing listening to conference talks if I’m not LDS.  First reason, my wife is still LDS, and she listens to the talks. If I want her to listen to stuff I read then I need to listen to what she hears from her church.  This also helps me be able to know what kind of silliness they share. Don’t get me wrong, they do share some great things, but other ideas they spread are just terrible.  I also want to know how to combat the silliness of the ideas presented by religion.

            In his talk Elder Gay shared bits of a conversation between himself and another member of the church.  He said “At a meeting I attended one Sunday, a young woman asked something like the following: “My boyfriend and I recently broke up, and he chose to leave the Church. He tells me he has never been happier. How can this be?”  

The Savior answered this question when He said to the Nephites, “But if [your life is] not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you [you will] have joy in [your] works for a season, and by and by the end cometh.”  There simply is no enduring joy outside the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

His answer is that you cannot have enduring joy outside living as a  Christian, specifically the Mormon flavor of Christian Kool-Aid. Later in the talk he said that after that meeting he wondered, instead of what would Jesus do, what would Jesus say?  The words that Jesus may say could be great. They could provide real and actual comfort. In this case he said Jesus would have said “Do you trust me?”, and later that one must act in ways that they do not want to act.

In November of 2018 the president of the corporation, Russell M. Nelson, said to members of his church in Texas “But the Lord has promised strength for those who remain faithful despite their weaknesses.  That eternal perspective makes a huge difference in our comprehension of things that don’t seem fair in this life”.   He then said “...if we truly understand who we are and why we are here, we can face the future with faith in God and his eternal plan of happiness. Our understanding is broadened when we realize there truly will be another life after death.”  

To me it is very apparent that the eternal perspective that both Nelson and Gay would like us to understand is what is known to the LDS church as The Plan of Happiness.  For those of you that don’t know it, I’ll break it down as simply as I can. For full comprehension you can read section 76 of the D&C, Gospel Principles, The Pearl of Great Price, and numerous other books of study.  I spent the entirety of my teenage life studying this.  I spent as much time studying gospel topics as time spent with my friends.  I drank, ate, slept, and taught this as a missionary for the church. This is something I understand well.

The plan of happiness entails a pre-earth existence, life on earth, and a post earth existence.  In the first existence we did not have a fleshy body, but lived as a spirit. We, the spirit children of God, were presented two plans, one was Lucifer's (the devil) plan, the other was God’s plan. Those that would not accept God’s plan over Lucifer’s plan were kicked out of this heavenly realm. They were not allowed to be born as a human being.   However, as is evident in the bible, those spirits or ghosts were allowed to overtake human beings. This is known as possession.

Next, while we live here on the earth we are tested to see if we will follow the commandments given by God.  There’s a lot more that could be said, but like I said, this is a brief description. Next on the path is death, which is followed by the spirit world, split into paradise and prison.  Paradise for those that were baptized by authority and lived as close to a Christian life as expected, and prison for those that rebelled. Then comes the final judgement. There’s more to it, but again, trying to keep it simple.  

Final judgement determines where you will spend your life.  The judgement is detailed in D&C Sections 76 and 84. Here is the breakdown.  From greatest to lowest, the final destinations are Celestial Glory, Terrestrial Glory, Telestial Glory, and Outer Darkness. Each place has its own requirements for placement.  It’s a little like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter. You get placed where you deserve, but your desire is taken into consideration (in a roundabout way).

Those that in the pre earth life didn’t accept God’s plan are placed in Outer Darkness along with those that accepted Jesus on Earth and then rejected him.  It’s more complicated than that, but again, keeping it simple.

The Telestial world contains the bad humans, rapists, whore mongers, people that just refused to repent of their sins.  

In the Terrestrial world you will find the good people of the earth, but they weren’t quite fully valiant in their testimony of Jesus or never accepted Jesus while on the earth.  

In the Celestial world you will find all those that fully accepted Jesus, while they lived on the earth as a human (there’s a lot to this), and repented of their sins.  The reward for being saved into the Celestial Kingdom (known as Exaltation) is that you will be able to become like God, have your own creations as he does, be immortal and live forever as a deity.  The inhabitants of the Terrestrial and Telestial Kingdoms will be immortal, but will not be able to become like God (not exalted). All kingdoms are a degree of the glory of God. Then there is Outer Darkness.  It won't have any sort of glory. It is a place of fire and brimstone, of weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and eternal punishment.

That is a basic summary of the Plan of Happiness.  While other forms of Christianity are not as detailed they all have that same basic concept.  God created us, created a plan for us, and will save us or let us be punished according to our acceptance of his plan.  This is the Eternal Perspective.

So, how do I respond to being told that my comprehension of happiness is wrong because I’ve lost sight of the eternal perspective of God’s plan for me?  I say please tell me about this perspective. What have I missed? What information have I lost. I still fully comprehend that perspective, but I also now see more of it than I have ever seen.  Here is the perspective that Gay and Nelson have not seen. If they have, and they agree with it, then I feel sorry for them, and those that promote it.

In the Atheist community there is always talk about slavery in the Old Testament.  I have reviewed that in other posts I’ve written, so I will not go over it fully again in this one.  Just know that God commanded his people to have slaves, sell their daughters as slaves, force the slaves to engage in marriage with you, have sex slaves, and that it was OK to beat a slave so badly that the human being died, so long as they didn’t die the same day as the beating.  Jesus, in his fulfillment of the Old Covenant, did nothing to put an end to this atrocious moral act. However, the response from nearly all Christians is that God’s laws for different people in different times must be different, and for those specific people.

I don’t agree with that, but for the sake of discussion, I’ll concede that point.  I will let you have that point. Keep it and believe it. Now, listen to what I have to say.  The deity that you worship didn’t just tell his chosen people of old how to enslave people. He plans on enslaving the vast majority of his children, forcing them to live in the manner he wants them to live.  Don’t believe me? Well, then let's turn to your scriptures.

First turn to D&C section 76, verses 81-113.  These are the people that are thrust down to hell, yet are in the Telestial Glory of God.  Why are they thrust down to hell? Well, as explained in Alma 45:16 “for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.”  A person who’s only two sins are that they stole some money from their sister when they were young and didn’t find the evidence or feelings about Mormonism compelling enough to act on them, and never accept Jesus as their savior, will be thrust down to hell.  Once judged to be in the Telestial kingdom those people will be his slaves. What did I say? Yes, I said they will be his slaves. In section 76:110-112 you can read “And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;  For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared; And they shall be servants of the Most High;...”

God will A) force them to bow before him.  No choice, they will be forced. Think Voldemort forcing Harry to bow before the duel in Book 4.  God will then B) make them his servants. What is servitude? Well, while it may not be slavery, in this case it is scripture.  Servitude in a scriptural sense is slavery.  Think about it. Since God only let them suffer for 1,000 years a terrible suffering, which I have described elsewhere (see this post, the last point of the post) they will gladly choose to serve him over the suffering.  But the suffering is only planned for 1000 years. So maybe they will chose servitude because God didn’t make the suffering longer? They love God for not saving them from their sins? 
Why would one choose to serve, as a slave, a deity that forced so much pain upon them? If you don’t choose to be a servant then it is slavery. If it's not slavery it's the largest case of Stockholm Syndrome that has ever existed. You will become so enamored with your torturer that you decide to serve them the rest of your life? The only realistic way this happens is slavery or Stockholm Syndrome.  

You see how bad it is? They don’t really have a choice.  They will have to chose to be his servants as they will not have any other choice.  Oh, you say they had their choice on the earth, and that is what they chose, so it isn’t slavery.  Oh, wait, that’s not a choice. If you can’t choose between two options it’s not a choice. Oh, but this is the time for men to prepare to meet God.  It doesn’t matter when your choice is taken away from you. If it’s taken away, it’s been taken away. Once you’ve lost your freedom to choose, and God will see to that, it is no longer a choice.  

God is so tyrannical that the people in this world will “chose” to allow him to force them to do his bidding.  And then there are the ministering angels. There are angels that are appointed to minister to these people. It’s their job to minister to God’s slaves.  How would that job be?

“Hi, I’m Dave.  I’m a slave to God.  What do I do? I minister to his slaves.  I’ve been appointed to this, and will always do this. Why?  Well, it’s because I wasn’t valiant in my testimony of Jesus.  I was a good person, I just wasn’t valiant enough. I never killed anybody.  I didn’t cheat people. I just didn’t accept Jesus until after I died. And even then it was begrudgingly, but I accepted him. So, now I’m in the Terrestrial Kingdom, ministering to the heathens in the Telestial Kingdom.”  This would be quite the AA meeting. If you don’t agree with that then go back and read your scriptures. It’s right there. God will enslave humanity.

So, how many slaves are enough?  How many are enough for you? How many are enough for the god of Abraham?  Well you can read that the inhabitants of the lowest slave kingdom are “as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore”.  Let’s say that’s figurative and not literal. It’s still a lot. It’s more than any being would ever “need”. But enough is never enough with God. He wants all the slaves.  He will force you, regardless of who you are, to do his bidding.

Later in his talk Elder Gay said “In any of life’s travels, why would you ever turn away from the only Savior who has all power to heal and deliver you? Whatever the price you must pay to trust Him is worth it. My brothers and sisters, let us choose to increase our faith in Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

What if the price you must pay is promoting slavery?  What if the price you must pay is promoting an organization whose policies protect child molesters when doing so protects its own interests?  What if the price is not having contact with a wayward friend or family member because they may drag you down to hell? What if the price is helping god run his servants, being a go to servant between God and his slaves?  Is that price worth it? Are your morals such that you would subject yourself to the ownership of this being?

Why would I ever turn away from this?  What is the eternal perspective? How do I respond to this?  The deity of all Abrahamic religions is a slave owner. Those that worship him worship a slave owner.  The eternal perspective is full of slavery. It’s a police state, ran by your god. Now that your sins have been washed away he won't let you sin any more.  He will force you, as his slave, to do his bidding.

This is just a small bit of your eternal perspective.  To borrow from a Disney movie, your dream stinks. The thought of being with those you love forever does not stink.  However, if it means slavery, then I would do all in my power to end it and fight against the tyranny. I believe slavery is wrong.  It doesn’t matter who the slave owner is, it’s wrong.

You explain that your god is perfect.  See Matthew 5:48.  It tells us that Yahweh is perfect.  Jesus, as his son, is also perfect.  It doesn’t matter what flavor of Christianity you follow, your god is perfect.  He should be emulated, as those verses command you to do. He is the perfect role model and example.  So follow and become like him. In some ways that is great. Jesus absolutely taught some good standards and beatutides.  Then there is the other Jesus.  The one you don't think about because you only look at one side.

Please think of some modern leader.  I’ll name one. Adolf Hitler, a modern German ruler.  Would you emulate him? Would you want to be like him?  Why not? Is it because he committed genocide? Is it because he ordered the systematic murder of millions of people?  How about Stalin, Mau Zedong, Pol Pot, or any of the leaders from the Rawandan genocide. They all had some fantastic leadership qualities.  However, would you want to be like them? I hope not. They brutalized millions of people. Any sane person (that hasn’t been brainwashed) would not want to emulate them, and for good reason.  

Yet you want to emulate Jesus, aka Yahweh, aka El, aka the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This deity commanded genocide. This deity commanded that his chosen, special, people systematically kill all residents in given cities.  Why? Because they didn’t worship him. He commanded his people to kill mothers, daughters, children, young children, infants, newborns, and unborn babies.  A woman can, depending on how the body dies, give birth after death. How do you make sure a pregnant mother does not actually give birth in bronze age middle east? You stab a sword into the mother’s womb, you wiggle it around, slashing from side to side, moving up and down, killing the baby so if, by some chance, the mother does give birth, the baby is dead.  

The deity that commanded this to happen is the perfect being you want to emulate.  You want to become perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect. If Jesus is an actual god then committing genocide is not wrong.  It is a part of perfection. It is required of you to do in order to reach perfection. Would you really commit genocide? Would you really order the destruction of babies?  And all this because you weren’t being worshiped correctly, and your chosen people weren’t ready for a higher law?

Would you ever chose to emulate Hitler?  What if he changed? What if, after he committed genocide, he began to do good for the world.  What if, after being responsible for the deaths of over 10,000,000 people he decided to do something good?  Would you want to emulate him, and be like him?

Decent humans don’t worship slave owners.  Any decent human being would never consider worshiping Hitler or any of the many other beings like him.    Decent humans don’t give honor to beings that commit, command, or participate in genocide. That is, decent humans that haven’t been brainwashed into thinking such beings are good, great, or should be honored.  Have you heard the song “Joshua Fought the Battle Of Jericho”? It’s honoring a human that honored a command from a supposed god to commit genocide.

I must now note that I once worshiped a god that commanded slavery, committed genocide, and was otherwise a despicable being.  I am embarrassed that I never realized this until sometime in my 30’s. If following a Judeo-Christian religion (including Islam) brings you happiness, just remember that you are worshiping a genocidist.  Please take a few minutes to think about that and decide if that is right for you. Or, do you see a better way, a way that doesn’t mean giving honor to a despicable god. Would you be embarrassed if people found out you were trying to emulate Hitler?  Or, could you possibly find a better example to emulate?

When you stop to use critical thinking skills about the doctrines of religion you will see that so many of them (the doctrines) are complete garbage.  There may be some good in it, but good isn’t limited to religion. It isn’t limited to godly people. The good is just as innate as the bad. Until people begin to see just how much they have been trained to see garbage as a pearl there will always be a way for religion to exist.  However, there is no place in modern society for the advancement or promotion of slavery, mass murder, or other terrible ideas.

My perspective is one of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life is more precious than your religion will ever let on.  Why is that? Because I don’t know what dreams may come. I only know what I have. If this is the only life I have then I don’t want to spend it in service of a genocidal slave owner.  The miracle of life is precious and should be treated as such.