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If you do, why do you believe in God? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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As simple as possible to summarize the best way you can, first, please. Feel free to expand after, or just say whatever you want lol. Honest question.

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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

It's not really "we think we're lucky or better than anyone else" hell we actually believe that God is a God of fairness that doesn't value one person over another. Ie. "We are all his children and he loves us equally" is a core belief we hold. And as apart of that belief, we firmly hold it true that God will ensure that all his children who lived or died without hearing his gospel will have the opportunity too.

I'm going to question this a bit if you don't mind. Doesn't the LDS church teach that there are different "degrees of glory" and only the followers of the church's faith can reach the celestial kingdom? Yes, there's exception for those who haven't heard, but those who have and didn't follow the teachings are left out, even though there doesn't seem to be anything different about proofs of faith provided by followers of the LDS or any other religion. They seem to be the same veracity as followers of any other religion.

And I also tend to lean towards a lot of Buddhist tenants myself btw. The concept of a state of being called Nirvana, that life is suffering (Though I know that's not exactly what he said) and a few other ideas they hold I agree with.

Yeah, I think it's great to learn about other religions so we can take pieces of them that help us. Even if I don't believe any are any more likely to be true than the others, there's "truths" in all of them that apply whether you follow the faith or not.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Also, thanks for the excellent questions! I love having friendly discussions with other people who believe differently. It really opens up my perspective. Hell, I served an LDS mission in Seattle Washington. If there's one thing I cherish, it's my conversations with those of other faiths and learning more about their perspectives.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

    So, A LOT of LDS and even other faiths make this mistake about our beliefs.

    Yes, we do believe in "Kingdoms of Glory" just as we believe in God having a law, commandments, etc. That being said, the LDS faith is at its core, quite different from other faiths in that we don't believe in your classical "Hell fire and damnation"

    Just to clarify this for any other Christian denominations, aside from our other teaching's where a lot of this comes from is this:

    John 14:2:

    In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

    1st Corinthians 41:

    There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

    With that all being said. The biggest misconception and frankly appalling misunderstanding anyone makes in this, is that one person is valued less than another.

    Our firm faith is that, by living the precepts of God you can make it to the celestial kingdom, IE. The highest degree of glory, but that that's only provided through the Atonement of Jesus Christ ie. It's not our works that "buy our way into heaven" it's entirely through Christ and his Atonement.

    That is paramount.

    Second. We don't believe God has a "cool kids list" or a list of rules you had to follow, and if you didn't. Lol sucks to be you.

    We believe that God judges based on the person and their intentions, not solely by their actions. IE. It's not black and white. Otherwise, how could the Atonement claim to be all-encompassing?

    Kingdoms of Glory then becomes a choice we can make to get to. Like in my other comment. Some people will prefer pepperoni, some supreme, some pineapple.

    But all will be happy and in a heavenly state regardless. And no one person is left out of receiving the happoness they prefer.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    With that all being said. The biggest misconception and frankly appalling misunderstanding anyone makes in this, is that one person is valued less than another.

    Aren't they though, by definition?

    Value: An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.

    So if some people get more in return (what they get in the afterlife for accepting The Lord), they're valued higher. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think what you mean is you don't think some people are, in essence, better. Just the degrees of glory mean some are valued more though, and that's not going into the husband/wife aspect.

    Kingdom's of Glory then becomes a choice we can make to get to. Like in my other comment. Some people will prefer pepperoni, some supreme, some pineapple.

    Yes, it's a choice, but some people get nicer outcomes based on their choice, and that choice is not made any more obviously correct than the choice of any other religion.

    If God is good, why would he make us make this choice and make it just a guessing game? I know the answer you're likely to give is that it isn't, and if we pray the answer will be made clear, but people believe with extreme faith (often more than most in the LDS have) that they're the ones who believe the truth, and they're certain that they've felt the presence of God(s) and they told them to follow this or that faith.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It's not really a guessing game, it's a there's his gospel, we follow his gospel and we're rewarded, which he will ensure everyone has an opportunity to, or they can choose otherwise and receive the level of reward they so desire. No one's going to force somebody to live in a specific way; That's against the point.

    And God is good because he gives us a choice. Choice means we can become our own individuals, make our own mistakes, learn, and grow. Which to us is the fundamental answer to the purpose of this life. (Buddhism "Life is Suffering") Otherwise, what's the point of it all? We'd be hollow machines, always living in a good but un-understanding state of being with no opportunities to grow and move forward.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's not really a guessing game, it's a there's his gospel, we follow his gospel and we're rewarded, which he will ensure everyone has an opportunity to, or they can choose otherwise and receive the level of reward they so desire. No one's going to force somebody to live in a specific way; That's against the point.

    It's my understanding that if we know of it in this world and deny it then that's the choice we make, correct? If so, and if all other religions claim the same veracity with the same level of proof/evidence, what makes it different than a guessing game?

    And God is good because he gives us a choice. Choice means we can become our own individuals, make our own mistakes, learn, and grow. Which to us is the fundamental answer to the purpose of this life. (Buddhism "Life is Suffering") Otherwise, what's the point of it all? We'd be hollow machines, always living in a good but un-understanding state of being with no opportunities to grow and move forward.

    I'm currently having a discussion with someone else in this thread about this basically. Yes we're given freedom to choose, but God created the world exactly how he wanted, with the knowledge of everything that would result, with the power to make literally anything happen, right? If he wanted to he could have created a world where we all freely choose the right thing, even when given the ability to choose the wrong thing. Not machines programmed to choose the right thing, just an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent designer who sets things up to fall into place perfectly.

    The example I just used in that other comment is like setting up dominos. You don't decide the physics of how they'll fall, you just intelligently set them up so they fall the way you want. If you're omnipotent and omniscient then this is trivial for you, and you must be able to do this for people's choices such that they just always choose the right thing. If you're benevolent then this is what you want. You still make just as many choices, but they just all happen to be good.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    It's my understanding that if we know of it in this world and deny it then that's the choice we make, correct? If so, and if all other religions claim the same veracity with the same level of proof/evidence, what makes it different than a guessing game?

    It's the assumption / pretense that there's a single right. And that, you can ask of God to find out. It's also under the assumption that again God is a God of mercy and won't judge you for what you didn't know. Cause if he's a perfect being, there must also be a perfect fairness in all he does as well.

    Though it's a very genuine concern / question to have for sure!

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