Why Salvation Falls Apart

Salvation just has a lot of problems, for one, no one seems to be able to agree on who's saved, or how you're saved, or why you have to be saved.  If salvation was necessary, and it effects you throughout eternity, wouldn't a loving God be very clear on the rules?  Wouldn't God make sure that everyone knew the rules, understood them, and had every chance to access that salvation?  Otherwise, it seems a bit arbitrary, and maybe the deck is stacked, especially for a God that is "no respecter of persons." 

Here's an example of how no one can agree on who's saved:  Yesterday I watched Angelina Long on Ex-Mormon Files.  She converted to Mormonism shortly after high school, and was a Mormon for three years.   She was a very active member, and loved the church, she said it was her first "church family".  One day at the temple, as she walked up a stairway, she felt completely disconnected from her experience there.  She felt like a spectator walking through a beautiful building, she didn't feel at peace, but felt anxious.  As she and her friend returned to the dressing rooms, a lady came in with a stack of family names with the last name of Long, just like her.  As she listened to the conversation this lady is having with a temple worker, the lady mentions that she has all this ordinance work to do for her family members.  Angelina said, God touched her heart and what went through her mind was:  is this what it's going to be like for me for the rest of my life, taking hundreds of family names to the temple to assist in their salvation? Next a series of events happened... a week later teaching in Relief Society, a lesson called, Be spiritually prepared for anything that comes your way, she bore her testimony and said "I know that families can be together forever, through this church."  As soon as she said that, she felt a pit in her stomach.  Shortly after that she had two loved ones pass away.  She began to have thoughts of confusion and anxiety, and she could not bear the thought that the only way that her family would be together for ever was through temple work.  It didn't make sense to her.  She drove around one night trying to clear her head, and began to weep saying to God, "God this doesn't make sense, if you are the same God, yesterday, today and forever, and you love all of your children the same, if Joseph Smith restored your church 200 years ago, why would you deny so many of your children, millions upon millions of souls, the blessings of being together forever with their family in heaven?  And why would I be granted a better level of heaven simply because of the church that I belong to, I'm no better then anyone else." Then she heard God speak to her just as clear as day, saying, "the temple ceremonies came by revelation, which means they came from Joseph Smith, which means they came from men, and men can make mistakes, the only perfect man is Jesus Christ and he is the only way."  Then she felt this overwhelming peace, this tingling through her entire body, something she had never felt before.  She felt the Holy Spirit come and comfort her by wrapping his arms around her.  At which time she said, "Thank you Jesus, I know you, I know you now, and its just you."  She thought that makes sense, but why does my religion believe in a completely different form of salvation?  She began to look into the LDS doctrine of eternal families and came across polygamy, which she began to study, and came across other distributing things such as polyandry.  She began to attend other churches and learned that it is by Grace and Grace alone that she was saved.

This is a very touching story and frankly I believe her completely when she says that she had this experience.  It's not easy to walk away from the Mormon faith, especially when you are a convert and have had praises heaped upon you and she was in a prominent  calling, not easy at all!  She had converted her friend who is now married to a Mormon, and she has to walk away from all of that.  She has my full respect. 

The same day that I watched Angelina's interview, I received a "Friend" request on Facebook, from Jean, a member of our current ward, where we stopped attending last year.  I don't know Jean well, but I really like her.  She's a great teacher, studies the scriptures a lot, loves God, and has a great testimony of Jesus Christ as her Savior.  She loves Jesus, every bit as much as Angelina does.  Jean sent a message to me along with the Friend request, in which she says, "I wish I had the words to help you understand that as wacky as some things are in the Church, because of human fallibility, it is the right vehicle to obtain the correct ordinances and the companionship of the Holy Ghost."

I found this striking, because they are both referring to the temple ordinances.  One claiming that they are necessary, the other claiming that it is these exact ordinances that led her out of the Mormon Church, and into the arms of Jesus.  Both of these ladies, love Jesus, believe that they know him, and both believe that they are saved, and that their way to salvation is the only way!  They can't both be right, but they can both be wrong.  I'm not saying they are, I'm just saying that this is the problem with salvation.  There is no correct definition of it.  The only "correct" definition you get is by someone who believes they are saved, but their story of salvation will not jive with someone of another faith. 

Why the need for salvation, where do we get this notion, and what do different religions claim about it?   This is obviously a huge subject, so I will keep it brief.  Most Christians believe in the doctrine of, Original Sin.  Mormons don't, or I should say they have a nuanced view of the Fall of Adam and Eve.  They believe that man is in a fallen state, but they don't ascribe to the Original Sin doctrine of Christianity, which is HUGE.  The way Adam and Eve are viewed by Mormons and Christians and their view of God, why we are here, and how we get back to God again, is so different.  No matter how hard people try to reconcile these two religions, its just not possible (I don't know that anyone is trying that hard to reconcile them, probably only the Mormon PR machine tries to do this at times).  The doctrine of Original Sin is based on some New Testament scriptures, but it certainly didn't come from Christ, and it wasn't formulated until the 2nd century, a time period which in Mormon theology Christ's church was already in a state of apostasy.  Let's look at a couple non-Christian religions, and see how salvation works with them.

Jews don't believe in Original Sin, Judaism does not require personal salvation thru deity as Christianity does.  They basically believe in the Golden Rule.  God, the creator of the world provides salvation to those who honor his precepts.  There is no vicarious salvation, your redemption depends on you and your behavior. "In Judaism, salvation is open to all people and not limited to those of the Jewish faith; the only important consideration being that the people must observe and practice the ethical pattern of behavior as summarized in the Ten Commandments." (Malekar, Ezekiel Isaac.  "The Speaking  Tree: Concept of Salvation I Judaism)

Islam's salvation is entrance into heaven.  If you die disbelieving in God you will not be saved. If you are non-Muslim and you believe in God, it is God's will concerning you.  If you are Muslim and believe in the One God and in the Islam message, you are saved into heaven.

What do Mormon's require for salvation?  I'll go to their website (Mormon.org) and get it straight from the horse's mouth.  "By humbling ourselves, repenting, and striving to keep His commandments, we can receive the blessings of the Savior's atoning sacrifice."  Is that all?  No, "He administered saving temporal ordinances, such as baptism, which He Himself submitted to though He had never sinned; the Savior did this because he asked us to follow Him in all things."  Is that all?  No, "to apply  the saving grace of Jesus Christ"... requires, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion (by one having authority), and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Is that all?  No, "The fundamental gospel elements are these: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and enduring to the end."  Is that all? No,  "In 1830 Jesus Christ restored His gospel through a prophet names Joseph Smith...The Savior also restored the keys of the priesthood and the saving ordinances at are required for His Church to accomplish His work again on earth." Is that all?  No, apparently not, since they also say, "From each of them (referring to the latter day prophets) we learn what is required of us to become more like God and to prepare to live with Him again."  Is that all? No, not really, not if you want to be saved in the Celestial Kingdom (super VIP heaven according to Brother Jake see here very humorous)!  To be saved in the Celestial Kingdom, the only one that allows for your family to be together forever as a family and for you to become exalted or have eternal life, that requires temple ordinances.  You will recall that above they said that Christ "administered saving temporal ordinances,  plural, but then only gave one example, "such as baptism"  well, some of these additional ordinances are temple ordinances, and if you want your family to be together forever, Mormonism's big trump card,  you have to receive these temple ordinances.  To be worthy to do that, you have to pay a full tithing, keep the word of wisdom, go to your meetings (yes that's right plural) on Sunday, sustain the prophet, wear temple garments, and a host of other smaller and bigger things.  Wow, that's a lot, I got tired just typing that all out, image how tiring it is to live. 

What do most Protestant Christians (not necessarily liberal Protestant Christians) believe is required for salvation?   Well that's a big group with somewhat varying views, but I think I'm safe in saying that Jesus Christ is the only way.  He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross and rose from the grave.  One must have a faith and trust in Christ, admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness, and through prayer confess that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and commit to live for Him.  Some groups would say that baptism is necessary, but confessing Christ, and for some being born again is the main requirements.  Then of course after you have dedicated your life to Jesus, you will naturally try to live like him.  (Wow, that's a lot easier than the Mormon plan, no wonder there are so many more Protestants then Mormon's!)

That is a brief summary of a very complex subject, but I think you get the idea.  Nothing coordinates, each group thinks they have the truth, they own salvation, and they are saved.  Salvation groups us into communities which is good and bad.  It causes us to have peace and dread all at the same time.  It can make a person prideful and judgmental, and it also has good effects.  Basically it is what it is, and people get very emotional over their salvation, families are brought together by it and destroyed by it.  And none of these salvations stand up under scrutiny, only to the true believers, who will not look at hard evidence to the contrary.   Anyone trying to make an argument against anyone's salvation is usually seen as evil, and should be avoided or at least disregarded.

But here's some good news! A Pew survey shows that we are becoming more open minded in our salvation quest.  In asking "Who can go to Heaven?"  When asking White mainstream Protestants if Catholicism can lead to eternal life 77% said yes, and 83% of Catholics returned the favor to Protestants.  What about Judaism, can Jews find their way to Heaven in the eyes of others?  Catholics said yes 77%, White mainstream Protestants said yes, 73%, Evangelicals were a little less gracious at 64%.  But hey, that's pretty good for a stubborn group of people, lol, I mean a strongly convinced group of people.  What about those evil atheists, how's their chance in the after life?  Not bad!  Looks like only half of us are sending them to Hell, 50% think they will too reach heaven.  They should all rest better tonight knowing that.  :)



          

Coming Around

When I discovered that the Mormon Church was not what it said it was (thanks to Elder Holland and his comments in a PBS interview in which he answers questions about Blacks and the Priesthood ban, that were shocking to my true believing ears) it broke my heart to discover the hidden history of the Church, the remaking of events, and the cover up and elimination of much of the real history. But what really broke my heart was to discover that it isn't Christ's restored church on this earth, at least not in the sense that it claims to be.  Meaning, I doubt seriously if God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and told him the things that the Church claims they did.  The evidence just doesn't support that story, I should say that version of the story, since there are three or four versions of the vision, and the Church only teaches the last one, which by that time included two Gods and a completely different vision then Joseph Smith originally claimed.  You can listen to apologist's try to spin a good reason for the different versions, but I'm not into spinning things.  If I was, I would have listened to the apologist's spin on the Blacks and the Priesthood, or almost every other topic and problem the Church has with its history, there is plenty of apologist spin out there, enough to make your head dizzy. 

It did break my heart, because I believed it so deeply, and my entire life structure was built upon it.  It's not easy to have your entire foundation ripped out from underneath you, lets just say, it's not for the faint of heart.  But I have never been faint of heart, I was taught to "put your shoulder to the wheel, and push along", I was taught to "lengthen your stride", I was taught "even the intent to deceive was a lie", and I was taught to "do what is right, let the consequence follow".  I guess in reality my church taught  me the skills, the integrity, the courage, and the ability to walk away, when I discovered it wasn't what it said it was.  So in that regard, I'm very grateful.  I'm glad that I learned those lessons so well, so when the time came that I needed to not be, faint of heart, I wasn't!

One problem the Church has are the literalists claims it makes, i.e. this literally is Christ's restored church, Christ is literally running it through revelation to the prophet, our leaders are literally Apostles and Prophets of Jesus Christ, the priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith by Peter, James, and John, and on and on and on...the literal claims are so numerous!  And that's why the Church is now being picked apart by some of its own members and others using historical records, primary sources, historical research, journal entries, scientific evidence, and words of their own leaders, just to name a few. The historical evidence doesn't match up with the Church's literal claims, plain and simple, and the Church is losing members because of it. 

Interestingly, the Mormon Church is not alone.  There are literalists of a different stripe, and they too are suffering from their literal claims.  Religion in general is suffering, but specifically Christianity, especially the evangelical, fundamentalist stripe.  Not every Christian believes that Noah was a real person, who built an ark and put two of every creature into that ark, and the earth was flooded. Not every Christian believes that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, without error or fault in all its teaching.  Not every Christian takes literally the virgin birth of Jesus, the resurrection of Christ, or the Second Coming.  But there are those who do and they would find good company with the Mormon's, because Mormons believe all of those things too, literally.  I say they would find good company with the Mormons, if the fundamentalists would stop sending Mormons to Hell, that is!  These fundamentalist's are holding on literally to all of these beliefs, even though there is no proof of any of it,  all of their literalist claims, fall apart, just like the Mormon's do.  But they are hanging on for dear life, turning a blind eye and deaf ear to all that is going on around them, and at the same time, proclaiming that only they know the real Jesus, and you have the wrong one, if you don't believe as they do, and they know who is saved and who's going to Hell. 

I don't begrudge literalist in any religion, I used to be one.  I know how strong those beliefs are.  There are two things in this life, I have learned, that are so strong... stronger than logic, stronger than facts, and stronger than family ties sometimes; those two things are beliefs and fears.  People will do some of the most amazing things because of belief and because of fear, both negative and positive. You could say that its these two things that makes the world go round.  And I'm fairly convinced that God gave us these strong senses as a survival mechanism, even though these two senses also cause so much destruction and havoc in the world.  Everything has its opposite and the goal is learning to choose love over other emotions, which is difficult to do, especially in light of our fears and beliefs.  Love is often the last thing we turn to, but I have hope in a patient God, allowing us to learn and grow at our own pace as our desires turn toward love and away from fear, which just happens to be the opposite of love.

Am I condemning literalist for their beliefs?  No, I love them, they are good people who do many good things, and some bad things.  All of us do.  They have a very strong world view and think that it's the only way, the correct way, and the goal for them and God also, is for you to think that way too.  But the literalists claims ruin things, because they're not really true, even though believers don't know that.  They don't see the harm that some of their beliefs bring to themselves and others, because they believe things so strongly they can't image that their "truth" could bring harm.  In a real sense literalist beliefs keep them hemmed into a tight knit world, usually surrounded by like minded people. Just as Alexander Leek says in the movie Mothman Prophecies:  If there was a car crash ten blocks away, that window washer up there could probably see it.  Now, that doesn't mean he's God, or even smarter than you are.  But from where he's sitting, he can see a little further down the road.  So in other words, those down below (those in their tight little world) may not be able to see out as far as someone who is not hemmed in by those literal beliefs, just like the window washer.       

The reason I say these literal beliefs ruin everything, be their religious or sectarian, is because the believer gets so caught up in the belief that they cannot see things clearly, or another's perspective.  In other words, they own the truth and cannot consider another's point of view.  The belief trumps everything, thinking stops, pride sets in, and adherence to the belief becomes the paramount virtue over love and acceptance of others, over consideration of another's position, or circumstance.

Okay, so it broke my heart to discover that my literal beliefs were not true.  There is value to literal beliefs, but there are drawbacks too.  Being able to open your eyes to all of that is very empowering, and yet unsettling.  You no longer have answers to life's important questions, be the answers true or false, there is a secure feeling in having them.   That's fine, but now it's grow up time.  Time to move on.  You are leaving a false belief behind where you found safety.  That's okay, its called growing.  I think its a false believe to think that the most important thing that God wants from us is to have faith, endure to the end, don't get out of the boat, just stay the course.  I think what God really wants is for us to think, think, think, learn truths through our own experiences, have experiences that will teach us love and compassion for others.  Why would a God want anything other than that?

I watched a movie the other day, at the end, a woman said:  You have to be willing to loose everything, for God to shape you into what he has planned.  Before I would have heard that and thought, you have to be willing to sacrifice all that you have, be willing to go through trials, have your faith tested, etc.  BUT, now I hear that and think, you have to be willing to loose everything, meaning your belief system, that's when you really loose everything, and allow God to shape you into what he has planned.  That's quite a different thing! Much more meaningful to God and to you. 

A God of Love

I almost quite doing my blog last night.  All I wanted was to close the door to everything, curl up in a little ball and let the world pass me by.  I'm tired of religion, every aspect of it: tired of leaving mine, tired of talking to people about it, tired of hearing about theirs, tired of being asked questions, tired of thinking about it, tired, tired, tired.  Can I just say this has been a hard year.  Good-bye to 2014, the year from Hell.  Good-bye to you! 

So why am I sitting at my computer this morning?  ...why... because I can't let go of God.  And I frankly don't care who God is, male, female, a spirit, the trinity, three separate beings, I don't care, because until I die, I won't really know.  So, I'm just sticking with what I do know...God is love.  And when we miss that, we miss it all!  Who knew those four adorable mop heads with British accents held the answer all along..."all you need is love." 


There's something about God that I just can't give up on... and it's love.

That's my story and I sticking to it!  That's the God I know and that's the God I will defend.  Here's the kicker though, love isn't easy.   Like Christ said, its easy to love those that love you, but others it's a bit more difficult.  But, and here's the good part... when you know love is the answer, at least you know which direction you need to go, and that's half the battle!  The other half is actually doing it;  that's hard and God knows it, so this life gives us PLENTY of opportunities to learn it.  And when we fail because pride gets in the way, and we become miserable, we can turn to love and dig our way out of the mess that we created, and try again.  Always try again, and again, and again! 

Many years ago, I had this most adorable friend named Grace.  She was my next door neighbor and 30 years older then me.  I loved her; we had so much fun together!  Grace had the best sense of humor, we laugh and laugh, and Grace had style, let me tell you she had style.  She was just one of those rare gems that comes into your life and adds a spark that you cherish forever, and even though I moved a few miles away, we still remained good friends.

A couple of years into our friendship, Grace was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  We went to the doctors appointments together, I was by her side through chemo, she went into a short remission and then the end came.  My spark was gone, this adorable, full of life person was gone.

We had a neighbor named Natalie that was also our friend.  Sometimes we would have little luncheons at our houses.  One day, after Grace had passed away, Natalie stopped by my house.  I invited her in and we sat and talked about Grace.  Natalie seemed very emotional during our conversation and I wasn't quite getting what she was trying to tell to me.  (Oh...let me explain before I go on, Grace and I were both Mormons, and Natalie was a born again Christian, I don't remember which church she attended)  Natalie told me that she had vowed to herself that she wasn't going to let another of her Mormon friends go to Hell, and that she was here to warn me of the danger of me going to Hell.  Natalie had intended to warn Grace, but failed to do so and now Grace was in Hell and it tormented Natalie, so she vowed not to let that happen again and she was there to save me. 

I have to admit that at first I didn't grasp what she was saying.  But finally I did.  And I asked Natalie, I remember the exact words I used.  "You mean our darling Grace is in Hell?"  And when I realized that that was what she was telling me, I just said, "I don't know that God."  Let me just add here, that Natalie was not offending me at all.  I knew she was coming to me out of love and concern, and I respected that. I hugged her and told her I appreciated her coming, because I did.  But I also remember thinking to myself, I'm so glad I don't have to explain that God to anyone.  Really, more than anything else about our conversation, I was glad I didn't have to explain that God to anyone and that my concept of God did not send darling people like Grace to Hell.  You may recall in my last post that I said I don't believe in a pointless God and that in my opinion is a pointless God, it's the exact definition of a pointless God!

People confess God, say He is love...but sometimes miss the big picture.....GOD IS LOVE!  So anything unloving, like sending Grace to Hell just because she happens to be the wrong religion, isn't very loving is it?  Could it be that it's not God that isn't loving, but the religion that is proclaiming that Grace is going to Hell that isn't very loving?  You know the old joke... Christianity, isn't very Christian, or Gandhi's famous quote. "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."  Don't get me wrong, I do like Christian's, I consider myself one, but Christianity has a lot of explaining to do, and so many of its beliefs do NOT follow what Christ taught.

We went out to dinner the other night with our friends who are very kind, good people; after we ordered and were sitting chatting at the table, the wife asked us, "what do your kids think about your leaving the church?"  They looked intensely interested in hearing our answer.  The question kind of threw me a bit, I wasn't expecting it.  So I sat there for a minute to gather my thoughts.  Well first of all, two of our kids are not active members, so it doesn't bother them any, and the other two are very independent thinkers, especially our son.  He loves to discuss religion and would never be swayed by anything we said.  Our daughter, it has been a bit harder on.  Those were the thoughts going through my head, but I don't think I explained that to them; I think we began to explain our current state of thinking if I remember right.  But while we were talking, I asked them what they believed about why we were here, what was this life for?  I was very interested to know what they believed, as they are, I would guess Evangelical.  They said that God created us because He wanted people to return to Him that choose to worship Him.  He said, "God created us because He wanted people to worship Him and that free agency was important because He wanted people who choose to worship Him, God could have created people to worship Him, but God wanted us to choose it because that was more meaningful to Him."

At this point, I can hardly put the words together to make a sentence.  "You mean to tell me that your God, created all these people knowing that some would not choose to worship Him and would be cast down to Hell as a result and suffer there, just so He can have a group of people who choose to worship Him live with Him in heaven, even though He could have created people to worship Him, He wanted those who chose it because it is more meaningful."  And if the cost of that meaningfulness is to send some, many actually, people to Hell, so be it, that's the cost.  Okay, I have heard this same scenario too many times to just say, "I don't know that God."  This night I had to defend my purposeful God, from this pointless God, and I said, "I would not worship that God."  Is that so bad?  I wouldn't worship that God.  I worship a God who loves all of His children and shows that love to us by creating a world and experiences for us to grow and learn to Love as He does.  I believe He's bringing us all back to Him.  What all that in tells I don't know, He's the one that's Omnipotent not me, and if Christ's atonement is necessary to do that, then I believe in that.  I have a hope in Christ.  But I have a bigger HOPE and trust in a purposeful God that has a bigger plan that includes our becoming like Him, meaning learning to love like Him.  And where that all leads to in the next life I don't know, I think that is where faith comes in, we don't have the whole plan, but I have faith in it. 

Let me pause here, to say, I really mean no offense to our friends, they mean well and that is their belief and I don't want to be disrespectful. I really don't!  That's why I don't like religion.  It divides people, it causes arguments, it destroys family and friend relationships.  I have no ill will towards anyone and their beliefs and to quote Mormon doctrine, "let them worship how, where, and what they may."  I really believe in that.  And I know the hearts of Christians are good, very good, as are the hearts of Mormons, who are Christians.  And I know that born again Christians would take exception to the way I explained their God, I'm sure there is a lot more purpose and meaning to their beliefs, but you should hear what it sounds like to an outsider, this really is what it sounds like.  So now that I have made a lot of enemies, let me again say I love you all, I simply choose to believe in a bigger God, or at least a bigger plan.  And if I'm wrong you can come visit Grace and I in Hell, I'm sure we will need ministering to.

So I guess for now, I'm sticking with the Beatles... all you need is love.  Hey why not, I like their music too!