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I'd have to disagree with you a little here, although I don't know that it's official church doctrine. I know that if you ask my wife, she would see it as punishment for her if I screwed up and therefore she wasn't able to spend eternity with her complete earthly family. She would still receive all of her blessings but I wouldn't be there to share them with her. Now maybe as a heavenly being her thought process would be different, but right now she would see that as being denied a blessing based on my actions.
Like I said, not church doctrine but that's how at least one church member sees it.
With that much love coming from her to you how could you even think of punishing your wife? Better stay on the straight and narrow bro.
So the full realization of our eternal rewards is out of our control? Talk about your fine print.
Eternal rewards of course are possible only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and his love and mercy towards us.
But how we freely choose to behave during our mortal lives has a bearing on where we will spend eternity and how much we can progress. So, in that sense the "full realization of our eternal rewards" is in our hands.
God loves each of us equally and is merciful to the repentant sinner. But even He must dispense justice righteously. In my opinion it would not be just to allow Hitler to live forever in the same place as those who consistently chose during their mortal life to do their best at keeping God's commandments.
I know that if you ask my wife, she would see it as punishment for her if I screwed up and therefore she wasn't able to spend eternity with her complete earthly family.
Thank you for allowing us to hear other answers to this question.
So it is not out of the question to believe that some LDS children might feel that if they were to leave the church or even question things to much (which would lead to punishment by the church), that they would be letting their family down? So they may have a fear/guilt complex regarding leaving the church because of how families are affected?
I understand adults seek religion to satisfy something inside of them that is missing and I see nothing wrong with that or wanting something bigger to believe in. I understand the need to believe in something bigger than we are guiding our daily experiences and caring about us from afar.
I went to a church/school for many years as a child and no one made me feel guilty for quitting when i got older. And it did take me awhile to deprogram myself. As an adult today i believe some things they taught me, and others i cannot bring myself to believe. But i had the freedom to decide without fear or alienating my family or hurting them. This was never a problem which allowed me the ability to go out and explore new ideas and religions and guess what? I cam back to the one i started out with, but not without experiencing and learning about others religions.
I didn't jeopordize anyone elses happiness in the afterlife but leaving to explore my OWN needs and find my OWN answers. I had no guilt or fear that I would ruin something for my family by doing what I needed to do to fullfill myself and answer my own questions.
That is the difference between LDS and non LDS. I am not attached at the hip to my families afterlife experience. Guilt is a powerful tool much like fear is and it very well may keep numerous people from exploring and researching other religions so they can be sure that LDS is the true way for them.
You have some strange views, but you've made your point that you are intensely critical of and possibly hate the Latter-day Saints. Were you taught that in the church you attend? By your parents? There's got to be a story behind it...
The only story behind it is that from my experiences with the LDS families i know and watching some documentaries on it, that the church does not encourage the younger members to go out and verify that this is the life for them and the church for them. They do not want them to experience any religion outside LDS. What they teach is that exploring new ideas and questioning the old ones is a negative desire and that something must be wrong with you if you question things.
I find that stifling and not a good way to keep intelligent members.
It seems like what men used to do with women when they didn't allow them an education and wanted them barefoot and pregnant.
I find that learning about other religions can strengthen your resolve in your original beliefs. But it requires the church to have FAITH that it's teachings will stand up in the real world, and you should not run a religion based on GUILT or FEAR.
The only story behind it is that from my experiences with the LDS families i know and watching some documentaries on it, that the church does not encourage the younger members to go out and verify that this is the life for them and the church for them. They do not want them to experience any religion outside LDS. What they teach is that exploring new ideas and questioning the old ones is a negative desire and that something must be wrong with you if you question things.
I find that stifling and not a good way to keep intelligent members.
It seems like what men used to do with women when they didn't allow them an education and wanted them barefoot and pregnant.
I find that learning about other religions can strengthen your resolve in your original beliefs. But it requires the church to have FAITH that it's teachings will stand up in the real world, and you should not run a religion based on GUILT or FEAR.
I don't know why you keep on trying to make a point when there is no point to be made. You are simply wrong in your notion that people are members of the LDS Church out of guilt or fear.
A huge number of Latter-day Saints are converts from another church and familiar with many religious denominations. I was a Roman Catholic myself and investigated several other churches prior to my conversion to the LDS faith in my early 20's. Your 'points' are not valid.
Instead of relying on "documentaries" made by people who have had no experience being a Mormon you'd do well to attend our Sunday meetings and/or study at official LDS websites such as:
I don't know why you keep on trying to make a point when there is no point to be made. You are simply wrong in your notion that people are members of the LDS Church out of guilt or fear.
I said those raised in the church may have some guilt or fear of leaving.
Not the ones who joined up as adults. Did you not read what i wrote 4 posts up?
I am not wrong since I know people who were Mormons who mentioned the "responsibility to their family" as part of the reasons it took them SO LONG to leave, they are technically still mormon if you count jack mormons.
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A huge number of Latter-day Saints are converts from another church and familiar with many religious denominations. I was a Roman Catholic myself and investigated several other churches prior to my conversion to the LDS faith in my early 20's. Your 'points' are not valid.
Then it is not YOU i speak of. My points ARE valid if we are talking about the brainwashed children Vs. the grown adults who had the freedom to choose their own religion. Would you give your children the same respect even though it might screw up your heavenly blessing afterlife or whatever it is called? OR will you persuade them to NOT seek their own path but to stay with yours?
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Instead of relying on "documentaries" made by people who have had no experience being a Mormon you'd do well to attend our Sunday meetings and/or study at official LDS websites such as:
So it is not out of the question to believe that some LDS children might feel that if they were to leave the church or even question things to much (which would lead to punishment by the church), that they would be letting their family down? So they may have a fear/guilt complex regarding leaving the church because of how families are affected?
Sure, there might be some that feel this way. There's the potential for guilt among just about any practitioner of a religion. If the gospel principle of eternal families is true then it should be taught even if it causes some people to feel guilty about what they are doing.
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Originally Posted by Taboo2
I went to a church/school for many years as a child and no one made me feel guilty for quitting when i got older. And it did take me awhile to deprogram myself. As an adult today i believe some things they taught me, and others i cannot bring myself to believe. But i had the freedom to decide without fear or alienating my family or hurting them.
I attended a different church growing up and my mom told me that she'd cry at night thinking about how I wouldn't be in heaven with her. So like I said, it's not an issue unique to the mormons.
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Originally Posted by Taboo2
Guilt is a powerful tool much like fear is and it very well may keep numerous people from exploring and researching other religions so they can be sure that LDS is the true way for them.
Sure, and that's a shame. If someone explores their faith on their own and comes to a conclusion that they are in the right place on their own it only makes their testimony that much stronger. Now that doesn't mean I think every teen ager should leave the church for a while and find their way, like the Amish. But there are probably some people I see every sunday that could have really used such an experience.
But the question for you is, if a church teaching is true (in the eyes of the beleivers) how can you not teach it just because it might make some people feel guilty?
Would you give your children the same respect even though it might screw up your heavenly blessing afterlife or whatever it is called? OR will you persuade them to NOT seek their own path but to stay with yours?
I will give you my opinion on this. While my children are young I will take them to church and teach them about the LDS faith at home as well. How can I not? I live my faith not just at church on sunday but at home throughout the rest of the week as well.
When they get older, at whatever age that might be, they are on their own to make their own decisions. If they choose to go down a different path I would probably feel sad, either for them or for me, and would talk with them about what they are doing and why. But they will know that, no matter what choice they make, they are still loved and still just as much my son or my daughter as they were when they went to church with me as kids.
If a serving bishop sins seriously, such as commits adultery, he would almost certainly be excommunicated and replaced.
This is not true, however I wasn't referring to a bishop being asked to leave the church. I was referring to a bishop who choses to leave based upon the heiarchy of church officials.
That seems like a bit of fear mongering and peer pressure to put on someone.
Knowing you will let your whole family down if you question things enough that you feel you need to leave the church?
How do you think Joseph Smith was able to convince women to marry him? He convinced them that if they married him their family would enter the celestial kingdom, creating martyrs out of the women who obeyed, making them feel that their families salvation was held in their hands.
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