Friday, June 21, 2013

Temple Marriage

As a Mormon, I believe that virtually everyone will go to heaven.  However, our capacity to grow and develop in heaven depends upon what we learn and what we do here in our mortal lives.  In particular, only some people will have prepared themselves to be able to tolerate the continual presence of God the Father.  That's why one of the prime focuses of the Church is the temple.  Temple ordinances are not optional.  They are an important part of the preparation.
In order to get back to the Celestial Glory of God, those temple ordinances are essential (at least for those that reach the age of accountability, but that's a can of worms I'm going to set aside for now).  What about temple marriage?  Well, technically, it's not necessary to be married to reach the Celestial Kingdom.  We don't need temple marriage to retire and take our place in the presence of the Father.  But if we don't want to retire, if we want to continue to progress towards His ideal, if we want our relationship with our spouse to continue after death, and grow and develop, then we need our marriages sealed in the temple.

But this is my gay-Mormon blog.  So the question people want to ask is what about same-sex couples?  This is where I really don't have a good explanation.  The church doctrine is pretty clear that sealings are only performed between those of opposite gender.  The doctrine is also clear that baptism must be by immersion. I don't understand either of those requirements, but they are there and they are considered very important.  Is it possible that as the world changes and develops, those requirements could change?  Sure.  But when we don't understand why these requirements are there in the first place, I don't think we have a good understanding of what is likely to change and what is not, let alone what would make the world ready for such a change.

So I can't see the Church ever condoning same gender marriages, because it takes people further from the ultimate goal of the Church, which is the boundless growth and happiness available for those whose marriages continue in the presence of God.  The Church giving its blessing to same gender marriages would be like a math teacher allowing 2+2 to be 3 for those who aren't going to be mathematicians.  I don't see it happening.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting post. I hope you don't mind me putting some of my knowledge on this out there. See, the thing is we have a Heavenly Father and Mother, and together, they are God. I don't think same-sex marriage could ever work out as a God, and the reason is this: The entire reason God is God is so that He and She could have spirit children and to give those spirit children a chance to become as God's themselves. Well, God is God so that He and She could have children of their own and raise them to become Gods. Gender is an essential part of being a God, and will carry on into the afterlife, hence why we needed to get bodies. The reproductive capabilities will naturally transfer over as well, meaning if it were possible that a same-gender couple could become a "God", they'd lose their ability to be a God, because they, due to gender, cannot have children, which therefore takes out the whole reason for being a God, which is to have and raise your own spirit children. I believe this is why God will not allow same-sex marriage eternally, because it goes against the very essence of being a God. It's not to "punish" us (those with SSA) it's to guide us and give us the ability to become Gods.

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  2. I appreciate your input. There is a lot of interest in this subject, and there are lots of ideas out there. I do want to make it clear that the actual church doctrine is very unclear on this subject. For instance, when Eliza R. Snow wrote "O My Father" and included the lyrics about a Mother in Heaven, all we know is that Joseph Smith read the lyrics and did not object. That's all we have. It's not much to go on. The nature of such a relationship is entirely speculation. The nature of our reproductivity in our post-mortal existence is also all speculative, as there is very little doctrine to go on. So while your ideas may very well be true, it's good to be open to the idea that they might be misinterpretations. I have ideas as to how things might work in the post-mortal realm, but I realize that they are mainly guesses and I'm not attached to them. So if the prophet made some announcement that contradicted my view, it won't really be much of a problem for me.

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  3. You don't understand why temple marriage has to be between the opposite gender? That's a pretty big thing to put your belief in if you don't understand why.
    The other commenter really solidifies Mormonism for me - men become Gods? I'd always thought God became man. Humbled himself to become human. Men thinking they can become gods? Seems like a power trip to me.

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    1. The idea of the deification of man, of viewing mankind as proto-gods, is actually quite common throughout Christianity. Christ promises his followers all that He has. Paul often calls mankind "children of God," and thus we become heirs of the Most High. And why is baptism necessary? It seems so physical and so mundane. But it's essential, according to Christ, as recorded in the New Testament. I don't know why it is so necessary, but Christ Himself was baptized by immersion. I expect I will understand more as I learn more. The idea that everything must be fully understood before we can believe would undermine all knowledge, including scientific, philosophical, pragmatic, etc.

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