Only a Man Would Come Up With That...

So I've been filling some of my free time lately by researching the Mormon Church. Though I seem to have a good grasp on doctrines and beliefs, it seems I learn something new every day about the LDS. Since moving to Utah most of the insights I've made have been about Mormon culture. I've always found other cultures fascinating and the Mormon culture is no exception. These people have their own foods, sayings, holidays, games, and oh so much more. I'm sure I could live hear the rest of my life and still not have it all figured out (especially since I don't plan on joining their Church).

Okay, enough about Mormon culture, what I really want to share today is the LDS doctrine of EXALTATION. The doctrine of exaltation sums up LDS beliefs in one neat little sentence, "The goal of every devout LDS couple is to become a god and goddess exactly like their Heavenly Father and Mother." And this is why marriage (specifically temple marriage) is so important to a Mormon. It is also why the average marriage age in the state of Utah is between 19 and 22. There is a definite pressure for young people to settle down in a committed marriage and begin to having the multiple children they're told is their responsibility to bring into the world.

So I know the doctrine of exaltation in and out, it's nothing new to me. But today I was doing some more reading on the LDS Church, and I came across a passage that worded this doctrine in a way I had never thought of before. It's amusing and simply outrageous all at the same time, and you can thank Daniel Thompson for his perspective.

He writes, "Every LDS man who has been deemed worthy will then become a god. The people of his world will one day worship and pray to him just as the people of this world worship and pray to our Heavenly Father. Every LDS god will have many celestial wives who will aid him in populating his world. Therefore, the fate of every LDS woman who earns the right to be called a goddess is to be eternally pregnant, producing multitudes of spirit babies for her husband god."

Let's think about this statement for a moment *PAUSE*. Here's a religion that believes worthy men will one day become gods, with their earthly children bowing to them in worship and prayer. Hmmmm...and the women get WHAT?? Oh that's right, to be ETERNALLY PREGNANT!!!

Not that I have anything against pregnancy or populating the world with a child or two of my own someday, but COME ON give me a break, ETERNALLY PREGNANT!!! What woman in her right mind wants to live all of blessed eternity pregnant. And we're talking "multitudes of spirit babies". Who do you think is going to care for these "spirit babies" before they have earthly bodies? I'll make a bet it's not the guy who's being worshiped and adored by millions.

So, I don't believe for a second this is how heaven is, or that god was once a man himself who was deemed worthy to become a god. My sympathies do go out to all those thousands of LDS women who truly have been deceived into believing that this is what God has for them. That their whole lives here on earth and in heaven are reduced to their ability to bring forth children. I grieve for these women, that are only able to look forward to an eternity of pleasing a "heavenly husband" and bringing forth "spiritual babies". These women who are not able to find peace on earth or in the idea of heaven.