Rant before the Dream

Today I read the following quote from this article (Many gates to God’s cities of Zion).

“Then my daughter gave me a book she thought I might enjoy with a similar perspective — Bringing Heaven Home — that 12 gates are symbolic of other paths to Zion. The author found that everyone he met and with whom he studied  — thought their way was the only way, yet he realized that these people had similar spiritual experiences. I have been so engrained to believe my church was the only way. But if God is truly no respecter of persons — He must have many paths from all cultures leading to truth and light. We are a people who have ancestral ties — our family histories are important and significant to us. Journals from my ancestors speak to me. Sacred books from other cultures speak to them. Branches of other trees can be grafted to the tree of truth and light. I have much more compassion for all people in their journey in life. I find it rather arrogant and somewhat embarrassing to say to someone that my way is the only way to God.”

—

Since this view I think is prevalent in my generation, I think it is worth addressing from my perspective: If all religions are right, then what is the point in all the revelations that others and I have received? Here are a few examples:

• If religions teaching that hyper-grace is true are just as valid as the religious views of people like me saying it is not true, then what is the point of all the modern revelations saying that hyper-grace is false? (hyper-grace in my view is the opinion that following the commandments doesn’t matter because of grace.)
• If the catholic tradition of amillennialism is just as true as the protestant view of premillennialism (which means there is the 144,000, antichrist, future 1000 years of peace, etc.), then what is the point of all the revelations about the 144,000 and end times events?
• Why are there revelations about the rapture, if it doesn’t matter whether we believe in the pre-trib rapture, mid-trib rapture, or post-trib rapture? (my view of course is that the 144,000 will be called up to heaven and then return to preach the gospel during the beginning of the millennium, and all the other saints will have to wait out the tribulation).
• Why are there revelations about religious leaders being corrupt, if people with the view that those leaders are actually true have just as valid of an opinion.
• Why are there revelations about how reincarnation is false, if people who believe in reincarnation have just as valid religious points of view?

Don’t you see – the point of revelations is not to pat us on the back for being good, but to correct false doctrine or correct the lack of true doctrine. If God thought all religions are just as valid with each other, then there would be no necessity for revelations. And without revelations there would be no necessity for religion. Thus, the very existence of religion necessitates the idea that some religions are false and should be corrected. To say that all religions are all equally true is to say that you don’t care about religion or don’t care about objective truth.

Regarding the idea that we should be “embarrassed” for thinking that we alone are the possessors of true religion: Don’t you understand? It isn’t actually us of ourselves doing the correcting of other religions, rather it is God who is bringing through revelation the restoration of truth and exposure of falsehoods. Thus, such feelings of “embarrassment” rather mean that you feel embarrassed for being loyal to a God who (in your opinion) has distastefully strong opinions about how man views him.

Which is just crazy to me, and it seems like the ultimate source of why you would think this is because the opinions of man are more important to you than God, and you don’t seriously ponder the fact that our position in the eternities is affected by whether we embrace true religion or not – meaning that when you share the gospel with others, the gift you offer to them vastly and supremely outweighs whatever harm you do to their ego in implying that their present opinions are not sufficient.

Perhaps these people have changed their minds about religion so many times that they have lost confidence about the existence of objective truth. This view strikes me as quite prideful: “if I can’t find truth, then I don’t think anyone can find it”. I believe the existence of technology, knowledge, and prosperity all around us testifies of the existence of objective truth and the ability of man to use his mental faculties to find such truth. If man had given up believing in truth, we would probably still be living in caves, with no understanding of the laws of physics or the solar system.

Or perhaps people who feel embarrassed for claiming that other religions are false actually just don’t really believe in their own religion. Perhaps they see religion as all just elaborate “lore” to help humans feel a purpose – and think that the more lore the better.

Maybe they just haven’t had a serious look at scripture and religion. As a passive observer, it is just fine and dandy to say there are multiple interpretations of scripture and you can’t say which is correct; but when you actually have to teach others and warn against sin, and feel you have a duty to teach the truth to the best of your ability – and that there are actual consequences for failing to do so – vaguely gesturing around that everything is true in a way just stops working.

Which is all to say that they haven’t internalized the reality of a God who cares about what we think – whether we embrace falsehood or truth – and the fact that our beliefs to some extent exert an influence on our status for the eternities. And they haven’t digested the reality of a “Satan” who seeks to confuse our opinions, of which Satan has gained a great many more followers through his false prophets than the true God (hence the scriptures about wide road to destruction and narrow strait to salvation – Matthew 7:13–14, Luke 13:23–24, 1 Nephi 8:20). Or realized that the work of this “Satan” is benefited by those sowing the seeds of confusion by claiming that all religions are somehow simultaneously true despite contradictory doctrines.

Matthew 10:34–37
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

The Dreams

October 22

I dreamt of leftist breaking economy through permits to do business and government waste.

I also dreamt of somehow being shown how authoritarian the democrats are, and I dreamt of editing to improve an essay I had written detailing the ways the left is authoritarian.

October 23

I dreamt that we, the conservatives, were in a war against the democrats and made a huge 100 item list of all the ways they were wrong.

Apparently, I am to write an essay about this topic. OK.

I also dreamt of how people were given various tasks, and the hero was trying to make the gospel oriented tasks be done first and sought help from others.

I also dreamt of seeing Russia control Iran on a map (but not the Caucasus region states) and seeing how while the Russians were very paranoid and patriotic, they still were lax and allowed the Iranians to educate themselves and run their country in their own way and language. Was this just random?

Joseph Smith on the Democrats

Fun fact, Joseph Smith also really hated the democrats. This is what he said about them:

“I have sworn by the eternal God that I never will vote for a Democrat again; and I intend to swear my children, putting their hands under the thigh, as Abraham swore Isaac, that they will never vote a Democrat ticket in all their generations. It is the meanest, lowest party in all creation.” (source, secondary source)

October 24

I dreamt of a world where almost everyone had died because of a rabies like disease which killed everyone. I think the disease made people violent, and there was one scene where some of us were fighting and others (I think including myself) were hiding.

In this abandoned world, family members and I were able to choose houses to live in because of the depopulation. The place this occurred was near my family’s cabin on the Texas Colorado river – which has represented in my dreams a place of refuge.