OF GODS AND SAVIORS

Someone on one Fundamentalist Forum I participate in wrote two lines to answer a doctrinal question I had, and there's now like a fire burning in my ribcage. 

I love that moment when you almost laugh and say: "This is it! Why didn't I realize that before?!"

The question was the following:

"We are told that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and many others obeyed God in all things and received their exaltation and are now counted among the Gods. I believe that too. But what if Christ had not fulfilled his mission? What if his blood had not been shed?

Were they waiting for him to accomplish it before knowing for sure, or do your own actions, when they guarantee your exaltation, dispense you from the requirements of salvation?
Several opinions were shared by members, some saying that God knows the beginning and the end of this Creation, and would not send someone who would fail.

The first aspect covers the concepts of God being omniscient. It often goes hand in hand with the concept of His being omnipresent. Is God everywhere? I'd say, as an individual He is not. Is He omniscient? If Gods keep progressing, and gain new knowledge, like Brigham taught, and like I believe they do, then God is not omniscient.

But isn't it written that God has always been and always will be? I believe we are talking about our God and this creation. When we say that God knows everything, I believe it means he knows everything there is know about this creation, and surely more too. I also believe that Godhood is omnipresent and omniscient. I think we can accept those notions when they're assigned to the office of Godhood instead of individual Gods: The Gods have always been and always will be, and Gods "collectively" know everything it is not possible for the rest to really know.

So, I stuck to the idea that Saviors can fall.

Some said that the Gods knew what they were doing in their selection for a Savior. I agree with that. The entire work of a creation could have been in vain. I am sure they had a long time to think it through before calling our Savior to that office. But they can fall. If God did something "out of line", He would cease to be God. Gods retain their Free Agency. In the Council of the Gods, they had their Free Agency. The one who became Satan was among the Gods. The Savior could have failed too, even if, after such a careful selection, like I said above, it was unlikely. Also, I don't have references (I'm bad with references) but I've read a couple of times about our Earth being composed with other worlds that failed. Some say it was before our race inhabited them, not after their being peopled by an Adam and an Eve. 

Bottom line, I was still with my initial question: I believe in the power, and the necessity, of an atonement. Yet those men and women who were taken from the Earth (the city of Enoch) were taken before the atonement, and other righteous men and women who were counted as "saved" or "exalted", was it conditional for them all until our Christ shed his blood?

And that's when I got the reaction I described at the beginning of this post, when someone replied:

"Don't think so. With which Christ did they make their "calling and election sure"? Why were they here when they were here? Were they "gods" at the time? Was Moses a "god"? Abraham? Enoch? Christ? Joseph Smith?"

THE GAY ISSUE

According to CNN, "Gay rights activists see Mormons softening attitudes toward their community".

The Church's involvement in Proposition 8 was disgusting when considering Free Agency is a most important tenet of our faith. Who cares who people love, marry or sleep with if they are not members of the Church?

However, when they are members, there are certain rules that they need to follow to remain in harmony with the Church, and that seems fair to me. If you're not happy with that, go to a gay-friendly (Mormon) Church.

The LDS would excommunicate gay people who have sex (even if legally married) the same way they would excommunicate polygamists. But if it becomes OK to be gay (and celibate) in the Church (and I think it's a good thing, because being different may hinder your eternal progression, but it does not make you evil or sinful) how come it's not OK to profess belief in Plural Marriage (without practising it)?

They do demonize polygamists, so why not gay people? I think it's because of that bad publicity from Proposition 8.

The LDS Church simply tries to rehabilitate itself with the world, be more accepted by the mainstream, maybe change some doctrines and ordinances, bla bla bla. We've seen it happen before.