It is a great paradox that the LDS Plan of Salvation, as implemented by the LDS, is a Plan for Damnation. By damnation I do not mean hell or an eternal reward in a sour place; I mean a literal damnation, in the manner by which a dam holds back a river. When I say that the LDS implement their Plan of Salvation as a Plan of Damnation, I mean that the result of their system is not so much to increase knowledge but to resist it. At death, the LDS might feel they have qualified for Godhood based upon their obedience to laws, but for most of their life their religion has not asked them to learn more, to study to become Gods or familiarize themselves with the divine, to leave this existence more prepared to become divine insofar as increased knowledge is concerned. Comparing what is in the mind of the average 80-year-old Latter-day Saint, about to pass on, to what is in the mind of God, one might feel that this existence really was only about obtaining a body and performing a few ordinances. If Godhood is merely another job in the next life wherein you follow another set of infernal rules eternally, one might question just how exciting and interesting becoming a God will be. How will the LDS obtain their God-knowledge? A massive data-dump given to those who qualify? Or is there more significance to this life than just simple rule following? Are we supposed to be learning more here than we are attempting to learn?
The LDS Plan of Salvation is really comprised of two parts; one explains the overall nature of eternal progression, the other, the specific system in use for this existence. Mormons believe that there are many other simultaneous existences, with other Gods. Presumably, they use a system such as our God has implemented to run things. (One might wonder that if we’re lucky enough to become Gods someday, will we be constrained to use this same system – which, at so many times, seems in need of improvement – or if we’ll be allowed to come up with our own system. One might hope that Godhood will provide some flexibility.)
The first part of the LDS Plan of Salvation, with which Reform Mormons tend to agree, is the concept of eternal progression; that everything has always existed, and will always exist, beyond the concept of time (“eternity,” both forwards and backwards beyond time, with no end either way.) Mormons, therefore, view their existence not as something that originated as an act of creation on God’s part, but as a continual eternal stream of events in which God has “organized” this particular part, and we are moving through that part, towards something else. This idea takes Mormonism completely outside the realms of orthodox Christianity; Reform Mormons aren’t bothered by that, but the LDS do not like to be called non-Christian.
The second part of the LDS Plan of Salvation (wherein the LDS and Reform Mormons tend to parts ways) details the nature of this present existence and the immediate next. It involves a complex system of God constructing a scenario wherein we, as beings from before, could experience certain things in life that we could not experience in our former states. Of primary importance was experiencing these things in physical bodies, and that we be forced to “forget” the whole plan, so that we could screw things up, find out how they were supposed to really work, and then straighten them out on our own. This was supposed to teach us something, and that learning process was supposed to be important. To arrange for this, God placed a “veil” of forgetfulness over our minds at the moment of birth. Therefore, this Earth is a fantasy, a giant illusion wherein something that either amuses or furthers God is being conducted; how we play out the experiment (in learning how its sopposed to really work we “learn how to learn” ) either helps God along, or amuses Him.
The entire Adam and Eve story, and the fall of Adam, thereby introducing the idea that good and evil exists and that man must learn the difference, helps explain this setup. The idea that the purpose was to learn and experience things, however, has, over time, become supplanted by the idea that the purpose is to obey laws. This change forms the first significant problem that Reform Mormons have with the LDS Plan: why would God set up an elaborate scenario wherein we are to learn things by making mistakes (“experiencing things”), only to turn around and gut the process by decreeing laws which steer man away from the very experience the whole construction was designed to induce?
God becomes increasingly irrational in the LDS plan, just like a human who is continually coming up with a new system to counteract a poorly thought out previous system. Follow this through: So, some feel that the Plan isn’t about humans learning things, but about humans being “tested,” to see if we can obey rules; learning new things is of importance insofar as it furthers our ability to increase our level of obedience. Training for Godhood, then, is about leaning how to better follow rules. God seems to like this idea, issuing rules, and emphasizing the importance of following them with the institution of a punishment to be extracted for every broken rule. (Some people feel God is constrained to do this, but in either case, the effect upon us within the scenario is the same.) However, he turns around and guts this idea, again, when he recognizes that humans will never be able to pull it off successfully (suggesting that our success rather than failure matters to God) so he gives everyone a free pass on the punishment, by saddling one person with all of the penalty for rules broken, and having that one person “pay the price” (the atonement.) In deference to this act of paying our price for rule breaking, we’re given more rules regarding the necessity of worshipping the one who atoned; breaking of these new rules is already covered by the price previously paid, as long as we follow another set of rules regarding how to invoke the previous payment (absolution) to cover the breaking of the new rules. This doesn’t quite work either, because now it’s hard to “test” people to see if they will obey (which was supposedly the whole point in this particular approach) because now people think they have a “get out of jail free” card by following the new rules and invoking the absolution, so God then sets up a system whereby those who follow this newest set of rules will ultimately receive a sort of eternal reward/punishment in the form of a permanent placement into places of glory wherein the best rule followers will be eternally served by those who didn’t follow the rules or did not fully worship the atoner; at least, at that point in time when all of the rule breaking is added up and the non-absolved penalties added up and we see who wins and who loses; all those who have invoked the absolution are OK, but those who haven’t will have to pay a price in servitude. Those who didn’t know that they needed to invoke the absolution (not knowing seen as unfair) are taken care of with proxy ordinances, and they can learn about the newest set of rules in Part Two – a fantasy to be constructed after this existence but before the ultimate due date, called the “Spirit World,” wherein everything plays out pretty much like it does here, except that some of the unfair aspects (like certain people not being aware of the rules regarding absolution) are corrected. We will all process through the whole scenario, since we’re all eternal beings. At the final moments of the plan, we’re sorted into levels based upon how well rules were followed (assuming we all understood them) and some go on to become Gods, while most others wind up anyway in a place so beautiful that, if we could see it now, we’d kill ourselves to get to it. Everyone winds up happy in the end, comparatively speaking, except a small group called the “Sons of Perdition” who murdered in this life (unless it was righteous murder) or who rejected perfect knowledge of God.
It is difficult to conceive of a perfect God contriving such an irrational plan. The whole thing smacks of human thinking and tinkering. No wonder so much of the world turns to atheism. No wonder the LDS have a 50% activity rate. It’s fine to jump into any one piece of this scheme and look around at its interesting elements, but when viewed as a whole, it seems a human contrivance. Salvation, it turns out, is still needed: we need something that will save us from this Plan!
The Reform Mormon approach is that indeed we are all “saved”; our eternal nature assures us of it: we preceded this fantasy, and we will survive it. Again, this is another idea that places us firmly outside the bounds of orthodox Christianity, and that is fine. However, unlike the LDS who believe that God’s plan is for our obedience to be tested with an elaborate system of rewards, punishments, absolutions, invocations, denials, reinstitutions and restorations, we believe that God’s plan is simply for us to learn. It is man’s agenda that we obey, and that we consider obedience to be a qualifier for Godliness; this belief makes it easier for man to govern other men. God does not need this influence over men, in as much that he is already in a “power position” over all people. We believe that it is God’s agenda for us to learn, and that he has no particular interest in our obedience; that, in fact, much learning occurs only when people are willing to disobey other people.
Your opportunity during this fantasy is to make mistakes; disobey the rules; test things, explore new ground. Your reward and punishment for these actions occurs as they play out – and not always as “justice.” God has better things to do than keep a giant tally running on you. Going off the map – past the lines – is how new things are discovered. This is how knowledge is obtained; this is training for Godhood. One can make a strong case that all new progress for humanity occurs when people break the rules and strike out into uncharted territory. Demonstrating obedience is what children must do for their parents, but when you are an adult you must learn to be fearless and strike out on your own; you must make your own way. The LDS path is to be a “Child of God,” wherein the emphasis is to learn the things that one “must do” to remain with their parent – the Reform Mormon path is a Plan for Growth from a child into an adult, and beyond, where rules are only significant from the perspective of what you can learn from them.
What a radically different approach to life than the expectation that you must follow the dictates of others who claim to have a superior connection to God than you.
This approach manifests itself in the life of a Reform Mormon as an appreciation for (and the enjoyment of) questions. The LDS often project the idea that they have an answer for everything, and this is precisely the problem – answers are too often viewed as finality, and finality misses the point of why we are here; in actuality we are not final beings, we are eternal beings. The Reform Mormon understands that behind every answer lies another question, and that it is in the process of seeking further questions and answers that knowledge is accumulated. The point is not to stop with certain answers, but to continue seeking new questions and answers. This continual seeking is divine because it is how we begin to understand the nature of eternity.
Very often people will become frustrated with this process, feeling that it is circular and that the same questions are encountered again and again. Some people think this is futile; a waste of time. They choose to remain where they are, avoiding questions, thinking that progression will happen for them instead by merely obeying laws and performing ordinances. However, those who progress up the path of continual learning recognize that the process is deliberately circular, and is an upward spiral. Knowledge is only accumulated between questions and returning to particular questions. After a while, this return to particular questions has a sort of “slingshot” effect, where the old questions, combined with recently acquired knowledge, propel the inquisitor into new areas of exploration. In this manner, old questions are not avoided as “futile” but welcomed as familiar points in the process. We call the return to these points “restoration.” When the LDS use the term “restoration” they are referring specifically to their belief in the reinstitution of the primitive Christian church upon the earth by Joseph Smith via direct revelation from God. When a Reform Mormon uses the term restoration, they are referring to a return to a familiar theological concept they have used to perform personal exploration and receive personal revelation. The LDS approach is organizational and literal; the Reform Mormon approach is personal, customized, and figurative.