So said Bill Maher in his Cleveland standup appearance last night. According to him, a happy marriage between two Mormons means they get to rule their own world in the hereafter. Dunno how much, if at all, he lied/exaggerated/distorted Mormon religious doctrine for comedic purposes. Any truth to it?
There is some truth to that statement as far as doctrine goes. It has to do with the belief that there are different levels to heaven and, of course, the really good stuff is reserved for the highest level. So, the answer to your question is maybe. I’m sure someone else will explain it.
I’ve heard similar stories in the past – that, in the highest levels of Mormon heaven, you become the ruler (deity?) of your own planet. I hadn’t heard that this was particularly reserved for couples, but my knowledge of Mormon theology is limited.
If it’s true, then whom do they rule? Unhappy Mormon couples? That can’t be fun.
From wikipedia’s article on “Degrees of Glory”:
Joseph Smith taught that the celestial kingdom itself is subdivided into three “heavens or degrees”.[9] Only those individuals who are sealed in celestial marriage to a spouse in a temple while alive (or after death by proxy) will be permitted to enter into the highest degree of celestial kingdom.[10] These individuals will eventually become “exalted”[11] and will be permitted to live “the kind of life God lives” as literal gods and goddesses, as Doctrine and Covenants 132 explains.[12] The nature of the other two degrees within the Celestial Kingdom have not been described, except to say that the people who go there will become “ministering angels”.[13]
If you follow link 12 in my previous post, you find this, from the LDS church:
**Blessings of Exaltation **
Our Heavenly Father is perfect. However, he is not jealous of his wisdom and perfection. He glories in the fact that it is possible for his children to become like him. He has said, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).
Those who receive exaltation in the celestial kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ will receive special blessings. The Lord has promised, “All things are theirs” (D&C 76:59). These are some of the blessings given to exalted people:
[ul]
[li] 1. They will live eternally in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (see D&C 76).[/li][li] 2. They will become gods.[/li][li] 3. They will have their righteous family members with them and will be able to have spirit children also. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family.[/li][li] 4. They will receive a fulness of joy.[/li][li] 5. They will have everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have—all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge. President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “The Father has promised through the Son that all that he has shall be given to those who are obedient to his commandments. They shall increase in knowledge, wisdom, and power, going from grace to grace, until the fulness of the perfect day shall burst upon them” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:36).[/li][/ul]
So I don’t see anything about a planet mentioned explicitly, but if you become a god with “all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge,” I guess you can make as many planets as you want.
Not just planets, but entire universes of their own.
I am unsure if they will have to pay a franchise fee to the God of THIS universe however, for helping them get off the ground…
One problem with LDS theology is that a lot of stuff like this is not actual “official doctrine” per se, but instead teachings that have been widely accepted, just not pronounced as Gospel.
(even in an official LDS published book like Doctrines of Salvation, quoted above, the Mormon hierarchy can always claim that it’s just the authors opinion, and not the actual word of God. Unless the living prophet says something explicitly comes from God, the LDS Church can always back away from it when it becomes politically/culturally expedient to do so)
Did you never see Battlestar Galactica?
I suppose in a polygamous marriage, all the wives get the planet along with the one husband?
Happy Mormon couples suffer the aftereffects of a genocidal attack and are forced to gather up a small band of survivors to flee a race of android-clone hybrids, occasionally getting the opportunity to enjoy the carnal pleasures of an outstandingly attractive one or one of her numerous identical duplicates?
Yes.
I didn’t see the show, but what you describe here is unofficial LDS belief. By that, I mean that you won’t find it in a recent prophet’s sermon on lds.org, but it’s discussed among the believers as if it is a certain fact. When Mormons get together as friends, the conversation occasionally turns to “when I am the god of my own planet, …” Recent LDS prophet Gordon B Hinkley repeatedly stated that it’s not current doctrine, and he said he doesn’t know if it is true.
It is impossible to identify what is “doctrine” in LDS beliefs. Mormon kids are taught that every word from every prophet and apostle is “scripture”. Then when the sermons (past and present) get criticized, the goalposts are moved such that it’s only “doctrine” if it’s in the official scripture canon. And then when official scripture becomes outdated, the goalposts are moved again such that it only counts if it agrees with what the prophets and apostles are saying today. So a concept that is in the LDS scripture canon and is in sermons by former LDS prophets and is widespread in the beliefs of Mormons today, can still be officially denied if it’s embarassing.
So…basically a cosmic ponzi scheme?
One of the things that helped bring about this idea was something called the King Follett discourse, which he gave as sort of a eulogy for King Follett, a Mormon elder who had recently died.
What happens if a Mormon marries a Scientologist?
I believe only marriages between two Mormons with temple-recommends can be eternally sealed. So, from the Mormon perspective, it wouldn’t really come up.
Bingo. I’ve always thought Mormonism and Scientology are tied for the lead in the crackpot derby. And I’ve always felt that Scientology seems vaguely derivative of Mormonism.
.
I meant the one with Dirk Benedict. No sexy cylons. But it’s well-known that it was created by Mormons and informed by the Mormon belief in a cyclical cosmos, and that God was once like us and we may, according to our level of mormonness, become like unto Gods ourselves.
Boy, he sure could talk! Could you cut and paste here whichever sentence or paragraph(s) in that support the view that happy Mormon couples get their own planet to rule in the afterlife?
Right here, or at least the doctrine grew out of it…
So the afterlife is pretty much like playing Sim City?