God's Unwanted Puppy

The Mormon view of human wordly existence is like being God's unwanted puppy.

God sent us to this world, erased our memory, gave us instincts and desires, and then told us (through those infallible beacons of virtue, His Prophets) that those same desires are carnal and against God's plan.  We need to find our way back home!

First we need to realize and figure out that we used to live with God, that He sent us here, and that we need to get back.  This is The Plan.  Then we need to realize that in our natural state (how God made us) we are evil.  This is The Shame.  When The Shame motivates us to follow The Plan, if we are extremely obedient to the servants of God, after a life of toil and hard work, we can finally make our way back to God's presence, where we have to prove to Him, by showing sacred tokens and pass-phrases, that we are worthy of His love and deserve a place with Him.

Is it just me who sees this as God taking an unwanted puppy out to the countryside, putting us in a box by the side of the road, and then leaving to go back home?  Like the plot of a Disney animated "Classic," we will go through a series of adventures, until we haul our plucky selves back home, to be welcomed by God's Son, who is crying with tears of joy that we made it back.

I think I'd rather go explore the world than waste my life trying to go back home to someone who abandoned me in the first place.

Comments

[GDTeacher]

This is so interesting. How do we become so entrenched in mythology and thinking patterns that we cannot use our reason, intellect, and sensibilities to understand the world around us? How long does it take a dispassionate, independent, truth-seeking individual to see through the extraordinarily low probability scenario portrayed by the LDS church as THE TRUTH? Most people would dismiss it after a very short review of the fantastic foundational events. Man, maybe I am one of God's unwanted puppies. If you look at the supposed reward for righteousness, it seems to be relatively undesirable, and yet I am male. It's got to be that much worse for the women. Thanks for the thoughtful post Domo.

[Hellmut Lotz]

It feels like "The Plan" addresses the issues of the human condition by appealing to the authority of a divine being. That's why the contrradictions emerge because the story tellers never cared all that much about God in the first place. He is only a supporting actor in the human drama and serves the purposes of the narrator.

[Cynthia]

Ummm... well I was going to point out that if you think a male in the church has it hard ... be a "mother in Zion." I realized that life as a Mormon woman in heaven would be hell... ;-)

[-Domokun-]

Cynthia, please see my earlier post, "My Mormon Map" where I address your concern a little more than in this post.

[-Domokun-]

Oops, I tried to post a link, but it was stripped out. It's in the March 2006 archive.