Another Question For Mormon (LDS) Religion?

Question

its taught in the mormon (LDS) religion that god has already planned our life for us ahead of time, and already knows how our life will be played out or lived...basicly pre-destined..

If this is true, then is HE going to be mad if you kill someone HE knows is going to be the next hitler and kill thousands? Or will your actions be justified for killing him eventhough you may have not known he was going to be the next hitler eventhough GOD does cause according to mormon religion our life is already planned out for us?

your basicly doing god a favor by saving thousands of other innocent people from the next hitler eventhough you didnt know he was going to be the next hitler in his pre-destined life.. eventhough god knew he was going to be the next hitler.

Answer 1

What you're refering to is what thos of us in the LDS Church refer to as pre-ordination. It's different than pre-destination in that certain promised things will occur only if we are obedient to God's commandments (as compared to pre-destination, which means something will happen no matter what we do). We believe that there are certain specific things God promised each and every one of us before we entered mortality (as we lived with Him as spirits prior to being born into this world), and we may learn of some of those things by receiving what's called a Patriarchal Blessing, given to us by a local priesthood holder called a Patriarch (the blessing is usually given during the recipient's teenage years, though that's not mandatory by any means); we will also lose those blessing if we're not obedient.

As for killing, LDS doctrine teaches that there are two unforgivable sins - denying the Holy Ghost (also refered to in the Bible as speaking blasphemy against the Holy Ghost) and the shedding of innocent blood (you can't be forgiven for that because part of the repentance process is providing restoration where cercumstances permit, and since you under your own power can never give someone's life back to them once you've taken it...). (There are certain types of killings which aren't considered shedding innocent blood - accidental, self-defense, and during war - in which case the blood would be on the heads of the leaders if it's not a richteous war - being some of the more oft-cited examples.) When someone dies really is something that God wishes to have be His decision and His alone, which is why we have the commandment of "Thou shalt not kill."

However, having said that, there are times in which God instructs people to serve as the instrument by which specific people die (which is why, in, for example, the Israelites could go into battle after their exodus from Egypt and kill the people in the area of Palestine, or David slaying Goliath, and not have committed sin). But the thing to remember with those is that they were acting under direction from God to do so (i.e. God decided when, where, and how Goliath would die, and used David as the means by which that would happen, instead of simply having Goliath drop dead from a heart attack). But knowingly killing without permission from God is what constitutes the sin, even if the person you're killing might have done many horrible things to other people by being allowed to live beyond the point at which you would have killed them.

While you might think that you'd be doing a favor for God by taking out someone before they do something bad, that's not always working within God's plans, as He may have something else in mind that couldn't be accomplished by killing that person sooner rather than later (again with the David/Goliath example - it might have been David's killing of Goliath that made it possible to rally the forces of Israel to victory against the Philistines and made it possible for David to be accepted by the people of Israel as king, things which might not have happened if someone else had killed Goliath years prior to that fateful encounter).

Answer 2

Question for you - do you really believe your life is pre-destined?

I'll play devil's advocate again and try to answer your question:

Doesn't the Mormon (LDS) religion also teach that killing is a sin? If HE thought someone was the next Hitler, why wouldn't HE take care of it himself? Okay, sorry... I was supposed to answer instead of question.

I think that if you killed someone without YOU knowing he was going to be the next Hitler, yeah... you'd be in the wrong. It's all about intention, I think. I think that's how God should judge (if there is one), but I see your point. If you killed someone for whatever reason and God knows your life before you do - it's all pre-destined - well then God's the real killer, now isn't he? He could have stopped you, right?

See, I just can't buy into all of this. It makes no sense to me. These religious teachings make no sense to me. If your life is pre-destined, who deems it so? Does God lay out all the plans for your life? If not, who else? If so, he's the real killer. But that's where I have the real problem. It's a cop-out. Take responsibility for your own actions. If God layed out the plans, he's the killer. If he knew in advance of the plans and did nothing to intervene when he could, he's the killer. If he can't intervene, how powerful is he really? And it all comes back to, who layed the plans? Who decided that Bob is going to kill Joe? Who did that? If our lives are predestined and we believe in God, wouldn't he be the only one capable of laying those plans? That's why I think it's bogus. We have free will. If you kill a man, it's your fault... you took the action of your own accord. But heck, that's just what I think.

Answer 3

I'm LDS... it is not taught in our religion that our lives are pre-destined or pre-determined.

I think the only time it would be OK with God to kill someone like that is if God told you directly and you had better be darn sure that's what He wants or you'll be in big trouble.

Have a great day! :)

Answer 4

Mormon history is fraught with blood oaths, tit for tat killings, a couple of massacres (on both sides), and of course, the Danite legacy of murder. But, that was the old and not so old west; Tuscon has a bloodier history.

Recently the 'slitting of the throat' was removed from the temple ordinance, so god must be lightening up a little on the death thing. Brigham Young had plenty to say about the conditions that the church could 'dispatch you to the promised land" in the Journal of Discourses regarding the Blood Atonement. Also, marrying "negroes" was an unpardonable sin, and the only way to rectify that was to kill both parties.
This lead to the pleasant little excuse from the GAs that the words of the current profit supersede words of the dead ones.

Only they know which statements are true and correct as far as they are translated correctly.

Answer 5

What you are asking about is called situational ethics. You feel that it is right to kill if that person would be the next Hitler, but not if they would be Mother Theresa. Why not leave this up to God? Doesn't He have a better set of rules to gauge how things should be? What about the parable of the wheat and the tares? How does that fit with this situation?

Answer 6

Hmmm...interesting question. Though I do not think God "accepts" murder, there have been times in history that some of his prophets have taken life, but at his command. Like Nephi was commanded to slay Laban so he could obtain the plates of their history...I think the Lord has "allowances" I guess if it is his will and he commands it. I don't think a person could justly say "well this person is bad so I am going to kill them" and also there of course are some crazies out there who say "God told me to do it"...so who knows. I just have faith and comfort that one day we will all be judged according to our actions so I want to live my life in such a way that would be pleasing unto God.
Thanks for asking...
Also, I don't think God has our life "planned" out for us - that would take away our free will - but I do believe he can see the end from the beginning.

Answer 7

As I said in your other question, it's not pre-determined. We make our decisions, and he knows what will happen to us based on our decisions. The pre-destined part is more if x, then y... if z, then q... you choose one thing, and he has determined the consequence. at which time you will have more choices.

secondly, in the same breath, the guy who was "going" to be the next hitler, would have had the opportunity to CHOOSE his decision, whether he decided to end up being the next Hitler or the next Liviu Lebrescu (the guy who ended up being shot saving his students in the Va Tech shooting).

It's not pre-destined... We make our choices.

Answer 8

I'm Christian, but this is also a Biblical doctrine.

Yes. God will be mad if you kill someone he knows is going to die. God's knowledge doesn't make you any less responsible. God gave us free will for a reason. Doesn't matter how horrible the person is, you're still responsible for your actions. God doesn't need people to do him favors.

Answer 9

Ok, look, this is my opinion. If God did indeed already plan our lives (God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven) then why would God put it in his plan to create a killer? He would have created us, as he created the earth-7 days, trees, plants, animals, and clean, nice people that didn't kill. (Adam and Eve) So, why would God create for us a beautiful earth only to litter it with bad people?

So, I believe that God, yes indeed can be angry (as he is capable of human emotions, as are we) because WE have chosen the bad; I do not believe that God chose the bad for us. We chose to do wrong-FREE CHOICE!

But, does God punish us, or do we punish ourselves?

Answer 10

It is something we can never fully understand completly. Some things we are just not supossed to know. We cant know everything. We do have the choice to choose. I guess God just knows the future. Some things are meant to happen but not everything. Not everything is pre-planned

Also, before you were even born, He could know what your choices will be in the future and may tell you before you are born therefore I guess its preplanned... lol...