Reflections on Gabriel and Moroni, and on the homosexual and the Roman Catholic Church
August 28, 2011
Continuing from the previous post.
What might be Gabriel’s motivation in tricking us?
I think it might be in causing confusion and wonderment and doubt in the world, where there ordinarily would have been crystal clarity (which would have been the case had the Gentile Christian been alive and well). But nevertheless through his trick (as is assumed for moment and sake of argument) God was able to have Gabriel end up bring peace (after a war) and holding the Arabians in check until the good news came from Paul, in a way that the Arabians could understand and recognize (the Gentile, “lawless” Christian, and our current day).
With Moroni (per Joseph Smith) it is not so clear to me. It is such an impressive story (and only recently cast in scientific doubt by DNA investigations). Is the trick here (assuming such) to give an alternative to Paul’s free man, namely in the dedication of the people to their Prophet? They become “moral” beings and do the moral because it is commanded of them. If ever an immoral command were to arise, e.g., slay innocent persons, I don’t know how they would react. I don’t know the ultimate motivation behind the faith of the Mormon. As long as they are commanded the moral or innocuous things there would be no problem anyway, but they can get ongoing revelations, sort of like the popes of the Catholic Church. So who knows what’s coming?
Paul may be close to wanting to trick us to follow the moral law (as a member of Jesus’ band). That’s his goal (in a practical sense). He doesn’t cross the line, but he shows his passion for getting people into the band of Jesus where the law of love alone is commanded of God. He certainly yearned for his fellow Jews to be converted.
And so again (and, again, I am speaking as a gentile Christian) Paul has the greatest appeal and his story seems more authentic. It is moral (as even Kant had to acknowledge), it can be experienced and personally validated (in its promise) and the promise and goal is a love of the moral law, i.e., becoming like Paul’s universal Christ.
Concerning now the Roman Catholic Church. This is a continuation and modification of Peter’s church in Jerusalem and so Roman Catholics can be considered as Jewish Christians as opposed to Paul’s Gentile Christian (described in a previous post). They, like the others, can be given instructions. Unlike the Mormons, the revelations of one pope is binding on all later ones and cannot be rescinded. The Mormon Prophet may suddenly understand that it would be expedient to have homosexuals in the church and that could be then revealed as the word of God through the Prophet. But the popes cannot do that. And they have condemned same-sex sex.
But there is one happy solution which the Catholics could pull off. Before some recent time it will be announced all same-sex sex was between two straights of the same sex and was undertaken in rebellion to the laws of nature and of morality. And that has always been rightly condemned (by Paul and the popes). But since then and in very recent times God has created the homosexual, one whose very nature is to be attracted to the same sex. And since this is obviously a miracle (and what is more queer than such an orientation, unless it be the left hander?), we are to rejoice and be exceedingly glad and welcome the homosexual into the Church for marriage.
The Church can call homosexual marriages monasteries, and use the term marriage to mean both sexes and which is ideal, all else being equal, for the raising of children. So the only distinction would be that married couples would be in the front of the adoptions line. Otherwise all couples could raise children.