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Names of people I know have been changed to respect the privacy of those involved. Unless they say it's okay, or I see elsewhere.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

My Beliefs (Parts 5 and 6)

These are the fifth and sixth questions from the Belief-O-Matic. My answers, and why I chose them, follow.

Question #5
Why is there terrible wrongdoing in the world? Choose one.

-Humans inherited sinfulness, or a damaged nature, or tendency to yield to Satan's temptations from Adam and Eve, who commited the original sin against God.
-Wrongdoing results from God-given free will plus a weak side, or a drive to satisfy personal needs, which sometimes results in wrongful choices (and/or vulnerability to Satan's temptations).
-Ignorance of one's true existence as pure spirit and as one with the Universal Truth (or soul, mind, etc.), can lead to wrongdoing.
-Not listening to the voice of God, who resides within all, can lead to wrongdoing.
-Egoism (self-importance) leads to desire, craving, and attachments, which can lead to unwholsome thoughts and behavior, i.e., greed, hate, and violence.
-No supernatural or spiritual reasons. Human nature, psychology, sociology, criminology, etc., explain wrongdoing. Or not sure. Or not important.
-None of the above.

We don't believe that it was a terrible thing for Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been able to have children, and would never know good or evil. We believe that we came here to Earth with free agency: to choose for ourselves what we'll do in life.
I can also agree with the fourth statement. While I don't necessarily believe that God Himself is in all of us, I do believe that the Holy Ghost is always with us, who is known as the spirit of God.
I also agree with the fifth statement. We know the difference between good and evil, and can choose between the two. One of the most well-known scripture in the LDS church is in the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 3:18 starts out by saying that "the natural man is an enemy to God". (In that sense, I can agree with that particular portion of the sixth option.) Even at a young age, children are greedy, they lie, steal, hurt others. If we let our negative emotions get in the way, we can choose to do wrong instead of right.
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Question #6
Satan's presence results in much suffering.
-Agree
-Disagree
-Not applicable

Admittedly, this is something I've been taught as a child, though I can't say for sure that it does, having not being in a position to personally experience it. Nevertheless, I can't help but believe that this is true.

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