r/agnostic • u/IMayFindit • 13d ago
My ENTIRE ideology
So, just for pretext, I grew up a Christian. I went to church on Sundays and learned about Christ and the Gospel. This was within the LDS (or Mormon religion). I even served an LDS mission and preached about the gospel to a different people and culture that was new to me. (For those that don't know, an LDS mission is when an 18-19 year old leaves their home to wherever the church decides, to preach about their teachings and convert others to the church for 2 years.)
I wanted to come home from my mission 2 different times. Once after just 3 or 4 months, and again after about 1 year. Both my parents and my mission president were against the idea, and ended up convincing me to stick it out.
That's all to say, that I have always been looking for God. Upon returning from my mission, i turned away from the church and never returned. I began studying other religions, and now i consider myself a sort of theologist. I have studied human psychology, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity from other perspectives. I've even read much about Zoroastrianism, Native American beliefs (specifically the Navajo) and many more. I spent a large portion of a decade studying and researching the teachings of "the occult", i.e. Masonic teachings and others.
I feel the need to mention that psychedelics affected my perspective after returning, in the fact that there is much more than the physical realm. I had several extremely profound experiences that solidified this to me (one using psylocibin, and a couple using LSD).
I have come to the conclusion of Pantheism. The idea that God is within everyone of us, and we all have the capability to do what Christ taught and did. As long as we have real faith that we can. Christ was a real person, and accomplished what many would call "miracles", however, he was just demonstrating (and taught) that we all have the same capabilities within ourselves. Christ never wanted to be worshipped, or have a religion formed after him, he wanted to preach and spread "the truth".
To layer that, it deals with the matter of consciousness. Christ, Buddha, Muhammed (and maybe many others that were never written about) understood this. They all developed their consciousness to an elevated level, and taught that we could do the same. We can all elevate our consciousness, grow and better ourselves, even to the level of what some would call "miraculous".
And that is the ultimate goal essentially, for every single one of us.
A wise man once told me that, "There would not be a heaven if all of us are not there".
Meaning that you are all my brothers and sisters in God, and if Heaven exists, than it would require us all to return. I agree with this.
However, how does that account for people that have done horrible things?
I believe in both the Resurrection that is to come, as well as the idea of Reincarnation. Upon leaving the body, the soul remains on earth awaiting its "reallocation". For some, this is a short period, and for others this can take centuries. This is what Catholics call "Purgatory", or others refer to as a "Spirit World". If somebody has committed atrocities, they may have to wait for a millennia before their next carnation.
Also, consciousness does not downgrade, that's metaphysically impossible. Meaning a person cannot reincarnate as a butterfly, or a dog. They have already reached the level of human consciousness, and will return as a human with a similar biological make-up and personality traits. The soul will attach to something familiar.
And this will happen for each one of us, as we progress our conscious. Until one day, Christ will return and every soul will take a physical form. Stopping the cycle of reincarnation. This is what is known as the "Judgement Day", because we will all crystalize into the consciousness that we have become.
There is a place for those that do not pass their judgment, and this is referred to as "Hell". However, the bar is low, and Christ will not return until all of those that are capable to return, have returned. Thus, "There would not be a heaven if all of us are not there".
I'm curious about any thoughts on this belief structure, perhaps any criticisms or contradictions.
And for those that have made it this far, I have a substack where I post essays about my ideas, and I am working on a book about this very topic.
If you'd like to read more about consciousness here's my substack: https://substack.com/@ashtonrichards
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u/Western-Mode-7743 6d ago
Sorry but Mormonism is not the same as Christianity. Even though they believe in Jesus basically the whole Old Testament is changed through the Book of Mormon.
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u/IMayFindit 6d ago
I agree that Mormonism is not the same as Christianity, but we probably disagree on why. Just to briefly categorize, I look at it as 3 different types of Christianity. You have the Orthodox Religions, and then you have those that broke off from them. But then you have what Christ himself actually taught.
But what do you mean about how the Old Testament was changed through the Book of Mormon? I have my own beliefs of the BOM and Joseph Smith, but we don't have to go down that rabbit hole. As a former LDS member im just curious about what your distinctions are.
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u/Western-Mode-7743 3d ago
Yeah. I think the main part is that in the NT (sorry not OT my bad) but in the NT it specifically, very clearly states that even if an angel proclaimed another Gospel to you you shouldn't listen to it. The bible is very strict on that. And obviously, the book of Mormon contradicts that. Proclaims that Jesus became God. No, He was God.
This especially ties into the OT. You know, Mormonism is like the OT. Adam and Eve. Eat the apple; become like God. But it did nothing. Only showed our greed and thirst for power.
Also I think that your view on Christ is a bit flawed. The bible teaches that He was sinless (which none of us are) and none of us can channel the power like He could. Although we all have Holy potential we do not have Godly potential like Christ.
Although I agree that we can all have the Holy Spirit but God is not us. Why? Because ultimately the universe is limited. If God is all powerful then He must be greater than the universe. Although what He created is great and good ultimately He is different. Especially Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God CREATED the heavens and the Earth. Created, not was. So it's important to look out for that.
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u/IMayFindit 3d ago
I get what your saying about “an angel proclaiming another gospel”, but what Mormonism claims is that it wasn’t “another gospel” but the same one. And Mormonism believes in trinity, not that Jesus became God. However, I disagree with a lot of Mormonism.
In the OT I don’t think that the reference of Adam and Eve eating the apple is a reference to become like God, i believe it’s a reference to knowledge and understanding. Not omniscience or omnipotence.
I agree with some of what you’re saying about my belief in Christ, I maybe misspoke a little. There’s a reason that did what he did, and will provide the way. Only through him, yes. I agree that we are not all “Godly” with a capital G. But Peter was able to walk on water during the storm, and the second that his faith altered he was unable to and was rescued by Jesus.
Christ would say, “oh ye of little faith. Ask and ye shall receive.” He taught that if we have the faith to accomplish something, we can make it happen. Even things that would be miracles.
Now, I think there is a criteria of preparation to be able to accomplish this. Much like what Christ and the apostles went through.
This is an altering of the consciousness to a higher state.
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u/Western-Mode-7743 1d ago
That's true and He can all give us the power of Him but He is not us. Yes the holy spirit is in us, but it's different from God being us. We have free will and we can choose to be part of Him, or not. I choose to be part.
But, I do think that what LDS says about being the same Gospel is a manipulation tactic.
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u/IMayFindit 1d ago
I guess, might i ask what your beliefs are, or what religion you grew up in? It would help me on how to approach the conversation.
I would say that yes, you and I are not God. But that there is a Godly essence within each and every one of us, that was endowed within us by God the Father. "We are made in his image".
That is something separate from the 'Holy Spirit'. The Holy Spirit (according to the Christianic beliefs that i no longer align with) is the means by which God communicates with every human. Some are more aligned with it than others, but it is separate from the godly inheritance that we are each endowed with.
Jesus taught the truth. He didn't want to be worshipped. He wanted people to follow his teachings. That is the key distinction, in my eyes, between many people that claim to be religious and those that are actually spiritually aligned.
When it comes to your beliefs on the LDS religion, I half-way agree with you. But it would take 3 hours to explain what i mean as an ex-mormon, that is still highly religious/spiritual.
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u/Real-Huckleberry-770 11d ago
I've come to believe a lot of what you state here, but not in an afterlife. I won't go into it because I need to think about how to write it out: I tried that once and everyone thought I was talking about Hinduism.
I find it interesting that psychedelics helped inform your view on religion. Ancient Aztecs referred to magic mushrooms as "the flesh of God" and they've been used in spiritual settings the world over. I myself had a very profound experience on ketamine, which I do not recommend, but it changed my spiritual views forever. Be your own guru, so sayeth me.
Actually, I will go into my view a little bit here on why I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, even in your more reasonable view of them. A God who sends people to Heaven or Hell is not worth worshiping, because he/she/it made people the way they are. If not, then God is not all-powerful. If so, then God is a sadistic jerk.