What a Faulty Flux Capacitor has to do with Polygamy, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and Blood Atonement

Greetings to you all.  Thank you for being at one with this blog and choosing to read.  Thank you for your comments and e-mails.  May peace and joy fill your life.

I seem to be on a roll with 80's movies.  (Am I betraying my age?) So why stop now?

For many Nicodemus Mormons and uber literalists, as well as anti-mormons, the Restoration of the Gospel began with Joseph Smith.  This is not entirely true.  God sends new messengers to a people who yearn for their message.  This fits the pattern described in the unrighteous judge parable taught by Jesus (Luke 18: 1-6).  Eventually the Lord hears the cries of his people and gives them what they truly desire the most.  Often, most people are not conscious of what they truly desire.  (Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.)  Joseph would not have ushered in the Restoration without a people searching for and prepared for such a message. 

Many members of the church think that the church is a top down hierarchy.  It is easy to see it that way.  However, this top down concept does not completely align with the scriptures.  When the children of Israel wanted a King, did they get what they wanted eventually?  Was the prophet Samuel in charge or the people?  It is Samuel who then enforces God's will which was triggered by the collective desires of the people.  Thus the Restoration occurred according to the desires of the people.  The people of Joseph Smith's day desired to go back to a time when there were Apostles and Prophets as in the primitive Christian church.  My guess is that this was yearned for even before Joseph was born.

In the Back to the Future movies, Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel back in time using a DeLorean DMC-12.  The flux capacitor within the vehicle is what made time travel possible.  At the end of Back to the Future Part II the DeLorean is struck by lightening and the flux capacitor's time settings malfunction and Doc Brown is sent further back in time to 1885 instead of 1985.

Like Doc Brown in the movies, who woke up from a stupor and was subsequently inspired to develop the key to time travel, I too woke up from a stupor after hitting my head on the uber literalist/Nicodemus bathtub so to speak.  What I discovered is an internal flux capacitor that takes me where I want to go.  For the people of Joseph Smith's day, they wanted a restoration of primitive Christianity.  They wanted new scripture and a return of the spiritual gifts of that time.  Their hearts were counter to the prevailing notions of the period that God had already spoken through the Bible and the cannon was now closed and that the spiritual gifts associated with the early Apostles had come to an end.  Thus, their collective flux capacitor took them to where they needed to go.

What they did not count on is that their "flux capacitor would malfunction" and they would find themselves going further back in time beyond the early Christian church and back to the Telestial world of the law and the prophets.  As a consequence they went deeper into a pseudo-mosaic law world dominated by an all or nothing mindset.  This can be seen in many ways:

1.  The church moves westward.  West is usually symbolic of moving towards death, the physical rather than the spiritual, and deeper materialism and literalism.  There continued to be a deeper partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is symbolic of seeing all things as entirely good or evil.  West is considered to be on the left hand of God and further away from light and truth.

2.  The temples, women, and scripture.  The Kirtland temple was built of simple materials compared to Nauvoo and Salt Lake and the top floor was the school of the prophets where the Lectures on Faith were discussed.  The washing of feet was conducted which is a symbol of unity and leaders as servants.  There is some evidence that women were permitted to use their spiritual gifts in a greater fullness at this time, including the laying on of hands for healing.  The spiritual manifestations associated with the Kirtland Temple are well documented and appear to occur with the broad membership of the church as a whole.  The Nauvoo Temple is a more complex building made of more elaborate materials than Kirtland.  A new endowment was given that is a complicated symbolic parable with signs, tokens, and covenants.  The Book of Commandments or Doctrine and Covenants has reached its fullness and is becoming a new Torah for modern Israel.  The Relief Society is formed as a separate women's organization but there continues to be some evidence that the women were on track to receive the priesthood or at least a copy of its structure.  The Salt Lake Temple takes 40 years (time of preparation and cleansing in the wilderness) to complete and is made out of granite (suggesting hard, inflexible and unchanging literalness).  The new endowment is now secured and viewed in an increasingly literal perspective (as evidenced by the literal Adam worship of many fundamentalist sects) and an oath of vengeance is also added by Brigham Young.  Women are further separated from the men and equality between men and women continues to erode over time.  The words of the living prophet and the living prophet himself becomes supreme and there is less and less need to add to the D&C due to the use of church policy as the main means of governing the church.  The church as a whole giving common consent to policy and doctrine continues to be eroded.  Eventually the Lectures on Faith that were developed in Kirtland are removed from the Doctrine and Covenants because the Brethren are concerned that it does not fit with the materialist view of the separated and distinct Godhead.  All of this suggests a faulty flux capacitor that takes the people further back than they originally intended.

3.  The Exodus.  The Exodus from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake valley is a major symbolic parallel that modern Israel has been restored and the saints will be living something akin to an Old Testament lifestyle.  They will inhabit a desert land next to a dead sea.  The parallels are amazing and beyond comprehension but they are not necessarily flattering as many members of the church even today believe.  They not only have travelled westward but they are travelling back in time to the Old Testament.

4.  Polygamy.  Joseph Smith begins polygamy early in the church's history in Kirtland.  Polygamy accelerates in Nauvoo and reaches its zenith in the Salt Lake valley.  Polygamy is central in the Old Testament and a sign that the early saints went too far back.

5.  Blood Atonement.  Blood Atonement was a doctrine that developed in the Salt Lake Valley by Brigham Young.  The doctrine's premise was that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was not sufficient for forgiveness of certain sins such as murder.  Therefore, the blood of the individual committing these sins would need to be spilled in order to achieve full forgiveness.  Blood Atonement was not enforced except for capital crimes such as murder.  In many ways, it is a parallel to the harsh mosaic law where stoning was the method used to spill blood.  It suggests a view that Jesus Christ was not sufficient and the Atonement was more finite rather than infinite and all-encompassing.  A firing squad was typically used and interestingly, is still to this day a valid option for capital punishment in Utah.  Today only Mormon Fundamentalist sects consider blood atonement to be a valid doctrine.  The Blood Atonement concept clearly shows that we as a people went too far back in time to the point that even Jesus Christ's atonement began to fade and become less central.  Very Old Testament.

6.  Race.  There is extensive evidence that Joseph Smith ordained black men to the priesthood.  However, after Joseph's death, racist views and policies began to escalate.  This is a major symbol of fragmentation and disunity.  Not only were black men banned from having the priesthood but other racist philosophies that early church leaders and members brought with them from their prior religious and cultural traditions were allowed to contaminate the church.  This parallels the Old Testament themes of tribalism and is counter-parallel to Jesus Christ and New Testament doctrines of unity and that God is no respecter of persons.  (Although even in New Testament times Jesus forbade the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles until after his death).

7.  Mountain Meadows Massacre.  Probably one of the most disturbing and tragic events in Mormon history was when members of the church utterly destroyed (except for a dozen or so children) a wagon party coming from Arkansas passing through southern Utah on their way to California.  This holocaust far surpasses any crimes committed against the early members of the church in its scopre, brutality and savagery.  It truly is of Old Testament proportions and is reminiscent of Joshua receiving the command to "utterly destroy" the Canaanites or Simeon and Levi's killing spree after the rape of their sister Dinah.  This, in my opinion, was one of the darkest moments in church history and the pinnacle of our Old Testament journey.  We as a people have been trying to make our way back, more or less, ever since. 

Collectively, we simply went too far back in time and as a consequence we still continue to struggle in our journey to leave a harsh, Old Testament world of the law and the prophets.  The good news in all of this is that we can learn from history.  We know that the hearts and desires of the people are heard by God and if we choose to align our internal flux capacitors to a millennial destination we can avoid the mistakes of the past.  As you can see, there is a lot riding on the decisions you make.  May you be conscious of your heart and may it align to noble and peaceful principles that will first create an internal millennium within yourself, and then the church, and finally a millennial world.  May you fall in your bathroom and knock your head on the bathtub, only to wake up with inspiration concerning your own internal flux capacitor and take your DeLorean for a conscious spin!  It is time to wake up!  God will respond to our collective desires and tell His secret to the Apostles and Prophets.  The church is a mirror of where our collective desires are right now.

Peace and blessings to you my friends.  May your flux capacitor never fail to take you to where you truly want to be.  Become, remain, and expand your consciousness.  Remember who you are!  Thank you for using this website as a "Mr. Fusion" to assist you in generating the 1.21 gigawatts of power needed to operate your flux capacitor within your amazing DeLorean body.  May you have a wonderful journey and remember:  "Roads?  Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

Giving the Finger

Peace be with you my friends.  Peace be with you this very moment.

I had the opportunity to watch the movie Willow a few weeks ago.  It never ceases to amaze me and create wonder and awe that as I move to new levels of spiritual growth that old things become new.  I love this scripture in the Book of Mormon:  "And it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he perceived that there were some among them who marveled, and wondered what he would concerning the law of Moses; for they understood not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new. And he said unto them: Marvel not that I said unto you that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new" (3Nephi 15:2-3).  The Apostle Paul spoke well when he said:  "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God" (2Corinthians 5:16-18).  This was true when I watched Willow again for the "first time" since I began taking my Millennial Mormon journey.

As you may recall, the High Aldwin is seeking a new apprentice.  There are three candidates and Willow is among them.  The test the High Aldwin gives is that he holds up three fingers and asks "which finger has the power to control the universe?"  The candidates, including Willow, choose one of the High Aldwin's fingers.  Willow being the last to choose fails the test along with the others.  Later, the High Aldwin asks him what was going through his mind before he chose.  Willow tells him his first thought was to choose HIS OWN FINGER.  The High Aldwin then tells Willow that this was the correct answer and that Willow lacks confidence in himself.

This theme is particularly familiar to Millennial Mormons who are moving beyond living externally and are now living more internally and consciously.  They are filled with more awareness of their ability to create or "control the universe" and the consequences of this agency.  They know that God will not give them this understanding until they are ready.  Line upon line.  Precept upon precept.

Few will recognize how this theme in Willow parallels the endowment in many ways.  In the endowment we undergo a series of tests that we fail (to understand) up until "the very end".  The uber literalist or carnal man/woman will see the endowment as a series of tests that he or she passes and will congratulate himself or herself for having all "the keywords, the signs and tokens" recited correctly.  Like Willow, we may lack confidence in ourselves because we have forgotten who we are.  As a result, we will desperately search for messengers to show us what we are to do.  However, we will never be able to "take upon ourselves" an apprenticeship with the High Aldwin until we have confidence in ourselves and choose our own finger so to speak.  Natural men and women wandering in the Telestial wilderness will continue to wander until they are ready for the next step in their spiritual journey to enter an internal promised land.

It is also interesting to note that the High Aldwin has a ritual that is called "consulting the bones".  As he consults the bones, he whispers to Willow that the "bones tell him nothing."  The bones do serve a purpose however, but to the uninitiated the bones mean something different.   The bones to the uninitiated are more literal rather than spiritual or symbolic.  The uninitiated do not know or understand the true purpose of the bones and therefore will "praise the bones."  Let those who have ears, let them hear.

The High Aldwin is wise and can perform miraculous things that few understand how to do.  He is caring and compassionate.  In the end, Willow goes on a long and dynamic quest and eventually finds his own confidence and becomes like the High Aldwin.

I love this movie but now that I see it with millennial eyes, I love it even more.

I hope you find old things that have become new to you in your millennial journey.  Please feel free to share them in your comments or email me at millennialmormon@gmail.com. 

Peace be with you my friends.  Now and forever.

Q & A with the "perfected" Millennial Mormon

I'd like to spend a few minutes responding to some questions about this blog and about myself.

Q:  Why is the blog called "Millennial Mormonism Today" when you don't write everyday?
A:  There are multiple reasons for this.  As you press forward in your millennial journey to rediscover who you are, what you will find is that you are more mindful about today and this very moment than you are about the past or the future.  It is a hellish, Telestial, natural man/woman mindset that worries and perseverates about the future (or the past).  Jesus the Christ said:  "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34).  This is repeated in the Savior's sermon at the temple to the Nephites and in D&C 84:81-84.  The natural woman or man finds this to be a hard saying.  Who can hear it?!

Q:  Are you an apostate or excommunicated member of the church?
A:  No.  I actually hold a current temple recommend and love the church.  The church, the apostles and prophets and the temple have brought me out of the world and into the wilderness.  Jesus Christ is bringing me into the promised land.

Q:  So you don't follow the prophet?
A:  The scriptures, the laws and ordinances, the temple, the apostles and prophets (dead and living) and indeed "all things" are types and shadows of Jesus Christ (see 2 Nephi 11:4).  The apostles and prophets are special witnesses of Jesus Christ and point to him as the means and example of perfection (becoming whole, holy or complete).  The natural woman or man worships the types and shadows.  They spend most of their energy focusing on the external symbols.  A millennial mormon is more concerned with the meaning behind the type and the internal application for him or herself.  For every external type, there is a corresponding internal meaning that leads to perfection.  Thus there are external apostles and prophets and internal apostles and prophets.  There is an external temple and there is the internal temple.  There are external ordinances and internal ordinances.  It is not that the external is meaningless or of no value.  They are very valuable clues that lead us in the right direction.  But they are not ends of themselves.  Once the meaning and focus is directed to the internal, peace, joy and happiness are found.  If you are from Utah, I'm sure you are familiar with the song Jerusalem by Alphaville.  There is a profound line in that song that corresponds to my answer.  "Chasing shadows (types) leaves you feelin' blue, this situation needs a cure . . ."

Q:  So why do you stay in the church?
A:  The church continues to be a beautiful and wonderful place to work out my salvation.  God speaks to us in our own language as you well know.  The language and learning of my "fathers" (in this case the church) is helpful for me to know where I am in my internal millennial journey.  The church is the faith and tradition of my fathers and mothers.  I have friends and family there.  The dogma, doctrines, policies, rules, standards etc. are types and shadows.  I don't spend a lot of time focusing on the external.  It is the internal that counts more for me at this stage in my journey.  If I were to attend another church I would need to learn a whole new language and the message would be the same for me anyways.

Q:  Are you a "New Order Mormon"?
A:  No.  Although there is certainly significant overlap.  The difference as I see it is that Millennial Mormons tend to "believe all things" because all things are types and shadows.  I would let New Order Mormons speak for themselves on how they would like to be defined.  I do like the band New Order though.

Q:  Why do you talk about the temple?  Don't you know it's sacred?  You're not supposed to use the temple's words in common speech.
A:  The temple is one of the most profound ways we come to know Truth.  As we know, the temple is saturated with symbolism.  The entire temple endowment, past and present has been published for quite some time.  It truly is not a secret.  There are many phrases from the temple that we use in common church dialogue.  One example is the phrase:  "return and report" which is used frequently outside the temple.  I do not claim that how I see the symbolism of the temple is the correct way.  I don't speak for the church.  I am not President Monson.  I alone am responsible for what I say and believe.  It is merely my opinion.  This is as it should be.  The Brethren are correct in promoting the sacredness of temple.  On a Telestial level, this is very appropriate.  There should not be one correct interpretation of the temple's symbols.  What is sacred is the subjective internal meaning translated from those symbols for the individual.  The Internet is a miraculous thing.  It is a great symbol in and of itself of oneness and unity.  I see you the reader of this blog as one with me rather than separate.  The Telestial world is about seeing things and people, including God, as separate, whereas in millennial thought, the emphasis is placed more on oneness and unity.  Therefore the meaning of how something is sacred and when, how and where, sacred things can be expressed depends upon your mindset.

Q:  Do you believe in the literal historicity of the Book of Mormon?  What about DNA studies, etc.?
A:  For me the value of the Book of Mormon is not so much in what aspects are literal and what aspects are symbolic.  There are legion opinions about that.  As I have said before, for me, everything is a type and shadow.  Which is more important, the mirror and the reflection, or the actual person it is reflecting?  Nicodemus Mormons focus on the mirror and the reflection.  Millennial Mormons are more interested in the actual person.  It is not that the mirror or the reflection isn't valuable.  It is.  But once you are familiar with what is being reflected back, it becomes less necessary to look into it.  The Book of Mormon is a mirror and it is about you!  You are the golden plates that have been hidden (deep in the mountain side) and are now coming forth.  You are being translated correctly and published to the world.  You are the most correct book on earth.  The Nephite and Lamanite wars within you are coming to a close as Christ comes.  You are the temple in Bountiful where Christ visits.  This is what is important from my perspective.  I still get curious about if the Nephites actually existed and where they lived.  I'll smile if they ever find ancient horse bones, an "I Nephi" inscription or Middle Eastern DNA in Native Americans.  But if they don't, then it won't change the incredible meaning and peace I have found through the symbolism of the Book of Mormon.  God brought the book forth not as a history lesson but to change your life and help you to remember who you are.  The curse has not yet been lifted on the church for treating lightly the sacredness of the Book of Mormon (see D&C 84:54-57).  I sometimes wonder if we are seeing that played out now because in times past we have focused so much on the historicity and searching for an epic and romanticized perspective on the book rather than recognizing how the book applies to us individually, spiritually and internally.  You can lift the curse for yourself, and eventually it will come to pass that the curse will be lifted on the whole church collectively.

Q:  What is a Nicodemus Mormon and why do you hate them?
A:  A Nicodemus Mormon is a member of the church who is in the Telestial phase of their spiritual journey towards becoming perfected or whole (holy) and complete.  They tend to center their focus and lives on the law and the prophets.  They are akin to scribes and Pharisees.  They are named after Nicodemus, a Pharisee in the New Testament, who initially took what Jesus was saying as literal and at face value.  They tend to be uber literalists.  They tend to focus on the physical/material world and make judgements from that perspective.  I use the name "Nicodemus" (see John 3:1-9) to describe a stage in my life because he was an open minded Pharisee who became converted to the gospel and began following Jesus.  Therefore, Nicodemus Mormon is not a pejorative so much as an identifier of where one is at in their journey.  I was once a Nicodemus Mormon but now that phase of my journey is fading away as I continue to rediscover who I am.  I may sound a little harsh with them sometimes but that is consistent with the example of Jesus.  His most direct criticisms went to the scribes and Pharisees.  He was kind and merciful to sinners and prostitutes who wanted to change their lives.  This seems to me to be a mirror as to what style a person wants and needs to help them to move forward.  Some need kindness and mercy and some need something a little stronger.  I do not hate anybody.  I especially recognize the difficulty of moving beyond the Telestial.  I know it is not easy and I love those who are making the journey as well as those who choose not to in this life.

Q:  Why do you believe that we can become perfected in this life?
A:  It depends on what you mean by perfected.  I use the terms whole or complete as a way to describe a fullness of the triune nature of the soul.  The soul is made up of three parts.  Intelligence (Divine Nature), Spirit, and Body.  Intelligence is co-eternal and cannot be created or destroyed.  When all three parts are functioning in harmony and unison then a soul is said to be perfect.  Our Heavenly Father has a perfect triune soul.  Jesus Christ has a perfect triune soul.  The natural man makes a superficial judgement about perfect and tends to only look at the physical or superficial, and is concerned with rules, commandments, traditions and laws.  A millennial perspective is more interested in internal process and interaction between the three parts and how they become one.  There are many scriptures about finding this perfected process in this life.  In Matthew 5:48 Jesus commands men "to be" perfect not to "become" perfect.  It is present tense.  It is about what is going on right now inside of you.  Another scripture is in 2Peter 1:10 where Peter says we should be diligent in making our calling and election sure.  Most members of the church see this concept as something out of reach for them when it is clearly applicable to all of us.  It is meant to be in this life.  In Moroni 7:3 the prophet Mormon speaks about entering into the "rest of the Lord" in this life before our body dies!  Many members of the church are in anything but a restful state because they are in the Telestial part of their journey.  Jesus said:  "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).  That is so true.


May you always be blessed my friends.  I hope this helps to clarify your questions.