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Originally Posted by sprocket
Also, LDS gets a lot weirder... Each male gets a planet after they die, and essentially becomes God of that planet. The God of earth supposedly came about this way, so in a sense they are polytheistic but AFIAK only pay tribute to the earth god. They believe one day they will be a god. Well... females are out of luck, but the men become gods.
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Not quite.
A primer on some obscure aspects of LDS theology:
Jesus is the ONE savior of ALL of God the Father's worlds. Not just Earth. Everything in our known universe was created by God the Father. There are multiple universes, and there is a seperate God over each.
Earth is the most imperfect of all God the Father's planets. It is the one with the greatest amount of sin, tyrany, and Satan has the most power here. That's why Jesus had to come to Earth. Since He acted for all of God's children, everywhere, there is no need for any other savior on any other planet.
Women's role: Man is nothing without a woman, and since men are Gods in the embryo, and must have a womanly counterpart to become exalted, so God the Father has a wife, God the Mother. (Mary was an insignificant handmaiden, any woman could have fulfilled that role.) God works alongside his wife to create each unique planet. There is some speculation over the thought that Jesus turned water into wine at his own wedding.
Jesus is viewed as our older spiritual brother, nothing more exciting than that. He stood up and took on the role of savior, scapegoat for our sins. Any man could have chosen that role in the pre-existance, but Jesus chose it, so they thank him for it. LDS do not worship Christ with the same intensity as they do the Father, but they still look to him with great respect in his special role. He is considered the direct son of God, but his role as demi-god was simply out of necessity, in order to endure the extreme pain and anguish that he was to endure as savior. Due to his direct genetic link to God, he was better able to communicate with God the Father, and his demi-god status gave him an extra spiritual boost.
By LDS theology, all (worthy, priesthood-ordained) men are capable of the same healing powers of Jesus, including raising from the dead, healings, etc. They cannot forgive sins, but they can bless a person, and in that blessing communicate with God who can tell them that person's sins are forgiven.
Since I'm no longer LDS, I obviously took issue with a lot of these things, and others, which I learned in the course of some extensive LDS religious education.
I'd consider it too much of a threadjack to get further into any of this here.
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Originally Posted by roachboy
... it was covered in notes asking diana to intercede for them with god. obviously the church is never going to recognize her as a saint, but fact is that i think this kind of magical thinking (in the sense joan didion references in her book of the same title) and popular investment in it explains saints far better than does the catholic church's positions on which saints it chooses to recognize as part of the official catholic spiritual jiffy-lube team.
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Hehe, I like that "team" concept.
She might be cannonized as a Saint. One need not be Catholic. She just needs to live a good life, and prove that she can speak with God after death, and convince Him to perform 3 miracles.
A brief description of the process:
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The formal process of sainthood involves a complicated process taking time, money, testimonies, and miracles, and the church follows a strict set of rules in the process.
First, to determine who qualifies, the Vatican looks to its Congregation for the "Causes of Saints". Typically, a would-be candidate's "cause" is presented to the local bishop by his or her admirers who persuade him that the life of the candidate was a model of holiness.
Once the applicant is approved as a candidate, an appointed postulator interviews those who knew the individual. Personal testimonies, letters, and writings of the candidate's are put together. A relater then sifts through this information and prepares a position paper. If the volumes of evidence prove a life of "heroic virtue", the person is given the title "venerable" by the Pope.
The next title, beatified (blessed), is attained if it can be proven that a miracle occurred after the death of the candidate, the result of someone praying to that person for help.
To finalize a canonization, it must be established that a second miracle occurred. (Martyrs are the exception. The pope can reduce their miracle requirement to one or waive it altogether.) Most often prayer requests are for a physical healing.
Verifying a miracle is considered the most difficult hurdle in the process. Just deciding what constitutes one causes debate. A life of heroic virtue is obviously easier to establish than a healing that results from prayers.
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