Eating a raw squirrel

So, you might notices that I've gotten a little religious on the left side bar, and I wanted to take a moment to talk about that.

When I was sixteen I worked in a back pack factory, (cool I know). One day while we built computer sleeves the kid next to me started spouting off stuff he'd been told about Mormons. I guess I'd lived a sheltered life, because I had no idea that I was supposed to have horns and people smoked pot while playing volleyball drunk and naked in the temple... ridiculous... And he knew it was, but then he turns to me a totally seriously says, "Do you really have to eat a raw squirrel before you can get baptized?"  I remember wondering where this kid's brain was.

Today I face a similar problem. While no one is questioning whether or not I have to eat raw meat to fulfill religious obligations, I am growing tired of the constant attacking and implications that our purposes are secretly devious. So I want to clear a few things up.

I am a Christian. I believe Jesus Christ was the literal only begotten son of the Father (God). I believe he came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life and then gave him self as a sacrifice for all mankind and was then resurrected through the power of God, . I believe he did this because God, our Heavenly Father asked him too. I believe that God, our Heavenly Father asked Jesus Christ to do this because we are His children. Not His 'creation', His actual spiritual sons and daughters. I believe our Heavenly Father has perfected and immortal body of flesh and bone. I believe that, as children do, we wanted to be like Him. I believe that God the Father presented a plan to us, a way for us to become like Him. Some of us chose to follow that plan, lead by Jesus Christ, to create an earth, receive bodies, do our best to care for them and each other, with gratitude to God for the great gift and opportunity this life is. I believe that there were some who did not like the plan, who chose not to follow it. I believe that they work to make their sadness ours, just as God works to make His joy ours. I believe that we are here on earth to choose.

I believe that God our Heavenly Father wants all His children to return home to Him- He wants all his children to grow and become like Him. I know He believes in Eternal Families. I believe that Jesus Christ, our older brother came to earth to give us an example to follow, to show us that it is possible, and to give us a way to correct our mistakes, to make a fresh start. Because he also believes in Eternal Families, Jesus Christ wants us all to come home too.

 I do believe that this is for everyone, because I believe that we are all part of His family. But just as firmly, I believe that we are all allowed to choose, that we must choose. The work we do in on behalf of the dead is not to force membership in the Church, but to fulfill, what we believe to be a physical act that has to be done by anyone who accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ. Millions of people have lived and died without ever hearing the name Jesus Christ. We do proxy work because we believe that God is just and gives them the opportunity to be taught and choose even after they have died. Then they are able to accept or reject the work that we do, we are simply facilitating an opportunity to choose.

I believe that the reason we have commandments is because He is our Parent, and like any good parent telling a young child not to touch a stove, hit, bite, steal, or eat poison, God gives us commandments to keep us from harming each other and to ensure our bodies and minds stay safe and whole. Because He loves us, He sent His son, our brother, Jesus Christ to show us the way, and to make a sacrifice that (while I do not entirely understand) I know is real, in the same way that I know washing my hands with clean warm water and soap helps me stay healthy.

My purpose in writing this is not to convince or offend anyone. My purpose is to explain in as plain a way as possible why I live the way I live. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not a religion of blind sheep being herded around by a bunch of old men. It is a religion based on the belief that we are here on earth to choose. We are here to choose if we will follow the directions home or not. We are here to choose if we will be a part of helping God our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in their great work of creating and extending the joy and peace of Home forever.

That is the basis of what I believe, it's the way that I live. It is why I'm a 'Mormon'.