Episode 99: Part IV Eternal Marriage Health Check: Does Fear & Shame Motivate Belief & Practice?

In this fourth part of their ongoing series on the complexities of the LDS doctrine of eternal marriage, Val and Brannon tackle yet another tough but important facet of this subject: the possible engines that drive us all too often…

1] FEAR:

The fear of the eternal consequences of not marrying.

The fear of divorce and it’s stigma in this life and implications in the next life.

The fear of coming out and coupling and its supposed social and eternal consequences.

The fear of sharing faith expansion with a frightened partner. **The fear of ruining one’s eternal family by one’s spiritual expansion experiences.

The fear of confusing our children with our complex relationship with the belief, dogma, church.

The fear of being an eternal object or colluding in the idea of making another an eternal object.

2] SHAME:

The shame coming with the silence when we feel compelled to not doubt.

The shame of destroying our marriages as we evolve and grow and internalize that we are “betraying” our partners, parents, children, posterity.

The shame of singlehood and it’s doctrinal implications.

The internalized shame of being created “wrong”’ and not suited for the right kind of marriage as a queer person.

The sometimes public shame of being excluded from precious family ceremonies predicated on “right belief” with no consideration of one’s eternal worthiness or the family bond of love.

Sadly, the list goes on.

Val and Brannon’s deepest desire is to expose the IMPACT of our current theology and its massive implications on individuals striving to be in healthy connection with the LDS church.

Their believe is that as the church has shaped us, it is our divine business to help reshape the church when there is evidence that one of its foundational theological concepts inadvertently wounds and estranges us from our divine identities as immensely worthy children of deity, who desire nothing more than our growth and peace.

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