this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Aren't they though, by definition?
Value: An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.
So if some people get more in return (what they get in the afterlife for accepting The Lord), they're valued higher. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think what you mean is you don't think some people are, in essence, better. Just the degrees of glory mean some are valued more though, and that's not going into the husband/wife aspect.
Yes, it's a choice, but some people get nicer outcomes based on their choice, and that choice is not made any more obviously correct than the choice of any other religion.
If God is good, why would he make us make this choice and make it just a guessing game? I know the answer you're likely to give is that it isn't, and if we pray the answer will be made clear, but people believe with extreme faith (often more than most in the LDS have) that they're the ones who believe the truth, and they're certain that they've felt the presence of God(s) and they told them to follow this or that faith.
It's not really a guessing game, it's a there's his gospel, we follow his gospel and we're rewarded, which he will ensure everyone has an opportunity to, or they can choose otherwise and receive the level of reward they so desire. No one's going to force somebody to live in a specific way; That's against the point.
And God is good because he gives us a choice. Choice means we can become our own individuals, make our own mistakes, learn, and grow. Which to us is the fundamental answer to the purpose of this life. (Buddhism "Life is Suffering") Otherwise, what's the point of it all? We'd be hollow machines, always living in a good but un-understanding state of being with no opportunities to grow and move forward.
It's my understanding that if we know of it in this world and deny it then that's the choice we make, correct? If so, and if all other religions claim the same veracity with the same level of proof/evidence, what makes it different than a guessing game?
I'm currently having a discussion with someone else in this thread about this basically. Yes we're given freedom to choose, but God created the world exactly how he wanted, with the knowledge of everything that would result, with the power to make literally anything happen, right? If he wanted to he could have created a world where we all freely choose the right thing, even when given the ability to choose the wrong thing. Not machines programmed to choose the right thing, just an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent designer who sets things up to fall into place perfectly.
The example I just used in that other comment is like setting up dominos. You don't decide the physics of how they'll fall, you just intelligently set them up so they fall the way you want. If you're omnipotent and omniscient then this is trivial for you, and you must be able to do this for people's choices such that they just always choose the right thing. If you're benevolent then this is what you want. You still make just as many choices, but they just all happen to be good.
It's the assumption / pretense that there's a single right. And that, you can ask of God to find out. It's also under the assumption that again God is a God of mercy and won't judge you for what you didn't know. Cause if he's a perfect being, there must also be a perfect fairness in all he does as well.
Though it's a very genuine concern / question to have for sure!