Not to offend every Christian, Muslim and Jew out there, but I do have a problem with the story of Abraham. Abraham is the great patriarch of the Holy Land. He is the great grandfather of the Jews and the Palestinians. Both hold him up as a model of righteousness and obedience.
To the Muslims, the Dome of the Rock is very sacred. It looks fantastic. It is supposed to be the place where Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. To the Jews, that spot is also sacred. Muslims own the land and they believe that is where they are supposed to rebuild their temple. Thus the wailing wall at the foot of the site.
I find the whole story of Abraham’s sacrifice very problematic. The story goes that Abraham was a righteous man and God wanted to test Abraham so he could reward him. Abraham really wanted to have children but his wife was barren. God promised to bless Abraham with children, which He did and was a miracle.
God wanted to bless Abraham further. He wanted to make Abraham a father of many nations and make his descendants a holy people. Abraham’s worthiness was tested. God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a human sacrifice to God. Abraham was obedient to God’s command. He took his son to a mountain, brought wood for an alter and was about to kill his son with a knife and offer him up to God as a human sacrifice. Right before he killed his son, God sent an Angel to stop him and reward him for his faithfulness and I’m like WTF?
Now I realize the story is supposed to be symbolic of God’s sacrifice of His son. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son… Some accounts claim Isaac was an adult at the time and a willing participant asking to have his hands bound. My point is that I see this very fundamental story as completely problematic.
I do not see it was symbolic of God offering His son for the sins of the world. The atonement and the crucifixion was different. It served a purpose. Murder is wrong and human sacrifice is wrong. Saying that it’s OK as long as God commands it is very problematic. That’s what mass murders do when they hear voices.
There is another account on an old Egyptian papyrus claiming that Abraham’s earthly father was evil. The story claims that when Abraham was in Egypt his father tried to offer him as a sacrifice to a false god. Right before Abraham’s father was about to kill him, an Angel of the Lord came down and stopped him, saving Abraham’s life.
The story is given to demonstrate how evil Abraham’s father was and how hard a test it was for God to command Abraham to do exactly what his father tried to do to him and I’m like WTF? Here we have two identical stories. One is good the other is bad. The only difference between the two stories is that one sacrifice was to a false God and the other sacrifice was to a true God. Yet in my opinion, there is no difference between the two. Both are bad. No offense to father Abraham or all the Jews, Christians and Muslims out there.
In my opinion, blind obedience to a true god is no better than blind obedience to a false god. It all becomes problematic when we view this life as a test. We are sent here to do whatever God asks us to do because obedience is good and the rebellious will be cast out. Using that founding premise of this life being a test, is what the polygamists use to convince people God wants them to take more than one wife. God wants me to marry that young girl. God wants me to marry that other man’s wife.
Polyandry is the logical extreme and I do not see any difference between that and the doctrine of spiritual wifery many early Mormons were excommunicated for teaching.
Now back to the story of Abraham. Since some claim we all must be tried even as Abraham as God will at some point ask us to give up whatever is most important to us to test our obedience to Him, we have to be careful and practice a little common sense to develop some discernment so we can tell the difference between a true prophet and a false prophet as well as the difference between a true god and a false god.
I contend that the purpose of this life is to come to know God. If God is good and if God is love and if God is the perfection of every good attribute then in so developing those qualities we will find peace in this life and a fullness of joy in the next.
After all the golden rule is the simple but pinnacle doctrine. Treat others the way you want to be treated because how we treat others is how we will be treated after this life. This leads us to my fundamental problem with polygamy. If you don’t want your wife to commit adultery, don’t do it yourself. To me polygamy is like committing adultery and then bringing the woman you had an affair with home to live in your house.
How would you feel if your wife had an affair or married more than one man? Can you not see the sorrow polygamy causes your wife? The golden rule states that you will one day feel her sorrow. Such is life.
The only rationalization for polygamy I can find is if there is a shortage of women. Yet we are told from census records that was not why it was practiced.
My understanding of why polygamy was practiced was to give woman who would not have the chance of becoming mothers, the chance to have children. That is my understanding of the escape clause in the warning given against the unauthorized practice of plural marriage in the book of Mormon yet John A. Widtsoe disagrees:
http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/Why.htm
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