Expert: Jaycie - 5/27/2010

Question
QUESTION: hi.  i'm 17 and was born and bred in being baptist.  when i was younger it seemed like i LIVED azt church!  sunday morning for sunday school and then the regular service and back again at 6 for training unition and then the regular sunday night service.  wednesday night was another service where we had to stand up and spout passages of the bible that we'd memorized .  thursday night was kid's choir practice.  that was fine for me at the time because it was all i knew.  i asked for total immersion baptism when i was 12 because i felt it was expected of me.  my parents died when i was 13 and now i'm living with a foster family.  and even though they are not religious per se they are still good people.  and now i have been growing and maturing and questioning things.  specifically all things dealing with religion.  and i have some questions.  if you don't have the answers for me that's cool too.  i don't if anybody has them!  k. first of all, the bible says that god created adam.  and then created eve out of adam's rib.  they had two children.  cain and abel.  cain killed abel.  and then cain went out and multiplied!  who did he "mulitply" with??  if eve was the only female on earth then how did cain have children??  i hate inconsisgtencies and the only thing the bible says leads me to think that our total population is either the a result of in-breeding wo two, aht it just isn't true!!!  another question concerns heaven and who is allowed to enter.  the bible says that unless you receive jesus christ and believe in him you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  so where does that leave the millions of truly good people who are brought up in different religions?  is not ghandi worthy of heaven? or mohammed?  or buddha?  the thought of a god that can exclude the majority of the people on earth abhors me and mkes me think that christianity is self-serving and has no regard or room in its heart for anybody that believes differently.  and even as far as christianity itstelf goes,   a truly FAIR god wouldn't judge people living today as same as he would judge people living earlier!  for instance the apostles!  it would be MUCH easier for me to believe in the divinity of christ if i, like his desciples, had seen him walk on water and turn a fish and a loaf of bread into enough food to feed the masses during his sermon on the mount!!  people who saw that happen had a much easier decision about crist's godliness.  and we as present day people only have second hand stories by second hand storymakers to bet our everlasting life on!!  how can that be fair in ANYBODY'S eyes???  much less an omnicient God???  i'm troubled because the more i learn about comparative religion, the more i se the misinformation and total LACK of information.  for a supreme god who disqualifies most of the people on earth from entering the kingdom of heaven proves that he's not real.  because a TRUE father wouldn't disregard the majority of his children and let them burn  for infinity because they disagreed whith him.  that would be petty and not what i want my God to be.

i could go on, i.e. why do babies die. why do bad things happen to good people, etc.  but i think you get my drift.  thank you for letting me express myself and thank you for any insight that you can share.

ANSWER: I realized that I may have over done it with talking about the kingdoms. I read through what I said and it kind of threw me off a little bit. If you're confused by what I said, let me know. I will explain it better to you and try to make it make more sense. It's really a cool concept and it helps you understand a lot about God so please let me explain it to you if you don't understand it. I'm sorry if I went too far or confused you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi jaycie.  thank you for being concerned.  ur very sweet.  i have so many things to say and don't know where to start.  first of all you are right.  i've never heard anything about different levels of heaven.  i waqs always taught that you are either in or out.  and i must admit that i don't know much about your religion.  i know it was started by joseph smith and brigham young and i always thought about it more as a cult than a religion.  i SOO don't wanna offend you cuz ur really nice and very giving.  i thought it was comparable to david korsh and jim jones and sun young moom.  merely ordinary people who spins religion into something that they can benefit from.  either from control or power or sex or whatever.  since my parents died i have turned really cynical.  and always expect the worst before being proven differently rather than the inverse.  i was going to ask you more biblical questions but you sound so caring that i think i wanna tell you about myself.  and why i'm afraid i won't get into heaven.  like i told you ealier, i was exposed to the teachings of christ from an early age and was baptized at 12.  so i can't use ignorance as an excuse.  but at the same time i've grown physicaly and mentally and used the brain that god gave me to try to understand life.  and i understand what men want.  my foster father has a secret crush on me that he thinks nobody can see.  but i do.  and i play to him.cuz he is more lenient with me and gives me things.  i know i'm using him but he's trying to use me too so i have no guilt.  their marriage is rockyand he wantsw excitement.  so sometimes i'll "accidently" let him see me half-dressedor sometimes i "nonchalantly" lean over him when he's sitting down and let him feel the weight of my breasts on his back when i want the keys to my foster-mothers car.  i know he wants to have sex with me and i use that knowledge every chance i get!  i know that's really being bitchy of me but i don't care.  my parents were S"UC"H good people and if god can take them from me than i figure if god don't care then neither do i!  i'm not tryin to breaik tyhem up cuz they have their own issues.  i'm just tryin to get everything i can out of his infatuation with me.  sometimes when we pass in the kitchen or den or whatever and his wife isn't there i'll walk by him and reach out and squeeze his crotch.  either his dick or his balls.  and that's all he wants for him to keep wanting me and giving me things so he can have me.  he never will but it's worth the charade to keep the gifts flowing.  and sometimes i feel like a whore but when i'm wearing hella nice things i feel its worth it.  cuz i know that if there was a loving god then he wouldn't have taken my real parents from me.  and consequently, that knowledge allows me to use EVERY tool i have to make my life better!  but as a realist, i know the status quo won't remain forever and the culmination terrifys me!

Answer
A lot of people have heard about different branches of my church. Most of the stories aren't about the real one. You here about the polygamists or about some other part but you never hear the whole story. That's why I wanted to warn you at first. If you want to know more about how it was founded, I will tell you that too. It's more than just being started with Joseph Smith, and later being led by Brigham Young. If you know the history, it might help you know where I'm coming from as well. But again, only if you want to know. I don't want to push anything on you.

You can ask me any kind of question you want. I'm pretty open to what other people think and I will try to find answers for you as best I can. I don't know everything but I try to understand everything I do know so feel free to ask me any questions you can think of.

As for "getting back at God", I know where you're coming from. I understand where those thoughts come from. I'm going to take a guess here and say that you kind of like the attention from your foster dad just because it's attention. I don't know anything about you, really, so I won't judge you or anything but I'm sure almost any girl would like that attention. Especially when you get stuff out of it. But God doesn't want you to be angry with Him. I'm sure your parents were great people. That has nothing to do with they dying. Yes, you are now pretty much on your own but I think that you are supposed to learn from this. Have you tried to talk to God about this? That might sound weird but think about it. He's your Father. He loves you. He knows why He did what He did. Talk to Him about it. Pray. He will always here you and answer you as long as you really want to know. This has happened a lot with me. One example of this is of a family friend and his wife who were married and had two children. They were members of my church and in my church, we believe in being sealed together as a family forever. It's more than a marriage because it lasts for eternity. Anyway, this family was coming back from their sealing and someone hit their car and killed the parents instantly. The two kids were left and now they live with a great-aunt and the family is torn over them. So I know how you feel. You loved your parents but don't think of death as a punishment for them or for you. Maybe they had already done what they were sent here to do. I'm know they love you and I'm sure that they don't want you to be angry about what happened. Right now, if they haven't already accepted the fullness of the gospel, I'm sure there are angels teaching them about it. Another thing I didn't tell you about is that when we die, we don't automatically go to one of the kingdoms. There's a "waiting place" that they are in right now and will be until Christ comes back to Earth. I hope I'm not getting you confused again but they aren't being punished for not knowing something and they aren't being punished for anything they did here. They are being taught by those who will go to the first kingdom. If they accept it, they will also go to the first kingdom. Don't think so much that you lost them forever and you will never see them again. You will get to see them again. Do you think that a loving God would take your family away forever? He wouldn't. They are there waiting for you and hoping you are alright.

I kind of got off track there. I'm sorry. I guess I thought you needed to know that. But back to your question, God cares about you. Talk to Him. Let Him know what you feel and that you need some comfort. There is something called the Holy Ghost and God sends it to you to help you feel of His love. Just talk to God. He's there for you. Give it time. It might not happen the first try or the second so give it time.

I want to tell you something about getting your foster dad's attention like that. I know you say you understand men and I'm sure you do. Most girls have it figured out by your age but I don't think you know what he'll do when he's tired of being teased. Just be careful.

Please ask me anything you want and I will tell you as much as you want to know about what happens when we die. I don't know why I said so much about it so I guess you needed to hear it. Don't blame God for what happened. Your parents are in a better place and they don't have to have any pain or deal with anything that you and I have to deal with. They are closer to God and all three of them, God and your parents, want you to see them again.