But my take on religion is different. I actually believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to aide us while on the earth. When lived right, our religion is meant to make life easier and richer, not make us more miserable.
So, what if there is no eternal punishment or suffering after this life? Would that mean that I should stop living God’s law on earth? Are we to obey and adopt His gospel only if we’ll be punished if we don’t?
I recently identified another reason for me why following a path is needed. For a very long time I’ve been feeling that being happy is the equivalent of having Peace. However, I realized that it’s impossible to feel at peace if you’re not on a path. It almost doesn’t even matter what is that path (as long as it’s not self-destructive, or harmful to others), because if you feel like that’s the path you should be on chances are you’ll feel at peace. On the other hand, if you never adopt any path either out of fear of error or you don’t care enough to be on a spiritual journey, that will most likely not afford you the peace we all yearn for.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we don’t even believe in a traditional hell and heaven. Out doctrine teaches that after this life every person that lived on the earth will go to a kingdom, which differs in brightness and glory according to their actions and choices, but event he lowest one is so much more than we can imagine. Therefore, no one will be suffering in an eternal hell. And that should never be our motivation for following the Savior.
Interestingly enough I have seen even in our church that the older generation rhetoric would lead one to believe that the gospel should be lived at all cost, that if you don’t there will be gloom and doom. I know people who were raised in such environments and many resent the church and their parents. Maybe it was due to the style of those times, but I know for sure that today we are to embrace truth out of desire and love for our Creator and not out of fear.
