RE: [War In Heaven = CA this Fall]

In my last post, "Why Do I Do It?," I referenced an article and said, "To be frank, I think the words of this article parallel the LDS belief of Satan's efforts in the pre-existence." I want to back that up in this post.

The title of the article is "Wonder What the War in Heaven Was Like? Watch California This Fall," was written by Gary Lawrence, and can be found here, at Meridian Magazine.

In this article, Gary -- with his "35 years of studying arguments in political campaigns, and a bit of reverse engineering" -- presents what he believes were Satan's tactics in the 'War in Heaven":

"Argument 1: Equality. Lucifer sets the foundation by appealing to fairness and the equal worth of every spirit child."

"Argument 2: Sympathy. Having set the logic, Lucifer turns to emotion."

"Argument 3: Hate. After playing on the victim angle, Lucifer gradually steers emotions to the negative. Knowing that rebellion against righteousness can never be sustained without hate, he sows doubt about the Father Himself and leads the gullible step by step to that absolutely necessary ingredient if he is to win."

"Argument 4: Change. Now Lucifer returns to logic."

"Argument 5: Guarantee. Amid the arguments about the consequences of each choice, Lucifer administers his clincher [a false guarantee]."

Although such isn't the main thesis of my post, I think it's important to realize that these tactics can be projected upon the Mormons' efforts in regards to same-sex marriage (or even same-sex attraction in general) just as equally as Gary is projecting the arguments upon proponents of same-sex marriage.

For example:

Equality: The LDS Church's main stance concerning same-sex attraction is that a all males' potential eternal destiny/heritage are strictly equal and all females' potential eternal destiny/heritage are strictly equal.

Sympathy: Sticking with 'sympathy' alone, one need merely read the more recent comments of the LDS General Authorities to see how often the "sympathy" card is played.

However, the way Gary uses this argument, a better name for such would be "Pathos" -- playing on emotion. I just need one link here (although there are many).

Hate: "After playing on the victim angle ... "

"The opposition must be shamed, vilified, and demonized. These descriptors of defenders of traditional marriage can already be found in anti-Prop 8 literature and blogs, and the list will grow:

Christian extremists, anti-gay, right-wing radicals, old-fashioned, hung-up, homophobes, bigots, stupid, intolerant, mean-spirited, knuckle-draggers."

"... Lucifer gradually steers emotions to the negative."

" If same-sex marriage advocates can dilute and hollow out the central part of the Creator's plan, the whole structure collapses — the family, the nation, and in time civilization itself."

Change: See the nearest quote of his article as to how Mormons approach change -- and we also see a tactic I believe Satan would have used very often that Gary fails to mention: fear.

Guarantee: What does the LDS Church have to offer a homosexual but a guarantee that simply cannot be proven valid until after death?

It's very simple to twist someone's beliefs/efforts into 'tactics' and use this tortion [sic] as propaganda. Misrepresentation is a very powerful tool -- because it can create a fearful barrier which greatly handicaps an individual's willingness to listen to the other side. And it's actually this misrepresentation, not the tactics themselves, that I believe begins to "parallel the LDS belief of Satan's efforts in the pre-existence."

At core of the misrepresentation is the following statement made by Gary in his article:

"Now turn to the present battle. Whereas the principle under fire in the war in heaven was agency — the right to choose — the target in 2008 in California is marriage, both a principle and an institution"

This is false. "The principle under fire" then and now are the same: "the right to choose."

It's understandable, however, that Gary misrepresents what is truly under attack here:

• Proponents of same-sex marriage are saying an individual has the right to choose whom he/she marries.
• According to LDS doctrine, it was Christ's plan and desire that the children of God have the right to choose which-so-ever life they desired (He would give guidelines as to how best live life, but those guidelines would not be forced upon anyone).

• Opponents of same-sex marriage are saying that there is only one kind of marriage [that is approved by God] and that this marriage must be enforced upon all mankind, despite personal beliefs, choices, etc.
• According to LDS doctrine, it was Lucifer's plan that the guidelines for perfect life must be enforced upon all mankind, despite personal beliefs, choices, etc.
  

We can play around with 'tactics' for a thousand lifetimes, but when it comes down to the actual message and belief, I think we can truly see, no matter if homosexuality is wrong or right, how the stances on same-sex marriage mirror the "War in Heaven."