“Mormon Cosmology” in Gay LDS Crossroads?

Tyler Perry, a gay returned missionary, has a great blog (https://perryekimae.blogspot.com/), with many insightful and entertaining entries. So it was fun to be surprised by seeing references to the Crossroads book in an essay Tyler posted in September 2020. This post shares the Crossroads-related elements from that essay, edited for length by Marci McPhee (click on the title below for the entire blog post by Tyler).

“Why would gay people want to be made straight in the resurrection?”

Mormon Cosmology is Cool

Mormon cosmology {the science of the origin and development of the universe] is absolutely fascinating. Honestly, my favorite thing about Mormonism is the cosmology. Well before the beginning, all that would become human life existed as intelligences, or intelligent matter.  God the Father, Elohim, who dwelled near the star Kolob, looked upon these intelligences, saw that they were good, and, in concert with his wife (or wives, if you ask Brigham Young), organized them into spiritual beings.  His spirit children.  This process of organizing intelligences into spirts is not well-defined, but it is believed that it is analogous to the earthly reproductive power.

The first spirit child of our Heavenly Father, Elohim, and Heavenly Mother(s) was Jehovah, who would later come to the world in a tabernacle of flesh and blood as Jesus the Christ.

Elohim taught and trained his spirit children.  As his children, they were the same species as Elohim (a species that we will refer to as Homo sapien deus), and they had the potential to become like him. To mature into beings like him, Elohim, in council, developed a plan whereby his children would obtain bodies of flesh and blood and be tested to see if they could become like him. They would enter the next phase of the Homo sapien deus life cycle. Thus, on Earth, we are gods in embryo.

Elohim’s plan required the perfection of his children, a standard that few would be able to meet.  As such, an intercessor would be required to allow Elohim’s children to be made clean before returning to his presence. Jehovah was chosen as the Savior.

Weird Science

Those who are seeking to fulfill the life cycle steps of Homo sapien deus must be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, receive temple ordinances, be sealed for time and all eternity, and may receive the second anointing if they are righteous enough.  All will eventually die.

At death, the spiritual component of the Homo sapien deus body goes to a waystation of sorts known as the Spirit World. After the resurrection, each child of Elohim will be judged for their worthiness to become as he is.  Those who have passed the test will be welcomed into the Celestial Kingdom, wherein they will enter the final stage of the Homo sapien deus life cycle.

They will then become as Elohim is, and they will propagate the Homo sapien deus species by forming intelligences into spirit children of their own.

Guys, Cosmology Is, Like, Super Rad, But...

In a way, the cosmology of the faith was what tied me to it so closely.  What other faith offered something so impressive?  The very doctrine of the eternal family was inextricably linked to this incredible story of man’s potential to become so much more than what we are now.  And I was excited to participate in that plan.

And then, I came to realize something. I read a comment in the wake of the November 2015 policy that asked the question, “Why would gay people want to be made straight in the resurrection?”

My understanding of Mormon cosmology was that every worthy child of Elohim would become like Elohim, creating worlds and spirit children.  That act of creation requires a man and a woman.  It had not occurred to me, for some reason, that being forced into a heterosexual union against their very nature could be hell for gay people.

And the sneaky issue was that I had spent the last couple decades hiding from myself the fact that I am gay.  The more that I wrestled with my identity as a gay Mormon, the more that I struggled with this cosmological question.  And the cosmology of the Plan of Salvation started to fall apart at the seams.

How could this be the correct cosmology of a benevolent and loving god, as I believed Elohim to be?  How could this be the true plan if there was no place in it for upwards of 10% of Elohim’s children?  I mean, 10% is a tithe.  Is Elohim tithing his children with LGBTQ+ identities as some sort of twisted sacrifice?  If so, why would I want anything to do with him?

Honestly, within the confines of Mormon cosmology, I do not have good answers to those questions.  No one that I have talked to does either.  The best that I have seen were in Evan Smith’s Gay Latter-Day Saint Crossroads, and, as far as answers to cosmological questions are concerned, even that comes up short [8]. [See particularly “Do we know for sure that spiritual procreation requires a man and a woman?”]

Mormon cosmology was the bedrock of my faith. Placing that bedrock on my shelf was more weight than it could bear.

References

[8] https://www.gayldscrossroads.org/ First of all, this book is amazing.  It is the book that I wish I had when I was 14.  Evan Smith is awesome, his family is incredible, and this book is wonderful.  Please read and support it.  I understand that Evan is not really trying to answer cosmological questions with his book.  He does propose some theological answers to these questions, and, while I appreciate those attempts, and I hope that he continues to maintain his activity and membership in the church, since we need allies like him on the inside, I do not agree with the conclusions that he has reached on the theological and cosmological issues.  I do think that they are the best attempts, and, if you ask any more “why’s” on top of what Evan presents, I think you arrive in John Dehlin, Bill Reel, and Tyler Perry territory.  Read this book and go as far as Evan goes if you want to be an LGBTQ+ ally but remain a believing member of the church.  Do not ask those next questions if you are not interested in following them where they lead.  It is a bitter and painful road.  I would contend that it is worth it, if you are looking to follow truth wherever it leads, but the cost of asking those next questions is high.