Eternal Truths: Q and A

Foreword:

After being prompted repeatedly (in the spiritual sense) to use my gifts more to help others, I’ve made the offer, below, to several groups on Facebook.  I’m aware that to some, it will sound presumptuous or outright looney.  I hope that those people will either withhold judgment until after praying and meditating on this content; or if not, refrain from commenting.  This post will be updated as questions come in.

The Offer:

I’m about to make a very strange offer. Those of you who know me well probably suspect that I get a lot of curious information from “above.” I’ve recently gotten a strong, “kick in the pants” prompting, so here goes…

My offer is this: if there’s any one thing that you want to know about the nature of reality, the universe, God, etc., ask me, and I’ll tell you. If you don’t believe my offer is genuine, or that I can fulfill it, please pray about it. (In fact, please pray about it, in any case! If you do decide to ask me a question, it’s best to ask one that will actually help you…) This question should not pertain to another person (i.e. please tell me a secret about so-and-so); the offer is for eternal truths, only.

One per person, please (since the answers might take a while to explain). Private messages are welcome.

Questions and Answers

Q: Is murder forgivable? What is the eternal destiny of murderers? Where will they go?

A: Yes and no.  First, we need to define murder.  For the purpose of this question, I believe this definition will suffice:

“The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.”

So, this rules out killings in self-defense, and all other killings that have been deemed acceptable by the laws governing a given individual or society.  Why do mortal laws matter?  The short answer is that all people will be judged according to the laws with which they are familiar and understand to be true/valid.  This applies to both mortal and spiritual laws.  Naturally, this gets into the “sticky” topic of moral relativism, which can, itself be broken down into roughly two categories:
1) The sense of morality or ethics that a person has inside, as influenced (but not necessarily dictated by) social and religious norms.
2) The “cop out” that some people use to decide that they can violate what they know to be right, based on the above sense of ethics and morality.  This always requires some amount of self-deception, and is, essentially, invalid in the spiritual sense.  Someone trying to justify this kind of moral relativism might use a phrase like, “it isn’t wrong because I don’t think it’s wrong;” whereas if they truly believed it wasn’t wrong, they would probably say, simply, “there’s nothing wrong with that.”  (Of course, the language used isn’t always a good indicator of what’s happening; try not to judge people falsely because of it.)

So, is the unlawful, premeditated killing of another human being forgivable?  It depends on the level of moral accountability of the person who does it.  A young child (below the age of 8), for example, is not morally-accountable; this is the time when parents are supposed to instill the values of right and wrong.  Similarly, a person who is not sane, or is otherwise mentally-incompetent (such as a person with mental disabilities) is not accountable, in the spiritual sense: they who don’t know right from wrong on a particular issue, and can’t be held accountable for it.  Likewise, a person who, given everything he/she knows, including life experiences, believes that an act of killing is the right thing to do, commits murder (by the definition of others)–well, it’s not murder, so far as that person knows, so in the spiritual sense, it’s 100% forgivable.  (Note: genuine belief is required–not something that they had to talk themselves into, not simple rage/jealousy/whatever, and nothing involving even a “drop” of self-deception.)  Examples of this might include people who grew up in war zones, as well as those who were severely abused by parents or others (to the point of not ever learning right from wrong, or of having to defend themselves outside the allowances of societal norms).  Such people have no “moral compass” telling them it’s wrong, and therefore can’t be held accountable for what they don’t know.

…But what about those who commit murder, knowing fully-well that it’s wrong?  What about those who merely suspected it was wrong, or who did so in a rage, rather than with premeditation?  The best I can tell you is that it’s 100% on a case-by-case basis.  The circumstances do matter.  The level of premeditation does matter.  The level of mental/moral competence at the time of the act, and leading up to it also matter.  So, regardless of what society decides to do, or needs to do about it (such as locking the person up forever, or executing that person, in order to protect the public/set an example, etc.), the level of spiritual forgiveness that such a person can receive is 100% dependent on how that person will feel about when all self-deception is stripped away, and all emotional issues have been worked through.  (Note: this will probably have to happen over a time period that’s greater than that person’s mortal life–hence what many would call “limbo” or “spirit prison.”)

Where do people who committed an unforgivable act go?  Depending on the severity of that act (or acts), they go to roughly one of four places:

“Outer Darkness”: This is reserved for those who have near-absolute enlightenment and do something that goes against everything they know and hold most dear.  Even murder can’t usually land a person here.  A prophet who turns anti-Christ, or a Buddha who becomes a warmonger would probably land here–but it’s not even available to normal folks.

“Lowest Kingdom”: Murderers typically land here.  This place is a lot like our current earth, but people are immortal and unable to progress, spiritually, beyond this kingdom.  (Well, the subject of eternal progression is pretty complicated, but for the sake of brevity, we’ll leave it at this.)  Those who fail to follow even the most basic laws of human decency–after knowing them–belong in this kingdom.  Those who make terrible mistakes and then genuinely and sufficiently “repent”/”find a better path”/etc. and follow through with that commitment do not end up here.  (What “sufficient” means, again, depends on personal circumstances.  Since we can’t undo all of our past mistakes, sometimes, the best we can do must suffice.)  So, in other words, if you already knew that the murder was wrong, and there weren’t substantial mitigating circumstances, then it is, in fact, “murder”–so this is where you land.  It’s hard to express just how horrible this fate is, since we’ve never actually experienced such a thing in mortality.  Consider the worst disappointment you’ve ever felt for yourself, multiply it by infinity (since this is a permanent state), and add knowing that you really did know better, and acted so badly that you got sent here, anyway.  This is what’s referred to in Abrahamic religions as “eternal fire and brimstone.”  Your guilt and self-disappointment will eat you up inside as if it were fire; we just don’t have words to describe it accurately, since mortals always have a chance to progress, whereas those who are stuck here don’t.  This place qualifies for the title, “Hell.”

“Middle Kingdom”: Also a form of “Hell,” since progression is blocked–but a lot nicer.  People who, knowing better, refuse to advance spiritually, but who generally keep mortal laws end up here.  Those who commit murder but genuinely and sincerely repent might end up here, depending on their level of accountability, at the time.  These people, like all of us, had a shot at godhood, and knowingly turned it down.  So, that “fire and brimstone” description, above, still applies, but isn’t as nasty, since they at least didn’t act like complete schmucks.  People who end up here can’t progress beyond being “angels” or similar, but do minister to the lower kingdom, on behalf of the gods.

“Highest Kingdom”: People who killed, but only when they had to, or who didn’t kill at all (assuming this didn’t violate a “higher law,” such as caring for and protecting children, etc.), who did everything in their power to seek spiritual growth end up here.  In essence, this is where “really, really good people” go.  There is eternal progression and eventually godhood for such people, and they minister to the lower kingdoms (often through intermediaries).  Murderers (using the above definition) need not apply.

More Questions and Answers may be forthcoming!   Please feel free to ask anything, as described above!