Stockholm Syndrome with God

The LDS FaithFirst, I'd like to make it clear that the LDS Faith is very different from most Christian ideologies. Among the many differences, the LDS concepts of Heaven (Kingdoms of Glory), Hell (Outer Darkness and Spirit Prison), the Pre-Existence, and the Godhead definitely do not mirror traditional Christian theology.We are talking about an entirely different game here, folks. We need to redefine god before we proceed.Notice that I spelled god with a lowercase g. This is because, in the LDS faith, the concept of the Godhead is completely different from standard Christian faith. These three gods are distinct and separate beings. Thus, I find it inappropriate to use a capital G to reference any one of these multiple gods. "When one speaks of God, it is generally the Father who is referred to; that is, Elohim." "...the Son, known as Jesus Christ, and who is also a God." "The Holy Ghost is also a God and is variously called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit of God, etc." https://www.lds.org...These three gods still maintain the three omni-properties that the Christian God has."... God created all things and is the ruler of the universe, being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent..." https://www.lds.org...From this point on, all references to god should be interpreted as God the Father AKA Elohim.Setting the StageTo better understand my argument, we also need to talk about how it is we came into existence. (According to the LDS Faith).At some point in their existences, the Father and Spirit Mother decide to have spirit children. Unfortunately for us we were born without bodies, without a full understanding of the gospel, and without the ability to attain that understanding in our spiritual forms. According to the Father, this was a problem that needed to be fixed. At this point, the Father lays out his "Plan of Salvation" before the "Council in Heaven", which consisted of all the premortal spirits that he created. This plan intends to explain our purpose and goal in life. Plan of Salvation"The fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, designed to bring about man’s immortality and eternal life. It includes the Creation, Fall, and Atonement, along with all God-given laws, ordinances, and doctrines. This plan makes it possible for all people to be exalted and live forever with God" - (2 Ne. 2, 9). Those of us that chose to follow God in heaven had our minds wiped and were sent down to Earth to be re-incarnated as babies.Keep this entire narrative in mind throughout the rest of this argument.Why This Is Stockholm SyndromeThree things need to be true in order for my argument to hold water.1. Religious Fanatics have negative feelings about other religions or moral-authorities.2. Religious Fanatics are captives of their God/s.3. Religious Fanatics have positive feelings towards their captors and vice versa.http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com...For the sake of this argument, we can even broaden the term for "Religious Fanatics" to include members of good standing in the LDS church. That's just how strong this argument is.CapturedFrom the moment we came into existence, we became captives of god. Due to his omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent nature, god is essentially the best captor in existence without even trying. We can not trick a god.We can not run from a god.We can not hide from a god.We can not kill a god.We can not even kill our selves - in terms of our own existence!It is literally and physically impossible to escape from a god. I don't know how else to stress this point. If you can't escape from something are you not a captive of it?The other element to being captured is the voluntary forfeit of your immediate freedoms in order to accomplish some future goal.i.e.You decide not to scream for help because you don't want your kidnapper to shoot you.ORYou decide not to commit adultery because you want to make it into the Celestial Kingdom. (Heaven for those of you not familiar with the LDS faith).In This Case:The Gospel of Jesus Christ = The Things a Kidnapper Tells You To DoReceiving Exaltation and Eternal Life = Not Receiving A Bullet WoundSo, Yes, you do get to choose what you want to do, but you are inherently limited by the options your captor presents you with.Ideally, I'd like to be able to scream for help and NOT get shot by my kidnapper.It would also be cool if I could cheat on my wife and NOT be demoted to a lower kingdom.BUT we don't get those options.AbusedRemember how I said "...we were born without bodies, without a full understanding of the gospel, and without the ability to attain that understanding in our spiritual forms"?Well, guess what?God the Father, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being, was capable of having physical children with physical bodies. I am really not exagerating when I say that god could have snapped his fingers and made us eternal beings with perfect morality and ability to live the Gospel. However, he intentionally chose to bring us into existence without those abilities.Even if it weren't obviously tautologically true, we have a perfectly good example of the Father doing exactly that. Jesus Christ was born with the ability to achieve God-hood without a physical body, a life on Earth, and all the other sucky mortal things."By obedience and devotion to the truth he attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God, as the Lord Omnipotent, while yet in his pre-existent state. " -(McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 129)https://www.lds.org...If as human beings we have to come to Earth and learn to live the Gospel, its because your omnipotent Father intentionally designed You to be unable to receive exaltation and eternal life without doing so. He had the power to create everyone just as perfectly as Jesus Christ, but he didn't. Nothing a god does is "by mistake" or "on accident"..Do You see what I'm saying now?I classify this kind of behaviour as abuse. He intended for us to jump through hoops before we could be exalted and live eternally. Most of us suffer and all of us die along the way. Except Jesus Christ because he's special. *rolls eyes*Love/HateI don't think the LDS faith or any of the Christian faiths would contest the premise that it's adherents love God/Jesus Christ and that He loves them too.Lastly, in order to really make the case that the Stockholm Syndrome for believers is real, the captives must have negative feelings towards (classically police) other Authority figures. Authority is really about power. Police are authorities because they have the power to arrest you. They also have the power to shoot you, taze you, and even kill you if they deem it necessary.In this case, I propose that religion is, in essence, a kind of moral authority. The definition of moral authority is actually really complex and hard to express, but I'm sure you know what I mean. And, despite what religion would have most people believe, moral authorities can and do exist outside of religion.Therefore, any person, group, or organization that represents a different moral authority can count as a viable target.I don't think it's necessary for me to argue that Religious Fanatics or even LDS members can look at other moral authorities and not feel any negative emotions. I would almost go so far as to say that maybe You should feel some negative emotions.Even if another moral authority doesn't directly offend you, they might be promoting a moral outlook that leads others to, from your moral perspective, do things that are wrong.ConclusionThus, I have clearly demonstrated how a diagnosis of Stockholm Syndrome is valid by meeting all three criteria.Big ThinkingGod's Plan of Salvation is essentially arbitrary. Since god could have snapped his fingers and made us perfect beings with eternal life from Day 0 and instead chose not to, what does that mean?