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Maybe I believe it but think I DON’T believe it?

Maybe I believe it but think I DON’T believe it?

Last updated on: September 13, 2025 at 9:32 pm by Dan Peterson

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Maybe I believe it but think I DON’T believe it? 2025-09-13T21:32:46-06:00 Dan Peterson

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A photo of the Portland Oregon Temple that was taken with my wife’s phone. Given the size of the temple and the density of the flora surrounding it and the variety in its appearance from different angles, it’s really pretty hard to get a single photo of it that does it justice.

Driving back from the coast to drop our friends off at the airport in Portland, we stopped by the Portland Oregon Temple and walked around its grounds. We didn’t have enough time, alas, to do a session there — though we’ve attended sessions in it once or twice before. I’ve always liked its striking architecture and the beautiful marble with which it’s clad. And, of course, its grounds are gorgeous. Yesterday, its many and varied flowers were exceptionally pretty. A little bit of heaven. As, of course, it’s intended to be.

The fireside in Beaverton went well last night. At least, I thought so. But who knows what people were saying in their cars as they drove away?

We stayed for several days just a little bit north of this inlet at Depoe Bay, Oregon. And then we moved to Seaside. And then we moved to a place nearer again to Depoe Bay. And then to Portland. And then home. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

I wrote the other day about having dinner in Newport’s Local Ocean Seafood. I thought that my grilled halibut dish was probably the single seafood meal that I’ve ever had. We hadn’t yet been to our local favorite in Depoe Bay, Tidal Raves. I thought that it might suffer by comparison, but it didn’t really. The view is magnificent, of course. I shared a smoked salmon chowder with my wife, and my own dinner was a green curry, with Pacific rockfish, wild shrimp, bok choy, onions, peppers, and steamed peanut rice. It was very good, though I couldn’t finish it all.

All of which is another way of confessing that I ate on Thursday, too. Not just on Wednesday. I can’t seem to break the habit. I plainly deserve all the ridicule that I get for my addiction to daily food.

On the campus at Utah Valley University. (photo from UVU site)

Driving from the airport in Salt Lake City down to our home in Utah Valley, we were struck by the scores and scores of vehicles headed southward — most of them in the right or slow lane — that were festooned with American flags (along with MAGA flags, including one that read “God, Guns, and Trump,” another that read “Jesus is My Savior, Trump is My President,” and yet another that read, albeit without my censorship, “F#$% Your Feelings”). They were apparently headed to some sort of event, a vigil, at Utah Valley University. The freeway exit for UVU is also the exit for our house, but we decided to take another route home so as to avoid what was clearly going to be congested traffic. (The University Parkway exit was backed up with dozens and dozens of flag-bearing cars and trucks. The overpass that heads toward UVU, which we would normally take, was decorated with more American flags than I could count.)

The Celestial Room of the Idaho Falls Temple.
Please note the heavenly reunions depicted in the mural on the wall.

Over on the Peterson Obsession Board, one of their occasionally recurrent themes is the Latter-day Saint doctrine that the damned will be literally, physically, neutered in the next life. I am said to take special delight in this punishment, contemplating with almost giddy and definitely sadistic pleasure the destiny that awaits those who have dared to criticize me or even to disagree with my theology.

There is a slight problem with the narrative, though. I believe no such thing. In fact, I think it’s directly contradicted by scripture. Consider, for example, this verse from the Book of Mormon:

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. (Alma 40:23)

Moreover, to the best of my knowledge, there is no such doctrine. I’ve never heard any such idea taught in any church setting. Ever. Does anybody out there — I’m specifically asking believing, communicant members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — believe this? Has anybody heard it taught over the pulpit or in any church setting?

I’ve almost never used AI for anything, but I decided to ask it whether Latter-day Saints believe that the wicked will be neutered in eternity. AI is, I understand, the font of all wisdom and knowledge. So here is the complete response that I received:

According to the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the “damned” are not neutered in eternity, but their path to exaltation and eternal procreation is cut off. The doctrine differentiates between eternal “salvation” for almost all people, and eternal “exaltation,” the highest reward reserved for the most faithful.

The degrees of glory

In LDS theology, after a final judgment, individuals are assigned to one of three kingdoms of glory or to Outer Darkness.

The celestial kingdom is the highest degree of glory and the only place where eternal marriage and family can continue. This is also the only kingdom where Latter-day Saints believe people can continue to procreate and become like God. Only those who are sealed in an eternal marriage in a temple can achieve this highest state of exaltation.

The terrestrial and telestial kingdoms are lesser kingdoms of glory for those who were less righteous. Those who inherit these kingdoms will have resurrected bodies, but they will not have the power of eternal increase or procreation.

Outer Darkness is reserved for the “sons of perdition,” who have a perfect knowledge of God and then deny him. This is the only group whose spirits will not receive a kingdom of glory, and they will suffer an “eternal damnation”.

The concept of damnation and procreation

The idea of those in lower kingdoms losing the ability to procreate has led to the occasional rumor or misunderstanding that they will be physically “neutered” in the next life. However, this is not an official church teaching. The doctrine states that they will simply not have the power of “eternal increase” or the ability to have “spirit children”.

In summary, Latter-day Saints believe that all who lived on earth will receive a resurrected body. While some people will not have the opportunity for eternal marriage and procreation, the idea that they will be physically neutered is a misconception.

Does anybody want to challenge this response from AI? It accords perfectly with my understanding, my belief, and my experience in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But maybe I’m just totally clueless, and the last one to know. Maybe, in fact, without knowing that I believe it, I believe it.

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