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Would you deny God and the Church if....

You're in a extremely dangerous situation. A person or more than one have you and your son/daughter as hostages. They ask you to denied the existence of God and the truthfulness of the Gospel and they want you to say that you want to worship Satan from now on. If you don't, they will kill your son/daughter....what would you do?

if Church the God deny Would

What a great question, LDS!!!!  I often have wondered what I would do if I was asked to put my life on the line for the Church.  I have convenanted to do so.

I am reminded of the girl at Columbine High School in Colorado who was asked if she believed in God, while another student held a gun to her head.  She said yes and he shot her dead.  Of course he was probably going to shoot her either way, but since that happened, I have thought about this question more than once.

I don't know what I would do.  I know I wouldn't worship Satan, but would I lie and say I would, just to save my life?  I might if I thought it didn't matter.  If I thought that the Lord knew my true beliefs, what does it matter what this person thinks I believe.

Having your children present adds an interesting twist, though.  Our instinct is to do just about anything to save them and keep them safe from harm.  So, we wouldn't want them hurt, but would we want them to see us deny the existance of Heavenly Father?

Even though Heavenly Father would always know what was in our hearts, and he would know we were lying to the person just to get away and not really denying him, our children would not know what was really in our hearts at the time.  It might look to them like we didn't really have enough faith and gave up when things were really difficult.

Whew!!!!

Would you deny God and the Church if.... Studies Doctrine Mormon

Well actually there have been many examples of this 'kind' of situation in the scriptures (not the children part). We can use one example in Peter. He denied Christ to save himself and possibly the continuation of the Church. We can also read what the Lord thought about what he did... Jesus the Christ puts it clearly too and it seems that it somewhat close to what you (Tenaheff) are saying about Heavenly Father knowing what is in our hearts.

if Church the God deny Would

Actually the first idea I had for the thread was about ourselves rather than our children but because I know some people will be willing to die for the Gospel then I added the twist of our own children. We do anything for them...and this one is really tough. I don't know what I would do! maybe lie...I don't know. One thing for sure,  I will do anything that takes to keep my son out of harm.

if Church the God deny Would

Oh my gosh this is a hard question.

I want to believe I could be strong, no matter what, and tell these people that I know God lives, Jesus is the Christ, and Joseph Smith was a true prophet of the Living God.

But could I do that with a gun pointed in my face?  Or worse, my child's?

Could I live with myself after denying God and praising Satan in the presence of my child?  Would that child ever believe anything I said afterwards?  ("Honey, I said those things to save your life, you know I don't really worship Satan..."   "Sure, mom... sure.")

Do I want to die with the denial of God on my lips?

No one can really know how they will react in a heated situation.  I've heard that if you know ahead of time what you WILL say rather than what you won't, that it's easier to remember.

Let's all pray we won't ever be in a situation like this.  But from what I understand of Latter Days, we may be sacrificed for membership in the church.

In my opinion, of course.
Roz

Would you deny God and the Church if....

I agree with Farseer.  I pray that no one will have to cope with this situation.  However, our children are taught that if they make the absolute decision not to ever take drugs, smoke or ? then when faced with the actual situation they will have already made their choice.
I cannot imagine what I would do if my children's lives were threatened unless I denied God.  What would our children do if the situation were reversed?
When my youngest son was about 15 there were many people out of work and some of them would stand in shopping center parking lots or on street corners with signs saying "will work for food" .  My son asked me why I didn't stop and bring these people home to work for me or to give them food.  I told him that I couldn't put him or myself into that situation.  What if I offered help and the person got into the car and put a weapon to his head and told me to ??? or held a weapon to my head and told him to ???.   I told him I couldn't take that risk with his life or leave him without a mom.  I guess what I am trying to say is that perhaps this is a good case for avoidance and common sense to help us stay away from the potential of a situation like this.  It isn't fool-proof but I don't know of a better way.
granny7

Would deny God the Church if....

I consider myself: I'm Super Active
Years a Member: 2

Well obviously I don't have any children of my own and therefore my opinion may be entirely different when I do have children, but at this point in my life I can say that I would not deny the Church of God and to dishonor my Priesthood by rejecting the truth in order to save my own life or the life of another even my own children.  I would choose death and eternal life over temporary prolong my life.

Would deny God the Church if.... Mormon Doctrine Studies

That question is easy!
We should look at how much Jesus loves us.

He took on the sins of the world, suffered and died for us because he loves us sooo much. He NEVER denied that we exist. He never will.

So, to answer your question: DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR!