Do the Mormons/ Latter Day Saints view of the Trinity and belief in a divine Mother make a practical difference to their ethics & conduct?

Question

I understand that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (popularly known as Mormons) teaches that God the Father has a wife and we thus have a divine Mother as well as Heavenly Father. I also understand that unlike most other Christian denominations they do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity, the three in one God, but consider God the Father (whom they sometimes call Elohim), Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be separate beings, thus at least from an outsiders point of view making them polytheists.

In the realm of theory, these are enormous differences from the official teachings of most Christian denominations. However, I am interested in whether they make a practical difference to how Mormons/Latter Day Saints live their lives or their answers to ethical questions.

I asked this question on another internet forum (Quora) that did not allow me to give so much detail in my question. Some LDS members replied saying things like 'It makes a difference to me to know that the Holy Spirit listens to my prayers', which I am sure are important to them in their faith but did not really answer my question as Protestants, Roman Catholics and members of other branches of Christianity would say the same.

Some said that while the Mormons beliefs on these matters were important as doctrine, they did not make much difference to how they lived their lives.

One person said that believing that God the Father is himself married to a wife suggested that male/female is the proper form of marriage, and hence same sex marriage is wrong.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not have extensive doctrine on Mother in Heaven

As with many other truths of the gospel, our present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited. Nevertheless, we have been given sufficient knowledge to appreciate the sacredness of this doctrine and to comprehend the divine pattern established for us as children of heavenly parents. Latter-day Saints believe that this pattern is reflected in Paul’s statement that “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.” Men and women cannot be exalted without each other. Just as we have a Father in Heaven, we have a Mother in Heaven. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said, “Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.”

This doctrine of family is central to God's plan for us, and can be found in the Family: A Proclamation to the World. So having this knowledge is important as it sets the goal/standard on which we (mankind) strive to attain.

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In regards to the comment about polytheism see this answer.

Answer 2

Not sure how this can be objectively answered, but these kind of doctrines certainly do make a difference, in the way that they affect ourselves and our neighbor:

The fact that LDS believe that mankind are literally children of God means that

• Oneself is incredibly valuable, not just a creature
• Everyone else is also incredibly valuable, not just a creature
• Families are eternal and as such even higher value than they already are to everyone else
• Other people are quite literally our siblings. Not just other creatures. That at least has potential to affect how one feels about others.
• The body is in high regard due to our beliefs about resurrection and that Jesus and the Father both have a body. Men is created in the image of God, literally.
• A personal God is maybe, possibly, easier to relate to than the abstract entity of the Trinity. Anecdotally, I have never felt a need for an intercessory prayer to someone ouside the Godhead like catholics seem to feel. That being said, of course Trinitarians also believe in persons.
• Yes, we believe male/female marriage is the "proper" form of marriage. That has to do with our beliefs that eternal marriage is important to have offspring in eternity. That is what modern revelation says. Any belief that God is married and has a wife should be considered secondary to that, and not preceding that. Because that is NOT anywhere in our scriptures (which doesn't mean we don't believe that, we do).

Other than that, I'd say the Trinity and the Godhead we believe in (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as individuals but working in unison) are functionally equivalent. The Trinity, as far as I can tell, just means that somehow, somewhere behind the scene the three persons are really one God. In LDS beliefs, you also can't pray to a different person of the Godhead and expect any different result than if you had prayed to the Father, for example.