How Do You Use Your Agency?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to 2 Nephi 1-2 in a lesson titled “Free to Choose Liberty and Eternal Life, through the Great Mediator.” The lesson was introduced with the following words.

If you knew that your life was coming to an end, what final messages would you want to share with the people you love most? When the prophet Lehi felt he was nearing the end of his life, he gathered his family together one last time. He shared with them what Heavenly Father had revealed to him. He bore his testimony of the Messiah. He taught gospel truths he cherished to the people he cherished. He talked about liberty, obedience, the Fall of Adam and Eve, redemption through Jesus Christ, and joy. Not all of his children chose to live by what he taught – none of us can make these choices for our loved ones. But we can teach and testify of the Redeemer, who makes us “free to choose liberty and eternal life” (see 2 Nephi 2:26-27).

The principle that I choose to discuss is found in 2 Nephi 2: Because of Jesus Christ, I am “free to choose liberty and eternal life.” After Lehi’s family arrived in a new land, they saw many possibilities for success and happiness. This may be the reason that Lehi spoke to his son Jacob about agency and the ability to choose.

As you read 2 Nephi 2:11-37, consider how you would answer the following questions.

·         Why is agency so important to Heavenly Father, even though some people use it in hurtful ways?

·         How does the adversary try to weaken or destroy your agency?

·         How does the Savior help you “choose liberty and eternal life” (verse 27)?

 

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

 

12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

 

13 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.

 

14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

 

15 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

 

16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.

 

17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.

 

18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

 

19 And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth.

 

20 And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth.

 

21 And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.

 

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

 

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

 

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

 

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

 

26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

 

27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

 

28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

 

29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

30 I have spoken these few words unto you all, my sons, in the last days of my probation; and I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet. And I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls. Amen.

How do you use your agency? Do you choose the activities that bring you closer to God or those that move you the other direction?

Why Is Agency Important for the Maintenance of Freedom?

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns agency, the freedom to choose how we will live our lives. The different types of government are on a spectrum with tyranny on one end and anarchy on the other end. The best kind of government is about mid-way between the two extremes because it is in the middle that citizens can best use their agency.

A tyrannical government is one that is cruel and oppressive. A tyrant or dictator has absolute power over his/her subjects. Such governments seek to have total control over their subjects. Some well-known tyrants are: 

·        Caligula (Roman Emperor, 37-41 A.D.)

·        Genghis Khan (Mongol ruler, 1206-1227 A.D.)

·        Henry VIII (King of England, 1509-1547 A.D.)

·        Ivan IV (Russian Tsar, 1533-1584 A.D.)

·        Maximilien Robespierre (de facto ruler of France, 1793-1794 A.D.)

·        Joseph Stalin (General Secretary of the Soviet Union, 1922-1953 A.D.)

·        Adolf Hitler (Chancellor of Germany, 1933-1945 A.D.)

·        Augusto Pinochet (President of Chile, 1973-1990 A.D.)

·        Pol Pot (Ruler of Democratic Kampuchea, now Cambodia, 1975-1979)

·        Kim Jong Il (Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, 1991-present)

The opposite of tyranny is anarchy. An anarchism is a society or group of people that rejects any type of hierarchy. Anarchy means to operated without any political institutions or hierarchical government. There is no authority or governing body, and self-government is encouraged and promoted. Synonyms are lawlessness, mobocracy, and revolution. A current example of anarchy is the “summer of love” where Black Lives Matter (BLM) burned, looted, and murdered in many cities in the United States and elsewhere.

According to W. Cleon Skousen in his book titled The Five Thousand Year Leap – 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World (pp. 22-24), the Founders struggled and worked diligently to put the American government – the American eagle – “firmly planted in the balanced center of the political spectrum. He quoted James Madison who described how the Founders created a government where there was a division of labor between federal government and the states:

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite… The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State. (The Federalist Papers, No. 45, pp. 292-293.) (Emphasis mine.)

            Skousen explained that the Founders were determined to put the American eagle in the center of the spectrum between tyranny and anarchy. “The idea was to keep the power base close to the people. The emphasis was on strong local self-government.” The Founders gave certain powers and responsibilities to the federal government, and retained all other powers and responsibilities to the States or to the people themselves.

Skousen illustrated where the power is under three different types of government: A tyrant operates under the “Ruler’s Law” with 100% of the power, and an anarchy operated under “No Law” with 0% of the power. The ideal government operates under “People’s Law” with part of the power and authority vested in the federal government and the rest of the power and authority vested in the States or We the People.

President Joe Biden, or the people pulling his puppet strings, are seeking to turn the United States into a tyranny with 100% of the power and authority vested in the federal government. A recent example is the announcement that he made today at the White House mandating vaccinations.

“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us,” he said, all but biting off his words. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”

The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Biden is also signing an executive order to require vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government – with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.

            The issue of vax or no vax may be the cause that pushes freedom-loving Americans over the edge. However, it is complicated. I believe in vaccinations to stop terrible diseases. I am vaccinated, my husband is vaccinated, all six of our children and their spouses are vaccinated, and all our grandchildren twelve years old and older are vaccinated. You can see that my family and I are squarely in the vaccination camp.

Nevertheless, I am opposed to mandates for vaccinations. This is America, and our Constitution guarantees our freedom to choose. I believe that people should be vaccinated, but I am against forcing people to get the vaccination. Pro-choice advocates have been crying “my body, my choice” for fifty years, but many of them want to force non-vaxers to be vaccinated. Obviously, they believe in “my body, my choice” only when it comes to abortion.

I believe that the federal government is wrong in their approach. They should be showing that the vaccinations are good. I am hearing that 90-99 percent of the people hospitalized with the Delta variant have not been vaccinated. If these figures are true, why are they not front and center in all communications about COVID-19 instead of attacking non-vaxers?

Force does not work when dealing with freedom-loving people, but persuasion can be powerful. The first thing that the government should do is to put out the truth about the virus and the effectiveness of the vaccinations. This should be done openly and honestly – and not with social media banning other information.

At any rate, freedom to use agency to make our own choices is being challenged. I am vaccinated, and I choose to wear masks. I now wear N95 masks because I want to do all that I can do to stay healthy. With my health problems and those of my husband, COVID-19 could be bad news for either or both of us. So, we choose to be careful despite our hatred for masks. However, we still believe that people have the freedom to choose to be vaccinated or to take their chances with health and life. This is still America, the land of the free!

Freedom to Choose

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that God gave us agency or the freedom to choose.  We know this because He revealed it to His prophets.   Heavenly Father wants His children to have the opportunity to obey His commandments because they choose do so and not because they are forced to obey.  This is the reason He bestowed the gift of agency on each of His children.

                Agency is an eternal principle.  We were free agents in our pre-earth life, meaning we had power to act for ourselves.  One of the purposes for our life on earth is to prove that we can make good choices.  If we were forced to choose the right, we would have no way to show what action we would choose if given the opportunity.

                Heavenly Father also desires His children to have happiness.  He knows that people – including little children – are happier when we make our own choices.  When we are persuaded rather than forced to do something, the unpleasant tasks seem to be more acceptable.

                We made our first choices as spirit children while living in the presence of our Heavenly Father.  He called all of us together in a grand council meeting to explain His plan for our salvation and eternal happiness.  We all used our agency to choose to follow Jesus Christ.  We know this because we have physical bodies of flesh and blood.  Those who chose to follow Satan never received physical bodies and never will.

                We know agency was one of the main causes of a great war between those who chose to follow Jesus Christ and those who chose to follow Satan.  When Heavenly Father asked for a volunteer, Satan said that he would bring all of us back to the presence of our Father.  He would take away our agency and force us to do good things.  When Heavenly Father rejected Satan’s plan, Satan rebelled and was cast out of heaven with all his followers.

                Agency is a necessary part of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and happiness for His children.  We need agency in order to be tested, and we must be tried to see whether we are worthy to be like Heavenly Father.  During His creation of man in his mortal state, God said, “We will prove [test] them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:25).  Without the great gift of agency, we would not be able to prove ourselves. 

                When we choose to live according to the law of God, we strengthen our agency.  When we make right choices we increase our power to make more right choices.  As we obey each of the commandments of Heavenly Father, we become free to learn and obey other commandments.  We grow in wisdom and in strength of character.  Our faith in Jesus Christ increases, and we find it easier to make right choices.

                We all made the right choice in heaven and came to earth for further testing.  Heavenly Father wants us to grow in faith, power, knowledge, wisdom, and every good attribute.  We can continue to grow if we keep God’s commandments and make right choices.  As we learn and understand, we will become more like our Heavenly Father.

                Agency requires that there be a choice.  We cannot truly choose unless we are presented with at least two options.  This is probably the main reason why Heavenly Father allows Satan to tempt us to do bad things.  God revealed this very thing to Moses:  “I caused that he should be cast down.  And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4:3-4).

                Satan continues to oppose the work of God and does everything he can to destroy God’s work.  He does not love us or desire that we accomplish anything good.  In fact, he wants us to be his slaves, and he uses many disguises to take us into captivity.  He is so miserable that he desires that all of us are miserable like he is. 

                When we choose to follow Satan, we limit our choices.   The following example shows how this works.  Suppose you saw a sign on the seashore such as the following:  “Danger – whirlpool.  No swimming allowed.”  We could consider this to be a restriction, but we would be wrong because we still have many other choices.  We could choose to:  (1) swim somewhere else, (2) play on the beach, (3) watch the sunset, (4) go home, (5) ignore the sign and go swimming, or (6) make any other choice.  If we chose to go swimming and got caught in the whirlpool, our choices would become very limited very quickly: try to escape, call for help, or drown.

                In order to fully understand agency, we must understand that we are free to choose a course of action, but we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.  We are responsible for our actions because we have agency or the freedom to make choices.  Consequences are a natural result of any choice – whether good or bad.  If we touch a hot surface, we will be burned.  If we jump off a cliff, we will get hurt.  It is like picking up a stick:  if we pick up one end of the stick, we automatically pick up the other end of the stick also.  Whenever we make a choice – any choice – we also choose the consequence of that choice.  Choice and accountability go together hand in hand. 

                Heavenly Father gives us commandments in order to direct us away from the dangers of Satan and moving toward eternal life.  Commandments are like a fence at the top of a cliff:  they keep us on the road and moving forward.  One of the commandments is that we should “watch and pray always” that we may receive Heavenly Father’s help in making good choices.  If we are trying to live the commandments of Heavenly Father, He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we have the power to resist.  If we continue to make good choices, we will eventually gain exaltation, progress eternally, and receive a fulness of joy.  

The Choice Is Ours

                    The topic for this Freedom Friday is the fact that we have the freedom to choose what kind of government and nation we want to have.  In November 2012 we will go to the polls to vote for the person we want to be President of the United States as well as the people we want to represent us in the U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senate.  Who will we elect?

In 2008 the majority of the citizens of the United States elected a President who is nothing less than a socialist.  Everyone should have guessed that Barack Obama was hiding something when he sealed all of his records - birth certificate, health records, school records, etc.  The media failed to do its job in vetting him and gave him a pass.  Americans also elected Senators and Representatives who lean very far left.

Some people could see very early where these liberal and progressive leaders wanted to take us, but most of us were amazed at the speed with which they took us down the road toward socialism and ruin.  They told us before they were elected that they wanted to "fundamentally transform" our nation, and they set about doing exactly that as soon as they were inaugurated or seated in Congress.  The first thing they did was take over General Motors and Chrysler Motor.  Then they forced the banks to make loans to people that couldn't repay the loans.  In spite of the fact that we are watching socialist nations of Europe struggle for sovereignty because of over-extension of entitlement programs, our leaders continue to follow them off the same cliff.  Our nation, like many of the European nations, went into a recession nearly as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Can you honestly say that you as an individual or our citizens as a group are better off than you were four years ago?

The following comment by columnists Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski explains clearly why we need to vote Barack Obama out of office:

"The term `socialism' is misunderstood by many, and the Left spins it as if calling someone a socialist is a personal attack.  They do this to avoid serious discussion of socialism's impact.

"There are two components to socialism.  It's a philosophy that government owes to everyone in society a certain standard of living.  It includes government-provided or subsidized food, housing, education, and healthcare.

"Socialism provides entitlements through massive taxation, and also believes that heavy government regulation leads to a

better society.  It does all this in the name of `social justice.'

                    "No honest person can deny that President Obama's policies fit these criteria.  Government-run healthcare (and calling it a fundamental right, despite the fact that it's nowhere mentioned in the Constitution).  Federal control of education.  Government picking winners and losers in the economy.

                    "History repeatedly shows that free markets work over time, and socialism does not.  But we don't need to plumb the depths of world history.  We have our own recent history.

                    "Since Obamacare, employers have reported that they will have to drop insurance policies covering tens of millions of Americans, and Medicaid spending will increase by $434 billion by 2020.

                    "After (partially) bailing out the housing market, housing remains a depressed and failing sector, and Fannie and Freddie have the gall to ask for $6 billion in additional taxpayer money while paying $13 million in bonuses to their executives.

                    "And this administration deludes itself that it knows how to invest in business.  So it gives $535 million in loan guarantees to Solyndra as a good investment, only to see the company promptly go bankrupt.  Just for good measure the energy secretary illegally restructured this scam to pay off President Obama's fundraisers and stick you with the bill.

                    "Arrogance and incompetence are a toxic combination.  This White House and its cronies are overflowing with both."

Tea Party became active in the summer of 2009, showing up at town hall meetings, writing elected officials, reading the Constitution, and studying history, the words of our Founding Fathers, and current events more than we have done for many years.  I knew as early as June 2009 that I needed to start writing this blog, but I put it off until September because I didn't know what I had to offer to anyone else.  I have written an article every day for more than two years, and I expect to continue writing articles for some time to come.  Many Americans started flying their Stars and Stripes regularly.  Many others are involved in different ways to strengthen our nation.  In 2010 election, the Tea Party was instrumental in helping to elect enough conservatives to the Senate and House of Representatives that our march to destruction was slowed.  Congress seems to mirror our nation - a huge divide and separation of ideas of where our nation should go.

The election in November 2012 will be one of the most critical elections in more than 100 years.  The United States of America is currently standing on the edge of a great abyss, and the 2012 election could very well determine whether we move back to constitutional law and away from this danger zone or whether we go off the cliff into socialism, communism, or Sharia law - and eventual destruction of life as we know it.  The fate of our nation rests on the shoulders of citizens like you and I who will be going to the polls to vote.  We don't have to elect perfect people because no one on earth is perfect, but we must elect the best people that we can find. 

In order to elect leaders and representatives that will help our nation move back from the brink of disaster, we must vote wisely.  It is most important in this election that our citizens study the issues, listen to the candidates, read between the lines, and believe that the candidates are telling us exactly who they are.  Obama and his cohorts told us what they would do.  Some of us believed them and voted against them; others either didn't listen well enough or they liked what they heard. 

WashingtonTimes' editor emeritus Wesley Pruden wrote the following:  "President Obama is … a true believer in the European model of the welfare state.  Everybody who was listening learned that three years ago.  The fact that the European welfare states are crashing is irrelevant to him; true believers are never rattled by facts, not even facts that slap them in the face like a cream pie.  The opportunity to impose a failing welfare state on America is what drew him to the presidency in the first place.  The congressional elections last year, the Republican rout that Mr. Obama rightly called a `shellacking' of his party, made no impression, either.  The results were all about cutting taxes and dismantling government, but not to Mr. Obama.  Those elections were merely a few pebbles in the road to Utopia. 

"The president, with a con man's confidence in the sound of his own voice, is, in the observation of the Wall Street Journal, `making it clear that he is running for re-election on a platform of consolidating the expansion of government of his first two years and raising taxes to finance it.'  He makes everything clear to anyone listening …."

If Obama is re-elected to be President of the United States, our nation will reap exactly what we deserve - a whirlwind to destruction.  Will our citizens follow Obama, like lemmings, off the cliff?  Will we allow him to act as a Pied Piper and lead us in a direction we don't want to go?  Or will we be wise enough to elect someone who will lead our nation with constitutional law and maintain the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and paid for by the blood of our military members over the past 235 years?  The choice is ours to make, and the consequences will follow as surely as night follows day.  We must choose wisely!

Moral Agency

The scriptures teach that we have moral agency or the freedom to choose for ourselves. Moses 3:17 is one such scripture: “Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee.”

We had moral agency in our premortal life. One of the reasons why God created this earth and sent us here was so we could be tested, tried, and prove to Him what choices we will make (see 2 Nephi 2:15-16). We must have the opportunity to choose in order for it to be a fair test. If we were forced to choose the right, we would not be able to show what we would really choose. One result of being able to make our own choice is more happiness.

Agency was a major issue in the premortal Council in Heaven and one of the main causes of the war between the followers of Christ and the followers of Lucifer or Satan. In the Council in Heaven, both Jesus Christ and Lucifer volunteered to be our Savior. Christ indicated that He would follow Father’s plan, but Satan wanted to change the plan. He said, “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor” (Moses 4:1). In putting forth his own plan, he “rebelled against [God] and sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). Heavenly Father rejected the offer of Lucifer and then cast him out of heaven along with all his followers (see Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-37).

Through His prophets, God has told us that we are free to choose between good and evil. We can choose liberty and eternal life by following Jesus Christ or we can choose captivity and death by following Satan. (See 2 Nephi 2:27.) This right to choose between good and evil and to act for ourselves is called agency.

Agency is what makes our life on earth a period of testing. When preparing His plan for the salvation of his children, God said, “We will prove [test] them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). If we did not have the gift of agency, we could not show Heavenly Father whether we would obey all His commandments. We are responsible for our actions because we have the freedom to choose what we will do (see Helaman 14:30-31).

We strengthen our agency when we choose to follow God’s plan for us. When we make right choices, we increase our power to make good decisions. As we are obedient to God’s commandments, we grow in wisdom and strength of character. Obedience helps our faith in God to increase and makes it easier for us to make right choices.

We started to make choices while we lived with our Father in Heaven. Because we made good choices there, we were worthy to come to earth and to receive mortal bodies. God wants us to grow in faith, power, knowledge, wisdom, and every good thing. As we keep His commandments, choose wisely, and gain understand, we will become like our Father. (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:28.)

There must be opposition for us to have freedom of choice. We could never learn to choose righteousness if the choice between good and evil was never placed before us. A great Book of Mormon prophet named Lehi explained to his son Jacob that in order to bring about the eternal purposes of God, there must be “an opposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad” (2 Nephi 2:11).

In order that we might have choices, God allows Satan to oppose the good: “I caused that he should be cast down;
“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:3-4).

Satan is very busy in trying to destroy God’s work. He seeks “the misery of all mankind. … He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:18, 27). Satan does not love us, and he does not want us to be happy. In fact, he wants us to become his slaves and uses many disguises to fool us.

We limit our choices whenever we choose to follow the temptations of Satan. Consider of the following example that I heard. Imagine that you are walking along the seashore and see a sign that reads: “Danger – whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.” Some people might consider this to be a restriction, but it is not. We still have many possible choices. We can choose to swim somewhere else. We can choose to continue our walk along the seashore. We could find a comfortable place to sit and watch the water. We could choose to simply go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. There are many choices that we could make before entering the water, but once we are in a whirlpool and being pulled under, we have few choices left. We simply might drown by disobeying the warning unless we can somehow escape the whirlpool or obtain help from someone else.

The sad fact remains that we are free to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions. Consequences are a natural result of any choice we make, whether the result is good or bad (see Galatians 6:7; Revelation 22:12).

We can escape the captivity of Satan if we will listen to the counsel of our loving Heavenly Father. If we will watch and pray always and ask God to help us withstand Satan’s temptations, we will receive help from heaven to escape from Satan (see 3 Nephi 18:15). Our Heavenly Father has promised us that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our power to resist (see
1 Corinthians 10:13; Alma 13:28).

By following God’s commandments, we will be directed away from danger and toward eternal life. If we will choose wisely, we will gain exaltation, progress eternally, and enjoy perfect happiness (see 2 Nephi 2:27-28).

Freedom to Choose

Families grow stronger as they understand that the foundation for freedom and liberty is moral agency – the freedom to choose. We had agency when we lived as spirits in heaven before we came to this earth. While we lived with our Father in Heaven, He presented His plan for our happiness. He explained that He had prepared a new home for us where we would receive physical bodies and learn many things that we could not learn in heaven. He told us that we would have the ability to choose how we wanted to live our lives on earth. He said that we would one day return to live with Him if we made good choices.

After Father in Heaven presented His plan, another plan was presented to us by Lucifer. Lucifer's plan would insure that we all returned to heaven. To do this, our agency would be taken from us - and we would be forced to be good. There was a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7) because those who chose to follow Lucifer's plan wanted to force everyone else to choose it also. Those who wanted to keep their agency or freedom to choose won the war in heaven and were allowed to come to earth, receive bodies, and learn new things. Those who wanted to use force were cast out of heaven without bodies.

Among those who came to earth are some people who think they are so intelligent that they want to tell others how to live their lives. These people are sometimes called social engineers. They like to use the force of the government to change mankind and to cause them to fit a master plan. These plans are very much like the plan we rejected in heaven.

Many different programs are used to change mankind through the force of the government. Progressives are currently trying to gain control of the citizens in this nation by forcing some of these programs on our nation under the mask of health care reform, climate change, cap and trade, etc. Previous programs in other countries fell under the titles of Nazism, fascism, socialism, and communism. They were all administered under the control of a dictator such as Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, etc.

We fought a war in heaven over agency. Heavenly Father considered agency to be so important that He allowed one-third of the hosts of heaven - His children - to rebel and to choose to live another way.

Our nation was founded on liberty - the freedom to use our God-given agency to make choices. Our Founders fought and won a war that we might have liberty. Now we are in a war to see if we can retain our liberty. The words agency, freedom, independence, and liberty all describe the Right to Choose. Understanding the importance of moral agency helps all of us to be stronger.