I once read about a different perspective on the war Heaven. In Mormon theology it’s often shared that Satan’s plan was to dictate what we could do and take away our ability to choose so that we would remain perfect and return to our Heavenly Father. On the other side is the plan Christ offered up to allow us to come to earth to make choices for ourselves. He would be the redeemer to make up for the mistakes we’d make, but we’d learn. And if we so chose to live righteously we would end up with God in Heaven. This other perspective was about Satan’s plan. It was not to limit or constrain us from making choices, but to rid choice of consequences. Thus, our choices would have no significance. All choices would be okay therefore we’d never have chosen wrong or been sinful. I wish I could find the original article, but I’m not sure where it is, but that’s the gist of it.
As soon as I read it everything made sense. In the garden, the serpent got Eve to eat the fruit by telling her the consequence she believed was not true. They wouldn’t die but be as the Gods. (Genesis 3: 1-5) He didn’t force it down her throat, but convinced her the consequences weren’t really there and it would give her what she wanted. In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah they had fallen into those same patterns of belief. It was not that they were being forced to sin, but they had decided their desires were above consequence. And then when they tried to assault an angel of God it was the end of their ways. God destroyed them.
We can choose to believe there are no consequences, but that is not possible. Everything in life has a consequence, for better or worse. If we choose to do well in school we have the consequence of good grades. Depending on when we decide to leave on a trip we may make great time, get stuck in traffic or even end up in a horrific accident. Consequences are not ours for the choosing, they are natural.
In the US we live in a society that I see as trying to limit consequences in various ways. One big one is through legalizing abortion. Pregnancy is often a result (natural consequence) of having sex. But in the cases of unwanted/unplanned pregnancies we have decided as a people that the woman has the right to choose. She chose to get into bed and have sex, so did the father. However, we’re now deeming it possible to choose the consequence. It doesn’t work out that way. Further consequences are possible from that choice. In another example we have become very litigious as a people. We try to shift the blame around so that we are never held accountable for our actions. In one case recently a 17 year old girl is being forced by the courts to undergo chemo against her will. In talking to friends we realized if the state didn’t step in and force her to do it then her non-consenting parent could sue the hospital and/or state for not protecting his minor, almost adult daughter. In a few years if the girl is suffering trauma from being forced into surgery and challenging medical treatments she could probably sue the state for her emotional trauma. So essentially no one wants the consequences and will do what they can to shift the consequences to someone else.
It is important we are personally responsible for our actions and our consequences. Not to be too political, but this is all some of the reason I support more libertarian ideals in politics. I’d rather make my own choices and deal with the natural consequences than to shift my consequences around. That plan doesn’t work so well for any of us, because eventually we’ll all get screwed from someone else’s choice.
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