Thou shalt not kill!” is commanded by God, and yet the world is replete with murder at the hands of cruel beings, those who have the very same designation as we “human beings.” I believe most all religious sects have a similar doctrine describing the sanctity of life. So, if life is sacred, why is it so easily destroyed by some? There is rampant death that is caused by wars and by individuals who are seeking power to have control over others. It started with Cain and has never changed nor hardly even let up.
The innocent victims ask every day, “Why? Why does a just God allow such pain and suffering even among little children, the most innocent and helpless of us all?” For those who suffer and have suffered these injustices, that is a common question. The one that is most frequently asked and directed to Heaven is “Why does a supposedly just God allow such cruel things to happen?” That question is difficult to answer, but I am going to attempt to do so in these next few paragraphs.
The question of cruelty may be the primary reason that many people do not believe in God. Maybe they were believers at one time, but a tragedy occurred in their family, where someone may have died and there seemed to be no justice and no answer, resulting then in a loss of what faith they may have had. For the world in general, it is a mystery too deep and too complicated for most humans to understand, let alone explain. When superficial explanations have dried up and evaporated, the victims are left with no satisfactory answer, only with their grievous loss, a loss without apparent justification or purpose, just an empty loss! To say it is a mystery, or even the greatest mystery of Godliness, is hardly any comfort. To describe it as the business of the Almighty and none of ours only adds a little salt to the wound. I am sure there are even some who may feel that because of God’s universal power and authority over all things that He has no obligation to share his reasons and/or his ways with puny man.
In truth and in defense of the Almighty, there is an answer—not that he needs me, or any other mortal, to explain or to justify His great purposes. But, for those without access to or even knowledge of the Holy scriptures, they need to know that there actually are answers that describe His purposes and why He allows such injustices to occur. He has explained, even in great detail, why. However, those whom He has authorized as His prophets and servants have not always been capable of relaying the messages to us as succinctly as the Lord may have given it to them. All of His servants have dwelt on earth, and many of them have suffered great and terrible injustices themselves, even including a cruel death. Many of these people, called prophets, have been simple men—fisherman and even herdsman, who have lived “just” and simple lives. To these men, He has tried to reveal and explain His great plan and what the end and/or purpose will be. Therefore, a part of His plan may be found by reading a revelation (message) received by and recorded by one of these prophets and another part will be found in another’s writings. Therefore, the answers to God’s mysteries are found not in one place but throughout the scriptures. The reason for that is to confound the skeptic and the insincere. “For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times, as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.” (1 Nephi 10:19) We have to understand that we were first “spirit”—spirit offspring of our Heavenly Father. As spirits, we looked as we do in the flesh, as we learn from the Book of Ether where Jesus Christ showed himself as a spirit unto the Brother of Jared. The Lord stated, “Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.” (Ether 3:16) This was centuries before Christ was born to the earth. Christ had not yet received His physical body. Even as Christ’s spirit appeared, so was His mortal body to appear. The same can be said of ours. Our Heavenly Father, the literal and loving Father of our spirits, shared His plan of progression with us, His spirit children, in what has been referred to as our pre-earth existence. He reminds us of it (His plan), from time to time, to help guide us through life. “And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, (messengers) that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.” (Alma 12:14)
We were all called together at a time when we were still spirits before we had yet received physical bodies. This all took place before the world (the physical planet) had been organized. We have to assume that as spirits in that pre-earth life, we had progressed there as far as we could. The Father’s just and Holy plan was designed for His children’s continued growth and experience. We were being sent off to college, so to speak. (Historically, the agency of man has allowed evil and designing men to prevent the plan from becoming well known and widespread.) The earth, though not yet created, was designed by Him in such a way as to optimize our future growth. His plan accounted for the universal fact that growth is only possible in an environment of opposing forces; an environment that would require us to make choices between those forces. “For it must needs be, that there is 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. 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.” (2 Nephi 2:11–15). He gave us instructions as to how we could best maneuver through these opposing forces and come out at the end stronger and better prepared to return to Him (our Father) with honor. We were to use our agency to choose between His given guidelines and/or commandments or to choose evil (the opposition). If we were faithful and always made intelligent or growth choices, we would gain stature, spiritually, and intellectually. Our growth and obedience is what would qualify us to be rewarded with an opportunity to move-on (progress) to the next realm—to a new challenge and eternal life in His presence. “And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130:19) The Father understood that we (all of us) would sometimes fail to make the right choice and use our agency to behave contrary to His instructions (commandments). So a means to seek forgiveness was provided. If we were willing to confess and humble ourselves and in all sincerity seek forgiveness, we would justifiably be allowed to get back on track and again move forward and progress in the Plan. However, it was explained to us, and we were warned, that there was a possibility that we could become caught up in the evil or tempting opposition forces of the world and through pride, fail to repent and thereby be lost forever. In that pre-existent state, Satan was one of us; he was a very intelligent spirit but one that hungered for power and glory for himself. So he opposed the Father’s plan of growth through opposition and suggested his plan, whereby we would not be challenged beyond our ability and desire to resist and thereby assuring that we would all return to the Father’s presence. If we would have accepted his plan, and, if consequently, we were all saved (so to speak) with that kind of universal success, he felt that he should be given the Father’s glory. With his plan, we would not have been able to choose sin or be disobedient, but we would not have grown either because we would not have been actually challenged by the opposition. When Satan’s plan was rejected by the majority of us, he became angry and rebelled against our Father, and he and all of those spirits who supported him were cast out from the Father’s presence. “And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.” (Revelations 12:7,8) They were condemned to remain spirits forever, never to obtain a physical body nor to be able to progress as the faithful. Because of their anger and their rejection, they, in fact, became that opposing force the Father referred to, the opposition that would cause or help us to grow via the opposing options and the choices we would have to make between them. These rebellious spirits, led by Satan, wanted the Father’s plan for us to fail, and therefore, they began to entice us to make choices contrary to our Father’s instruction. They would devise many schemes that would lead us away from our goal. Even as spirits, they are obviously able to wield a great deal of influence in our physical world. Satan (and his spirit followers) stir up wicked men who have bodies and who have made bad choices to oppose the Lord’s work—they who have already followed Satan’s schemes. (D&C 10:26)
The question may be asked, who cares if we are disobedient (sin)? Why couldn’t the Father, who loves us, just have mercy on us and take us into His kingdom regardless of what we do? Is He not all powerful, and can He not do whatsoever He pleases? Not so! You may then ask, Why? The answer to that is one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. The scriptures only tell us, “What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.” (Alma 42:25) Are there actually forces in the Universe so powerful that they could take away God’s power and control over the universe and all things therein? The answer, apparently, is Yes! I almost feel blasphemous to suggest that, but it is not me; His very own instruction manual (scriptures) tells us this. I suppose He could have kept that part to Himself and not made us aware of such a challenge to His power and might. But because our Father is a just and a truthful God, He wanted us to know why mercy (without repentance) was not an option. He could not just gather us up and take us home at the end of our trial or sojourn here. Justice must be satisfied. “…judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governed and executeth all things.” (D&C 88:40) What is this great force that we call justice??? It is a force so powerful that it goes before the face of Him, God, and could cause Him to cease to be God in all His glory. My understanding is that the justice that has such power is based on the intelligences that are and who essentially have elected (supported) our Father to be in control of all things. “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” (D&C 6:36) There we are given a clue, if His light and truth were somehow taken away or diminished, would He no longer have “glory”? Is it possible that there is some kind of a universal democracy where the approval of the intelligences has to be gained in order to have “glory”? Our knowledge of universal intelligence(s) has primarily come to us through the prophet Abraham. He has given us important information that we find very little of anywhere else: Our Father revealed to Abraham saying: “I dwell in the midst of them all (intelligences); I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning…they are gnolaum, or eternal.” (Abraham 3:21) He further stated that “…I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.” Apparently all things have some level of intelligence, though it is not obvious to the naked eye or to man’s senses. All things are made up of molecules, atoms and have a nucleus or controlling substance that identifies it. Evidence of that is found in the scriptures, in the Book of Luke, where the Lord was entering Jerusalem: “And when he was come nigh…the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:37–40). When God created the earth, He did so by the word of His power. He spoke, and the elements responded and came together accordingly. Because all intelligence honors Him as God, they obey his voice. The intelligences (at all levels) obviously have a sense of justice and can sense when or if God were to treat any of us impartially. As long as He is “Just,” He will be honored and obeyed. Boyd K. Packer said that “The Lord will not tamper with our agency.” The question then is, does God ever interfere in our lives? The answer is, yes, but only when prayers of faith have been demonstrated and the causes are just. The other intelligences make allowances for that kind of deviation from the norm. I believe that God’s miracles are provided to bless mankind, and therefore, they are reasonable and purposeful: the sick are healed, the multitude are fed, etc. For example, when the sick are blessed with a prayer of faith, we are in a sense allowing God to intercede and giving Him the right to override our agency. Because the request is not asking for favors that He would not provide others, He is not being impartial. Mosiah stated: “Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings. (Mosiah 8:18)
What does all the above have to do with answering the question, Why? Why does God, who is thought to be all powerful, allow such cruelty among men? That plan, that great plan that He proposed was designed to provide us with experiences where we would be have to be self reliant, to live and make choices causing us to grow and be prepared for our next experience, possibly in His very presence. The very core of that plan was based on God’s justice and His being impartial to us all. We would all be given an equal opportunity to prove ourselves in whatever circumstances we were born under. We understood from that first orientation, before the world was, that this world would be designated as the cold and dreary world with many hardships. Those hardships included suffering brought about in many cases by the cruelty of our fellow man. Adam found out very early in his experiencing of this earth life what was meant by that warning when one of his choicest sons slew another out of a jealous rage. Because Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to the Lord and Cain’s was not. Cain, who was directly influenced by Satan, learned from that act of cruelty that he could get gain, that he would now have access to Abel’s many herds without having to do any of the hard work. Cain taught his family and others of his newly found enterprise.
That enterprise has been flourishing ever since. Good people have had the challenge of dealing with the legitimate opposition and temptation of the Cain’s of this world, and that has been a very big part of our challenge and growth—the proliferation of cruelty that generated the question at the beginning of this thought. Why does a just God allow such terrible cruelty deserves a truthful answer. If God were to intervene every time we were challenged by a Cain (cruel person), there would be no choices for us to make and therefore no growth, and we may as well have adopted Satan’s plan in the beginning. More importantly, continued interference by the Father would show partiality. As hard as it may be for Him to stand by and witness man’s inhumanity to man, He must. Because He cannot and will not intervene. It is very important that we keep in mind the several other points that were shared when He described His great plan for us. Not only were we to have the option to repent in order to regain or reestablish ourselves on the path to eternal life, but for the multitude who were unaware of the plan while on earth, there will be an option for their descendants to do their work for them vicariously in His temples. Those who die before the age of eight are automatically returned to Him. In respect to those who are cruel and cause so much pain and sorrow, they will have one very distinct disadvantage. Where the light of Christ is given to all men who are born into the world, that light will be withdrawn from those who persist to do evil. “Light and truth forsake that evil one.” (D&C 93:37)
We must never do as those Lamanite converts in the Book of Mormon did and bury our weapons of war. But rather, we must be as General Moroni who inspired and motivated men to sharpen their weapons of war and be willing and ready to go against evil in this often cruel world.
I have summarized about three pages of scriptures from Chapter 46 in the Book of Alma into the following paragraph describing what good Christians must do: …Amalickiah, (ISIS) because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them…When Moroni… heard of these dissensions, he was angry with Amalickiah. (ISIS)… he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole…He called it the “Title of Liberty,” and he bowed himself…and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren…And those who did belong to the church were faithful…took upon them…the name of Christ… because of their belief in Christ who should come…Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be…destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions…. and (Moroni) crying with a loud voice, saying…Enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them. And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins…let us remember to keep the commandments of God, Yea, let us preserve our liberty…Moroni…went forth and… gathered together all the people…to stand against Amalickiah
(ISIS)… And it came to pass that Amalickiah (ISIS) fled. (Alma 46) Our modern day Moroni will hopefully step forward soon. Alma paid a great tribute to Moroni by saying, “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” (Alma 48:17) We must remember that cruelty and acts of cruelty are not owned by any particular group or individual. Cruelty is a cancerous seed that potentially resides within each and every person born to earth. What subject or substance can cause it to metastasize can be somewhat different for each of us. When we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that there are things that happen everyday in life that are offensive to us, that cause our blood pressure to rise and our adrenaline to flow. Those symptoms are, or could be, what sparks the cruel gene to be stimulated. Most of us can control those symptoms, but when we read of the mass cruelty being demonstrated in the Middle East, for example, our own capacity to express cruelty is exposed. My own is demonstrated verbally and very freely when I see an innocent person being decapitated, men, women and children lined up at an open ditch and mercilessly shot to death—then I find myself capable of doing the same to those who perpetrated the act. Does that make me less cruel than they? The only justification that I could find for my own cruel thoughts was found in 1 Nephi 4:13: “Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes.” In summary: This is a beautiful earth, and we are fortunate to be sent here for our continued growth, even with the pain and suffering of many. We should feel blessed for the opportunity to be here, knowing that God is just, and by and by, we will all be judged and given an appropriate reward or punishment. Let us always appreciate our earth’s beauty and love and cherish those who are good and pure. We must always retain our hope for “without hope there is only despair.” “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world.” (Ether 12:4)