The Need for Opposition

So many people of the world pine and whine for a world where there is only sunshine.  They dream of a place where only good, beauty, happiness, light and knowledge exist.  They would banish all evil, ugliness, sorrow, darkness and ignorance.  They don't see that one cannot exist without the other.  If we are to have choices, it must be between light and dark; between good and evil.

It's a popular theme in fiction to depict a society where the authorities have taken away choices, and everyone is forced to do things in a certain way.  A Wrinkle in Time is one example.  Choice is taken away, using the rationale that if people are allowed to choose, they will be foolish or evil and the ideal society will cease to exist.

Satan's proposition in the war in heaven was that we have a world without choice.  H would eliminate the opportunity to sin by eliminating evil.  But Lehi teaches us that without choice, without evil opposite the good, dark opposite the light, there could be no good, no light.  Even God could not exist.  (2 Nephi 2:11-13)  Did Satan realize that such a world would destroy God?  His attempts to eliminate our agency, to defeat God, to bring misery to all mankind would seem to coincide with the destruction that Lehi describes.

Sometimes in our church classes, people describe Satan's plan as one which would force evil upon us.  That was not his plan at all.  His plan was enforcing GOOD.  If we look for examples of that plan in today's world, we can see attempts by governments to legislate goodness.  They think that people are too selfish or too lazy or too dumb to do all the good things that need to be done, so we need to be forced to do those things.  But the role of government is to protect us from evil and pass laws against evil, but it should not try to enforce goodness.  It may pass laws against alcohol and drugs, but not try to force us to exercise and eat tofu.  It may prohibit slavery, but not try to legislate love for fellowmen.  It may make theft illegal, but not try to force us to give our money to those in need.  Giving to our brothers in need is a wonderful thing, but when we do it without choice, we are robbed of the opportunity to learn to "bear one another's burdens."  When we are forced to do good, our agency is taken away.  That was Satan's plan.