Unalienable Rights. Unavoidable Responsiblities.

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Tom Sheppard

11/18/2021

Unalienable Rights

The Declaration of Independence declares that all people are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  Please note, although The Declaration of Independence lists some specific rights, it expressly states that this list is not exhaustive.

What does unalienable mean?  Dictionary.com gives one definition for inalienable as: “not transferable to another or not capable of being taken away or denied.”[1]

The Declaration of Independence goes on to assert that legitimate governments exist only to preserve these rights.  When a government becomes “destructive of these ends” it is the right of the people to abolish that government and form a new one.  This latter point is effectively calling out another inalienable right, the right to rebel against any government that is seeking to deprive the people of their inalienable rights.  This has been called “the right of revolution.”  Jefferson actually list this as a responsibility.  One author pointed out that citizens of the United States of America exercise this right of revolution every time they vote.

The earliest reference I could find to unalienable rights comes from John Locke.  In 1689, Locke argued in Two Treatises of Government that political society existed for the sake of protecting "property", which he defined as a person's "life, liberty, and estate".[2] In A Letter Concerning Toleration, he wrote that the magistrate's power was limited to preserving a person's "civil interest", which he described as "life, liberty, health, and indolency[3] of body; and the possession of outward things".[4] He declared in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding that "the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness".[5]

In Section 134 of The Doctrine and Covenants[6], Joseph Smith, Jr. sets forth the lawful purposes of governments and what they must do to retain the loyalty of the governed. 

He begins by asserting that governments are not an invention of humanity, rather they are instituted by God for the benefit of humanity.  He further states that God holds us accountable for our actions relating to both making and administering laws.  This places a solemn and eternal responsibility on those in government to use their offices “for the good and safety of society.”[7]

In the second verse of this section, Joseph, speaking on behalf of the Saints and according to the will of God goes on to define what governments must do to merit the allegiance of the governed.

“We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.”[8]

Joseph lists as inviolate, the rights to free exercise of conscience, control of property, and protection of life.  These are entirely consistent with the views expressed in The Declaration of Independence and by John Locke.  We further see these rights explicitly defended in The Bill of Rights which amended the US Constitution for the express purpose of clarifying exactly what the people were expecting from the government defined by the US Constitution.

The First Amendment directly addresses the importance of the free exercise of conscience:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”[9]

The Founders of our nation encapsulated this right in the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petitioning the government over grievances.  Their language is clear in prohibiting the government from making any laws in these areas.

Joseph Smith elaborated and clarified the freedom of religion.

“We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.”[10]

Some key points are worthy of call outs.

1.       Men are accountable only to God for their exercise of religion.
2.       Government can only interfere with religion when religion is infringing on the rights and liberties of others.

This latter point helps to clarify further the proper relationship between religions and government. 

It also serves to highlight the fact that government exists to protect the rights and liberties of each individual against all forces seeking to deprive them of their rights and liberties. These forces may be foreign governments, corporations, individuals, or even domestic governments.  This latter point is one of the rare instances where the Federal Government, usually after a ruling from the US Supreme Court, is authorized to interfere with actions or ordinances enacted by the sovereign governments of our state and local governments.

An additional right:

·        The right to self-defense: “…all men are justified in defending themselves, their friends, and property, and the government, from the unlawful assaults and encroachments of all persons in times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the laws, and relief afforded.”[11]

The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights speaks directly to this point.  It reads:

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”[12]

Many people have gotten themselves so wrapped up in the word “militia” in this amendment that they often ignore the mandate that this right “shall not be infringed.”  The facts are that a posse which consisted of deputized citizens acting under the leadership and authority of law enforcement, have often been referred to a militia.  A militia is simply a group of citizens organized to defend their rights against one or more individuals threatening to deprive them of their unalienable rights.

The Second Amendment asserts that the right of the people to defend their inalienable rights by the use of deadly force, if necessary, is not negotiable.  No sane person doubts the right of one nation to defend itself against the unlawful aggression of another nation.  This sovereign right to self-defense is not one of the rights ceded by the sovereign people of the United States of America as part of our social compact.

Joseph’s teachings curtail this right to “…times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the laws, and relief afforded.”[13]

Unavoidable Responsibilities

Unavoidable means: “unable to be avoided; inevitable.”

In verse 5 of Section 133 Joseph notes responsibilities that people have whose rights are protected by their government.

“We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.”[14]

He notes that we are “bound to sustain and uphold” our governments.  What binds us is often referred to as a social compact.  In our case the social compact is our Constitution.  It is a bilateral contract.  The sovereign individuals cede specific portions of their individual sovereignty to the government in exchange for the commitment that the government will protect and preserve the rights of the individuals against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  To make the bilateral nature of this contract clear, Joseph notes that the individuals are bound to support the government “while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights.”

He goes on to point out that sedition and rebellion, seeking to destroy the government, is a violation of this contract as long as the government is doing its part.

In verse 6 he addresses an issue which is currently rocking our nation.  Today, many are calling for the defunding of police departments and the abolition of them.  Many people vilify the police and the courts, regardless of their diligence while enforcing the law equally on all.

“We believe that every man should be honored in his station, rulers and magistrates as such, being placed for the protection of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty;”[15]

Can any rational person deny that our police departments fall within the broad category of “magistrates?”  While they are not judges, without police to investigate crimes and apprehend criminals, magistrates would be a title without function.

Joseph goes on to explain why we need civil laws and civil governments.

“…human laws being instituted for the express purpose of regulating our interests as individuals and nations, between man and man;”[16]

Our civil laws, rightfully regulate interests and actions between people, one to another, and nations one to another.  He goes on to note that religious laws govern our interests and actions between us and God, and that God holds us accountable for our obedience to both civil and religious laws.  However, he notes that religion has no right to deprive people of their property, opinions, or lives and their lawful punishments extend only to withdraw their fellowship and excommunicate them from their society.[17]

In verse 9 the issue of the appropriate separation of church and state is plainly addressed.

“We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied.”[18]

This is clarified by a portion of verse 4:

“…we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion;”[19]

This makes clear that religion is not to be banished from the public square.  Rather, government means should not be used to curtail the rights of one religion versus another.  All have equal right to be heard and to influence, as long as they are not preaching sedition or infringing on the rights of individuals.

I note that these principles stand in sharp contrast to Sharia Law promulgated by Islam.  Sharia asserts that religious government is the only legitimate government and that the ruler has the obligation to kill those who do not believe in Islam. 

Likewise what Joseph is teaching is sharply contrasting to the current “Cancel Culture” which seeks to deprive people of their rights because their views are not acceptable to a certain segment of society.  They seek to force individual and collective conformance with their views by threatening to deprive those who dissent of the safety of their homes and their ability to provide for themselves and their family.

A few other responsibilities called out in Section 133 are:

•         All men should step forward and use their ability in bringing offenders against good laws to punishment.[20]
•         Vigilantism is condemned, “…men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted or the right of property or character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same;”[21]

Invented Rights

Today, the words rights and entitlements are often used interchangeably, and perhaps incorrectly.  Too often our political leaders speak only of entitlements and not of responsibilities.  We are told today that we have a right to affordable health care.  We have a right to a dignified retirement.  We have a right to choose our gender.  These are invented rights, not inalienable ones.  As evidence, note how many governments have existed in relative peace when these so-called rights didn’t exist.  Regardless, if these invented rights done come with commensurate responsibilities, they are not real rights. Instead, they are issues used by power-mongers to enhance their power and wealth at the expense of others.

Rights are wonderful things.  A right bespeaks of an entitlement.  Something which should not be abridged or denied.  It is also an often-misused word today.  Rights or entitlements are used to justify massive transfers of wealth from the hands of those who worked to earn the wealth into the hands of those who want to administer these entitlements.

Throughout history healthcare has often been unavailable no matter how much you were willing to pay for it.  Sometimes, what passed for healthcare, bought by the wealthy, was horrible and counterproductive.  Hospitals in the USA are not allowed to refuse basic, emergency health care to anyone, without regard to their ability to pay for it.  In the past, these treatments were often paid for by charitable organizations or reserve funds of the hospitals set up specifically for this purpose.

Affordable healthcare is a mantra designed to disguise forcing doctors and medical institutions to give up their compensation for the services they provide.

Retirement, dignified or otherwise, has never been a right.  Throughout history, most people were compelled by necessity to work for their food and shelter until death claimed them.  Retirement was a term used to refer to one force leaving a battlefield, usually in defeat.  Pensions from industry or for military service were typically more of a token payment than anything that could keep people housed and fed.  Personal retirement required prudent and successful financial management throughout life.  In most cases retirement plans consisted of having many children who would continue to work the land or business and support their infirm parents and their own children.

During The Great Depression images of aged and infirm people unable to support themselves were used to motivate lawmakers in the USA to shift the responsibility of planning for retirement from individuals to the government.  Wise individuals can look at the Social Security system of the USA and see through the words “Trust Fund” to realize it for the Ponzi Scheme it is.  At some point, such a system will inevitably collapse because it is not built on honest and sustainable financial principles or practices.

Individuals have a responsibility to take measures to provide for their own retirement.  While it is arguable that their children may owe them support in their retirement, their neighbors certainly have no such legal obligation to impoverish themselves to any degree for the benefit of others.  Only the laws of God can, and should, drive us to sacrifice our own means to assist the poor among us, so that they can have the food, shelter, and clothing they need.  Government exists to protect our inalienable rights from predators, not to provide for our shelter and feeding.

The right to choose your gender is something very recent and utterly unscientific.  This notion, concocted for the sole purpose of destroying the nuclear family and societies built on that family, purports that the genetic dictates of biology can somehow be obviated simply by an act of will.  While we all have our rights of conscience, those who believe in things which are demonstrably and invariably false have always been considered irrational and insane.  To believe we can choose our gender, in the face of biological facts to the contrary, is akin to believing we can choose for the world around us to be dark at mid-day simply because we believe it should be nighttime.

These invented rights all have the commonality that they are presented devoid of any responsibilities.  Affordable healthcare is presented as a right without the responsibility to pay for it.  Dignified retirement is presented as a right without the responsibility to manage your own resources and appetites to provide for it.  Gender-preference is presented as a right without the responsibility to acknowledge and accommodate biological reality.

Another current trend is the notion that the needs of the many outweigh the rights of the few, or the one.  Progressives today are touting a social doctrine call intersectionality to identify new minorities.  Proponents of Intersectionality push the notion that the rights of those within the categories which overlap must be protected even if it destroys the rights of the individual.  They posit that these group rights are more important than individual rights.

The dictionary defines intersectionality as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”

As noted in the definition, each category is assumed to carry with it some elements of discrimination or disadvantage. Advantages which may come from any category, or categories, are discounted, except when attempting to broadly paint another categorical intersection as inherently and uniformly oppressive to others.  Oppression is another way of expressing the notion that someone is interfering with the inalienable rights of another.

The irony of intersectionality is that if you apply enough categories, you eventually will reduce the size of the minority down to a group of one individual[22].  Carrying through their logic to its inevitable conclusion brings us full circle to the notion that government exists to protect the rights of the individual.  In fact, the only meaningful protection of our inalienable rights must be carried out at the individual level, because within any group there are some individuals who suffer from oppression and other individuals who oppress.

Conclusions

An examination of the rights enumerated in this category as unalienable will reveal that they support the underlying, eternal principle of the sacrosanct moral agency of every individual.

The Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ was done for the sole purpose of preserving our agency and making it both real and worthwhile.  When Adam fell, he and all his descendants were forever cut off from the ability to return to God because the justice of God says that no unclean thing can dwell in His presence. There is nothing any of us can do to subvert the justice of that law.  Uncleanliness would be burnt up in the presence of God.  It would be a never-ending torment to be unclean in the presence of God.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ opened an avenue whereby, if we heed the Savior, he will make us clean before we are presented to the Father.  In that cleaned condition, we can dwell with Him forever in happiness and joy.

Every truly inalienable right inevitably brings with it unavoidable responsibilities.

Our unalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness bring with them the unavoidable responsibilities.  Our rights may be gifted to us by God, but as with any gift they bring with them a responsibility to preserve and defend them.  To preserve and protect our rights we must:

•        Not infringe the rights of other individuals
•         Protect, assert, and practice the exercise of our own rights both in private and public
•         Protect the rights of all others both in private and public
•         Support governments which are protecting our rights
•         Abide by the laws of man which are designed to protect individual inalienable rights
•         Do our part to enact and support laws which protect the inalienable rights of all individuals

·       Honor those who are acting in roles expressly needed to protect our rights such as elected officials, judges, magistrates, police, and military

Joseph Smith, and the Founding Fathers both spoke of unalienable rights which come to us from God, meaning we own them and are responsible for our use and preservation of them.  They do not come to us from other men, or from our governments.  Therefore, we cannot utterly delegate our responsibilities for these rights either to our neighbors or our government.  If we accept the rights, we must also own the ultimate responsibility to maintain them.

 

Endnotes

[1] Dictionary.com, Unalienable, as seen 18 November 2021

[2] Locke, John (1988) [1689]. Laslett, Peter (ed.). Two Treatises of Government. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. Sec. 87, 123, 209, 222. ISBN 052135448X.

[3] As near as I can equate, indolency is referring to leisurely pursuits, which could be considered equivalent with happiness.

[4] Locke, John (1983) [1689]. Tully, James H. (ed.). A Letter Concerning Toleration. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 091514560X.

[5] Locke, John (1975) [1689]. Nidditch, Peter H. (ed.). Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. Book 2, Chapter 21, Section 51. ISBN 0198245955.

[6] The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981.

[7] Ibid, Section 134, Verse 1

[8] Ibid, Verse 2

[9] US Bill of Rights

[10] Doctrine and Covenants, 134, verse 4

[11] Ibid, verse 11

[12] US Bill of Rights

[13] Ibid, verse 11

[14] Doctrine and Covenants, Section 134, verse 5

[15] Ibid verse 6

[16] Ibid

[17] Ibid, verse 10

[18] Ibid, verse 9

[19] Ibid, verse 4

[20] Ibid, verse 8

[21] Ibid, verse 11

[22] Consider the following intersectionality’s and their effects. If you identify all white males born in a specific year, month, and day, whose grandfather is a naturalized citizen, living in a certain county and town in north-central Montana where the failure of the family business forced them to move to another specific neighborhood, town, and county in western-central Montana during the middle of the second year of elementary school you will find the author stands alone at that intersection as a minority of one.  A minority whose rights should be protected by the government.  A similar intersectional analysis can be performed to identify every individual as a minority group with a membership of exactly one person, except perhaps for identical twins, triplets, etc.

See Tom's political views on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TomSheppardPoliticalViews/
Follow Tom on Twitter: @ThomasKSheppard

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

(c) Copyright 2020 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read
 Godvernment: Government as God

Lying Liberal Altruists

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                              This article is an excerpt from Godvernment: Government as God 

Tom Sheppard

9/4/2020

The Lie of Liberal Altruism

In the 25th chapter of Matthew, the Savior speaks of the final judgment.  To those who have done well and to those who have not, He offers the same explanation for the reward they are offered.  He tells them all that, "... inasmuch as ye have done [or not done] it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

He is referring to how they did, or did not, take care of the poor, the sick, the destitute, and the afflicted among them.

Today, much of our political debate and divide appears to be focused on how we, as a society, believe we should go about taking care of the least advantaged among us.

For many years, as I read or heard these words, I believed that Jesus was speaking metaphorically.  I believed He was saying that He was holding us accountable for our treatment of our fellow human beings, and He is certainly saying that.  However, I am now convinced that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically in this matter.  Rather, He was being completely literal.

We learn elsewhere that in His atoning sacrifice, He suffered all the pains of humanity (Doctrine and Covenants 18:11), so that He could learn to succor those in need (Hebrews 2:18).  I suggest that, in a very real way, He has actually shared and felt the very pains of the homeless, the hungry, the naked, those in prison, and those who wash up on the edges of our society like flotsam washing up on a beach, and, that He did not suffer those pains in some abstract way, or as a derivative of what those people suffer—rather, through some incomprehensible mechanism, He is and was able to fully feel the actual pains that each of us has suffered and will suffer.  Having felt those actual pains, He then can understand our situation completely and can comfort us, or forgive us, in exact measure according to our pain and need.

Knowing that He feels the pains of others, when we help those in need, when we relieve the suffering of those in anguish or pain, when we feed the hungry, we directly reduce the amount of suffering and pain that Christ suffers.  Likewise, when we cause others to suffer, we add to the pain that He suffers.  When we fail to act to alleviate the pain and suffering of others, we fail to alleviate His pain and suffering.

I believe that is true.

In light of that belief, some would suppose that I would be driven to embrace the social welfare model of government (aka socialism, communism, progressivism, liberalism, fascism).  In fact, much of the social welfare model of government wraps itself in a mantle of altruism about caring for the less fortunate among us, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Socialists like Bernie Sanders and liberals like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seek to destroy the rich (other than themselves), and even the middle class, and make us all equally poor together.

I despise their cries to destroy the wealthy in order to help the poor, and there is no hypocrisy in my feelings.  You cannot lift anyone up by tearing someone else down.

When Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and their ilk talk about helping the poor and relieving suffering, they are not talking about digging deep into their own pockets and giving until it hurts themselves in order to help others.  They are content to keep their own wealth, gained by feeding at the trough of the taxpayers.  They will keep their wealth, and instead they will dig deep into the pockets of others and force them to give until it hurts.

Their hypocrisy in their failure to live the very principles they are espousing is as clear and horrendous as that of any Christian preacher who rails from the pulpit against the evils of the flesh, and then is caught in adultery and debauchery.  Their altruistic battle cries of "soak the rich" mask the brutal reality of their policies, which actually soak everyone who is above the poverty line in order to make us all poor together and ensure that the only path to wealth and comfort is through service to the state.

We need to re-enshrine the notion of individual action and individual accountability in our nation, especially when it comes to the issues of caring for the poor and disadvantaged.  A thrust toward individual accountability is in direct opposition to the socialist thrust of collective accountability.

Each individual should take personal action to help those who are less advantaged than they.  Each person should do according to their ability and means.  This does not mean that we cannot band together into charitable organizations to magnify our efforts, but we should not ever rely upon the power of taxation, which is nothing less than forcible redistribution of wealth, in order to take care of those who are disadvantaged.

I make a notable exception in this for military veterans.  Military veterans are the only organization which has earned the right to partake of a portion of the public treasury to support them in their times of trouble.  Because they have literally offered their lives in the service of our country, they are actually entitled to support through taxation.

Food for thought!

See Tom's political views on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TomSheppardPoliticalViews/ 
Follow Tom on Twitter: @ThomasKSheppard 

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

(c) Copyright 2020 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

Your comments are welcome. Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

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The Value of Experience

Tom Sheppard

5/17/2020

In the winter of 1838-1839 Joseph Smith was imprisoned in a below-ground dungeon ironically named Liberty Jail, in Liberty, Missouri.  He was imprisoned as a direct result of him doing his best to heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God as it guided him to protect the welfare of the members of the nascent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He endured months of squalid conditions and malnutrition.  At the same time his mind and spirit suffered in an agony of anxiety for his wife and children and all those people he held dear.  He knew they were enduring terrible hardships as armed mobs forced them from their homes into the winter weather to fend for themselves without benefit of anything more than they could manage to carry away in their arms.  The threats and actuality of rape and murder hanging over their heads day and night until they could find their way out of the state of Missouri.

Near the end of this trying time, although he did not know the end was close, he finally broke.  Betrayed by friends and despairing of either justice or rescue, he recorded this prayer to God. (taken from Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Sections 121 and 122).

O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? 

How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? 

Yea, O Lord, long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them? 

O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us. 

Let thine anger be kindled against our enemies; and, in the fury of thine heart, with thy sword avenge us of our wrongs. 

Remember thy suffering saints, O our God; and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever.

As I have grown in experience through my life, becoming a husband, father, and friend I have come to have a deeper understanding of what sort of anguish Joseph must have been suffering during this time.

Mark Twain once said, "I have experienced many terrible things in my life.  A few of them actually happened."  I am compelled to believe that during this time Joseph's mind must  have been wracked with horrible incidents, both real and imagined as he heard snippets of news of the fate of his friends and loved ones during this terrible time.

I put myself in Joseph's place.  I consider how my mind might run wild with imagining of the worst sort of depredations and oppression being poured out upon his wife and young children.  His family struggling through the countryside, exposed to the weather without him there to give them any protection or comfort.

God's response to his prayer is both wonderful and frightening.

His first words are of comfort.

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 

And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

I can imagine that these words gave Joseph great comfort.  But this was not all God had to say in response to Joseph taking God to task for his appearance of inattention to the plight of his children.

Then followed a gentle rebuke.

Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands. 

Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

After this, Joseph records the promises of God to bring judgement upon the heads of those who seek to thwart his purposes and who persecute his children.  Accompanying this is the promise of eventual, total victory over evil and encouragement for Joseph to stay in the path set for him by God.

Then comes an ominous lesson and a final reproof.

If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;   

If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; 

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. 

To recap, God says to Joseph if you are betrayed by friends, your life at risk, ripped from the company of your loved ones, threatened with unjust imprisonment, thrown into a hole in the ground and threatened with execution.

After noting all these perils that come from men God does not stop there but lists the perils of nature - cast into the deep (the sea), waves of the sea trying to swallow you, winds blowing against you, storms lashing about you, and all the elements combining to block you.

God then adds, after the powers of men and nature that might threaten, supernatural powers:  the very jaws of hell open to swallow you.

He then delivers the eternal lesson from all these horrible, terrifying, dismaying things.  "all these things shall give the experience, and shall be for thy good."

I don't know what went through the heart and mind of Joseph when he heard these words but I know what I think when I put myself in his place and imagine hearing them said to me.

All these horrible things will give me experience?  Experience?  Really?  Can't we get there without all this horror?  Can't we have lives filled with happy experiences instead of these horrendous situations where it seems all humanity is against us.  Not just humanity, but all nature as well.  And not just nature, but unseen powers that threaten to devour our very soul?  Can't we get good experience in other ways?  Is experience really that important?

God then concludes with an explanation, however brief.  "[These experiences} shall be for thy good."

At this point in the lesson I am thinking, "Is there anyone else up there I can talk to?  Perhaps someone who can show me a path that isn't so fearsome?"

Then comes the humbling capstone.  As I ponder all these terrible experiences and feel the weight of them upon my soul, though I have not yet experienced them, and I feel to cry out like so many do, "Why me Lord?" God says,

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

I am compelled by these simple words to admit that God is right and I am wrong.  If Christ "descended below them all", experiencing all these terrors and more, how can I say that it is not fair or just.  He was without sin.  I am far from that.  If I had to suffer all these terrible things just to pay for my own sins it would still not balance the scales.  Jesus suffered all this and much more even though he committed no sin.  I cannot in any rational or even emotional way put myself above him and say that he deserved such treatment while I do not.

After wrestling with the emotional turmoil of this lesson, I come back to the point.  "All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

End the end, God will right all wrongs.  So, any injustice I might suffer will be expunged by his justice and mercy.  So, I can set aside any feelings of being abused by these experiences and try to understand how the experience of such terrible things could be for my good?

To understand this, we must go back to the beginning and answer that profound question which has boggled the greatest minds of man since the beginning of time, and continues to haunt most people today.

"Why am I here?"  Or its less self-centered corollary, "Why are any of us here?"

The beginning I speak of is not the moment of your birth, or even the birth of humankind on this planet.  It goes back to before the spirits of the first man and woman inhabited flesh upon this earth.

In the period before our birth in this world we lived as a very large family in the home and presence of our Heavenly Parents.  For an eternity we learned at the feet of God.  We knew Him as he is and we knew each other.  All that we learned there no one can say, for upon my birth and yours a veil of forgetfulness fell across our minds and those pre-mortal memories, though present still are not accessible to us through any exertions of our own.  Although, at times in this life we hear and see things which resonate deeply inside us as though we knew them before we heard them here.

During that eternity, like most children we loved our parents and wanted to be like them in every way.  Just like mortal children and parents there were three major differences between us and our Heavenly Parents.  Mature bodies, mature thoughts, and mature emotions.  Like any loving parent, ours wanted us to enjoy all the happiness they enjoyed.  They put in place the means for us to become like them both physically, mentally, and emotionally.

We are here to become physically, mentally, and emotionally mature enough to be able to appropriately use the immense powers which our Heavenly Parents possess.

Imagine how terrible it would be if God relinquished his self-control to fits of temper?  We would live our short lives on a razor's edge fearing instant, divine wrath for our slightest misstep, or even errant thought.

Instead, he is patient with us beyond our comprehension.  Despite our efforts to reject and offend, He reaches out to us with means calculated by his great understanding to draw us gently back to Him and into the path that will lead us to fulfill the reasons we came into this world.

I have heard it said that the great secret of repentance is that it allows us to gain experience without having to suffer all the adverse consequences of that experience.  The most adverse consequence we could ever suffer is to fail to mature sufficiently in mind, body, and spirit to become like our Heavenly Parents.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ made repentance possible.  Without his atonement, the inevitable price for our failings would be that ultimate failure.  With his atonement, we have the opportunity to repent and put our failings behind us, striving each day to be a little more like our Heavenly Parents in thought, word, and deed.


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Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

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If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read
 Godvernment: Government as God