How Atheists are Sometimes Right (Part 3)

Welcome back! This is the final look at Atheism and how it relates to my beliefs (to reiterate: Mormons believe in God and aren't Atheist. Thank You).

We've already examined a couple of statements about God's nature; why He lets bad things happen, and how He can still exist, standing with the laws of science. This post's statement is similar to the first:

"There's so much evil in the world; so many bad people doing bad things. You say God hates sin and evil, and yet I see it all around me. So, I don't believe He exists."

Which, once more, I'll rephrase:

"I don't believe in an all-powerful being who makes everyone live right."

And I don't believe it, either.

To be sure, God wants us to live righteously, and He's overjoyed when we live the commandments and do what's right. But, that doesn't mean that He'll eradicate evil any time He sees it.

Why not? It has to deal with what really matters to God, and that is Agency, or the ability to choose.

Think for a second: what is really yours in this world? What is something that no one, no matter how hard they try, can take from you?

Victor Frankl found the answer as he suffered in a concentration camp. He saw some men turn into animals; fathers would steal food from their own sons. But, he also saw prisoners, starved and emaciated, giving away their crusts of bread to those around them. Impossible as it seemed, they were smiling. What made the difference?

They chose to be happy. They chose not to be controlled by their circumstances. They were as tired and hungry and weak as all the others, but they chose not to let it break them. And nothing in the world could take that ability to choose from that. (For a better description, see "Man's Search for Meaning", by Victor Frankl)

To be sure, God wants us to keep His commandments. He has given them to us for our benefit; He knows that we'll be able to find the greatest possible happiness in this life (and a place to live with Him in the eternities) if we follow them. But He also knows that, in order for our obedience to mean anything, it has to be our choice. Forced obedience means nothing, but chosen obedience means the world. Our wills really are the only thing in this world that God won't ever choose to take away from us, and so our giving them to Him is the ultimate expression of love.

For this reason, God won't simply send down a lightning bolt to eliminate evil. He is sad when we sin. Very, very sad. But He knows that, if any of this world is going to be worth anything, we have to be able to choose.

As Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet (who we've already quoted a lot in this series) put it:

"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." (2 Nephi 2:27)

I know that God lives and that He loves us so very, very much. He loves us so much that He lets us make our own decisions, even when those decisions hurt others and distance ourselves from Him. I also know that He's given us a way to make up for our mistakes and to right our wrongs. And I know that what He wants the most is for all of us to choose to do what it takes to make it back. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, thanks for reading everyone! In the next few posts, we'll be gearing up for General Conference, which takes place on October 5-6. The windows of heaven are about to open up and pour out knowledge from our Heavenly Father. Let's get ready for it!

-Elder Richmond

How Atheists are Sometimes Right (Part 1)

[Notice: I want to make it completely clear before we start: As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe in God, our Heavenly Father. (See Article of Faith 1). This post will compare and contrast certain beliefs of ours with those of Atheists, but church members ("Mormons") are Christians, and believe in Diety.]

As missionaries, we talk to a lot of people. From what I've seen (which is possibly biased because most of the people I talk to are Hispanic), most of them believe in God. They have different senses of who He is or what He does, but they believe in Him, regardless. Even the few agnostics I've met believe in a higher "something;" they're just not sure whether that something is God or some other force.

Very rarely have I encountered a pure atheist: someone who absolutely believes there is no God, nor a higher power like God. They stand out in the crowd of theology.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we stand out, too. We're Christians, like many, but some of our beliefs, like the Restoration of the Gospel (see mormon.org for more info) put us add odds with those of different faiths.

As I've thought about how the two groups, Mormons and Atheists, sometimes get attacked because of what they believe, it made me think about what exactly we're defending. And, in pondering some of the statements Atheists have made, I find that I agree.

How is this possible? Let's take a look:

Most atheists I know of don't just simply not believe in God; they have reasons for it. We'll consider three common atheistic statements, and see if we can't find some common ground.

Statement 1: "I don't believe that God exists because of all the terrible things that happen in this world. If there really was a loving, caring, all-powerful being governing the universe, He wouldn't let such things happen."

In considering this (and the other statements), I'll rephrase just a bit:

"I don't believe in an all-powerful Being who takes away all of the pains and tragedies in this world."

And neither do I.

To be certain, God is our loving Heavenly Father. As John put it, "God is love," (1 John 4:16), and He has all the power imaginable. If He wanted, he could take away all the natural disasters, all the pains and sicknesses, and all the evils of this world. But, as is apparent from daily life, He doesn't do this. Why not?

We'll turn to the writings of a Book of Mormon prophet, Lehi. In his final words of counsel to his posterity, he spoke at length about happiness and the purpose of his life. In part of his remarks, he firmly decrees that "men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) In the same sermon, though, Lehi also states:

"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." (2 Nephi 2:11)

Essentially, Lehi is saying that there have to be two opposites in order to make a comparison. In order to know happiness, we also need to know what sadness is. If we really want to understand joy, we'll have to understand sorrow as well. Lehi teaches us that the point of this life is not to try and make it through with as few bumps or bruises as possible. We need to learn what's bad in this life so that we can more fully appreciate what's good. And, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we always have someone we can turn to when life gets rough. Christ suffered everything that we will suffer (See Alma 7:11-12), and so he knows exactly what we need to feel better. And, if we turn to Him through prayer and obedience to His gospel, He'll make us whole again.

God loves us. He loves us so much that he sent us here to this earth so we could come to understand true happiness. And He loves us so much that he sent his Son to earth, so that all that is unjust or unfair might be made right again.

I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Thanks for reading! See you next time! Keep Moving Forward!

-Elder Richmond