Conference Vs. Progressivism, Part I

Love And Law, Dallin H Oaks, Saturday Afternoon Session:

"Those who understand God's plan for His children know that God's laws are invariable, which is another great evidence of His love for His children. Mercy cannot rob justice, and those who obtain mercy are 'they who have kept the covenant and observed the commandment.'" - DHO

The "Rule of Law" is an eternal principle, and an attribute of God's plan. Enforcement of God's law is not subject to the whims of progressive experimentation. God's laws are uniformly applied, no leniency is granted to those who have donated enough tithing or befriended the right church administrators. In a just, God-like government, the penalty for cheating on taxes would be the same for senators and treasury secretaries as it is for the common folk. When our nation's founders set up a government where all would be subject to Constitutional law rather than to the whims of monarchial despots or the whims of pure democratic mobocracy, they set up a system that closely mirrored God's use of law. We are unwise to abandon it.

"God's choicest blessings are clearly contingent upon obedience to God's laws and commandments." - DHO

God does not "redistribute" those blessings from those who have kept His commandments to those who have not, no matter how unfair those who have not kept them might think their lack of blessings is.

"...God will not forestall the exercise of agency by His children. Agency - our power to choose - is fundamental to the gospel plan that brings us to earth. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons' choices in order to protect the well-being of other persons - even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another - for his would destroy His plan for our eternal progress." - DHO

This provides some interesting insight on how God reacts when His children do wrong, compared to how progressives react when something goes wrong. Enron is a good example. The fraud perpetrated by a few people had very bad consequences for innocent investors and employees. Progressivism was not satisfied with punishing the wrongdoers and seeking restitution for the wronged, as God would have done. Progressivism demanded more regulation to save the innocent from any chance of future criminals ever harming them - regulations applied not just to criminals, but to anyone attempting to do business. In other words, progressivism robbed all of us of some of our agency to do business, with the (false) promise that we won't ever be harmed by someone else wrongly exercising their agency.

This continues today, with progressives promising to save us from evil health insurance executives, bank executives, doctors running too many tests, gun owners - the list is endless. The promise of progressivism is that we will never suffer at the hands of any of these villains...the only cost is some of our agency. In exchange for just some of our liberty, we'll be protected. This is not God's way.

Finally, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I quote Elder Oaks quoting Elder Russel M. Nelson: "Real love for the sinner may compel courageous confrontation - not acquiescence! Real love does not support self-destructing behavior."

Let's all have the courage to confront our self-destructing progressive friends!