Of Atheists, Attributes, and Agency

I'm going to wax a bit philosophical with this post and I invite you to stay with me. I'll do my best to elucidate my thoughts but if I miss, please try to understand the underlying ideas.

I don't blame anyone for doubting that God exists (agnostic) or not believing that God exists (atheist), although I think that the agnostic is more honest than the atheist¹. The concepts for and descriptions of God, a god, or the gods usually put forth can be confusing, contradictory, or superficial. How can an intelligent being honestly accept things that are clouded in chaos? I get that. I felt it as a young man, enamored with science and the beauties of the universe, the elegance of mathematics, the logic and consistency of physics and the laws of nature. I have not lost my love or appreciation for these things. They are what brought joy to my career as an engineer, thrilling me to the core when new connections were made and insights obtained. What I also found, though, is that there was a vast array of knowledge out there that I had not been introduced to in school. Concepts that deserved to be explored. Ideas that demanded inspection, consideration and testing. 

So, I would argue that there are several potential reasons why many of the concepts surrounding God and religion can be confusing, contradictory or superficial. First, perhaps a given concept actually is inaccurate or wrong. Second, perhaps the person expounding the concept is still in the process of understanding it and can't yet find the words to fully elaborate. Third, the person hearing the concept doesn't yet have sufficient background to understand it, or perhaps they simply look at it superficially and aren't willing to put in the effort to understand it. Fourth, perhaps it's a combination of the other three.

Each of these, in its own way, calls for a careful exploration of the idea of God. One concept being wrong does not inherently negate the entirety of all concepts. Each should be explored and weighed on its own merits. Inaccurate, confusing or contradictory ideas may be corrected or clarified through a thorough examination. New depths not previously reached may be revealed by digging into an idea with real intent to evaluate it honestly.

Joseph Smith, the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once stated:

The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity -- thou must commune with God. (History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 3:295)

This requires both curiosity and courage. Surely, any search for truth in any field demands of the searcher that he be prepared to jettison preconceived notions and to abandon cherished biases and assumptions. A true student and learner must be prepared to change his mind and to be changed at his core. Letting go of personal foibles and erroneous ideas can be terrifying, but as truth is obtained and footings are shifted to accommodate them, the ground on which one's philosophical house is built becomes more stable and later truths will serve to strengthen and confirm, not undermine, that foundation.

With that background, let's explore for a bit the character and attributes that one ought to expect from the God of Israel and of Christianity. What is claimed for Him? That, of course, is a wide-open question and would take volumes that "... even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (see John 21:25) so let's simplify it for a now and merely say Perfection. This is likewise a broad category as it includes perfect knowledge, perfect wisdom, perfect empathy, perfect kindness, perfect reason, perfect love, perfect compassion, perfect justice, perfect mercy, etc., all of which attributes apply to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I hope to discuss such things in future posts but for now I want to consider His perfect benevolence demonstrated by His unwavering defense of moral agency. This less-often-discussed attribute of God is fundamental to who He is and vital to His being worthy of worship by intelligent and reasonable beings.

The most basic and foundational principle of eternity is that God has given man his moral agency - the right and the responsibility to choose for himself what he will believe and how he will behave. For a person to make moral choices there are certain requirements. First, there must be opposing options - a moral right and a moral wrong. Second, there must be consequences for those choices - a punishment, curse, or undesirable result for choosing the moral wrong and a blessing, benefit or desirable result for choosing the moral right. Third, there must be the power or ability to make the choice. And fourth, there must be the opportunity to make the choice. All of these are presented to and provided for people in this world and when combined represent the agency of man. Because of His other perfections, God will not infringe on this agency, and because He does not, he does not immediately intervene when anyone infringes on his neighbor’s rights and agency. He lets the choice be made and the consequences flow at the proper time and setting.

There are those who seek to destroy the agency of other people, even if they do not realize that’s what they are doing. Much of, arguably most of, the evil and tyranny in the world boils down to seeking control over another person's agency and moral freedom in one form or fashion. The most obvious and flagrant form is through force or constraint to cause others to do, to refrain from, to accept, to reject, to believe, to disbelieve, or to otherwise behave in ways contrary to their own convictions and conscience. Those acting to infringe on agency may coerce the selection of one option over another or manipulate the removal of disapproved options, thereby not allowing the choice. At the extreme, they may descend to the taking of innocent life to prevent the choice. Such tyranny can occur as people seek political power, social influence, or religious or philosophical control, and it is occurring at different levels across all spectra, groups, denominations, world views, and belief systems (or anti-belief systems). The key aspect is force. It is as wrong to force someone to accept a moral good as it is to force them to accept a moral evil. Good remains good when and because it is chosen. Compelled good is not good. Compelled faith is not faith. Compelled belief is not belief. Compelled obedience is insincere and useless in the end. As a favorite hymn of mine teaches:

Know this, that ev'ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he'll be:
For this eternal truth is giv'n:
That God will force no man to heav'n
He'll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdon, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.
Freedom and reason make us men:
Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well
The beasts may think of heav'n or hell.
May we no more our pow'rs abuse,
But ways of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is pleased when we improve
His grace and seek his perfect love.

Anon., LDS Hymns # 240 

Ironically, this refusal to compel, and insistence instead on inviting and persuading is actually one of the reasons God can seem to not be there. Large, in-your-face events may result in compelled belief. They make infringe - even if slightly - on the ability of people to choose for themselves to believe. Profound events with God have generally been with an audience of one, or perhaps a few. More broadly observed events often occur through natural phenomena which people think they understand and are familiar with, thereby preserving an opportunity for them to choose their response.

Care must be exercised here, though. It is easy to slip into an argument that having consequences for choices is coercion. It is not, because they do not arise (and they do eventually and inevitably arise) except as a result of and subsequent to the choice. To make an informed choice, some knowledge of the consequences must be known before the choice is made. Interestingly, this may only be that “gut feeling,” that innate sense that you shouldn’t do or be doing what is wrong, that quiet whisper of one's conscience.

Beyond coercion, there is another way for tyranny to infringe on one’s agency. It is to make it so that the choice doesn’t matter. It is an attempt to remove the consequences for morally wrong choices. If the choices don’t matter, if there is no difference in the consequences between choices, there is no opposition between the choices, and they become a “compound in one,” a meaningless mass of confusion. We are actually seeing this happen in real time and watching the chaos that is ensuing as the penalties for broken laws are swept aside in cities and nations around the world². Bad choices don’t matter and so good is no longer good and evil no longer evil and for human society the choices don’t matter. Fortunately, and terrifyingly, the consequences God has declared are still in place, justice and mercy are both still active, but human society is barreling headlong into a time when those consequences must necessarily become obviously apparent in the eyes of all. This is why the voices calling for change are growing more urgent and heeding them is growing more critical.

For those looking for it, the options are also becoming more clearly defined as good people are trying ever harder to establish good things in the face of a relentless onslaught. There is a better way. As I have done before, I do again and invite all to consider the message and invitations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Come and see.

1 - For the atheist to determine that something does not exist, he would have to be all knowing or prove that it cannot exist anywhere at any time. This is beyond showing that it is unreasonable, but that it is impossible. To prove this about anything is an extremely tall order and tends to be possible only with things such as mathematics. The agnostic, on the other hand, is simply saying that he has not yet found sufficient evidence to choose to believe.

2 - This agency is most clearly preserved in earthly systems when based and established through laws and so you see God giving the Law of Moses and the laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My favorite sermon on the subject is found in 2 Nephi 2, but one needs an understanding of the fall of Adam and the Atonement of Jesus Christ to fully appreciate it.