Libertarian
Latter-day Saint
What does the term “free will” mean to you? Why is it important? And where does it fit in the realms of both religious and political philosophy? Those are good questions. At least I think so. Libertarians think so too,https://www.theopedia.com/libertarian-free-will, as did the Prophet Joseph Smith. https://rsc.byu.edu/witness-restoration/joseph-smith-agency. Joseph Smith taught that moral free agency was a gift from God.
If one studies the history of man’s consideration of free will it will lead to several centuries BC and the writings of Greek philosophers. It will also acquaint you with contrarian philosophies, both secular and religious. There is a theory of determinism which posits that the laws of nature are such that man’s ability to choose does not actually exist. This is modified by theories such as incompatibility and compatibility which consider, as the names imply, whether or not free will and determinism are mutually exclusive. It is possible to get lost in the weeds of these theories without ever reaching a conclusion. These are the tares of critical understanding. I am going to abandon these intellectual arguments in favor of a more practical understanding. In so doing it will become clear that libertarianism and the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are the most compatible of all political and religious concepts.
Libertarianism is the political philosophy of the classic liberalism exhibited by the founding fathers. It is embodied in the social contract espoused by John Locke. That is that governments are instituted by man in order to obtain and protect the inalienable rights of man. These rights were enumerated by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence and include the right to religious freedom. In essence, there are conditions of harm to man and/or those rights that one cannot deal with alone. So governments are instituted to protect and preserve them. Libertarians believe that the powers of government should not exceed those necessary for that purpose. So it is for the prevention of harm that governments are rightfully established. That includes physical harm and harm that is associated with lies, fraud and other unrighteous behaviors that threaten the life, property, and the free exercise of the free will of men. Included in this are the externalities of harm that comes from the indirect results of actions that become harmful in different ways such as the pollutants of manufacturing activities or the damming of a stream that flows through another man’s property. Included for me, but not every libertarian, is the threat of international harm from other governments which justifies the establishment of a military arm of government. With this Lockean format of government libertarians like to boil it down to this: “Don’t hurt me, and don’t take my stuff.” Sometimes an oversimplification gets the message across in the most understandable manner. Under these circumstances man is most free to practice the rights and make the decisions that affect his own life so long as he does so without harming anyone else. Ergo, free will and how to obtain it at the least cost is the essence of libertarianism.
The protection of rights and prevention of harm coupled with the free will to engage in the pursuit of happiness, which the Declaration of Independence presented as the purpose and intent of the ownership of property. Man cannot obtain for himself true happiness without the acquisition of property. In this sense the first and most important property is one’s own life. It is the protection of which justifies other of the inalienable rights. The ownership of property is established by whatever in nature is gathered and made useful by man’s labor becomes his own property. That property also includes that which others may pay for that labor and is included in the protection of life and liberty guaranteed by governments. None of this is beneficial or pleasing to man without the exercise of free will.
When it comes to religion, the concept of moral free agency, or the gift of choice, is not universally acclaimed. In fact, the doctrines of predestination espoused by some religious bodies are deterministic in nature and deny the agency of man. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
Predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul.[1] Explanations of predestination often seek to address the “paradox of free will“, whereby God’s omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be regarded as a form of religious determinism; and usually predeterminism, also known as theological determinism.
But the concept of moral free agency is a central aspect of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the modus operandi for our progression through this mortal probation in which we are all engaged. The concept of predetermination is taught as “fore-ordination” in which we are ordained for certain activities or positions during our mortal life. However, it is up to us to accept that fore-ordination and it is up to us and our faithfulness and obedience as to how we will carry them out. We do that through our use of the gift of free agency. That gift is explained more fully in that we are “free” to use our agency which is actually a “moral” agency. The history and semantics of this are more fully explained here: https://www.ldsliving.com/One-Phrase-Church-Leaders-Never-Say-Anymore-Why/s/78358
Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave an inspired talk on the concept of moral agency and it’s essential free will component. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2009/06/moral-agency?lang=eng
Please read it, or listen to it on line through YouTube or the Gospel Library App. In this talk Elder Christofferson sets forth three elements of our free moral agency. They are 1) There must be alternatives, 2) There must be a law which includes consequences for obedience or the opposite for disobedience. This concept is included in modern scripture.
Line upon Line: D&C 130:20–21
D&C 130:20–21 These verses teach about the eternal significance of obedience. 20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
And finally, 3) There must be the possibility to make choices when they are presented to us. This is the gift of God to each of us. The moral agency to exercise with freedom, however does not excuse us from the results of those choices. Therefore, God blesses and punishes in accordance with the laws upon which they were predicated in heaven. For me that means that with our free moral agency comes a degree of determinism. In that regard, I become a “compatibilist” in a philosophical sense. Free will and determinism are not truly mutually exclusive. Our agency is essential for our learning and progression because throughout life we are presented with choices from which we must choose. This is explained beautifully in the Book of Mormon:
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
The concept of an opposition in all things is indeed helpful in understanding all with which we come in contact. There is nothing under the sun which cannot be used for the benefit of mankind, or conversely for a negative or evil purpose whether it be an object or and idea or an activity. And as we learn so also do we progress. This is true in religion. It is true in politics. And it is true in our personal relationships.
It is the concept of freedom establishes the compatibility between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and political philosophy of libertarianism. The Church has a statement of belief concerning governments and laws. It is among the latter-day scriptures: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/134?lang=eng
It is this statement of belief that confirms that a libertarian view of government and the gospel of Jesus Christ fit like a hand in a glove. Asking the government to do more usurps the individual responsibility of men and women, and asking it to do less denies the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Within that framework exists the religious freedom that enabled the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness.
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