Consequence, defined: that which follows something on which it depends; that which is produced by a cause; a result of actions.
We Latter-day Saints know a little bit about consequences. We teach (or at least we should teach) our children from a very young age that we have been given agency by our Creator and that our actions will produce good or bad “fruits”, or in less metaphorical terms, good and bad consequences. We teach our children that sometimes our actions produce consequences that we do not expect. We offer warnings during this learning process – “don’t do x because y will surely follow” – and we hope that our children will be able to grasp the concept without suffering too much.
Yet for all the years of lessons and experiences that should cement the law of unintended consequences into our minds, we often ignore the warnings that we have been given by those who came before us. Specifically, I would like to describe our ignorance concerning the warnings related to unintended consequences that will destroy our agency and liberty.
Latter-day Saints have been commanded by the Lord and His prophets to earnestly study the Book of Mormon. We have been promised that by examining the history of the Nephites and Jaredites we will be able to identify the actions in our own lives that will help us to avoid the unintended consequences that led to the destruction of both civilizations. According to Gordon B. Hinckley:
The Book of Mormon narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. But in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions of those problems.
I know of no other writing which sets forth with such clarity the tragic consequences to societies that follow courses contrary to the commandments of God. Its pages trace the stories of two distinct civilizations that flourished on the Western Hemisphere. Each began as a small nation, its people walking in the fear of the Lord. But with prosperity came growing evils. The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who countenanced and even encouraged loose and lascivious living. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction of two great civilizations in two different eras.
Several truths are made clear in this statement. We see that the Book of Mormon clearly describes the consequences of unrighteousness. We also see that much of that unrighteousness was intricately connected to government. It was the “ambitious and scheming leaders” who encouraged the people to disregard their God-given rights, to lead glamorous and sinful lifestyles, to fight and kill, and to be unknowing victims of theft in the form of burdensome taxation. I am sure that these are just a glimpse of the corruption that plagued the Nephites and Jaredites and ultimately led to their bitter endings. One must wonder – how many of these consequences were unintended? Surely the majority of the people did not intend to drive their society off the proverbial cliff. Instead, I expect that the Nephite and Jaredite people had the best intentions in the world but that they were in many cases blinded by their crafty and deceitful governors.
Jacob 4:14 lays out an interesting case study regarding the Jews who had fallen away in the Old World:
“But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.”
In this prophetic statement, Jacob explains that the Jews were blinded when they looked “beyond the mark”. In other words, they looked beyond the commandments of God and instead sought after worldly things. And because the people used their agency and chose to search after worldly things the Lord allowed them to stumble. The truth became hard for them to understand because of their stiffneckedness, and their well-meaning search for truth outside of the gospel brought about many unintended consequences.
Undoubtedly this is similar to what occurred in the Nephite and Jaredite civilizations. The craftiness of those in power, in combination with the ignorance and apathy of the people, led to the spiritual blindness that caused individual and societal destruction.
We face the same problem today. We have been warned to awaken to a sense of our awful situation and to befriend constitutional principles. Promises have been made that if we will do these things and heed the Lord’s commandments we will be able to protect ourselves and the consequences of our principled actions will be to our benefit. Those who walk in blindness are sure to suffer from the unintended consequences of sin and ignorance. It is abundantly clear that many in our own society, Latter-day Saints and non-members alike, are unable to see the danger that exists because of our own ambitious and scheming leaders. The vast majority of laws passed by state and federal legislatures deviate wildly from constitutional principles and, for that reason, they often lead to unintended consequences that can “only” be fixed through more government involvement. A few examples:
In every case the “solution” is more government involvement. And, of course, this only leads to more unintended consequences.
If we would simply follow the Lord’s counsel and befriend laws that are constitutional – laws that are based on correct principles – we could avoid so many of the unintended consequences that are symptoms of the nanny state. Laws are heaped upon laws in an effort to ensure that no new complications are created – a well meaning effort by some, no doubt – but this simply increases the costs and levels of bureaucracy and eventually the whole system must collapse.
The solution is clear. We must defend the Constitution and the principles espoused therein, and in doing so we will be able to eliminate the unintended and destructive consequences that have led to the fall of many great nations. Only by honoring and heeding the Lord’s commandments can we guarantee peace, prosperity, and liberty in this land.
