Joseph Smith’s Humorous Observation
Joseph Smith once made a drily humorous statement that captures a central reality about Satan’s influence in mortal life. He was speaking of the Saints’ persecution in 1844, and expressed worry about the Saints’ ability to accomplish all that they needed to accomplish before they were “broken up, and scattered.” The Prophet was troubled over the matter, because, he said, “there are so many fools in the world for the devil to operate upon, it gives him the advantage oftentimes.”[1]
This observation is so ironic in its understatement that it seems hilarious. Yes, Satan has the advantage oftentimes! And it would seem that the only thing that has changed since the Prophet made this statement is that it has become even more true.
Foolish Ideas Today
In order to avoid being unnecessarily personal, let’s change the focus from foolish persons to foolish ideas. Many abound in the world today—ideas that give Satan advantage in subverting God’s Plan for His children. Think about it for a second. They certainly include (in no particular order): arguing that there is no God because science explains everything without Him; celebrating pornography in print and film; normalizing profanity as a form of communication on social media; insisting on the non-binary nature of human sexuality; establishing gambling as a governmental institution; claiming the value of sexualizing children in school classrooms; maintaining the propriety of abortion up to the minute of birth; asserting the need to chemically and/or surgically alter sexuality, including on minors; arguing for the complete acceptability of drag shows for children’s audiences; insisting on the priority of immutable group identity over individuals’ status as separate and individual children of God—and so on.
“Inventors of Evil Things”
Although the list could be extended, this is enough to make clear that we truly live in an age that is drenched in calling “evil good, and good evil,” and in putting “darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20; 2 Nephi 15:20). One need pay only limited attention to political discourse and to social media to see this.
In a famous chapter in the New Testament Paul speaks of “inventors of evil things.” These “inventors,” he says, not only commit evil acts themselves, but also delight in others who commit them (Romans 1:30, 32).
Surely, nothing could be more evident in our own day than that evil things have been “invented” and that there is delight among some for those who commit them. This is appallingly clear when we think of attempts to: abolish fundamental biological categories of sex/gender; encourage young people to “trans” by mutilating their bodies; house pornographic materials in school libraries; encourage co-habitation rather than marriage; diminish the importance and sacredness of the nuclear family; celebrate abortion; justify violence—and so forth. Paul says of those who invent evil things—and surely these are evil things—that “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). That is Joseph Smith’s language as well.
Orwellian Language
Of course, most who fall prey to the immoral inventions of our day did not invent them. Others did that. Nevertheless, through clever use of language purporting to protect “rights” and “freedom,” it is easy to fall prey to these inventions. Thus, if sufficiently couched in the language of “marginalization,” “compassion,” “pride,” “choice,” and “rights,” some communities and/or institutions will celebrate public debauchery, permit nude men to participate in community parades, require women to tolerate biological males in their locker rooms, allow drag queens to perform in front of children, enable children to “trans” without their parents’ knowledge (and with the aid of public-school officials), and permit school libraries to house materials so pornographic that, though available to minors, are illegal to read at public schoolboard meetings.
Seemingly, all it sometimes takes to gain approval, and even celebration, for the moral depredations of our day is to proclaim that “X rights are human rights,” or “the right to do X is a human right”—regardless of what X might be, how public X is, or who might be affected by X. No analysis of what it even means to have a right is necessary; the word alone does the trick.
We are actually awash in an Orwellian corruption of language today, and Lucifer, who was a liar from the beginning, is ultimately the author of it all. As Elder Ulisses Soares said:
“Satan is the master of draining the meaning out of words, changing definitions, and distorting reality. Many people online seem to get away with a lot by changing the definition of something, but arbitrarily changing definitions won’t change reality or what is actually true.”[2]
Naïve Compassion
All of this means that we must be thoughtful as we engage in the world. After all, as Latter-day Saints, we always want to help those who suffer from some malady or other, or some injustice or other. Our hearts are filled with sadness for them and with a desire to help. We are moved by appeals to people’s rights, and we feel the Gospel’s injunction to live compassionately toward others—others who are literally our brothers and sisters.
But it does not follow from this that every practice promoted in the name of helping actually does help—and therefore that we should sign on. Words—especially those that appear in slogans or organizational names—do not always mean what we think they mean. The expression “gender-affirming care” is an obvious example. It sounds positively benevolent (after all, who can object to providing care?) and we might find ourselves initially sympathetic to the idea. That is likely to change, though, once we learn that it can include the removal of sex organs, and that there are those who want it available for minors. It is hard to imagine anything more antithetical to the Father’s Plan than this, and yet there it is, cloaked in a veneer of medical benevolence.
Thus, while we, as Latter-day Saints, must be motivated by compassion as we confront the social issues of the day, it cannot be a naïve compassion. It must be informed and see past mere language. Speaking personally, if am only motivated by a naïve compassion—by a form of sympathy that destroys, even though it is advanced in the name of helping—I set myself up to fall for deceptive rhetoric and to become just one more fool for the devil to operate on.
Naivete is not a virtue. Satan does not care what my motives are as long as I am fool enough to serve as an effective accomplice for him.
A Simple Method for Discerning
That is why, in confronting any social movement, whatever its name and whatever its slogans, it is essential to be discerning—to dive beneath such public words. We should not be vitriolic, because that is the opposite of peacemaking—something the Lord, through His prophet, has clearly directed us to be. But we should be discerning. A good place to begin is to approach any movement’s proponents, and ideally its leaders, with five simple questions:
- What are all the specific acts (by anyone) your movement seeks to prohibit?
- What are all the specific acts (by anyone) your movement seeks to protect and foster?
- What are all the specific acts (by anyone) your movement seeks to require?
- What is the concrete evidence that your movement (a) is needed and (b) is the best alternative for meeting this need?
- Can you identify the consequences your movement is likely to have even though you don’t intend them? (Hint: It would seem that anyone who cannot identify such unintended consequences, and think rationally about them, has not thought enough to be trusted with a cause—much less to lead one.)
Such questions are at least a start. Followed up by requests for greater detail and understanding—including the methods that will be used—they will typically reveal the reality beneath the surface pretty quickly and let us know whether the movement is something that just sounds nice—but is actually destructive—or is something we can support. (Surely, in hindsight, many of us can look back and wish we had asked more questions before becoming invested in a cause that later proved to be something we should have opposed rather than supported.) If, when we are informed, a movement is something we can support, great. If we discover it to be something destructive, however, then, without vitriol, we must be unyielding in opposing it. This is the pattern the Church has followed for decades on the controversial issues it has had to confront from time to time: a peaceful but absolutely firm stance.
The Good News
Joseph Smith said that Satan operates upon various people. The good news, though, is that so does the Lord. All people—certainly not just Latter-day Saints—who sincerely seek not for individual gain or power, but for God and His will, become a light in this darkening world. Chief among these are those whom the Lord has specifically called and ordained to represent Him. These are his prophetic leaders, and they are a crucial part of the antidote the Lord has provided to combat those in the world who are “inventors of evil things.”
A standard prophetic source, so relevant to today’s world, is the Family Proclamation. This document distills the Lord’s teachings on the family, parenthood, and sexuality in a way that no one can misunderstand—and therefore in a way that gives light and direction to all who really want to know the path to human happiness. Indeed, a quick way to judge the true value of any organization that is appealing to the public for support is to discover its actions and intentions (through the types of questions mentioned above), and then to measure those against the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and sometimes, specifically against the principles included in the Proclamation. On many cultural issues, these principles will separate the wheat from the chaff, the light from the dark, among the voices of the world.
The Proclamation is not fashionable, of course. But that is not surprising. In today’s world hardly anything the Lord teaches is fashionable. What is valued in this world is not what is valued in the celestial world—and that is the world the Lord desperately wants us to inhabit. He teaches us the principles that govern it. It is hardly a shock, therefore, that His principles contradict the pronouncements of so many bloggers, entertainment figures, opinion leaders, activists, and podcast personalities who fill the airwaves and cyberspace of our dreary and fallen world.
Prophetic Power
So: Yes, there are foolish and evil ideas abroad in the land, and they are available to us. But there are also eternal, divine truths . . . and these are also available to us. And they are taught by the Lord’s designated servants. These prophets, seers, and revelators are not just “organizational leaders,” after all. They are holders of a sacred trust, with an authority and power to represent the Lord that stretches back to the very beginning—to Adam himself.
And the Lord works with them. President Gordon B. Hinckley testified of those in the presiding councils that “there has been in the life of every [prophet and apostle I have known] an overpowering manifestation of the inspiration of God.” He added that “those who have been Presidents have been prophets in a very real way. I have intimately witnessed the spirit of revelation upon them.”[3] On another occasion, he testified that “each of these [Presidents of the Church] has been blessed with the spirit and power of revelation from on high.”[4]
Of the Lord’s ongoing guidance, President Spencer W. Kimball declared: “I know the Lord lives and I know that he is revealing his mind and will to us daily.”[5] And President Russell M. Nelson said of his own experience: “The night calls are coming with great intensity.”[6] He also said: “When we convene as a council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, our meeting rooms become rooms of revelation. The Spirit is palpably present.”[7]
So we are not alone in the world. Yes, Satan has his tools, but the Lord also clearly has His. The choice we face is which we will follow. Do we want to listen to voices that are clearly subverting God’s Plan for His children? Or do we want to listen to voices that, under the Lord’s direction, are teaching and implementing God’s Plan for His children?
It’s not a close call.
*****
Duane Boyce is co-author, with his daughter Kimberly White, of the new book, The Last Safe Place: Seven Principles for Standing with the Prophets in Troubled Times.
Notes:
[1] “Discourse, 21 January 1844, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff,” p. [182–83], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed February 9, 2023, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-21-january-1844-as-reported-by-wilford-woodruff/2. The statement is also found in Joseph Fielding Smith, ed., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1938), 331. He said that “. . . my only trouble at the present time is concerning ourselves, that the Saints will be divided, broken up, and scattered, before we get our salvation secure; for there are so many fools in the world for the devil to operate upon, it gives him the advantage oftentimes.”
[2] Ulisses Soares, “Light, Truth, and Our Walk with Jesus Christ,” June 2023, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2023/06/digital-only/light-truth-and-our-walk-with-jesus-christ?lang=eng&cid=email-CCD_EM_IN_0623_JuneINAdult1_TruthTitle.
[3] Gordon B. Hinckley, in Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1997), 71.
[4] Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Joseph Smith III Document and the Keys of the Kingdom,” General Conference, April 1981, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-joseph-smith-iii-document-andthe-keys-of-the-kingdom?lang=eng.
[5] Spencer W. Kimball, “Revelation: The Word of the Lord to His Prophets,” General Conference, April 1977, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1977/04/revelation-the-word-of-the-lord-to-his-prophets?lang=e.
[6] “President Nelson: Brilliant Mind, Gentle Heart,” KSL News Documentary, April 1, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKiYPK_rEPk.
[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” General Conference, April 2018, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-ourlives?lang=eng.
