In the LDS belief, good and evil are eternal principles just as everything is eternal, including humanity and all the creations of God. But, being eternal principles, they are neither created nor destroyed; rather, they exist, to be adopted by different adherents through-out the time of eternity. If one looks at the etymology of the word "Satan," it comes Greek & from Hebrew words meaning "adversary" or "one who plots against another." Satan may be an individual person, Lucifer, who plotted against God & his "plan of happiness," as its called in the LDS belief, seeking the throne & glory of God itself, but his titled is one that can fit anyone who behaves like him. As such, even if there is a final destruction of Lucifer himself, or even if Lucifer were to repent and pay restitution for his crimes, however that might be possible, and returned to the fold, the evil of "Satan" will still exist, to be learned of, adopted, and practiced by another or others at some other time in the timeline of eternity. Which means there will always be a struggle, a war between good and evil, as they are eternal. But just as there is a "long defeat" with its periods and places of of darkness & tyranny, so too is there a "long victory" wherein there are times and places where good will triumph or be the predominant norm among the inhabitants of whatever place sticks to the practices of good. Even in the LDS doctrine, even after the so-called "Millennium" of peace under Christ, there will be a period of time where "Satan" is loosed again & wreaks havoc all over again till he is defeated again. But what defeats him, or what defeats the evil he represents? The people, the vast majority of whom voluntarily choose to live by the peaceful precepts of Christ instead, so that, though existent, "Satan" remains "bound" in that he has no power as few to no one follows his path/ways. Point is, evil is always gonna exist, & sometimes it's gonna win battles and may even reign for what seems like a long time but in reality is but a spec in the timeline of eternity; and it may have several specs in that timelines; the vast majority of the eternal timeline will be long periods of the reign of good, with shorts specs of evil occurring every once in a while. Evil may have its short times of reign, but if the vast majority of times will be the reign of good, why give up on the good even when evil reigns when you know good will have its time again? You can't achieve good by abandoning good for evil in order to try to defeat evil, whatever the impatient post-libertarian/anarchist "sunshine patriot" believes to the contrary. Good will always exist & evil will always exist; & neither will be fully stamped out no matter what we do. So, why not choose good? Besides, the way to keep evil & its tyranny at bay is by being good. Evil can't destroy you unless you let it by embracing it.
Brilliant and timely piece. It is incredibly disheartening to me that so many who count themselves among our ranks find it inconceivable that they should do good for it's own sake.
Wait, you read the Silmarillion? I was under the impression that no man alive has completed a full read-through without becoming insane or dying of old age.... Im only a quarter way through myself.
anyway, this is a very uplifting way of looking at things. we may be trapped in the mire, staring down the barrel of deaths gun, and realize that inevitably humanity will dwindle and die with aeons of time; but we shouldn't give up trying to make even the slightest change to make things just a tiny bit better for ourselves or others.
In the LDS belief, good and evil are eternal principles just as everything is eternal, including humanity and all the creations of God. But, being eternal principles, they are neither created nor destroyed; rather, they exist, to be adopted by different adherents through-out the time of eternity. If one looks at the etymology of the word "Satan," it comes Greek & from Hebrew words meaning "adversary" or "one who plots against another." Satan may be an individual person, Lucifer, who plotted against God & his "plan of happiness," as its called in the LDS belief, seeking the throne & glory of God itself, but his titled is one that can fit anyone who behaves like him. As such, even if there is a final destruction of Lucifer himself, or even if Lucifer were to repent and pay restitution for his crimes, however that might be possible, and returned to the fold, the evil of "Satan" will still exist, to be learned of, adopted, and practiced by another or others at some other time in the timeline of eternity. Which means there will always be a struggle, a war between good and evil, as they are eternal. But just as there is a "long defeat" with its periods and places of of darkness & tyranny, so too is there a "long victory" wherein there are times and places where good will triumph or be the predominant norm among the inhabitants of whatever place sticks to the practices of good. Even in the LDS doctrine, even after the so-called "Millennium" of peace under Christ, there will be a period of time where "Satan" is loosed again & wreaks havoc all over again till he is defeated again. But what defeats him, or what defeats the evil he represents? The people, the vast majority of whom voluntarily choose to live by the peaceful precepts of Christ instead, so that, though existent, "Satan" remains "bound" in that he has no power as few to no one follows his path/ways. Point is, evil is always gonna exist, & sometimes it's gonna win battles and may even reign for what seems like a long time but in reality is but a spec in the timeline of eternity; and it may have several specs in that timelines; the vast majority of the eternal timeline will be long periods of the reign of good, with shorts specs of evil occurring every once in a while. Evil may have its short times of reign, but if the vast majority of times will be the reign of good, why give up on the good even when evil reigns when you know good will have its time again? You can't achieve good by abandoning good for evil in order to try to defeat evil, whatever the impatient post-libertarian/anarchist "sunshine patriot" believes to the contrary. Good will always exist & evil will always exist; & neither will be fully stamped out no matter what we do. So, why not choose good? Besides, the way to keep evil & its tyranny at bay is by being good. Evil can't destroy you unless you let it by embracing it.
Brilliant and timely piece. It is incredibly disheartening to me that so many who count themselves among our ranks find it inconceivable that they should do good for it's own sake.
Wait, you read the Silmarillion? I was under the impression that no man alive has completed a full read-through without becoming insane or dying of old age.... Im only a quarter way through myself.
anyway, this is a very uplifting way of looking at things. we may be trapped in the mire, staring down the barrel of deaths gun, and realize that inevitably humanity will dwindle and die with aeons of time; but we shouldn't give up trying to make even the slightest change to make things just a tiny bit better for ourselves or others.