Cooperation and Coercion

Gordon Lemmon

This address was given in a Sacrament Meeting of the

Tri-Valley Ward, Livermore Stake, May 27, 2007
A plan of freedom

Tomorrow is Memorial Day.

Memorial Day was established to honor
those who have lost their lives defending
freedom. Often we do not observe the day as
it should be, a day where we actively
remember our ancestors, our family
members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and
our friends who have given the ultimate
sacrifice. But most importantly I believe that it is a day to look within ourselves for that
spark of freedom. How am I using my freedom? Do I make choices that expand my
freedom or do I vote to restrict my freedoms.
The great economist Milton Freedman, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
stated:
“There are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is
central direction involving the use of coercion. The other is voluntary cooperation of
individuals” (Capitalism and Freedom, 1962). This former is socialism and the latter is
capitalism.
As many times as I have read the Book of Mormon I have been baffled by the idea that a
people would continue to rally for a king. Why would anyone want a King?
Look at the last millennium. A trivial study shows how kings and tyrants have oppressed
their people. Then look at the last hundred years. Over 60 million people lost their lives in
the Second World War. The enemy was using coercion to establish centralized world
power. It was only through the co-operation of citizens and nations that the foe was
defeated.
For 50 years, the two opposing ideologies of coercion and cooperation fought to gain
audience during what we call the Cold War.
Now, while citizens of formerly socialist countries have in recent decades chosen to be
free, many us are choosing to abdicate our freedom. For instance many of us vote to
establish policies restricting our personal freedoms.
Why would anyone want to give up their freedom? Yet the history which I have just
related is a recapitulation of what transpired in God’s Kingdom before we came to this
Earth. Our Father in Heaven established a system of voluntary cooperation. He presented
a plan and pleaded with us to trust him and believe that passing through the trials of mortal
life would be in our best interest. He promised us that even though there was risk
involved, and that some of our siblings might not make it back, this would be the only way
that we could grow and become like Him.
Our Eternal Father knew from the beginning that some of His children would succeed and
others would fail; some would be faithful, others false; some would choose the good,
others the evil; some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the road
to destruction. Our all wise and knowing Father accepted that truth and let His children
leave home and come to Earth (Talmage, Jesus the Christ). Yet he did not force us to come
here. We chose to change.
Talmage states, “The Father of Souls impels no man toward sin and compels none to
righteousness (The Great Apostasy).
A third of the hosts of heaven chose another path. They wanted centralized power and
decision making. There were reasonable sounding arguments here. Although we wouldn’t
be able to reach our full potential, we could eliminate that risk of not making it back. That
was a pretty serious risk. Also, we would never be left behind. Everyone would progress
at the same rate. A centralized power would keep us from getting into trouble. And
someone wiser than us would be left to make the important decisions.
Perhaps in the premortal world Isaiah helped us to see that “the wisdom of their wise men
shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid”.
Today, that third of the hosts of heaven continues to spread its propaganda and attempt to
establish control over our lives.
This third of the hosts of heaven may have felt
they were voting for safety and stability, when
in fact they were voting for stagnancy.
On the other hand the plan of our Heavenly
Father required us to make extraordinary
changes. In fact change was a key element in
His plan. As spirit children we were naïve. We
had to grow and learn. We had to learn how to
control physical bodies, with passions, appetites
and emotions. And in the process we would
change our very spirits. We would learn to love
and serve, and we would learn to honor light
and truth and to shun evil. But all of this would
require serious change.
Now think again about the two opposing
ideologies- coercion and cooperation. The
reality is that there is no way to effect change in
people’s lives through coercion. Change is
something that we each must choose. Although the Spirit changes us, we have to open our
hearts and decide to be changed. We have to decide to cooperate with our Savior, of our
own free will, in order to be changed. Satan’s plan was a plan of stagnancy, while the
Lord’s plan involved movement.
A plan of Change
Change is difficult. Usually when we talk about change in the world, we are talking about
things like a new job or getting married. A famous psychology study from 1967 found that
some of the most stressful changes in life are the death of a spouse or family member,
marriage, and being fired from work (Holmes and Rahe). I know with certainty that the
gospel of Jesus Christ can help each of us adapt and prosper through these sorts of
changes. By helping us better understand the purpose of our time here, Christ is able to
make our burdens light.
However, today I’d like to talk about a different level of change- this type of change is
more difficult to achieve. Many changes in our lives come unexpectedly, but this type of
change we must choose to endure. I am talking about spiritual conversion.
Elder Bednar taught us that “conversion is a spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of
what we feel and desire, what we think and do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the
gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made
possible through our reliance upon "the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah"
(2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the Master, we choose to be changed—to be
spiritually reborn.
Paul taught us, “if any man be ain Christ, he is a bnew creature: cold things are dpassed
away; behold, all things are become enew.” (2 Cor 5:17). I think what Paul is saying is
that with the spirit, you begin to see all other changes in your life from a new perspective.
You begin to realize that ultimately, the change you should be concerned with is your
personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why Christ stated:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.
Christ helps us forget about our worldly labors so that we can focus on spiritual change.
This conversion is not a one time experience. Conversion is a life long experience. It
involves repenting of our sins, forsaking our sins and coming to know our Father. As we
build a relationship with our Father in Heaven we will become more like him. When you
spend a lot of time with a person they begin to rub off on you. You start talking like they
do, for instance.
The same will happen for you as you spend time in prayer. Our Savior has one particular
attribute that needs to rub off on us. It’s the most important one. In fact it trumps all other
attributes. It is charity. Charity is so important that if we do not have it we cannot return
to be with our Father in Heaven.
Charity is the pure love of Christ and it endureth forever. Moroni asks us to pray for
charity so that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him.
How do we get charity? I believe that charity is an attribute that comes naturally as we are
converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our recent general conference, Elder Nelson
taught that conversion and repentance are synonymous. Repentance is conversion. That is
why we are commanded to preach nothing but repentance:
For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he
suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
And he hath arisen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on
conditions of repentance.
And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
Repentance is the core, fundamental message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when you
repent of your sins, your heart will be filled with the pure love of Christ. Think back on all
the great conversion stories- Paul, Enos, and Alma. Each one of them was converted
through repentance, and each one of them subsequently were filled with charity and spent
the remainder of their days serving their brothers and sisters.
It was Christ’s perfect love that made the atonement possible. Have you ever had a friend
that you saw go astray, or make choices that you know are going to hurt them? I know
how much that hurts. Just seeing a friend make wrong choices is painful.
Now imagine how hard it is for a parent to see their child make mistakes that they know
will lead to pain in that child’s life. That pain is conferred through love. It is a parent’s
love for his child that allows the parent to feel pain. It is my love for my friend that causes
me to hurt inside when I see him make wrong choices. Only Christ, with his infinite love
could have provided an infinite atonement, in which he took upon him the pains and sins of
us all. It was by virtue of His everlasting love that this atonement was possible.
In a society of coercion there is no
charity. In a society of cooperation
charity can abound. I voluntarily
cooperate in my community to help the
less fortunate because I love them, and
because it hurts me to see others suffer.
What good would it do your soul if fast
offerings were mandatory and their
quantity specified- if there were simply
no other choice? Would that policy
help you develop charity?
In his writings about fasting, Isaiah
taught us:
 Deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the poor that are cast out to thy house, and when thou
seest the naked cover him.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth
speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee.
Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry and he shall say, Here I am.
Then shalt thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought.
I mentioned that in a society of cooperation charity can abound. Unfortunately I fear that
this past century has seen an increase of greed and a decrease of charity. We have come to
rely on the government to take care of the less fortunate instead of extending ourselves and
showing forth the fruits of charity. I society of cooperation will only succeed inasmuch as
its members exercise charity- in taking care of each other.
Testimony
I am so grateful to live in this free country. The devil is so subtle in enslaving us. He has
been successful through out history at the government level. But more importantly he is,
at the individual level enticing many to fall into sin and depravity. When we sin we give
up our freedom.
But I know that there is a better way. I know that the Savior is here with us. I am so
grateful that I can cooperate with him to erase my sins and change who I am.
It was His pure love that makes this possible. I love my Savior. I want with all my heart
to be with Him again. Whenever I feel His spirit I want to share it with others.
I promise each of you that as you repent of your sins your hearts will be filled with love.
Every day there are opportunities to preach repentance – to help others find the motivation
to change.
I pray that we may preserve our freedom to choose liberty and eternal life, through the
great Mediator of all men, and not choose captivity and death, according to the captivity
and power of the devil.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Endnote: The central dogma of a free market economy is that individuals are better at
making choices for themselves then their governments are at making choices for them.
Are you supporting policies that restrict personal choice or expand it? Learn more by
reading Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom and watching Friedman’s PBS mini-
series Free to Choose.