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This principle holds that it is wrong to deny someone of his/her free agency unless they have (criminally) abused it to infringe against the free agency of another, as it would bind a person from their own choices. Such offenses logically include crimes such as Murder , Rape and Slavery . The principle also holds that free agency was part of the Plan Of Salvation laid out in the Pre-mortal Existence (a time where all people lived in heaven as spirit children of God the Father). Because free agency would allow all people to fall in sin (and, in fact, scripture teaches that all people will sin), a Savior was necessary to provide a means by which men could overcome sin and return to live with their Father in Heaven. Two volunteers stepped forward to act as savior; Jesus volunteered to follow the plan as outlined, which preserved free agency but thereby allowed some never to return to Heavenly Father (as a consequence of sin). The second, Lucifer , attempted to amend the plan to deny men free agency. Jesus was accepted as Savior and Lucifer was cast out and became Satan . The doctrine of free agency holds that the transgression of Adam And Eve in eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a necessary part of the Plan of Salvation. If Adam and Eve had not disobeyed the commandment, they would have lived in eternal innocence in the Garden of Eden and never known true right and wrong, nor true happiness nor sadness, nor been able to bear children. As a result of the Fall, Adam and Eve (and their children) learned sadness and remorse, making it possible for them to appreciate the opposite feelings of happiness and peace. Accordingly, while Eve may have been deceived into disobedience, as a result of the Fall the serpent's sabotage was turned against it and the natural expansion of human free agency was ensured. More recently, the term "free agency" has fallen into disfavor with some LDS church leaders. Bruce R. McConkie (a deceased LDS apostle) wrote "''Agency, of course, is exercised in accordence with law. Once a final goal has been made, there is no turning back to seek the opposite goal.''" The term "free agency" may be interpreted to mean that agency does not have consequences. On the contrary, agency is fraught with risk and choices (the result of the exercise of agency) determine eternal destination. For this reason, a church manual for teaching children in 2005 instructs teachers to avoid the term "free agency" and instead say simply "agency." |
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