“Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.” (Alma 42:27)
The gospel is designed to set men free, for “the truth shall set you free” (KJV John 8:32). As such, the gospel itself is not forced upon anyone. Those who are not interested are not compelled. It is given freely and can be received freely by anyone who desires it. It is a pursuit of that which liberates. To seek the truth is to seek that which sets men free.
In contrast, to seek to be a tyrant is to seek that which is evil before God. Forcing mankind to obey your will is seeking to destroy the agency of man. Without agency, or the ability to act for yourself, there is no existence or identity (see LDS D&C 90:30). While truth liberates, lies captivate. The reason the truth has power to set men free is because lies are the primary means used to captivate mankind. The truth can be obscured and deliberately hidden in order to control and manipulate others. What others don’t know, can’t be used to set them free.
What makes the devil so dangerous is that he is not ignorant. He knows the truth but deliberately hides it and keeps others from finding it in order to put them under his power and control.
”And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.” (LDS 2 Nephi 2:17)
Seeking to control, captivate and enslave mankind is the devil’s system. He seeks that all be subject and must obey his will. While God gives mankind the power to choose, Satan seeks to consolidate that power to himself, that he may be the master decision maker.
”[Satan] came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. … Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;” (LDS Moses 4:1,3)
Lucifer was a light bearer because of the intelligence he had acquired (T&C 157:7). But Lucifer sought to use his knowledge to enslave mankind and bring them into his bondage, that he may captivate them according to his own will. This captivity would destroy the agency of man. This is rebellion against God. In short, Satan seeks to be a tyrant to rule and reign over all of mankind and make mankind his subjects. There is nothing he will not do to get his way. There is no means too harsh, no pain too great, no suffering too strong … everything is on the table in order to get compliance with his will.
In contrast, Jesus put himself on the line to suffer all things in order to secure the freedom of mankind. Freedom comes with a price. Freedom must be fought for, or it will be lost. Jesus weighed the cost of freedom and paid that price. As a result, mankind is not irretrievably lost and bound to the will of Satan. The life of Jesus sets an example of what fighting for freedom can look like and cost in this fallen world.
Jesus did not come to compel others to do his will. Instead, he came to serve and not to be served (Mark 10:45). His service included paying the ultimate price for those he served. Rather than compel others to suffer in order to make life comfortable or more enjoyable for himself, he suffered to set men free that they might have joy. He was not coerced or compelled into service. He did so willingly, by his own choice. His service was not only the will of the Father in heaven, but also the great desire and need of all of mankind, who could not set themselves free from captivity of the devil in which they find themselves. When Jesus suffered the will of the Father, he was suffering our will, that we might be set free. It is what we needed him to suffer to allow us to be free from the devil, the ultimate tyrant of mankind.
The choice between God and the devil is not a choice between which tyrant is better than the other. Jesus is no tyrant. His whole desire is to set mankind free from the chains of bondage which keep them down. He is not a dictator. He is a liberator. His whole desire is to empower mankind with real choice, making them free.
It offends the powers of heaven when compulsory means are used to control and manipulate mankind. To see mankind abuse on another causes the heaven’s to withdraw. This is true on a large scale as well as on a small scale.
“the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.” (LDS D&C 121:36-37)
Control. Dominion. Compulsion. The devil uses these tools to enslave mankind. It grieves the heavens to see mankind using the same tools on one another and for the same purposes that the devil uses to them, which is to enslave mankind. These are acts of rebellion against God. When might compulsory means be necessary, or when might doing anything like this not be, to some degree, unrighteous? When it is necessary to preserve life but never to give an offense (see LDS Alma 48:14).
How is mankind supposed to treat one another?
“only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;” (LDS D&C 121:41-43) — I’ll note that “sharpness” means to be precise or as small and accurate as possible when correction is needed.
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood (authority from God). To exercise control or dominion or compulsory means and to claim that it is authority from God which allows one to act his way, is an offense against the powers of heaven and an act of open rebellion against God.
Unfortunately we have learned and continue to learn, “by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.”. Sadly, it is also the nature and disposition of many people to seek for leaders who are not afraid of imposing and forcing these things upon them. Such ruthless tyranny is often called “strong leadership”. Leaders are expected to advance some agenda upon the people. It is the norm. At this point, such leadership is so engrained in widespread tradition across the world, that it is viewed as the only real, effective and legitimate form of leadership. Anything else would probably be rejected or not identified with leadership at all. A person lacking the disposition to impose themselves upon others in order to advance their cause would probably not be seriously considered for any leadership position at all. In fact, one of the tests that a person must pass in order to advance up the ranks can be demonstrating just how willing and able they are, to impose themselves upon others to get them to do what they want.
Rather than serve to liberate at their own personal sacrifice, leaders are generally expected to advance some agenda upon the people. One who simply liberates captives and defends freedom, is likely to be viewed as being weak for not imposing upon the people some agenda that he has.
Tyranny is rebellion against God. It seeks to destroy the agency of man by imposing its own will upon another, rather than allowing each to act for themselves and not be acted upon.
”Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (LDS 2 Nephi 2:27)