Since freedom depends, in part, on knowledge of the consequences of our choices, isn't it a
restriction on our free agency that God sends us into this world without our memory of all that
came before?
What we have to keep in mind here is one of the purposes of our mortal life: to test us.
And what is the nature of the test? To see if we will choose good or evil, when we believe
ourselves to have the power to do whatever we want.
Compare our mortal lives to a "virtual machine" on a computer. In order to prevent an outsider
from taking over a computer, some users only download software into a "virtual machine."
The "virtual machine" is an area of memory that contains a complete sub-operating system --
but has no access to the real operating system or hardware of the computer.
So when the downloaded software is opened and run inside the virtual machine, the user can see
what the software actually does.
The software "thinks" it is in control of a computer, so it will show its true nature. If it contains
viruses or other malware, that will be revealed -- but the malware will be incapable of doing any
real damage.
Because we are born into this life without direct personal knowledge of the surrounding moral
universe -- our premortal actions, our relationship with God, the eternal consequences of our
choices -- we are like downloaded software in a virtual machine. We will reveal our true nature
-- but under circumstances where our evil choices will not have eternal consequences on anyone
but ourselves.
Take, for instance, some of the most monstrous people who ever lived. Do you think Adolf
Hitler or Josef Stalin would have behaved as they did if they had keen memories of what God
expected of them? Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think that both of them were self-disciplined
enough to conceal their true nature in order to achieve their objectives.
But in the ignorance that comes with mortality, they revealed their true nature for all to see --
God, themselves, and all the rest of us -- because they did not know about or believe in the idea
that they would yet be judged and held accountable.
Yet such was God's mercy that neither of these monsters had the slightest power to hurt any
other person in a lasting way. Yes, they could make people unhappy, inflict pain and suffering,
take away a portion of other people's freedom, and finally kill whomever they wished -- but
they could not do a single thing that affected anybody's placement in the eternal scheme of thing
except their own.
Each of their victims will still be judged, not on what Hitler or Stalin did to them, but on what
they did in response. In the midst of the Holocaust or the Gulag, each victim still had moral
choices that revealed their own character: brave or cowardly, kind or heartless, strong or weak,
good or evil. And when they are judged, it will be for their own actions in this great test of
mortal life.
I think of my own son, Charlie Ben, who was born into this world with severe physical
limitations. His cerebral palsy made it so he could only rarely speak a word; he could never
walk, sit up unaided, grasp a spoon to feed himself, or write.
But he was mentally alert, and had many opportunities -- at home, at church, and at the special
school he attended -- to show his moral character.
We had a waterbed installed for him at the school he attended, so he would not get bedsores. He
loved to kick his legs to make the waterbed bounce him up and down.
But when a little girl with even more severe limitations than Charlie's was placed on the
waterbed with him, he understood that he needed to keep her safe. He kicked only gently --
rocking her safely with never a risk of bouncing her onto the floor (something that his kicking
could easily do to objects about her size and weight). The two of them laughed together on the
Charlie-powered trampoline.
He watched over his baby sister and gave warning when he saw her in danger. He tolerated her
piling her stuffed animals all over him as he lay there laughing within the heap.
And it's not because he lacked the ability to be anything other than nice. For instance, on a trip
to the beach, my wife was bringing him down separately from the rest of the family. She was
trying to listen to an audiobook, but he had no patience with that. He was going through his
country music phase, and he kept kicking the cd player until she switched from the audiobook to
a country station.
She couldn't move him to where he couldn't kick the dashboard -- his wheelchair's tiedowns
couldn't be changed. When he fell asleep, she would change back to the book so it could help
her stay awake (and she's not that much of a country music fan); but within a few minutes he'd
wake up and insist on getting his way. He could be a brat when he wanted to. But he rarely
wanted to.
When someone else's comfort or safety depended on his actions, he always chose to be kind and
watchful. His mortal life was as fair a test of his moral nature as anyone else's.
Only those who do not reach the mental ability to understand the consequences of their actions
are immune to moral judgment. All the rest of us are perfectly free within the limitations of our
circumstances, and we reveal who we truly are.
Fortunately, the Judge who will determine our eternal placement has a perfect knowledge of
what our understanding was at the time of our choices. He knows which consequences we could
not anticipate and which ones we should have known. He knows the intentions of our hearts.
In this life we do not have the power to destroy the souls of other people, even if we can harm
their bodies.
We do not have the knowledge that would encourage evil people to conceal their true nature in
order to gain eternal power that they would later abuse.
Within these bounds, however, we have complete freedom to reveal who we are by the choices
that we make. No action of our own or of any other person can place any limitation on the
effectiveness of the moral test.
When we come to the judgment bar of God, we will be unable to deny the fairness of the test.
We are what our choices have revealed us to be; that is the purpose of our free agency, and it
achieves that purpose perfectly.
Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's
Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and
younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary
fantasy (Magic Street,Enchantment,Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables,Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker
(beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and
scripts.
Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and
Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s.
Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs
plays. He also teaches writing and literature at Southern Virginia University.
Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife,
Kristine Allen Card, and their youngest child, Zina Margaret.