Abigail Adams once had her children deliberately infected with smallpox. Effluent from pustules was put under their skin to induce the fever. Why? Was she sadistic? A bad parent? Experience had shown that intentionally infecting people with smallpox had the effect of rendering that person immune to the disease forever afterward. Yes, there was a chance that the infection could cause death, but the disease was far less virulent when it entered the body through the blood than the lungs. Abigail took the risk of exposing her children to the disease in order to inoculate them against it.
“And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God” (Moses 5:10). Why did the Lord put the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? Why was a dangerous serpent allowed to prowl around there? Why is Satan allowed to pester and tempt us? Why are we allowed to follow him if we choose? I wonder if at least part of the reason behind putting us into a world where we will be exposed to sin is to inoculate us against it. We learn from experience to distinguish between bitter and sweet, good and evil, and we learn to despise evil and love good.
When I was in high school, the on-campus police officer came to my health class to talk about illegal drugs. He told us he was going to burn some marijuana so that we would recognize what it smelled like for future reference. Before he ignited it, he said that anyone who preferred not to be exposed could go into the hall and wait until the smoke had cleared. One girl and I were the only two who opted out of the experience. We smiled sheepishly at each other as we stood in the hallway, waiting for the cloud of death to disperse. Many times I have smelled strange odors coming from various houses, and I have wondered what was burning. Should I be worried about coming into a certain neighborhood? Because I chose not to be exposed to a controlled sample of badness, I lack the equipment to detect that particular evil.
One third of the hosts of heaven were so afraid to come to earth that they rebelled against God and lost their first estate, rather than risk coming here. Why were the rest of us courageous enough to risk eternal damnation and be born into a world of sin with no memory of heaven? There must have been some humility in us—being willing to come here and make idiots of ourselves, having all our weaknesses and flaws and true nature exposed before God and anyone else who happened to be watching us through the veil. Speaking of us premortally, John says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (They ended up on earth, whether they agreed to the plan or not!) “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (“Devil” means “accuser” or “slanderer,” maybe “gossip.” Judgmentalism, prudery, pointed fingers, backbiting—these are part of Satan’s job description. They are not attributes of sainthood.) “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:9-11).
In short, we were willing to brave the perils of earth life, not because we were confident of our ability to come into this filthy world without getting stained, but because we were confident the Savior could rescue us from sin, clean us up, and bring us back to spiritual life through His atoning sacrifice. The pain and misery attending sin can be washed away, we may be cleansed of our desires for evil, and we are better for having braved the journey.
What about those who are exposed to sin, and seem unable to get enough of it? The appetite for sin can expand despite the pangs of conscience because there is always more sin (“a hair of the dog that bit me,” the alcoholic would say) to mask the pain that comes from sin. True, the candle eventually runs out of wax: “But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin” (Morm. 2:13). But many people, like Mormon’s Nephites, manage to die in their sins without getting tired of the bitter aftertaste of sin. What about them?
There is a failsafe built into the plan of salvation. Either we lose our desire for sin because of repentance and the process of rebirth, a change of heart, or we have the tangles brushed harshly out of our hair by the Lord in the next life: “Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink...” (D&C 19:15-18).
Most terrible experiences in life are not as bad as we anticipate them to be. Some people are happier after horrible accidents and disfiguring, incapacitating illness than before. But Jesus is warning us here of something worse than we can imagine. If we do not escape from this life free from the desire for sin, I feel certain that it will be burned out of us in a less agreeable way in the next life. Either way, we will leave with a greatly diminished desire for anything evil. Repentance is far easier than the alternative.
“And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:11). No one makes it out of life without breaking the commandments to at least some degree, but I am also certain that some learn to abhor sin through second hand exposure. We need not commit sin to be exposed to it, or to suffer for it. “...your wives and your children...whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate...For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women...I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people...because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands...Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you.” (Jacob 2:7, 28, 31, 35). Jesus experienced the full weight of sin vicariously, never committing a sin.
While nothing I have said should be construed as an invitation to sin, we should not waste time punishing or denigrating ourselves for sinning. Like the loss of the 116 pages by Joseph Smith and Martin Harris, the Lord has made ample provision for this inevitable problem. The Atonement of Christ cushions us against the effects of our sins, and allows us to learn from them instead of being utterly destroyed by them. We can repent because of the Atonement (without it, our repentance would not avail us salvation). In one sense, the Atonement is the tuition paid for our mortal education.
Abigail’s children survived, despite, possibly because of, her choice to expose them to the pox. They are currently no longer in danger. However, the spiritual peril is real for us here in mortality. Unlike the lottery of infectious diseases, our agency plays a major role in our safety. The choice is ultimately ours. Fortunately, we can receive strength to deal with exposure to temptations, as well as forgiveness for failure to live up to the commandments. The same faith in Christ that enabled us to plunge ourselves into this predicament can bear us out of it. Nephi is optimistic: “I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at this judgment-seat” (2Ne. 33:7). He has faith in Christ's ability to get us out of this life unscathed.
