Wickedness Always Was Happiness

In the Book of Mormon, there is an account of the prophet Alma and his sons returning to the ancient land of Zarahemla after a mission to the Zoramites, whom they brought to repentance of their sins by preaching the word of the Lord. The proselytizing apparently resulted in both successes and failures. Alma, aggrieved by what he had witnessed during the mission, gathered his sons together to give them counsel as a postmortem to the experience. By Alma’s account, many of the people he encountered were “offended because of the strictness of the word,” (see Alma 35:15) which included not only the Zoramites, but also his wayward son Corianton. Corianton had forsaken his duties to preach the word of God and had gone off to get dirty in the land of Siron with a harlot named Isabel (see Alma 39:3). (As a side note, there are only six women mentioned in the Book of Mormon, three of which are from the Bible, and one of which is a prostitute.)

In my adolescent experience with Mormon education, the story of Corianton was always presented as a cautionary tale for anyone tempted to shirk their godly responsibilities and pursue worldly pleasures. The whole idea of illicit sex being second only to murder in seriousness comes from Alma’s words to Corianton (see Alma 39:5). As I stated in an earlier post, this is one of the most destructive teachings in Mormonism. Mired in guilt as a youth, I remember praying to God to help me to avoid the pitfalls of Corianton. Not by accident, Alma’s sermon has become a favorite for Mormon bishops and stake presidents looking for scriptural justification for psychological violence meted out in worthiness interviews.

In the scriptural text, Alma follows his condemnation of Corianton’s whoring by an exposition of God’s eternal justice and mercy in punishing sinners. The basic Christian idea of being rewarded or punished in the afterlife for one’s actions in mortality is echoed here. Alma calls this “restoration,” which is likely a term that a young Joseph Smith had heard often in fiery sermons on the topic. This is a different usage of the word “restoration” than is typically used in Mormon doctrinal settings. It is not the restoration of truth, but rather a restoration of the “proper order” (Alma 41:2) of things, balancing the scales of God’s justice after our sojourn in the earthly realm. Perhaps the most famous line in Alma’s sermon is found in the 41st chapter (emphasis added):

And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.

Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

The Book of Mormon, Alma 41:9-11 (emphasis added)

The phrase “wickedness never was happiness” is a blunt object that pretentious Mormons use to insult those whom they see as living in sin. I’ve heard this phrase used against me by my own mother after I left the church, and found it challenging to keep a straight face. It is used time and time again to counter the lifestyles of non-married and cohabitating couples, non-celibate gays and lesbians, prideful intellectuals, drug users, college-aged partiers, “Jack Mormons,” people who get tattoos and piercings, coffee drinkers, and anyone else not strictly living a life of obedience to Mormon general authorities. Ex-Mormons who claim to be living happy lives without the church are not believed, because such a claim is anti-scriptural. It is impossible to be happy without the Spirit, the belief goes, thus making making the idea of a “happy sinner” an oxymoron. Since the guidance of the Holy Ghost leaves a person that has departed from the narrow path that leads to God, anyone that believes herself to be happy while not also being obedient to God’s commandments is deceived.

I’ve been a participant in the ex-Mormon internet community for approximately 15 years. New ex-Mormons that have not yet fully eschewed the “wickedness never was happiness” paradigm are often seen making overcompensating personal posts on Facebook about how happy they are in their lives, almost as if God is still watching. I feel a great deal of compassion for the people behind those posts, as I have felt the same feelings. It can take years, or a lifetime, to not feel pressure to be happy in order to prove something to the Mormon ghosts of the past.

Mormonism is a belief system predicated on living a life of obedience to Church authority in exchange for the promise of eternal joy. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). This is God’s great plan of happiness: to pass through the veil that causes us to forget the life we once lived in the spiritual realm, to gain a physical body of flesh and bone that serves as a vessel for our soul, to be tested in mortality according to our propensity to follow God’s commands, to pass through the gate of death, to live in a temporary disembodied state in a spiritual paradise where we preach the gospel to the non-converted, and in the end gain a perfected physical body at the resurrection where we join our Heavenly Father in a never-ending state of unfathomable happiness in celestial glory. Our destiny is to become gods. Happy gods.

In Mormonism, the afterlife is even glorious for the sinners. Ignoring the realm of “outer darkness” which is the destiny of Judas-like apostates, there are three degrees of glory that await all souls after the resurrection. The least glorious of these, the telestial kingdom, is the future home of adulterers and murderers. But consider the legend that is repeated often among church members about the telestial kingdom:

The Lord has told us of three degrees of glory. There are three “heavens,” as it is often referred to. We call them the telestial, terrestrial, and the celestial. I cannot for a minute conceive the telestial being hell, either, because it is considered a heaven, a glory. The Prophet Joseph Smith told us that if we could get one little glimpse into the telestial glory even, the glory is so great that we would be tempted to commit suicide to get there.

Eldred G. Smith, March 10, 1964, BYU Speeches of the Year, 1964, p. 4

Setting aside how problematic this teaching is for suicidal teens, this legend is popular among Mormons because it is used to illustrate the incomprehensibility of glory found in the highest degree of heaven, a.k.a. the celestial kingdom. If “hell” is so amazing that if you took a peek at it you would kill yourself, just think how incredible things will be if you follow the prophet! If I were a documentary filmmaker, it would be an interesting project to juxtapose all this talk of happiness in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the dismal lives of everyday Mormons. Considering Utah’s abnormally high suicide rate and its status as the capital of antidepressants, one can’t help but wonder if the disparity between the Church’s rhetoric of happiness and the reality of unattainable perfection is to blame.

I believe the key to overcoming this damaging mindset, besides realizing that Mormon teachings are just fairy tales, is to realize that happiness is won by living an authentic life. If you have to use a measuring stick to convince yourself how happy you are, you will live a life of disappointment. If you have the need to demonstrate to others that you are living a happy life, you will never live a happy life. For me, the life choices that Mormons consider to be wickedness are the sources of my happiness. My joy comes from not giving a shit.