Injustice, Choices, and Comfort

This last week a relative of someone in my ward at church was caught up in a horrible disaster south of the border.  If you are in Arizona (and maybe even out of it) you likely heard of the case of Yanira Maldonado, who was arrested and charged with drug trafficking on the way back from a funeral in Mexico.  After the family enlisted all the help they could via social media and news outlets and politicians and the best Mexican legal help they could find, they were able to get Yanira released and returned to the USA.  I don't know how many thousands of prayers were offered in her behalf, but to her family it truly felt like the windows of heaven were opened and a miracle performed in her behalf.

After learning a little bit more about Mexico's legal system, there is no doubt there was divine intervention involved.  (Did you know that it is EXTREMELY rare for anyone to be exonerated at a Mexican trial?  Your chances are so bad that being arrested is pretty near the same as being convicted of something.)

While I was following the situation of Yanira I became aware of another case of a US citizen imprisoned in Mexico in a case that is so full of holes it is ludicrous.  Dylan Ryan Johnson was extradited and convicted in Mexico this spring for a murder that happened in 2003.  His case is particularly frightening because it shows how you can have your freedom and everything you hold dear torn away from you even while you are here in the USA.  You can read about Dylan's bizarre and horrifying case here.

The first night after I read about Dylan's case I just about had a nervous breakdown.  I guess what happened to Yanira didn't bother me quite so dramatically because I had faith she would get out.  Also, I rather expect awful things like this to be a possibility while you are traveling in a country with a legal system that is so corrupted.  But what was most disturbing about Dylan's case was that he was HERE, home in the US, with no idea that anything was wrong, when 9 years after his trip to Mexico US Marshals stormed his home and took him into custody so that he could be extradited.

He wasn't safe here.

If you aren't safe from injustice here, you aren't safe from it anywhere.

You know, I went on a trip to Mexico City back in 1999.  The idea that somehow, someone could file an extradition request against me and the US could just ship me over there, willy-nilly, without any regard for whether or not I would get a fair trial, is stone cold terrifying.

Even worse, while reading the essays about Mexican legal reform on Dylan's site, I learned of other cases where innocent Mexicans are convicted and imprisoned for decades for crimes they couldn't possibly have committed.  I was starting to have a "How can Heavenly Father let these atrocious things happen????" moment when I remembered the same answer that I get every time I read about the horrific things that happened during WWII.

It's scripture, from the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price (this is scripture that we Mormons believe was restored through Joseph Smith).  It's kind of long, but bear with me.  Here it is:

"And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced. . . .

And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?

. . .The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood. . ."  (Moses 7:26, 28, 32-33, emphasis added).

There's my answer.  God does not watch these terrible things happen without being moved.  He doesn't watch people do evil things to other people and not weep for them.  But He has given us our agency, and He will not take it away.  That means that some people are going to choose to follow Satan instead of Him, and horrible things will happen.

God does care.  Sometimes He will even intervene if we exercise faith and ask and do our part.  But much of the time He lets the evil play out so that people can face the full consequences of the choices of their agency.  That was the whole point of being here on earth: to see who we would choose and how we would act.  

But He will not leave the afflicted alone, if they seek for His comfort.  I KNOW this.  Also, I have the freedom to act for good myself.  I can't fix everything for everyone (and it's the desire to make things better for everyone that leads me into nervous breakdown mode), but I can make a difference in at least ONE person's life.  In the case of wrongful imprisonment, I will do what I can to help Erica Johnson free her husband, even if all I can contribute is a signature on a petition and some pestering of politicians and our State Department.  If you would like to sign and show your support for Dylan too, click here.

Hold tight.  We're not alone.  Choose God over evil, and everything will be made right in the end.