Within the Latter-day Saint tradition, we have a very interesting concept which we call Zion. It is an idealistic society which the Book of Mormon author, Mormon, described like this in 4th Nephi, “And they had all things common among them, therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.” Then again in from a revelation to Joseph Smith about Enoch in Moses 7:18, “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them.”

The early saints fully believed in the ideal of Zion, they were fully committed to building a place where they had all things in common and genuinely gave their all to do it. Building any type of functional and successful community is difficult in almost any circumstance, but the endeavor to build Zion in the conditions these saints faced was basically impossible.

As I look at all of those attempts, and many others throughout different societies, creating a society that makes all things be common just hasn’t worked very well. There are many reasons for this, but for the purposes of my post today I am going to focus on one we should be familiar with…fairness.

It is in our nature to be concerned with fairness. We genuinely, whether for ourselves or for others, want the playing field and the outcomes in our lives to be fair. So much so, that there is a feeling described in psychology called Schadenfreude, where we secretly want others not to succeed or even to fail just to level the playing field.

When my kids were younger I often called them the “fair police.” They were exceptional at pointing out every single perceived injustice all around them. I suspect that many people keep this radar for injustices as a feature for most of their lives.

I bet most of us would agree that seeking fairness, or being a fair person is a good thing. If someone said I treated them fairly, that would be a compliment. In our society, fairness is one of the highest forms of morality.

Unfortunately, it is also a subtle form of judgment that is completely colored by our own lived experience. It is almost impossible to define what is fair in an objective way. What I think is fair may not be the same as you or the next person, then multiply that by 8 billion makes it easy to see why judging what is fair is extremely difficult to do.

That doesn’t stop us from trying. In fact, we all probably engage in judging whether something is fair dozens of times a day without even recognizing it.

Seeking our own version of fairness is at the foundation of many divisions in our society. From family squabbles over splitting inheritance, to political strife, and even in our marriages when we feel the roles and stresses of responsibility are not equally weighted.

To make matters more difficult, we can easily ascribe to God as Him being the MOST fair. Yet how do we interpret what is fair in God’s eyes? I have no idea. I can only say that, as a parent, I do not feel it is important to make things exactly equal with my kids in their eyes as I feel each of them needs different things. That’s the only clue I have into God’s thinking, which isn’t much.

Just like our own kids do with us, we can get very frustrated and angry with God when we feel we are not being treated fairly. We want the scales of justice to be balanced and viewed with no bias (like our lovely Lady Justice in the photo), but should that balance come at the cost of someone else? Most of us wouldn’t want that, but sometimes we do.

Fairness is clearly not a bad ideal, or unworthy of our efforts. In fact, I think according to our scriptures it is a noble pursuit. What I want each of us to recognize, is that because we are not really good at determining what is fair, and we don’t have an effective methodology for instituting fairness, we need to quit making fairness the highest form of morality.

Jesus illustrates the problem of fairness in my favorite parable, the Parable of the Laborers.

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

From one perspective the Lord of the Vineyard was incredibly fair. He paid them each the same and exactly what he agreed to pay and he did it immediately. From the perspective of the dude that worked 12 hours instead of one, but got paid the same, I think we would all feel that it was completely unfair. The guy at the end should have been paid 1/12th of a penny or we should have been paid 12 pennies. Simple fairness to us, but not to God.

A more salient example for Latter-day Saints is someone who drinks coffee but still attends the temple faithfully.

Most of us will have completely different emotions after reading that sentence. Some people will say, “How can they have a temple recommend if they drink coffee? That isn’t fair.” Others might say, “They probably lied to the Bishop. There is no way a Bishop would allow that.” Yet another might say, “I guess that means I can drink coffee too since it doesn’t really matter.” I hope you can see how each of these reactions comes from a centered moral focus on fairness. We are trained to think not about how something may be good for someone, but instead on how it is unfair because it wasn’t us. There hopefully were some of us that thought, “Good for them, I hope they keep getting closer to God, because I love the temple too.”

I hope that this parable gets your mind thinking as I explore another option to recenter our moral priority on.

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A Different Value as the Highest Form of Morality

I am going to list some thoughts from my two scripture heros and their most famous semons.

Jesus Christ – Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

• Blessed are the peacemakers – 5:9
• Be first reconciled to they brother and agree with thine adversary quickly – 5:24-25
• Whoseever shall smite thee on the cheek, turn to him the other also – 5:39
• Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you – 5:44
• Forgive others and God will forgive you- 6:12,14
• Where your treasure is there will your heart be also – 6;19-21
• Seek ye first the kingdom of God – 6:33
• Why beholdest the mote in they brothers eye, but consider not the beam in your own? – 7:1-5
• Ye shall know them by their fruits, a good tree brings forth good fruit – 7:16-20

King Benjamin – King Benjamin’s Address (Mosiah 2-5)

• When you serve others you are serving God – 2:17
• Nothing we can do will change that we always need God – 2:21-26
• The evil spirit encourages contention and division – 2:32-33
• The atonement is for all people who believe in Jesus Christ and the natural man is an enemy to God so we must be humble, patient, full of love – 3:18-19
• Always retain in rememberance that we all need God – 4:11
• Are we not all beggars? We should never withhold when we can help – it doesn’t matter how they got in their circumstances – 4:16-19
• All things must be done in wisdom and order – 4:27
• Covenant to love God and take his name and goals upon you and you shall be named all the children of Christ, and the only the name of Christ will save us – 5:8

In the past 15 years I have noticed a subtle shift away from fairness toward another ideal – Love. I think Love is a much better direction than fairness, however, I am not sure that Love is the correct ideal. It gets used as synonyms for too many other concepts like compatability and attraction, acceptance, compassion, and friendship. All important in thier own way, but I think missing the point I am trying to make.

I would like each of us to think about connection and reconciliation as an option over fairness. God’s highest priority is for us to return to him and be reunited. God greatest commandments to us are to be connected with and helping each other. God also makes clear if we do not reconcile when we break apart with each other then we will not reunite with him. This leads me to believe that the importance of connection and reconciliation cannot be overstated.

Lehi said to his sons, “Men are that they might have joy,” and in my experience the highest forms of joy come from connecting, and even moreso when we reconcile or reunite with those in our lives.

Our world is full of billions of people making their way, with unlimited choices and chaos. If we prioritze fairness it leads to more furstration, anger, and division. In contrast when we prioritize seeking connections and reconciling with our fellow humans then we tend to have more hope, more joy, wounds heal, and we inherently become closer to God.

It doesn’t mean that we will be free from pain or evil, we may even be hurt more often as we connect with people more. Pain and hurt are part of our learning process, but that is why reconciliation is as important. Restoring connections through the Love of Christ brings an increased feeling of joy and happiness.

There are so many values that are important – keeping the commandments, loving each other, praying, teaching, and even fairness. I do feel strongly, however, that our highest priority should be in forming connections with each other, and reconciling with those we have been separated from.

The way we become One, or have all things in common, is not by emphasizing fairness, it is by prioritizing connection and reconciliation. We cannot make things fair, but we can work to connect and reconnect over and over again, gaining a love and compassion that helps us share when we have more, and lets us rejoice in other’s successes, and ultimately provides the type of moral center that makes us more like Jesus Christ.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Podcasts

• Faith Matters Podcast: Encouraging faithful inquiry amid complexity.
• Comeback Podcast: Sharing Stories of those who left the church and came back.
• Unshaken with Jared Halverson: In-depth historical and doctrinal studies for those wrestling with tough questions.
• Leading Saints: Insights into modern leadership and discipleship, often addressing nuanced challenges.

Books

• Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days (Vols. 1–2): Thorough Church history, incorporating modern research.
• Planted by Patrick Q. Mason: A compassionate approach to faith challenges.
• The Crucible of Doubt by Terryl and Fiona Givens: Thoughtful exploration of faith reconstruction.
• Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman: A deeply researched biography reflecting Joseph’s certainty and complexity.
• Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants by Steven C. Harper: A summary of the history and context for each section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Blogs and Articles

• Gospel Essays: Accessible discussions suited for individual and group study.
• Faith Matters: Engages contemporary faith topics with candor.