Free Agency—A Divine
Gift
Next to the bestowal
of life itself, the right to direct that life is God’s greatest gift to man.
One of the most urgent needs is the preservation of individual liberty. Freedom
of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is
inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. Whether
born in abject poverty, or shackled at birth by inherited riches, everyone has
this most precious of all life’s endowments—the gift of free agency—man’s
inherited and inalienable right. (David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness
[comp. Llewelyn R. McKay; Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, Inc., 1957], 90)