Better Off Dead or Never Born?

There are a few scriptures that have intrigued me over the years and it has made me wonder which state is better and which one is worse. To start, they are both bad. One of them states that they would be better off if they had never been born. The other states that they would be better off to be drowned with a millstone around their neck - in other words, they would be better off dead. In both cases they did something really bad. We'll explore one then the other.

Never Born
Matt 26:24
"Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born."

Mark 14:21
"Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born."

3 Ne 28:34-35
"Wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent receiveth not him; and therefore he will not receive them at the last day; And it would be better for them if they had not been born."

D&C 76:31-32
"Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power— They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;"

The first two are directly referring to Judas Iscariot. The third is referring to the last day, probably meaning the final judgement. The fourth states that the people spoken of in this manner are sons of perdition, the only ones who do not go to heaven. To me the way that these verses are worded it sounds like even Satan and his followers are in a better state then those who came to earth, lived and defy the power of God. We know that Satan and his followers defy the power of God but these people are worse off then even Satan himself. So it seems that those who come to earth are either going to be better off then Satan or worse off then him.

Drowned by Millstone
Matt 18:6
"Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Mark 9:42
"Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."

Luke 17:1-2
"Woe unto him, through whom [offences] come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

D&C 121:16-22
"Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed, saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet in mine eyes, and which I commanded them. But those who cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience themselves. And those who swear falsely against my servants, that they might bring them into bondage and death— Wo unto them; because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house. Their basket shall not be full, their houses and their barns shall perish, and they themselves shall be despised by those that flattered them. They shall not have right to the priesthood, nor their posterity after them from generation to generation. It had been better for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks, and they drowned in the depth of the sea."

The first three are referring to those who offend little ones. The fourth says 'my little ones' and with the rest of the context it almost sounds like he is making reference to all his children, meaning all those who are counted as his children in the gospel, those counted as His sons and His daughters. (See Mosiah 5:7, 27:25, and Matt 5:9) When someone is dead they cannot offend any longer. In a way it would be a grace from God on both the part of the offender and the offended for them to have a millstone hanged about their neck and drowned in the depth of the sea. We know from modern revelation that after the death and resurrection of Christ the opportunity was given to all the spirits of the dead to repent and follow the necessary steps of the gospel to allow them to return to live with God.

Those who would die because of offending God's children still have the opportunity to repent. Those who commit the unpardonable sin do not have the opportunity to repent because they relinquished it, they don't want it. Those who are better off dead are in a state that is better then those who would be better off never being born. They may never get the priesthood, as it says, but even telestial glory in heaven is better than outer darkness, which is a worse state than Satan.