Harry Reid blasphemously and hatefully denounces our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, his Prophets and Apostles (including President Thomas S. Monson) and every single other member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as well as ALL OTHER American patriots, as “domestic terrorists.”
The Doctrine and Covenants
Section 101
Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, December 16 and 17, 1833. At this time the Saints who had gathered in Missouri were suffering great persecution. Mobs had driven them from their homes in Jackson County; and some of the Saints had tried to establish themselves in Van Buren, Lafayette, and Ray Counties, but persecution followed them. The main body of the Saints was at that time in Clay County, Missouri. Threats of death against individuals of the Church were many. The Saints in Jackson County had lost household furniture, clothing, livestock, and other personal property; and many of their crops had been destroyed.
1–8, The Saints are chastened and afflicted because of their transgressions; 9–15, The Lord’s indignation will fall upon the nations, but His people will be gathered and comforted; 16–21, Zion and her stakes will be established; 22–31, The nature of life during the Millennium is set forth; 32–42, The Saints will be blessed and rewarded then; 43–62, The parable of the nobleman and the olive trees signifies the troubles and eventual redemption of Zion; 63–75, The Saints are to continue gathering together; 76–80, The Lord established the Constitution of the United States; 81–101, The Saints are to importune for the redress of grievances, according to the parable of the woman and the unjust judge.
79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
80 And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765604338/LDS-Church-President-Thomas-S-Monson-recognized-for-his-service.html?pg=all
LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson recognized for his service
By R. Scott Lloyd, Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Sept. 15 2012 12:00 a.m. MDT
Freedoms Foundations representatives present to Thomas S. Monson a lithograph of Frank Thomas art piece depicting U.S. Constitution with images of U.S. Soldiers representing each branch of the U.S. Military from the Revolutionary War to today’s conflict in the Middle East.
R. Scott Lloyd, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — With a smart salute befitting the navy veteran that he is, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson received a special recognition from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge at the outset of a Friday evening Constitution Day Concert presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square.
“Tonight, we have the great opportunity to recognize one of the great servers of our time,” said William O. Perry, chairman of the foundation’s National Board of Directors, in recognizing President Monson. “He is the epitome of an outstanding servant.”
President Monson served his country as a member of the U.S. Navy at the conclusion of World War II, said Perry, who noted that the church leader from a young age “has consistently extended a helping hand to the elderly, the downtrodden and others in need in his neighborhood and community.”
Perry said the church president was a member of the Freedoms Foundation’s board of directors from 1974 through 1978, and for several years thereafter was a member of its National Council of Trustees.
“He continues today to support one of the missions of the Freedoms Foundation, which is to educate and inspire in words the principles and values our nation was founded and to teach our citizens their responsibilities as members of a free society,” Perry said. He added that President Monson was being recognized for outstanding service to his nation, church and community.
President Monson did not speak, but standing at his place in the audience, he received a lithograph of an art piece by Frank Thomas reflecting service and reverence to the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It depicts a copy of that document on which are superimposed images of soldiers representing each branch of the U.S. military from the Revolutionary War to the present conflict in the Middle East.
Held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the free concert was sponsored by the foundation’s Utah chapter.
With conductors Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy sharing duties at the podium, the choir and orchestra performed a selection of classical masterworks and American show tunes. They were bookended at the beginning of the program by the National Anthem and “This Land Is Your Land,” and at the end by “God Bless America” and the choir’s signature song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Each selection garnered a standing ovation from the appreciative audience.
Near the end of the program, narrator Lloyd Newell invited military veterans in the audience to stand and receive the applause of the crowd. President Monson was among them.
Email: rscott@desnews.com
SOURCE: http://emp.byui.edu/marrottr/Constitution-thread.pdf
Celebration focuses on the U.S. Constitution
By R. Scott Lloyd
Church News staff writer
Published: Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002
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While most Americans recognize July 4, 1776, as the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, statistics show relatively few can identify the date of the signing of the Constitution of the United States.
“Do we fully appreciate and treasure the Constitution?” – President Thomas S. Monson
Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings a patriotic song in celebration of the U.S. Constitution.
To promote greater awareness of that foundational document and its importance to the freedoms that Americans enjoy, the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Utah Chapter, on Sept. 17, sponsored “Celebrate America,” to observe the 215th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution on that date in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1787.
President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, was the featured speaker for the program in the Salt Lake Tabernacle that included performances of patriotic selections by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the Orchestra at Temple Square and guest soprano soloist Daisy Jackson.
“Do we fully appreciate and treasure the Constitution?” President Monson asked. He quoted President J. Reuben Clark Jr.’s description of the signers of the document as “sober, seasoned, distinguished men of affairs drawn from various walks of life.” He cited President Ezra Taft Benson’s statement that “the wisdom of these delegates is shown in the genius of the [Constitution] itself.” He invoked the words of William Gladstone, former British prime minister, that the document was “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”
And he quoted President Gordon B. Hinckley’s words uttered at October 2001 general conference: “The Constitution under which we live, and which has not only blessed us but has become a model for other Constitutions, is our God-inspired national safeguard ensuring freedom and liberty, justice and equality before the law.”
“Tonight let us pause and reflect upon the many blessings we as Americans have received from our Constitution and the debt of gratitude we owe those heroic signers,” President Monson said. “As we do so, we might also recognize that freedom is not free.”
He spoke of the Borgstrom family of Garland, Utah, who, within a six-month period during World War II, lost four of their five sons serving in the armed forces, each in a different part of the world. He recounted much of the story in the words of Gen. Mark W. Clark. As commander of the Sixth Army headquartered at San Francisco, Calif., Gen. Clark became acquainted with the Borgstroms as it was his duty to coordinate the return of the remains of war dead. As part of his duty, he attended the funeral service in the tabernacle at Garland for the Borgstrom sons.
“During the luncheon period,” Gen. Clark recalled, “Mrs. Borgstrom turned to me and said in a low voice, ‘Are you going to take my young one?’ I answered in a whisper that as long as I remained in command of the Army on the West Coast, if her boy were called I would do my best to have him assigned to duty at home.
“In the middle of this whispered conversation with the mother, the father suddenly leaned forward and said to Mrs. Borgstrom, ‘Mother, I have overheard your conversation with the general about our youngest. We know that if and when his country needs him, he will go.’
President Monson continued Gen. Clark’s account: “I could hardly contain my emotions. Here were parents with four sons lying dead from wounds received in battle and yet they were ready to make the last sacrifice if their country required it.”
President Monson said the general regarded the mother and father as ” ‘the bravest and most inspiring Americans he had ever met.”
The choir and orchestra, directed by Craig Jessop, included among its selections a stirring Mack Wilberg arrangement of “America the Beautiful,” and the Woody Guthrie folk song-favorite “This Land Is Your Land,” underscored by the orchestra’s driving percussion, bright woodwinds and string pizzicato.
Daisy Jackson, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force during which she was featured with the Singing Sergeants and the Air Force Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra, sang “The House I Live In,” with the Lewis Allan lyrics evoking wholesome, down-home images of America. Later, she performed “The Last Full Measure of Devotion,” drawn from the words of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Two highlights of the musical performance involved the soloist, choir and orchestra. They were “An American Songbook,” a medley of classic show tunes by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers; and “The Story of the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic.’ ”
The latter featured narration by choir announcer Lloyd Newell over orchestra background music and told the story of the emergence of that American standard. The melody was written initially as a southern Christian revival hymn, “On Canaan’s Happy Shore,” but it never really caught on, and in fact degenerated as laborers applied vulgar words to the melody. Later, northern abolitionists set new words to the tune, “John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave,” but again it degenerated into vulgarity.
One day, after the beginning of the Civil War, a group of soldiers marched in a parade in Washington D.C. singing the song. Witnessing the parade, Julia Ward Howe remarked, “Why is it that young men must go forth to die with such obscenities on their lips and with filth as their battle hymn?” Standing next to her, President Abraham Lincoln asked, “Why don’t you do something about it?” She whispered, “With God’s help, I will.” Late that night, she penned the words to “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Instead of its well-known Peter Wilhousky version of the hymn, the choir for this performance rendered an arrangement by Floyd Werle that showcased Daisy Jackson’s soulful soprano solo and prompted an immediate and prolonged standing ovation from the audience.
The program was videotaped for broadcast next July 4 on the Hallmark cable channel.
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com
http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=462
Founded in the Wisdom of God
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1950, pp. 153-159
For a number of years on the editorial page of The Deseret News this has appeared:
We stand for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments of government as therein set forth, each one fully independent in its field.
THE CONSTITUTION
I thought it would not be amiss or out of order to say something about the Constitution, to give a little history of it perhaps briefly; for I am convinced that the people generally of the United States have not studied it. Many of them have never read it, and some know nothing concerning what it is all about.
At the close of the Revolution the several states of this American government became independent of Great Britain, but they were confronted with dangers of disintegration, or falling apart. They did not have a stable form of government. Some of the wiser statesmen among the patriots saw this danger and attempted to divert it. George Washington, in a circular letter to the state governors, wrote in June 1783, saying:
It is yet to be decided whether the revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse.
This is the moment to establish or ruin [the colonies’] national character forever. There should be lodged somewhere a supreme power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the confederated republic without which the Union cannot be of long duration.
CRITICAL PERIOD
John Fisk, the historian, in treating of this period says that the period between 1783 and 1789 was the most critical in the history of the United States. John Fisk was right. That was a critical period. We are today facing another critical period, one which evidently the majority of the citizens of this country fail to realize exists, but nevertheless that is the situation.
At the time the war ended as well as during the period of the Revolution, the states were joined by a very loose confederation. The war had held them together. After the war each state looked upon itself practically as an independent government. They were a number of small nations that had entered into an agreement to live together and act in concert in relation to their common welfare. The idea prevailed that this federation could be severed at any time. Each state reserved the right to withdraw at will from the union thus far created. From July 4, 1776, to March 1, 1781, when the confederation was adopted, the United States was governed by the Continental Congress under the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States.” This union had no president, no supreme court, and consisted of one house of congress made up of delegates elected by the legislatures of the states, and the jurisdiction was greatly limited. There were so many defects and restrictions in this confederation that the wise men of the nation, like Washington, readily perceived that something more nearly perfect, more powerful and binding upon the colonies was essential.
CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA
It was with this object in view that in May 1787 a convention of delegates from all the states except Rhode Island met in Philadelphia. The number of delegates was fifty-five, but only thirty-nine of them signed the Constitution after it was framed. Most of these delegates were men in the prime of life, few of them were aged. Benjamin Franklin, the dean of the Convention was in his eighty-second year, but it is said of him that he was very active and alert. I think the names of these thirty-nine who signed the Constitution are worthy of our remembrance, and I am going to take the time to name them. They were:
George Washington, President and Deputy from Virginia
John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, New Hampshire
Nathaniel Gorham and Rufus King, Massachusetts
William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman, Connecticut
Alexander Hamilton, New York
William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, and Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey
George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, Delaware
James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenefer, and Daniel Carroll, Maryland
John Blair, James Madison, Jr., and George Washington, Virginia
William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Hugh Williamson, North Carolina
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimmons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Pennsylvania
John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and Pierce Butler, South Carolina
William Few and Abraham Baldwin, Georgia
The following were appointed as delegates to the convention but never took their seats: John Pickering and Benjamin West, New Hampshire; Francis Dana, Massachusetts; John Nelson and Abraham Clark, New Jersey; Patrick Henry (declined), Virginia; Richard Caswell (resigned), Willie Jones (declined), North Carolina; George Walton and Nathaniel Pendleton, Georgia.
The following refused to sign: Eldridge Gerry, Massachusetts; Edmund Randolph and George Mason, Virginia.
These delegates, after a stormy period of nearly four months in which some of the delegates almost despaired of ever coming to a peaceful agreement, brought forth the Constitution of the United States. As you have heard, some of the delegates refused to sign; some absented themselves at the time of signing. After the document was prepared and approved came the struggle for ratification. Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton, and Marshall we understand, took the leading part in drafting the Constitution and after it was adopted by the convention, Madison and Hamilton used their untiring efforts to have it ratified by the various states. Some of the states ratified at an early date; others delayed. Rhode Island and North Carolina delayed for some months but finally joined with their sister states in ratification.
The Constitution went into operation March 4, 1789, and thus became the vital and basic law of the United States. George Washington was elected President of the United States April 6, 1789 and was inaugurated on the thirtieth day of that same month.
WE THE PEOPLE
Now in this statement from The Deseret News we read: “We stand for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments of government as therein set forth, each one fully independent in its own field.” I hope that every member of the Church subscribes to that declaration—also to The Deseret News. The preamble to the Constitution does not begin, “I, the king”, nor does it begin, “I, the President of the United States.” It reads:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
It is “We the people.”
It was understood that the people would govern; of course, it would have to be by representation, but the control of government would be in the hands of the people. As we read in the Book of Mormon, when the righteous rule, everything is well. King Mosiah gave up his throne with the idea that the people would have a republic, and he called attention to the dangers of a kingdom and a centralized government and the dangers that would arise should the wicked rule. The Lord has taught us to choose wise men and just men, and that was the understanding on the part of these men who formed the Constitution of the United States.
THREE GOVERNMENTAL DEPARTMENTS
The three forms of government spoken of in the strip and referring to our government are: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. Channing, in A Students’ History of the United States, has this to say of these three branches in our government:
Each is given power to defend itself against the encroachments of the other two, and each acts as a check on the others. The Constitution framers had good reason to attempt the accomplishment of this difficult purpose; in the old colonial days, which most of them remembered, the governor of the royal provinces had exercised all three functions, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the colonists; and the legislative body of Great Britain had held the supreme power. To avoid establishing a government which would develop into either of these forms, the framers of the Constitution sought to give each department its due share of power, and prevent any one department from making itself supreme. For instance, the executive power is vested in the President; but he also exercises important legislative functions in his veto, and judicial power in his right to pardon. The legislative power is lodged in Congress, but the Senate acts as an advisory council to the President—without its consent no important appointment can be made and no treaty ratified. The judicial power is entrusted to the Supreme Court and inferior courts; but, as no law can be enforced which the Supreme Court declares to be unconstitutional, the Supreme Court, in fact, exercises supreme legislative functions. Finally, the House of Representatives, by means of its initiative in taxation, exercises a most effectual control over the executive department.
The legislative power is confined to certain subjects enumerated in the Constitution and is further restricted by the first ten amendments, especially by the tenth, which declares that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.” The Supreme Court is the authorized interpreter of the fundamental law, and has construed the Constitution in the broadest possible way; following these decisions Congress has exercised powers, many of which were probably never dreamed of by the framers of that instrument or by the members of the ratifying conventions, whose votes gave it the force of law. Acts of Congress are “the supreme law of the land,” unless the Supreme Court declares them unconstitutional, and hence null and void (Channing, Ibid., pp. 240-241.)
The people should, with jealous care, guard against the time ever coming when any, one of these three branches may surrender its rights to any other or be swallowed up and overcome by some other branch of the government. Today there are many who advocate the destruction of these safeguards given us by the framers of the Constitution who were men inspired to make this document as near to the fundamental doctrines of the kingdom of God, as it was possible under the circumstances for it to be. (The Progress of Man, p. 297.)
The Constitution proclaims the following:
This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land: and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
CONSTITUTION DESERVES VENERATION
There is much more that could be said, and I wish to read another statement. The English statesman, James Bryce, in his excellent work, The American Commonwealth, has said:
The Constitution of 1789 deserves the veneration with which the Americans have been accustomed to regard it. It is true that many criticisms have been passed upon its arrangement, upon its omissions, upon its artificial character of some of the institutions it creates, . . . Yet after all deductions it ranks above every other constitution for the intrinsic excellence of its scheme, its adaptation to the circumstances of the people, the simplicity, brevity, and precision of its language, its judicious mixture of definiteness in principle with elasticity in detail. (The American Commonwealth, vol. 1, p. 25.)
What is the stand that is taken by the Church in regard to this great document? We have the word of the Lord:
And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them.
And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.
Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land;
And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil (D&C 98:4-7).
In Section 101, the Lord has said:
According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles:
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood (D&C 101:77-80).
Here is a statement that this document should be maintained, that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which the Lord has given him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
STATEMENTS OF JOSEPH SMITH
If I may be permitted, I would like to quote the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith on this subject:
The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard. It is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner: it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of its liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun . . .
We say that God is true; that the Constitution of the United States is true; that the Bible is true; that the Book of Mormon is true; that the Book of Covenants is true; and that Christ is true. (History of the Church 3:304.)
It is one of the first principles of my life and one that I have cultivated from my childhood, having been taught it by my father, to allow everyone the liberty of conscience. I am the greatest advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on earth. In my feelings I am always ready to die for the protection of the weak and the oppressed in their just rights. (Ibid., 6:56-57.)
I must not take more time but to add this: The statement has been made that the Prophet said the time would come when this Constitution would hang as by a thread, and this is true. There has been some confusion, however, as to just what he said following this. I think that Elder Orson Hyde has given us a correct interpretation wherein he says that the Prophet said the Constitution would be in danger. Said Orson Hyde:
I believe he said something like this—that the time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and said he: “If the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church.” I believe this is about the language, as nearly as I can recollect it. (Journal of Discourses, 6:152.)
Now I tell you it is time the people of the United States were waking up with the understanding that if they don’t save the Constitution from the dangers that threaten it, we will have a change of government.
The Lord bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=573
Political Responsibilities of Latter-day Saints
Elder Henry D. Moyle
Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
Henry D. Moyle, Conference Report, April 1952, pp. 35-37
I am very grateful unto my Heavenly Father for the opportunity which is mine to meet with you, my brethren and sisters, in this great conference and to partake of the Spirit of the Lord that is here with us in such rich abundance.
I feel indebted to the Lord for the health and strength which is mine, and I am certain that he has blessed me with this health and strength in answer not only to my own prayers but also to the prayers of my brethren and sisters in the Church.
I have had a great affection for the leaders of the Church as far back as I can remember. I have always desired of the Lord that he would give me the strength to honor and to sustain those who presided over me in the priesthood with all my heart and soul, and I do that today. I am grateful for the leadership of President David O. McKay and of President Stephen L. Richards and President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. I know these men receive from our Father in heaven his inspiration and direction in the work which they are called upon to perform for you and for me. I have this great affection and love not alone for the Presidency of the Church but for President Joseph Fielding Smith as President of the Council of the Twelve and all my associates in that Council, and all of the General Authorities. In fact my affection extends to all of my brethren and sisters. No man could have a richer heritage on the face of this earth than to be really worthy to be numbered among the Latter-day Saints.
The statistics that we heard read this morning demonstrate the results of great inspiration and leadership. I say that my affection for my brethren in the Church creates within me a further and similar desire that we might have governmental leaders in our nation and in our state and in our counties and in our cities of the same caliber.
I am always impressed when I read the 134th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man, and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.
We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.
We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same; and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people if a republic, or the will of the sovereign…
We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied (D&C 134:1-3,9).
But that does not mean, because we have within our hearts a deep-seated religious conviction, that we are at the same time not qualified to participate in government. Unless we have faith in God and fear him and keep his commandments, we can hardly be worthy to hold high positions in government. The Prophet Joseph has told us in this statement through the inspiration of the Lord that we must have righteous men in order to have righteous government. If we are to be a God-fearing nation and enjoy the blessings of peace, then each one of us who has a faith in God must do our duty, take our part to accomplish our purpose in government. We should become intimately familiar with those who are active politically; we ought to be part and parcel of them. They should not be strangers to us. We should see to it that those men who have true qualities of leadership are placed in positions of trust and responsibility in the government; these fundamental principles of truth apply to every political party alike. There is no hope and can be no hope for our government, or any government, to which this principle does not apply.
I think a good place to start is always at home. Each one of us should resolve that we in and of ourselves will develop qualities of leadership and of honesty and of integrity and of justice and equity. We should be willing to take these principles, these characteristics, the ability which we thus create within ourselves, and give ourselves to the benefit of our city and of our county and of our state and of our nation.
This year there will probably be no more than fifty percent of the qualified voters in this great nation who will exercise their franchise. The officers who may be elected in the great elections to be held this year will be elected by minorities and will not represent the vote or the will of the majority. You know there are two kinds of offenses in the world—offenses of commission and offenses of omission. We sometimes do things that we should not do, and then again, we do not do some things that we should. I hope that Latter-day Saints will not permit themselves, political-wise, to fall into this latter category and be classed among those who give offense because they fail to do that which they should do. I would like to know if a reason exists that would justify a Latter-day Saint in not exercising his franchise for the party and the man of his own choice.
No political party is justified to continue in existence unless it clearly states the principles which it advocates, the platform upon which its candidates stand, and then with integrity, when and if elected, carry out those principles and live up to that platform. Except that be the case, we as Latter-day Saints should not align ourselves to any party, because we do not have the basis upon which we can make an intelligent decision. We must know what they stand for before we can favor them with our vote. I do not ask you, my brethren and sisters, to go to the polls and just vote, important as that is; but that when you vote, you vote intelligently for those principles and those things and those men which will give to you the kind of government you want, the kind of environment that you desire for yourself and for your posterity.
We have received a great deal of light concerning the things of life from our Heavenly Father through the revelations which he has given us. We are told once again in the Doctrine and Covenants in the 101st section:
According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood (D&C 101:77-80).
Can we accept that as one of the sacred tenets of our faith and be derelict in our duties toward our nation? The answer to me seems to be self-evident. The Apostle Paul of old said,
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? (1 Cor. 14:8).
We must have leadership in this nation whose voice will be clear; whose virtue, clarity, and certainty will give us the assurance that the course the government pursued under their leadership is right. Then we can put our whole heart and soul back of our government and sustain those who preside in government and feel toward them even as we do toward those who have been divinely chosen to guide and direct the affairs of the Church.
I hope and pray, my brethren and sisters, that we will not feel that politics has become so degraded that we are too good to participate. If any of us believe politics to be in that kind of state, we need only to enter into politics, go into it with our honesty and our integrity and our devotion to truth and to righteousness, and the standards will be raised. We cannot expect in this country a better government than the leaders are good, and so if we want a good government we must have good leaders. Let us participate in our mass meetings, in our party organization meetings, in our conventions; then when we go to the polls, we may have somebody worthy of our vote on our tickets.
May the Lord bless us to uphold and sustain the great Constitution of this nation and to maintain ourselves pure and unspotted from the sins of the world in all of our undertakings, and call down the blessings of our Heavenly Father upon us and upon our neighbors.
This should be a challenge to us as members in the Church of Jesus Christ and to all our friends and our neighbors and all people throughout the earth who stand in favor of good government, for righteousness in government; who have and foster the same ideals that are so close to our hearts. I hope and pray that the Lord will thus bless us all that we may fully accomplish the purposes of our creation, and be grateful to him day by day for the blessings he bestows upon us, and this I ask humbly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-l-tom-perry-promotes-patriotism-through-righteous-living?lang=eng&query=President+Brigham+Young+July+4,+1854+%E2%80%9CThe+signers+of+the+Declaration+of+Independence
Elder L. Tom Perry Promotes Patriotism through Righteous Living
Contributed By Lauren Villaroman, Prophets and Apostles Speak Today
8 July 2011
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of patriotism, nation-building, and moral renewal to community members in Perry, Utah, USA, on July 3 during the city’s centennial celebration.
“We believe strongly that the Constitution was brought about by God to ensure [that] this nation [would be a place] where liberty could abound and where His gospel and His teachings could flourish here on the earth,” Elder Perry said.
Elder Perry’s ancestors were one of two families who first settled in the Perry, Utah, area and committed themselves to establishing a community with traditional values such as religion, education, and recreation. Elder Perry paralleled their faith with that of the pilgrims and the pioneers who established this nation because of their belief in God. He encouraged a reassertion of such values and morals for the benefit of future generations.
He explained the importance of recognizing the miraculous and inspired forthcoming of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States and emphasized the value of living a moral life.
“The success of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War came by men who were raised by God for this very purpose,” Elder Perry said. “Where else in history do we find a stronger group of men who possessed greater capacity and wisdom than our Founding Fathers?” But they did not credit their own abilities, he said. “They all acknowledged Almighty God and were certain that it was impossible to succeed without His help.”
Elder Perry said that Americans often forget how important religion was to the Founding Fathers in establishing the rules and laws that govern citizen conduct. He said they felt religion would be as important to Americans today as it was for them in their day.
Bruce Tams, president of the Perry Utah Stake, also emphasized the importance of religion in fulfilling the responsibility to protect freedom and liberty.
“We need to strive to live righteous lives. We need to reach out to one another. We need to strive to be friends,” he said. “If we don’t, we will have to learn lessons we have learned before,” which will come at a great price.
Elder Perry spoke of the loss of the ability or desire to serve by many of the nation’s citizens and the division that loss creates in communities.
“We have developed an attitude of wanting what is right for me now, rather than what we could do to build our great land for future generations,” he said. “Maybe we can refocus our desires, look to the history of the past of this great “land of the free” and see what made this nation so strong.
“Have we become so caught up in ourselves that [we] would rob future generations of the rich heritage that we’ve been blessed with?” he asked. “There needs to be a reassertion of traditional values.”
Elder Perry taught that through our good actions, teachings, and examples, the world could be made a better place. That is the only way to find lasting satisfaction in mortality, he said.
President Tams also encouraged audience members to get involved and to surround themselves with good people in every aspect of their lives.
“If we are not involved, we give our liberties up,” he said.
Elder Perry emphasized that being dedicated to freedom and having a desire to follow eternal truths will make a better people and a better nation.
“Let us be bold enough and strong enough to build this great community for the generation that will come after us,” he said, “for we will find that when we dedicate ourselves to making this a place that will bless those that follow, then we will find the greatest joy and happiness in our lives.”
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/06/the-false-gods-we-worship?lang=eng
First Presidency Message
The False Gods We Worship
By President Spencer W. Kimball
I have heard that the sense most closely associated with memory is the sense of smell. If this is true, then perhaps it explains the many pleasing feelings that overtake me these mornings when I am able to step outdoors for a few moments and breathe in the warm and comfortable aromas that I have come to associate over the years with the soil and vegetation of this good earth.
Now and then, when the moment is right, some particular scent—perhaps only the green grass, or the smell of sage brought from a distance by a breeze—will take me back to the days of my youth in Arizona. It was an arid country, yet it was fruitful under the hands of determined laborers.
We worked with the land and the cattle in all kinds of weather, and when we traveled it was on horseback or in open wagons or carriages, mostly. I used to run like the wind with my brothers and sisters through the orchards, down the dusty lanes, past rows of corn, red tomatoes, onions, squash. Because of this, I suppose it is natural to think that in those days we were closer to elemental life.
Some time ago I chanced to walk outdoors when the dark and massive clouds of an early afternoon thunderstorm were gathering; and as the large raindrops began to drum the dusty soil with increasing rapidity, I recalled the occasional summer afternoons when I was a boy when the tremendous thunderheads would gather over the hills and bring welcome rain to the thirsty soil of the valley floor. We children would run for the shed, and while the lightning danced about we would sit and watch, transfixed, marveling at the ever-increasing power of the pounding rainfall. Afterward, the air would be clean and cool and filled with the sweet smells of the soil, the trees, and the plants of the garden.
There were evenings those many years ago, at about sunset, when I would walk in with the cows. Stopping by a tired old fence post, I would sometimes just stand silently in the mellow light and the fragrance of sunflowers and ask myself, “If you were going to create a world, what would it be like?” Now with a little thought the answer seems so natural: “Just like this one.”
So on this day while I stood watching the thunderstorm, I felt—and I feel now—that this is a marvelous earth on which we find ourselves: and when I thought of our preparations for the United States Bicentennial celebration I felt a deep gratitude to the Lord for the choice land and the people and institutions of America. There is much that is good in this land, and much to love.
Nevertheless, on this occasion of so many pleasant memories another impression assailed my thoughts. The dark and threatening clouds that hung so low over the valley seemed to force my mind back to a theme that the Brethren have concerned themselves with for many years now—indeed a theme that has often occupied the attention of the Lord’s chosen prophets since the world began. I am speaking of the general state of wickedness in which we seem to find the world in these perilous yet crucially momentous days; and thinking of this, I am reminded of the general principle that where much is given, much is expected. (See Luke 12:48.)
The Lord gave us a choice world and expects righteousness and obedience to his commandments in return. But when I review the performance of this people in comparison with what is expected, I am appalled and frightened. Iniquity seems to abound. The Destroyer seems to be taking full advantage of the time remaining to him in this, the great day of his power. Evil seems about to engulf us like a great wave, and we feel that truly we are living in conditions similar to those in the days of Noah before the Flood.
I have traveled much in various assignments over the years, and when I pass through the lovely countryside or fly over the vast and beautiful expanses of our globe, I compare these beauties with many of the dark and miserable practices of men, and I have the feeling that the good earth can hardly bear our presence upon it. I recall the occasion when Enoch heard the earth mourn, saying, “Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me?” (Moses 7:48.)
The Brethren constantly cry out against that which is intolerable in the sight of the Lord: against pollution of mind, body, and our surroundings; against vulgarity, stealing, lying, pride, and blasphemy; against fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and all other abuses of the sacred power to create; against murder and all that is like unto it; against all manner of desecration.
That such a cry should be necessary among a people so blessed is amazing to me. And that such things should be found even among the Saints to some degree is scarcely believable, for these are a people who are in possession of many gifts of the Spirit, who have knowledge that puts the eternities into perspective, who have been shown the way to eternal life.
Sadly, however, we find that to be shown the way is not necessarily to walk in it, and many have not been able to continue in faith. These have submitted themselves in one degree or another to the enticings of Satan and his servants and joined with those of “the world” in lives of ever-deepening idolatry.
I use the word idolatry intentionally. As I study ancient scripture, I am more and more convinced that there is significance in the fact that the commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is the first of the Ten Commandments.
Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things. Therefore, in all ages when men have fallen under the power of Satan and lost the faith, they have put in its place a hope in the “arm of flesh” and in “gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know” (Dan. 5:23)—that is, in idols. This I find to be a dominant theme in the Old Testament. Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry.
It is my firm belief that when we read these scriptures and try to “liken them unto [our]selves,” as Nephi suggested (1 Ne. 19:24), we will see many parallels between the ancient worship of graven images and behavioral patterns in our very own experience.
The Lord has blessed us as a people with a prosperity unequaled in times past. The resources that have been placed in our power are good, and necessary to our work here on the earth. But I am afraid that many of us have been surfeited with flocks and herds and acres and barns and wealth and have begun to worship them as false gods, and they have power over us. Do we have more of these good things than our faith can stand? Many people spend most of their time working in the service of a self-image that includes sufficient money, stocks, bonds, investment portfolios, property, credit cards, furnishings, automobiles, and the like to guarantee carnal security throughout, it is hoped, a long and happy life. Forgotten is the fact that our assignment is to use these many resources in our families and quorums to build up the kingdom of God—to further the missionary effort and the genealogical and temple work; to raise our children up as fruitful servants unto the Lord; to bless others in every way, that they may also be fruitful. Instead, we expend these blessings on our own desires, and as Moroni said, “Ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not.” (Morm. 8:39.)
As the Lord himself said in our day, “They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.” (D&C 1:16; italics added.)
One man I know of was called to a position of service in the Church, but he felt that he couldn’t accept because his investments required more attention and more of his time than he could spare for the Lord’s work. He left the service of the Lord in search of Mammon, and he is a millionaire today.
But I recently learned an interesting fact: If a man owns a million dollars worth of gold at today’s prices, he possesses approximately one 27-billionth of all the gold that is present in the earth’s thin crust alone. This is an amount so small in proportion as to be inconceivable to the mind of man. But there is more to this: The Lord who created and has power over all the earth created many other earths as well, even “worlds without number” (Moses 1:33); and when this man received the oath and covenant of the priesthood (D&C 84:33–44), he received a promise from the Lord of “all that my Father hath” (D&C 84:38). To set aside all these great promises in favor of a chest of gold and a sense of carnal security is a mistake in perspective of colossal proportions. To think that he has settled for so little is a saddening and pitiful prospect indeed; the souls of men are far more precious than this.
One young man, when called on a mission, replied that he didn’t have much talent for that kind of thing. What he was good at was keeping his powerful new automobile in top condition. He enjoyed the sense of power and acceleration, and when he was driving, the continual motion gave him the illusion that he was really getting somewhere.
All along, his father had been content with saying, “He likes to do things with his hands. That’s good enough for him.”
Good enough for a son of God? This young man didn’t realize that the power of his automobile is infinitesimally small in comparison with the power of the sea, or of the sun; and there are many suns, all controlled by law and by priesthood, ultimately—a priesthood power that he could have been developing in the service of the Lord. He settled for a pitiful god, a composite of steel and rubber and shiny chrome.
An older couple retired from the world of work and also, in effect, from the Church. They purchased a pickup truck and camper and, separating themselves from all obligations, set out to see the world and simply enjoy what little they had accumulated the rest of their days. They had no time for the temple, were too busy for genealogical research and for missionary service. He lost contact with his high priests quorum and was not home enough to work on his personal history. Their experience and leadership were sorely needed in their branch, but, unable to “endure to the end,” they were not available.
I am reminded of an article I read some years ago about a group of men who had gone to the jungles to capture monkeys. They tried a number of different things to catch the monkeys, including nets. But finding that the nets could injure such small creatures, they finally came upon an ingenious solution. They built a large number of small boxes, and in the top of each they bored a hole just large enough for a monkey to get his hand into. They then set these boxes out under the trees and in each one they put a nut that the monkeys were particularly fond of.
When the men left, the monkeys began to come down from the trees and examine the boxes. Finding that there were nuts to be had, they reached into the boxes to get them. But when a monkey would try to withdraw his hand with the nut, he could not get his hand out of the box because his little fist, with the nut inside, was now too large.
At about this time, the men would come out of the underbrush and converge on the monkeys. And here is the curious thing: When the monkeys saw the men coming, they would shriek and scramble about with the thought of escaping; but as easy as it would have been, they would not let go of the nut so that they could withdraw their hands from the boxes and thus escape. The men captured them easily.
And so it often seems to be with people, having such a firm grasp on things of the world—that which is telestial—that no amount of urging and no degree of emergency can persuade them to let go in favor of that which is celestial. Satan gets them in his grip easily. If we insist on spending all our time and resources building up for ourselves a worldly kingdom, that is exactly what we will inherit.
In spite of our delight in defining ourselves as modern, and our tendency to think we possess a sophistication that no people in the past ever had—in spite of these things, we are, on the whole, an idolatrous people—a condition most repugnant to the Lord.
We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:
“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;
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:44–45.)
We forget that if we are righteous the Lord will either not suffer our enemies to come upon us—and this is the special promise to the inhabitants of the land of the Americas (see 2 Ne. 1:7)—or he will fight our battles for us (Ex. 14:14; D&C 98:37, to name only two references of many). This he is able to do, for as he said at the time of his betrayal, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53.) We can imagine what fearsome soldiers they would be. King Jehoshaphat and his people were delivered by such a troop (see 2 Chr. 20), and when Elisha’s life was threatened, he comforted his servant by saying, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kgs. 6:16). The Lord then opened the eyes of the servant, “And he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kgs. 6:17.)
Enoch, too, was a man of great faith who would not be distracted from his duties by the enemy: “And so great was the faith of Enoch, that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch.” (Moses 7:13.)
What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies.
We must leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the “arm of flesh,” for the Lord has said to all the world in our day, “I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.” (D&C 64:24.)
When Peter preached such a message as this to the people on the day of Pentecost, many of them “were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37.)
And Peter answered: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and … receive the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38.)
As we near the year 2,000, our message is the same as that which Peter gave. And further, that which the Lord himself gave “unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear:
“Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh.” (D&C 1:11–12.)
We believe that the way for each person and each family to prepare as the Lord has directed is to begin to exercise greater faith, to repent, and to enter into the work of his kingdom on earth, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It may seem a little difficult at first, but when a person begins to catch a vision of the true work, when he begins to see something of eternity in its true perspective, the blessings begin to far outweigh the cost of leaving “the world” behind.
Herein lies the only true happiness, and therefore we invite and welcome all men, everywhere, to join in this work. For those who are determined to serve the Lord at all costs, this is the way to eternal life. All else is but a means to that end.
[illustration] Illustrated by Michael Clane Graves
