stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free… [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Rough week?
The Real Story of the First ThanksgivingBy Benjamin Franklin (1785)
“There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships… Being so piously dispos’d, they sought relief from heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord in frequent set days
of fasting and prayer. Constant meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and like the children of Israel there were many dispos’d to return to the Egypt which persecution had induc’d them to abandon.
“At length, when it was proposed in the Assembly to proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose and remark’d that the inconveniences they suffer’d… were not so great as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the colony strengthen’d; that the earth began to reward their labour and furnish liberally for their subsistence… and above all, they were in the full enjoyment of liberty, civil and religious.
“He therefore thought that reflecting and conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable … and that it would be more becoming the gratitude they ow’d to the divine being, if instead of a fast they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice was taken, and from that day to this, they have in every year observ’d … a Thanksgiving Day, which is therefore constantly ordered and religiously observed.”
Kings or Judges?
1 Samuel 81 And it came to pass, when
Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
Mosiah 2911 Therefore I [Mosiah] will be your
king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge this people according to our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God.
25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.
Mosiah 29
26 Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right;
… therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.
27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.
Mosiah 29
38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land;
yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.
Roger Williams
"If the church is ever going to get done in the world what God wanted it to get done, there has to be a wall of separation between church and state and that will keep the government out of the church, but allow Christian principles to remain in the government."
Ezra Taft Benson
I support the doctrine of separation of church and state as traditionally interpreted to prohibit the establishment of an official national religion. But this does not mean that we should divorce government from any formal recognition of God. To do so strikes a potentially fatal blow at the concept of the divine origin of our rights, and unlocks the door for an easy entry of future tyranny.
If Americans should ever come to believe that their rights and freedoms are instituted among men by politicians and bureaucrats, they will no longer carry the proud inheritance of their forefathers, but will grovel before their masters seeking favors and dispensations-a throwback to the feudal system of the Dark Ages. ("Freedom Is Our Heritage," LDS Business and Professional Men's Association, Glendale, California, 10 November 1970.)
God
Rig
hts
Man
Gov’tDefend
Sec 134: 1 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
Section 134:5
We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments;
and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience
Question
What is our responsibility as citizens?
D&C 58 The Law of Zion
Hearken, O ye elders of my church, and give ear to my word, and learn of me what I will concerning you, and also concerning this land unto which I have sent you…
And also that you might be honored in laying the foundation, and in bearing record of the land upon which the Zion of God shall stand...
For verily I say unto you, my law shall be kept on this land.
Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be, until he reigns whose right it is to reign, and subdues all enemies under his feet.
Behold, the laws which ye have received from my hand are the laws of the church, and in this light ye shall hold them forth. Behold, here is wisdom. (D&C 58:1-7, 19-23)
President Harold B. Lee
The story, presumably authentic, is told that during the Civil War when the fortunes of the Union armies, under the command of General Grant, were going badly, some concerned ministers called on President Abraham Lincoln at the White House and forcefully urged the dismissal of Grant.
To these men he is alleged to have said: “Gentlemen, General Grant has under his command all that we hold dear in this nation. Instead of criticism, you too should get down on your knees and pray God that he would see this nation through to victory.”
We related this story to a president of the United States some years ago and assured him that no matter what his name or his political party, we too were frequently on our knees, praying God that he and the leaders of this nation and of the world would bring us through the crises of the present.
We were heartened by the president’s reply when he said, “I think that every president of this country during his term of office has been frequently on his knees praying to Almighty God.”