Current Lessons
Principles of Good Government No. Seven

Freedom is a Fragile Thing - 4 July 2016

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction” (President Ronald Reagan).  In this statement President Reagan teaches an important truth – threats to our freedom are real and unrelenting.  Furthermore, we have the responsibility to warn our families of these threats, and to help them understand what we can do to protect ourselves.  

Godless conspiracies are a major threat to our religious liberty – President Ezra Taft Benson warned us against what he termed godless conspiracies (see Ensign, July 1972, p.60).  Moreover, the Book of Mormon gives us important information concerning godless conspiracies:       

  • The church of God is the foundation of liberty – Amalickiah tried to destroy the church of God and the religious freedom of the Nephites: “Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake” (Alma 46:10).  There are people today who use cunning devices and flattering words to lead away the hearts of many people to do wickedly.
  • Those who would destroy our liberty would also destroy the Church of God – An angel warned Alma that the people of Ammonihah “do study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people, (for thus saith the Lord) which is contrary to the statures, and judgments, and commandments which he has given unto his people” (Alma 8:17).  From this we learn that liberty is an essential part of the statutes, judgments, and commandments of God or in other words liberty is essential to the Church and to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
 

Religious freedom is under attack from godless conspiracies – Today the threat posed by godless conspiracies is more subtle but just as real as ever before.  These threats come from secularists, agnostics and atheists.  President Boyd K. Packer said:  "Atheists and agnostics make nonbelief their religion and today organize in unprecedented ways to attack faith and belief.  They are now organized, and they pursue political power.  You will be hearing much about them and from them" (Ensign, August 2010, p. 20-25).  Elder Dallin Oaks in a landmark sermon entitled Religious Freedom given at BYU-Idaho, 13 Oct 2009 identified the two greatest threats to religious freedom today:

  • Secularists, agnostics, and atheists - First is "the ever growing, relentless attack on the Christian religion by forces who reject the existence or authority of God....Atheism's threat rises as it proponents grow in numbers and aggressiveness”.  'By some counts,' an article in The Economist declares, 'there are at least 55[million] declared non-believers in the world - enough to make the fourth-biggest religion.'"  Secularism espouses the philosophy of moral relativism – that there is no absolute right or wrong.  This belief is the dominant religion in many western nations today.
  • Same-gender marriage movement - "A second threat to religious freedom is from those who perceive it to be in conflict with the newly alleged 'civil right' of same-gender couples to enjoy the privileges of marriage."  The Supreme Court has now legalized same-sex marriage.  In response the First Presidency reaffirmed that same-sex marriage is a serious sin.  Some members disregard this council and chose to support same sex marriage in order to be “politically correct.”  We should be more concerned about being “morally correct” and being in harmony with the Lord and his Church.

Our course of action – At the Freedom Festival in Provo, Utah on June 26, 2016 Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave great insights on the threat to our religious freedom and what we can do about it.  (The following quotes are from the Church News for the week of July 3, 2016)

  • We must defend our right to worship, our right to practice our faith in daily life, and our right to discuss and advocate for our beliefs in the public square – “Even though religious freedoms are the core of what America is and what it stands for, critics now openly ask whether religion belongs in American public life at all…There are concerted efforts to shame and intimidate believers who have traditional moral values and to suppress religious viewpoints and practices regarding marriage, family, gender and sexuality.  Worst of all, governments sometimes joins in these efforts.”
  • Religious participation in public life is good for our nation and brings unique perspectives to public policy debates – Religious voices “recognize corrosive social forces that threaten faith, family, and freedom…They bring a moral – often cautionary – voice to matters of social and public policy that we desperately need.”
  • We have the constitutional right and it is our duty “to speak out and take a stand for religious freedom” – People of all faith should unite and be involved in local civic organizations.  We should study, be informed, and teach our families about America’s heritage of freedom, and to be an “example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
  • Elder Christofferson concluded by saying, “things may get worse before they get better” – Then he added:  “But these are our times.  This is our moment to defend our fundamental freedoms.  With courage, conviction, and civility – drawing on our noble heritage as Americans – each one of us can make a profound difference.”

My testimony is that in the end there will be “no combination of wickedness” (D&C 109:26), or court, or congress, or public official, or anyone else that can stand against the Lord – Our course is to teach our families to stay in the main stream of the Church as we follow the council of the Prophet Joseph Smith originally given in a very difficult time:  “Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven….  Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:13, 17).