President Ezra Taft Benson
October 3, 1987
“Our Father in Heaven planned the
coming forth of the Founding Fathers and their form of government as the
necessary great prologue leading to the restoration of the gospel”
My
beloved brethren and sisters, what a glorious blessing to be assembled in
another great general conference of the Church.
I ask for an interest in your faith and prayers as I speak to you about
a subject that is very close to my heart and that affects the worldwide Church.
We
have recently celebrated the bicentennial of the signing of the United States
Constitution. That commemoration marked
the beginning of a series of bicentennial anniversaries of events leading up to
the ratification of the Constitution, implementation of the government it created,
and the writing and ratification of the Bill of Rights. We look forward to the
future
commemoration of each of these
important events during the next four years. It is as a result of these events
that we are able to meet today in peace as members of the restored Church of
Jesus Christ. For this we should all
be eternally grateful.
I
desire, therefore, to speak to you about our divine Constitution, which the
Lord said "belongs to all mankind" (D&C 98:5) and should
be maintained for the rights and
protection of all flesh,
according to just and holy principles.” (D&C 101:77, italics added.)
The
Constitution of the United States has served as a model for many nations and is
the oldest constitution in use today.
"I
established the Constitution of this land," said the Lord, "by the
hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose" (D&C
101:80).
For
centuries the Lord kept America hidden in the hollow of His hand until the time
was right to unveil her for her destiny in the last days. "It is wisdom that this land should be
kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations," said Lehi, "for
behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for
an inheritance" (2 Nephi 1:8).
In
the Lord's due time His Spirit "wrought upon" Columbus, the pilgrims,
the Puritans, and others to come to America. They testified of God's
intervention in their behalf (see 1 Nephi 13: 12-13). The Book of Mormon records that they humbled
"themselves before the Lord; and the
power of the Lord was with them"
(I Nephi 13:16).
Our
Father in Heaven planned the coming forth of the Founding Fathers and their
form of government as the necessary great prologue leading to the restoration
of the gospel. Recall what our Savior
Jesus Christ said nearly two thousand years ago when He visited this promised
land:
“For
it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be
set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might
come forth" (3 Nephi 21:4). America, the land of liberty , was to be the
Lord's latter-day base of operations for His restored
church.
The
Declaration of Independence affirmed the Founding Fathers' belief and trust in
God in these words: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men
are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness."
The
Doctrine and Covenants states, "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" (D&C 134.2). Life, liberty, property – mankind's three great rights.
At
the conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, they wrote, “And for the support of this Declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge
to each other our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." This Declaration was a promise that would
demand terrible sacrifice on the part of its signers. Five of the signers were
captured as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes
ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary War; another had
two sons captured. Nine died from wounds or from the hardships of the war. The Lord said He "redeemed the land by
the shedding of blood"
(D&C 101:80). Nephi recorded that
the Founders "were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all
other nations" (1 Nephi 13: 19).
The
years immediately preceding the Constitutional Convention were filled with
disappointments and threats to the newly won peace. Washington was offered a kingship:
which he adamantly refused. Nephi had prophesied hundreds of years before
that "this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there
shall be no kings upon the land "
{2 Nephi 10:11; italics added).
Between
the critical years of 1783 and 1787, an outsider viewing the affairs of the
United States would have thought that the thirteen states, different in so many
ways, could never effectively unite. The world powers were confident that this
nation would not last.
Eventually,
twelve of the states met in Philadelphia to address the problem, Madison said
at the beginning of the Convention that the delegates "were now digesting
a plan .which in its operation would decide forever the fate of Republican
Government” {26 June 1787, Records of the Federal Convention , 1:423).
“The
Lord knoweth all things from the beginning," said Nephi, “wherefore, he
prepareth a way to accomplish all his words among the children of men" (1
Nephi 9:6).
Four
months later, the Convention delegates had completed their work. As Gladstone
said, it was "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by
the brain and purpose of man" (William Gladstone, North American Review,
Sept..-Oct, 1878, p. 185), and the Prophet Joseph Smith called it "a
glorious standard. ..a heavenly banner" (Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co,
1938, p. 147).
The
delegates were the recipients of heavenly inspiration. James Madison. often
referred to as the father of the Constitution, wrote: "It is impossible
for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty
hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the
critical stages of the revolution.' (The Federalist, no. 37 , ed. Henry
Cabot Lodge, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.1983. p. 222).
Alexander
Hamilton, famous as the originator of The Federalist papers and author
of fifty-one of the essays, said: "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it
a system, which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and
agreed upon by such a diversity of interest" (Essays on the Constitution
of the United States, ed. Paul L. Ford, 1892, pp. 251-52).
Charles
Pinckney, a very active participant and author of the Pinckney Plan during the
Convention, said: "When the great
work was done and published, I was struck with amazement Nothing less than the
superintending Hand of Providence, that so miraculously carried us through the
war. ..could have brought it about so complete, upon the whole" (Essays
on the Constitution, p. 412).
Within
ten months, the Constitution was ratified by nine states and was therefore in
force for them. Prophecy had been
fulfilled.
During
his first inaugural address in 1789, President George Washington, a man who was
raised up by God, said: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of
the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of
an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of
providential agency"( First Inaugural Address, 30 Apr. 1789).
In
compliance with Article 6 of the Constitution, the very first act passed by
Congress and signed by President Washington on June 1, 1789, was the actual
oath to support the Constitution that was to be administered to various
government officers.
The
dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, as dictated by the Lord and found in
the Doctrine and Covenants, contains these words: "May those principles, which were so
honorably and nobly defended, namely,
the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever"
(D&C 1:54).
Shortly
after President Spencer W. Kimball became President of the Church, he assigned
me to go into the vault of the St. George Temple and check the early records.
As I did so, I realized the fulfillment of a dream I had had ever since
learning of the visit of the Founding Fathers to the St. George Temple. I saw
with my own eyes the record of the work which was done for the Founding Fathers
of this great nation, beginning with George Washington.
Think
of it: the Founding Fathers of this nation, those great men, appeared within
those sacred
walls and had their vicarious work
done for them.
President
Wilford Woodruff spoke of it in these words: "Before I left St. George,
the spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not
redeem them. Said they, You have had the
use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever
been done for us. We laid the
foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we never apostatized from it,
but we remained true to it and were faithful to God' " (The Discourses
of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946,
p. 160).
After
he became President of the Church, President Wilford Woodruff declared that
"those men who laid the foundation of this American government were the
best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were
choice spirits. ..[and] were inspired of the
Lord " (in Conference Report,
Apr.1898, p. 89).
Unfortunately,
we as a nation have apostatized in various degrees from different
Constitutional principles as proclaimed by the inspired founders. We are fast
approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said. "Even
this nation will be on the very verge
of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to
the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people
will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the
Constitution away from the very verge of destruction"-(19 July 1840, as
recorded by Martha Jane
Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church
Historian's Office, Salt Lake City).
For
centuries our forefathers suffered and sacrificed that we might be the
recipients of the blessings of freedom.
If they were willing to sacrifice so much to establish us as a free
people, should we not be willing to do the same to maintain that freedom for
ourselves and for future
generations?
Only
in this foreordained land, under its God-inspired Constitution and the
resulting environment of freedom, was it possible to have established the
restored Church. It is our
responsibility to see that this freedom is perpetuated so that the Church may
more easily flourish in the future.
The
Lord said, "Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my
church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the
land" (D&C 98:6).
How
then can we best befriend the Constitution in this critical hour and secure the
blessings of liberty and ensure the protection and guidance of our Father in
Heaven?
First and foremost, we must be
righteous.
John
Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other" (The
Works of John Adams, ed, C.F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown Co. ,
1851,4:31). If the Constitution is to have continuance, this American
nation, and especially the Latter-day
Saints, must be virtuous.
The Book of Mormon warns us relative to our
living in this free land
"Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring.
And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which
he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall
never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity;
for if iniquity
shall abound cursed shall be the land
for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever" (2 Nephi 1 :7).
"
And now ," warned Moroni, " we can behold the decrees of God
concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall
possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his
wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath
cometh upon them when they are ripened
in iniquity" (Ether 2-9).
Two
great American Christian civilizations-the Jaredites and the Nephites – were swept off this land because they did not
"serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ" (Ether 2: 12). What
will become of our civilization?
Second, we must learn the principles
of the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers!
Have
we read the Federalist papers? Are we
reading the Constitution and pondering it? Are we aware of its principles? Are
we abiding by these principles and teaching them to others? Could we defend the
Constitution? Can we recognize when a law is constitutionally unsound ? Do we
know what the prophets have said about the Constitution and the threats to it?
As
Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, ., it
expects what never was and never will be" (Letter to Colonel Charles
Yancey, 6 Ian. 1816).
Third, we must become involved in
civic affairs to see that we are properly represented!
The
Lord said that "he holds men accountable for their acts in relation"
to governments "both in making laws and administering them" (D&C
134: 1 ). We must follow this counsel
from the Lord' "Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently,
and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is
less than these cometh of evil" (D&C 98:10).
Note
the qualities that the Lord demands of those who are to represent us. They must be good, wise, and honest.
Fourth, we must make our influence
felt by our vote, our letters, our teaching, and our advice!
We
must became accurately informed and then let others know how we feel. The Prophet Joseph Smith said; "It is
our duty to concentrate all our influence to make popular that which is sound
and good, and unpopular that which is unsound.
'Tis right, politically, for a man who has influence to use it. ...From
henceforth I will maintain all the influence I can get" (History of the Church, 5:286).
I
have faith that the Constitution will be saved as prophesied by Joseph Smith.
It will be saved by the righteous citizens of this nation who love and cherish
freedom. It will be saved by enlightened members of this Church – among others – men and women who understand and abide the
principles of the Constitution.
I
reverence the Constitution of the United States as a sacred document. To me its
words are akin to the revelations of God, for God has placed His stamp of
approval upon it.
I
testify that the God of heaven sent some of His choicest spirits to lay the
foundation of this government, and He has now sent other choice spirits to help
preserve it.
We,
the blessed beneficiaries of the Constitution, face difficult days in America,
"a land which is choice above all other lands" {Ether 2:10).
May
God give us the faith and .the courage exhibited by those patriots who pledged
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
May
we be equally as valiant and as free, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.