Topic: Education, Matches 61 quotes.

Greatness of the Constitution to be Taught

There is another great love, not only love of God and love of one’s neighbor—and might I say that love of one’s neighbor is best exhibited in the service that we render to those who are around us—but there should be love of country, that which has been so impressed upon us here during this Conference. I wonder how often, as parents, we take dusty copies of the Constitution of the United States from our book cases or our libraries, spread them out on the table, and then invite our boys and girls to come and go over the articles of that sacred document, one by one. I wonder, if an examination were given to the citizens of the United States today, relevant to the Constitution of the United States, how many of us would pass it successfully? There rests upon us most definitely the obligation of acquainting our boys and girls with this great document; teach it to them article by article, that they might understand the principles involved therein, principles that make for liberty, freedom, and personal initiative and of worshiping God according to the dictates of one’s conscience.

Our boys and girls should know and understand that the Constitution made it possible for the organization of a government under which the Church of Jesus Christ could again be restored to the earth.. Do we ever read to our boys and girls the sentiments expressed by prophets of God in connection with this great document, such as the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “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 of those who are privileged with the sweets of its liberty, like the cooling shade and refreshing water of a great rock in a dreary and thirsty land. It is like a great tree, under whose banners men from every clime can be sheltered from the burning rays of the sun.”

These words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, relative to this great document of liberty and freedom, should be so ingrained in the hearts of our boys and girls that they will feel we not only have standard Church works, such as the Bible and the Book of Mormon, etc., but that we also have standard government works, the first of which is the Constitution of the United States.

Source: Elder Joseph L. Wirthlin
General Conference, October 1939

Topics: Education

Do we ever give our boys and girls any practical lessons in teaching them the true greatness of the Constitution? How often do we pass some great industrial plant, and notice hundreds of automobiles around it? Some of us may think that those automobiles belong to the owners of the plant, or to the management, but such is not the case. Those automobiles belong to the men who work in the plant. You can see that sight only in America. You can’t see it in Europe, because it is not there. These men own automobiles because of the rights that they have under the Constitution of the United States to earn and pay for those things that are within the buying and purchasing power of all of these people.

We speak of Hitler and his ingenuity in accomplishing great things mechanically—and might I say he has—but there is one thing that he has not given his people, although he has endeavored over a period of years to provide an automobile that would be within their purchasing power. But here in America we not only enjoy automobiles, some of the comforts of fine homes, and fine homes themselves, but practically every blessing that even the rich and elect of far-off Europe enjoy. All of these things are possible individually because we live in a country where personal initiative is not restricted, where each and every man can have anything he wants, if he will work for it.

Source: Elder Joseph L. Wirthlin
General Conference, October 1939

Topics: Economics; Education

Warning Against Unpatriotic Doctrines

We should draw the attention of our children to the fact that there is now a war going on, so to speak, in America. Some years ago we fought a great civil war. It was fought mainly over two issues, whether or not this Government should exist part slave and part free, and also as to whether or not any one state had the right to secede from the Union. To the glory of those gallant men, both on the side of the South and of the North, they fought their battles openly, and we know what the results were and are.

But the warfare we now find isn’t one that is being fought on the battlefield, honorably and openly, but it is a battle being fought behind the names of so-called patriotic societies, names used to shield the activities of those who would have us believe that they are engaged in patriotic endeavor, when in reality they are doing the very things that will undermine the Constitution and the Government of the United States. I think our boys and girls should be advised constantly as to the dangers of these organizations, and what their objectives are. It is a known fact to all of us that the very nations of Europe today that would bathe the world in blood, have their agents in America, promulgating their doctrines. We must ever be on guard, and particularly should we so advise the youth and the leaders of our nation of tomorrow.

Source: Elder Joseph L. Wirthlin
General Conference, October 1939

Topics: Education; War

The youth of today have a magnificent vitality, but Dr. Glen Frank has pointed out that “if there is a central weakness at the heart of this vitality, it is that youth is blind to the necessity of conserving its vital energies.” What the youth of America needs is the husbanding of vital energies by the cultivation of clean habits, which alone “make intelligence and intensity of application possible and productive,” All this is another way of saying that “education rightly conceived contributes to a religion of maturity. While it is vital that we keep Church and State apart, a divorce between education and religion will be fatal to our national life.”

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, April 1936

Topics: Education

I believe that in the heart of the average American there is a deep religious conviction. Our nation has a religious life which must be maintained in determining national questions and controlling national policy. The spirit of mutual respect and good will, of justice and peace, of human brotherhood, is the spirit of the Christian religion, and this spirit teaches us one and all that the object of political activity is not merely to vote or to take sides in elections, but to direct our thoughts and deeds to noble actions and Christian principles. For this reason, we must educate the youth in an understanding of freedom and democracy; we must teach them that the perpetuity of our government depends on a deep conviction of the reality of the kingdom of God and the spiritual quality of life. We Latter-day Saints believe implicitly in the kingdom of God and that in time it will be established upon the earth with Christ our Lord as King. No more beautiful ideal of government can be known than this.

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, October 1934

Topics: Education

Obedience To Law

Now, this matter of obedience to law: The Lord has revealed to the Latter-day Saints that he, himself, raised up wise men who prepared the constitution of the United States. We believe it to be a divinely inspired document. Will it endure? Will this country of ours last indefinitely?

I heard a great historian once say that he has studied ancient history with very great care in an effort to determine whether or not the United States of America, as a republic, will endure indefinitely. He said: “The republics of the past have failed. This republic can only endure, if in it there is some element not to be found in the republics of the past.” This historian (Andrew D. White) explained further that a careful investigation shows that we have in this republic one thing only, not to be found in other republics, and that is our great educational system. If after being trained in our schools, men have the Christian spirit, if there is in their hearts some unselfishness, if they are willing to make sacrifices for the good of others, then this republic may endure.

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1922

Topics: Education; Law; Virtue

Among the other values children should be taught are respect for others, beginning with the child’s own parents and family; respect for the symbols of faith and patriotic beliefs of others; respect for law and order; respect for the property of others; respect for authority. Paul reminds us that children should “learn first to shew piety at home” (1 Timothy 5:4).

Source: Elder James E. Faust
General Conference, October 1990

Topics: Education

Appreciation for American system

Could many of our ills today have resulted from our failure to train a strong citizenry from the only source we have—the boys and girls of each community? Have they grown up to believe in politics without principle, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without effort, wealth without work, business without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice?

Source: Elder Ezra Taft Benson
General Conference, April 1968

Topics: Education

We can never survive unless our young people understand and appreciate our American system, which has given more of the good things of life than any other system in the world—unless they have a dedication that exceeds the dedication of the enemy. Character must become important in this country again. The old essentials of honesty, self-respect, loyalty, and support for law and order must be taught the younger generation.

Source: Elder Ezra Taft Benson
General Conference, April 1968

Topics: Education; Virtue

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