Topic: Morality, Matches 55 quotes.

Perpetuity of Peoples and Government Dependent On Religious Faith

I know of no great nation of antiquity which did not have, in connection with its system of civil government, a code of ethics which embraced in its doctrines, and had for its purpose, the ends which we moderns seek in the various forms of religion which we believe in and practice. The perpetuity of the various forms of government which prevailed was dependent, as all governments are, entirely upon the ethical, or religious faith and practice of the people, for, if we are to judge by the history of the past, without the higher ideals of ethical life, applied in the administration of civil affairs, no nation can long survive.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1924

Topics: Morality

How the Principles of this Government can Endure.

Now, brethren and sisters, I state these points of comparison and draw your attention to these things for this purpose—we all love this country, we love America, we want the principles of government which we espouse to endure. I ask this question: Will these principles of government endure? Is the Constitution safe for the future, and for the generations to come?

I answer the question in this way, that the Constitution and the sacred principles which it unfolds in the form of government will endure if the people of America will subscribe to and defend and uphold the fundamental principles of religious righteousness upon which it is built, and not otherwise. Righteousness, in its last analysis, is a religious term. God is the author of righteousness The framers of laws have, to a large extent, recognized that doctrine. The gospel is the compilation, the aggregation of all principles of righteousness, and into the form of government which we uphold and support there has been woven the principles of individual and community righteousness which are underlain by truth which eminates from God himself. You can’t have a good government without good people, and goodness is a religious term. Much as many of our philosophers would contend that it is to be defined in terms only of ethics, and of social convention and understanding, I maintain that all true morality is supported b and finds its basis in religion, and we cannot hope in this country of ours to sustain the great Constitution—and you know that that is a matter of much concern now—unless we adopt into our lives those principles of civic righteousness and of morality and of truth which underlie it. I wish that could be said to the whole people. I am just as thoroughly convinced that there is a dependence upon our Father in heaven for the carrying forward of the great principles of government, which we espouse in this nation, as I am that our own work depends upon his providence and his protection and his guidance.

Source: Elder Stephen L. Richards
General Conference, October 1923

Topics: Morality

Let me say, gentlemen, that if we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of God, and shall respect his commandments, if we and they shall maintain just, moral sentiments and such righteous convictions of duty as shall control the heart and life, we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes at our country; but if we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions at morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.

Source: Daniel Webster
from his very last public address, made before the
Historical Society of New York, in 1852,

Topics: Christianity; Morality; Principles

When you stop to think about it, you must conclude that this Church has been right throughout its whole history upon all of the important moral questions that have affected our welfare. In the nature of things there is not within the United States a people more patriotic than the Latter-day Saints. I know of no sect that assumes the position that the constitution of the United States was written as it were by the very finger of God. Surely that belief is an inspiration to the highest patriotism. You remember reading in the history of the Church that this people were accused in Missouri of being opposed to slavery. In that slave-holding state such an attitude became one of the reasons of our persecution and drivings. You remember that the first message that flashed across the completed telegraph line from here to the Atlantic ocean was a message of congratulation from Brigham Young to Abraham Lincoln that the Union was preserved or was in the way of preservation.

Source: President Heber J. Grant
General Conference, April 1920

Topics: Civil War; Heavenly Interest in Human Events; Morality

The world today socially and politically is rocking. It is sitting upon a volcano. God only knows what tomorrow will bring forth. And why is there so much unrest and instability all over the world? Why is every man’s hand raised against his neighbor? Why has the world with the two thoughts “money and fun” turned the world into a fool’s paradise? The answer to these questions, is found in a very short sentence:—The world has lost faith in God. With the loss of faith, it lost the sense of moral obligation.

Source: Elder Nephi Jensen
General Conference, April 1920

Topics: Morality

George Washington acknowledged God’s direction and stated: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” (Washington’s Farewell Address.)

Source: Elder Ezra Taft Benson
General Conference, April 1963

Topics: Morality

Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in the world. One rests on righteousness and the other on force. One appeals to reason, the other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in a republic, the other is represented by a despotism.

The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of men. Of course we can help to restrain the vicious and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of Divine Grace.

Source: President Calvin Coolidge

Topics: Morality; Principles

Prohibition is patriotic because it has proved itself to be a true friend of labor and a true friend of capital. Rome did not die for lack of college and public games, for the want of culture and refined society, or because she had no army or no navy. Rome died when she rotted at the heart. Rome committed moral and political suicide.

Said Poling:

I fear no yellow peril, I fear no foe that may embark from a foreign shore to do us hurt. I fear only the foe from within, this shackler of bodies, this impoverisher of industry, this moral despoiler, this corrupter of government which is called alcohol.

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1942

Topics: Morality; Prohibition

Public Education Not Enough

Dr. Andrew D. White, great scholar, wise diplomat, historian, and the first president of Cornell University, said many years ago that since all the republics of the past have failed, he had made a careful study for the purpose of determining whether in our republic there is any element that did not exist in those republics which have not endured. His conclusion was that the only new and outstanding characteristic of our republic is its public school system and he expressed the view that if our nation is to endure indefinitely it will be because of the broad democratic training and education in our public school system that we are giving to all the citizens of our nation.

But there are those who have strong convictions that public school education alone is not enough to preserve indefinitely and in peace, the life, the liberty and the prosperity of this our beloved country, the United States of America. Many are of the opinion that other elements are necessary. Religion, morality, righteousness! These are elements which must be factors in the make-up of any nation, it is said, if that nation is to endure indefinitely.

Experience has taught that morality is the life of a nation and religion is the life of morality. “Arming a country with guns and tanks and airplanes is not enough,” says Roger W. Babson. Selecting men for the army, the navy and the air force on physical fitness alone will not suffice. “If our defense program is to succeed,” he continues, “the entire country must experience a re-birth, for in the end, only righteousness can save a nation.”

Source: Elder Richard R. Lyman
General Conference, October 1940

Topics: Education; Government, Threats to; Morality

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