I remember hearing a story told of a brother down in St. George, when they tried, in a small way, the United Order there. Some of the people had taken care of their grapes and made a little home made wine; but this brother had not. He had been careless and negligent. When the Order came, the wine was shared out, passed around, and each one took his share; and I remember the story of him saying: “Hey! This order is a fine thing”—he was an English brother; he says, “I tell you, I could wish this were come twenty years since.” Of course he would have been drinking somebody else’s wine and living off of somebody else’s labor twenty years before that, if it had come. Salvation does not come that way. The United Order will not bring things that way. It does not mean a long table and every one eating the same kind of food, and every one living in the same kind of house. The United Order when it does come, I think, will mean individuality, personal effort, personal salvation, with you in your stewardship, me in mine, every man appointed in his place to work in his stewardship. Then the surplus will go for those who are not so well situated, and who need help. They will be taken and directed, “Here, my brother, you take this little plot of ground,” or “You take this little part of business. Here is means enough for you and you develop it, make it grow, keep it out of debt, and work at it.” And then he will develop it, don’t you see? But if, according to the idea of some of our friends, that all you need to do is to divide and to keep on dividing, why of course they could wish that kind of a thing were here a long while before.

Source: Bishop Charles W. Nibley
General Conference, April 1914

Topics: Uncategorized

I met a brother some time ago who was quite prominent in the community where he lived, and he had organized a little socialistic party, which, I suppose, from a political standpoint, he had a right to do; but he told me that all the people ought to be socialists, for the reason that socialism, he said, is the United Order, and the more we can get to join the Socialist party the easier it will be to establish the United Order when the time comes. I had to ask him if he was so blind as to believe that after God has revealed the Principles of the United Order, and the people are not prepared to carry them out, you can go to some institution of the world and find those principles and exemplify them for the benefit of mankind. I told him that no matter how near the world come to the theories of the Gospel, no matter how much they try to establish them, without the Spirit of the Gospel and the authority of the Holy Priesthood they never can carry them out, worlds without end. Humanity is too selfish to carry out these great laws of God. The disposition of the world to accept some of the theories and doctrines of the Gospel as enunciated by the Prophet Joseph Smith over 70 years ago, is designed by the adversary as a delusion more than anything else.

Source: Elder Matthias F. Cowley
General Conference, October 1903

Topics: Socialism; United Order

As we watch our government hopelessly grapple with the mighty problems of the day, perhaps we should take a look at the way the Lord would handle the problems of our day. The world in general works on the effects and results of the problem while the Lord zeroes in on the root and the causes. The Lord advocates preventive measures, while man attacks the problems after they have arisen. Man's answer to crime is better law enforcement, bigger and better locks on doors, bigger and better prisons, bigger and better rehabilitation and bigger and better arms and weapons. But the Lord's answer is to love your neighbor as yourself and do good to others as you would have them do to you.

Man's answer to poverty is public welfare through food stamps, loans, guaranteed income, publicly financed housing, and other things. The Lord's answer is to teach self-reliance, to help people help themselves. Man's answer to the problem of immorality is birth control pills, homes for unwed mothers, venereal disease clinics, sex education, and divorce counselors. The Lord's answer is to teach the virtues of chastity, love, and purity. The Lord's approach to problems and his approach to resolving them probably would not make headlines or the six o'clock news; but nevertheless, his approach would solve our nation's problems as well as the world's problems and it would revolutionize our world.

Source: Elder George P. Lee
General Conference, October 1980

Topics: Welfare

What is the real cause of this trend toward the welfare state, toward more socialism? In the last analysis, in my judgment, it is personal unrighteousness. When people do not use their freedoms responsibly and righteously, they will gradually lose these freedoms. . . .

If man will not recognize the inequalities around him and voluntarily, through the gospel plan, come to the aid of his brother, he will find that through “a democratic process” he will be forced to come to the aid of his brother. The government will take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” Both have last their freedom. Those who “have,” lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way they desire. Those who “have not,” lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got “something for nothing,” and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.

Under this climate, people gradually become blind to what has happened and to the vital freedoms which they have lost.”

Source: Howard W. Hunter
“The Law of the Harvest.”
Speeches of the Year, 1965-1966, pp. 1-11, Devotional Address, Brigham Young University, 8 March 1966.

Topics: Government, Wealth Transfer; Righteousness; Socialism; Welfare

The voices I hear are persuasive, seductive, fascinating, and confusing. Speaking across the earth, they are part of a mighty battle that is being waged for the minds of men. They are aimed at persuasion in political philosophy. There are voices of democracy competing with voices of communism, and each is winning converts according to the discernment and the judgment of listeners. The stakes are high, the weapons are sophisticated, the methods are clever.

Source: Gordon B. Hinckley
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 407

Topics: Uncategorized

It seems that wherever the Welfare State is involved, the moral precept, "Thou shalt not steal," becomes altered to say: "Thou shalt not steal, except for what thou deemest to be a worthy cause, where thou thinkest that thou canst use the loot for a better purpose than wouldst the victim of the theft."

And the precept about covetousness, under the administration of the Welfare State, seems to become: "Thou shalt not covet, except what thou wouldst have from thy neighbor who owns it."

Both of these alterations of the Decalogue result in complete abrogation of the two moral admonitions — theft and covetousness — which deal directly with economic matters. Not even the motto, "In God we trust," stamped by the government on money taken by force in violation of the Decalogue to pay for the various programs of the Welfare State, can transform this immoral act into a moral one.

Source: F. A. Harper
Morals and the Welfare State

Topics: Welfare

The Lord has made plain that we have a solemn obligation to choose good and honest men to represent us in secular governmental service. It is obvious that a man's spiritual and moral qualifications should be considered before his academic record or his oratorical ability. It is a sobering thought that whatever laws the elected enact, we are obligated then to obey. The Lord said, "And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them.

"Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land;

"And as pertaining to the laws of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.

"I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free.

"Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn.

"Wherefore, 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 98:4, 6-10.)

Source: Elder Hartman Rector, Jr.
General Conference, October 1975

Topics: Politics

Your constitution guarantees to every citizen, even the humblest, the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. It promises to all, religious freedom, the right to all to worship God beneath their own vine and fig tree, according to the dictates of their conscience. It guarantees to all the citizens of the several states the right to become citizens of any one of the states, and to enjoy all the rights and immunities of the citizens of the state of his adoption.

Source: Joseph Smith
History of the Church, 4:37

Topics: Uncategorized

The constitution expects every man to do his duty; and when he fails the law urges him; or should he do too much; the same master rebukes him.

Source: Joseph Smith
HC 6:220

Topics: Uncategorized

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