Topic: Law, Matches 48 quotes.

The Latter-day Saints have taken a very definite stand in reference to their attitude towards the government, and towards the great problems of life. Have we had to shift our position? Has it been assailed successfully? When we have declared our loyalty and patriotism to the Constitution and the government, and that we recognize that the duty of the Latter-day Saints is to uphold and support the laws of the land as faithfully as they do the laws of the Church, were we right? Any people who depart from that will not be able to preserve a civilization very long.

Source: Elder Melvin J. Ballard
General Conference, October 1928

Topics: Law

All Are Subject To Law

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.”

My brethren and sisters, this is not a mere platitude; it is not a formality, but it is an article of faith of the Church of Christ. Let me call your attention to the fact that all people in all nations are under a reign of law. We cannot escape this conclusion, we cannot evade the fact, being upon the earth as we are, mingling one with another, we are subject to law. The Lord has said in one of the revelations to his Church, through the Prophet Joseph Smith (See D&C, Section 58):

“Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.”

That is direct and emphatic, and leads one to the obvious conclusion that the laws of God are higher and superior to the laws of the land.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Law

We read in the scriptures that where the wicked rule the people mourn, and conversely it might be said that when the righteous rule the people rejoice. They rejoice because the righteous make righteous laws, and they mourn because the wicked make wicked laws. We are living; my brethren and sisters, under one of the best and most substantial governments in the world today, if not the best. It simply results from having the best and most liberal laws of government.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Government, Good; Law

Laws Of God And Laws Of Man

Now there are two great law-givers, the one is the Lord in heaven. He is the supreme law-giver of the universe. The other is man upon the earth. The laws of God are great spiritual and eternal laws, and are given to govern us in our conduct and to protect us in our future prospects. The laws of the land are of temporary character and appertain to mortal life. However, if the laws of the land are good laws, they have the approval of the Almighty. The greatest and most spectacular revealment of law, if I may use that expression, ever made, was given at Mount Sinai when the Lord descended upon the mountain, and in the midst of thundering and lightning and a great smoke going up, he gave the Ten Commandments. It might truly be said that all the righteous laws of man have their origin in the Ten Commandments.

Source: President Rudger Clawson
General Conference, April 1928

Topics: Law

Calling of the Church to Uphold Right and Oppose Crime

I speak plainly upon this subject, my brethren and sisters, because it appears to me to be vital to our welfare. I do not direct my remarks to Latter-day Saints alone, but to the people of all creeds, professions of faith, or of no faith at all. I know that politics has been held up to us as a thing so sacred that the Church has nothing to do with it, and should not refer to it. I ask you, in heaven’s name, what is the calling of the Church, if it is not to oppose lawlessness and crime, and seek to establish righteousness; if it is not to stand firmly for the proper administration of the law, and to oppose violation of it that peace and prosperity may abide with the people of our country, which can be had under no other conditions?

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1927

Topics: Law

An Appeal To Citizens To Uphold The Law

I appeal to good people everywhere, not to any political party, not to any particular church, but to all people, to use their influence to bring to pass righteousness in the administration of the civil affairs of our country, and I make this appeal to both the church and the state for both need it. Do men preach righteousness who themselves to violate the civil law? Ask the preachers of today for the answer. Do men standing in high places in governmental affairs violate the law? Go back to Washington and investigate. How can we expect, as this statesman from whom the president has quoted, asks, that the common people, one of whom I am, who look to their leaders for example, shall honor and obey the law when they see it constantly violated in higher callings of life? Violation of the law is an evil under any circumstance, but when the law is violated by people who are chosen to maintain and administer it, it becomes a double offense in the sight of God and man, because a man not only becomes a violator of the aw, but he breaks the trust placed in him, the trust which his fellow citizens have reposed in him and which he has sworn to discharge. He thus becomes doubly guilty.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1927

Topics: Law

I am thankful, I repeat again, for the loyalty of the “Mormon” people in sustaining the prohibition law, and I am sorry that some, apparently, from what they say and from their actions, are wavering. Let us, as a people, be loyal in support of those laws. They are constitutional, have been so declared. And it is the safe course, as far as the people of this Church are concerned, to honor, sustain, and obey those laws, whether we like them or not. And I want to tell you that it is the safe course for this nation to follow. When individuals or a community or a nation select only those laws that suit them, and obey them and break those other laws, they are in a dangerous position. When a constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery was passed, there were those who were not ready to sustain and uphold that amendment, just as there are those now who are not ready and willing to uphold and sustain the Constitution of the United States. The Volstead act is a part now of the Constitution of this nation, and is so declared by a large majority of the people of this great nation, and it is the duty of this nation to uphold and honor and sustain the Constitution.

Source: Elder Thomas E. McKay
General Conference, April 1926

Topics: Law; Prohibition

We Latter-day Saints believe in the sacredness of the Mayflower compact, and we hold very reverently in our hearts the Constitution of the United States, This document is the greatest expression of government that has come forth in all history, and its principles, if lived up to, will change the political and civic life of the world. The beautiful thing about the American government is that it is an expression of the lives of the people, and if the people live magnanimous and Christian-like lives, so will our Government become greater and greater. There are problems today to be solved, and I consider that the greatest ills of society are: first, the unprecedented challenge of authority and disrespect for law; secondly, hatred between man and man; and thirdly, the excessive search for pleasure as the aim of life. I believe that we people should be the greatest lovers of the law of any people living, for just law expresses our ideals and concepts of life. We should dedicate our lives to the highest political and civic truths and we should grow in the abiding thought that man is made in the image of God; that the Christian virtues are the highest codes of ethics; and that immortality and the establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth are illuminated because of the restored Priesthood which we hold. With such ideals we will be able to contribute more to the solution of the problems of the world than any other people. I pray that we may not only see the problems of human society that lie before us, but that we will be able to meet them with a potency that comes as a result of the deepest faith in almighty God and his purposes.

Source: Elder Levi Edgar Young
General Conference, April 1926

Topics: America, Heritage; Law; Morality

The Latter-day Saints believe that the coming of Columbus to this continent was part of the divine plan by which this land, which had been held in reserve, might become a place of refuge, and asylum for the oppressed and down-trodden of all nations, that freedom of worship, and exercise of conscience, in righteousness, might be enjoyed by all people. We believe that the Lord inspired the framers of our government to give us our legislative, executive and administrative system of government, by which our laws are enacted and enforced. This system, having been given of the Lord, it is not strange that the administration of our civil affairs corresponds so nearly with the organization of the Church, and still differs so greatly in the one essential feature.

Contrast Between Civil And Religious Laws

Our civil laws are enacted by Congress, that body being governed, in framing the law, by the Constitution of our country; by our state legislatures under authority of congress, and our precincts and municipalities under authority granted by the state legislatures. The officers who administer these laws are chosen by the voice of the people. The laws enacted by our precincts and municipalities, and the power of the lesser judges and officers who enforce them are limited in regard to both territorial jurisdiction, and power to inflict punishment. Legislative laws have jurisdiction over all of the people of the state, while congressional laws must be obeyed in all parts of the republic.

Decisions rendered by precinct, municipal or district judges are subject to review, on appeal, and may be carried to the supreme court, whose decision is final. To each of these courts authority is given to enforce its decrees by compulsory means. We may protest, it may be contrary to our idea of right and justice, we may say that we will not submit, but it is all in vain, the civil law compels submission. It may impose heavy fines, and if we refuse to pay, take our property by force to satisfy its judgment. It may incarcerate us in prison, for life if the offense justifies, or even deprive us of life itself.

In contrast to this, the laws which govern the Church are given us by the Lord our God. He is the author of them, he is our lawgiver. He has revealed to us the order of Church government and designated the officers who are to administer its affairs. The ward organizations, with their limited administrative powers, the stakes with their enlarged jurisdiction, and finally the presiding authorities, who have jurisdiction over all of the affairs of the Church, have all been given us by the Lord.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, April 1923

Topics: Government, Vertical Separation; Law; Rights

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