The United Order

On February 9, 1831, at Kirtland, the Prophet received the first great revelation on the United Order. We find other revelations bearing upon that subject, the more important concerning it (though it was touched upon in many of the others) are sections 42, 51, 56, 70, 72, 78, 82, 85, 90, 101, and 105. The United Order has not been generally understood, and I think that I may repeat here again what I said on another occasion: that the United Order was not a communal system. It was an individualistic system. Every man was to own his own property. He was required, however, to give the surplus thereof for the benefit of the poor and for the building up of the Church. The United Order and communism are not synonymous. Communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the United Order. There is no mistake about this and those who go about telling us otherwise either do not know or have failed to understand or are wilfully misrepresenting.

The Lord tried us for three years to see if we could not set up the United Order; we could not. So then at Fishing River on June 22, 1834, following the dissolution of Zion’s Camp, the Lord told us that we should give up the United Order and that he would not reestablish it until Zion was redeemed, and that time has not yet come.

Between that time, June 22, 1934, and July 8, 1838, we again had no regular financial system.

On July 8, 1838, the Prophet prayed: “Oh Lord! show unto thy servant how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a tithing.” In response to that prayer the Lord gave the revelations now incorporated in the D&C as sections 119 and 120. In the revelation printed as section 120, the Lord said:

Verily, thus saith the Lord, the time is now come, that it [the tithing] shall be disposed of by a council, composed of the First Presidency of My Church and the bishop and his council, and by my high council [the Twelve]; and by mine own voice unto them, saith the Lord. Even so. Amen.

Source: President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
General Conferenc, October 1943

Topics: Communism; United Order

Believe it or not, at one time the very notion of government had less to do with politics than with virtue. According to James Madison, often referred to as the father of the Constitution: “We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of the government far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” (Russ Walton, Biblical Principles of Importance to Godly Christians [New Hampshire: Plymouth Foundation, 1984], p. 361.)

George Washington agreed with his colleague James Madison. Said Washington: “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle” (James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, published by authority of Congress, 1899, vol. 1, p. 220).

Nearly a hundred years later, Abraham Lincoln responded to a question about which side God was on during the Civil War with his profound insight: “I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” (Abraham Lincoln’s Stories and Speeches, J. B. McClure, ed. [Chicago: Rhodes and McClure Publishing Co., 1896], pp. 185-86.)

Madison, Washington, and Lincoln all understood that democracy cannot possibly flourish in a moral vacuum, and that organized religion plays an important role in preserving and maintaining public morality. Indeed, John Adams, another of America’s founding fathers, insisted: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion” (John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles E Adams, ed., 1854).

Source: Elder M. Russell Ballard
Address given 5 July 1992 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Government, Purpose; Morality; Virtue

What would Washington have thought if he could have foreseen our day? Would he have signed the document?

I believe he would have been troubled to see a time when citizens are forbidden to pray in public meetings; when people claim that “you can’t legislate morality,” as if any law ever passed did not have at its heart some notion of right and wrong; when churches are called intruders when they speak out against public policy that is contrary to the commandments of God; when many people reject the correcting influence of churches if it infringes on daily living; when religion is accepted as a social organization but not as an integral part of national culture; when people bristle if churches speak in any forum except from the pulpit.

Indeed, some people now claim that the founding fathers’ worst fear in connection with religion has been realized; that we have, in fact, a state-sponsored religion in America today. This new religion, adopted by many, does not have an identifiable name, but it operates just like a church. It exists in the form of doctrines and beliefs, where morality is whatever a person wants it to be, and where freedom is derived from the ideas of man and not from the laws of God. Many people adhere to this concept of morality with religious zeal and fervor, and courts and legislatures tend to support it.

While you may think I am stretching the point a bit to say that amorality could be a new state-sponsored religion, I believe you would agree that we do not have to look far to find horrifying evidence of rampant immorality that is permitted if not encouraged by our laws. From the plague of pornography to the devastation caused by addiction to drugs, illicit sex, and gambling, wickedness rears its ugly head everywhere, often gaining its foothold in society by invoking the powers of constitutional privilege.

We see a sad reality of contemporary life when many of the same people who defend the right of a pornographer to distribute exploitive films and photos would deny freedom of expression to people of faith because of an alleged fear of what might happen from religious influence on government or public meetings. While much of society has allowed gambling to wash over its communities, leaving broken families and individuals in its soul-destroying wake, it reserves its harshest ridicule for those who advocate obedience to God’s commandments and to uniform, inspired standards of right and wrong.

Source: Elder M. Russell Ballard
Address given 5 July 1992 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Freedom, Loss of

The constitutional provisions relating to government and religion were not intended to control the religious rights of people. Rather, they were intended to expand them and eliminate the fear of government intrusion. These provisions were meant to separate religion and government so that religion would be independent. The experiences of Roger Williams and other reformers provided our constitutional fathers with important facts to help them deal with the potential risks of a state religion corrupted by politics. Consequently, they drafted an article in the Bill of Rights to guarantee religious freedom from government as opposed to government freedom from religion.

In fact, the framers of the Constitution probably assumed that religious freedom would establish religion as a watchdog over government, and believed that free churches would inevitably stand and speak against immoral or corrupt legislation. To do so, all churches not only have the right to speak out on public moral issues but they also have the solemn obligation to do so. Religion represents society’s conscience, and must speak out when govern ment chooses a course that is contrary to the laws of God. To remove the influence of religion from public policy simply because some are uncomfortable with any degree of moral restraint is like the passenger on a sinking ship who removes his life jacket because it is restrictive and uncomfortable.

We live in a day of political and social unrest. People are beginning to understand that more money and new government programs do not solve the problems of disintegrating morality in our homes and communities. People in the land have a feeling that things are not right. Voters everywhere are looking for a great leader to come along and straighten everything out.

Source: Elder M. Russell Ballard
Address given 5 July 1992 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Bill of Rights; Freedom, Loss of

As we sing, for instance, of a “patriot dream that sees beyond the years,” it reminds us of the special perspective that patriotism possesses. True patriotism takes a long view of this nation’s needs. For instance, what does this reminding lyric tell us about our consistent and collective refusal, regardless of party, to face America’s mounting national debt and our destabilizing budget deficits? The national debt increases one billion dollars every 24 hours—or in other words, during the few minutes I occupy this pulpit, America’s national debt will grow by $694,444 per minute—approximately $21 million dollars! By this persistent lack of national resolve in our time we are robbing our children and grandchildren, however silently, of their economic freedom and future. We cannot seem to see beyond the political moment, let alone “beyond the years.” Indeed, if certain conditions remain uncorrected in a lasting way, the “patriots’ dream” may be replaced by some nightmares!

Source: Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Address given 4 July 1993 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Debt; Freedom, Loss of

In “America the Beautiful” we also sing about establishing a “thoroughfare of freedom.” Many of our streets, instead of being a “thoroughfare of freedom,” are unsafe. Ironically, drugs and pornography often have staked out their own well-worn “thoroughfares” or corridors, and “free” zones. Surely it is one of the first duties of government to protect its citizens. Nevertheless, however beefed up, law enforcement cannot realistically be expected to compensate fully for widespread lack of individual self-control.

We rightly sing about how a “good” America should be crowned “with brotherhood.” But instead of increasing brotherhood there is increasing separatism. There is even rising racism. Among our citizens there is also decreasing respect for each other. Engulfing gangs remind us soberingly of failing families and neighborhoods.

We sing, too, about how our “alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears.” Yet our cities don’t gleam. Many are decaying, covered with graffiti. They are dimmed with human tears of desperation by those who feel left out of the American dream.

Source: Neal A. Maxwell
Address given 4 July 1993 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Freedom, Loss of; Morality; Responsibility

Earlier, in his first inaugural, Washington said: “There exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness . . . we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”

Significantly, the Senate replied to Washington’s Inaugural, saying: “We feel, sir, the force and acknowledge the justness of the observation that the foundations of our national policy should be lain in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue.” (Thomas G. West, “The Rule of Law in the Federalist,” in Saving the Revolution: The Federalist Papers and the American Founding, ed. Charles R. Kesler [New York: The Free Press, 1987], 166-67.)

Source: Neal A. Maxwell
Address given 4 July 1993 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Morality; Virtue

This government, the offspring of our own choice un-influenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty.

Source: George Washington

Topics: Government, Good; Liberty; US Constitution

On this holiday we celebrate, as we have for more than two hundred years, the establishment of a government in a country unlike any other in the history of the world. It has had at its very heart the concept of a government “instituted of God for the benefit of man” (D&C 134:1). The deepest taproots of our nation and state have lain in the very essence of our humanity, our faith in God. This nation as a democracy has as its basic foundation a government of laws and equality of all before the law. Under the Constitution it has the right and the duty to institute laws to protect its citizenry in their inalienable rights, recognizing that, as the Doctrine and Covenants says, “sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly” (D&C 134:5). The government has the right and duty to enact laws, within the institutions set up by the Constitution, which are best calculated to secure the public interest while at the same time preserving the individual rights of its citizenry.

Source: James E. Faust
Address given 2 July 1995 at the Freedom Festival at Provo, UT.

Topics: Government, Good; Law; Rights

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