The Constitution and laws of the United States resemble a theocracy more closely than any government now on the earth, or that ever has been so far as we know, except the government of the Children of Israel to the time when they elected a king.

Source: Brigham Young
Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 354

Topics: Government, Forms of

Whoever lives to see the Kingdom of God fully established upon the earth will see a government that will protect every person in his rights. If that government was now reigning upon this land of Joseph, you would see the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Quaker, the Shaker, the Hindo, the Mahometan, and every class of worshipers most strictly protected in all their municipal rights and in the privileges of worshiping who, what, and when they pleased, not infringing upon the rights of others. Does any candid person in his sound judgment desire any greater liberty?

Source: Brigham Young
JD 6:342-343.

Topics: Freedom, Religious; Government, Good; Rights

In the sincere observances of the principles of true religion and virtue, we recognize the base, the only sure foundation of enlightened society and well-established government.

Source: Brigham Young
JD 2:178.

Topics: Morality; Virtue

How can a republican government stand? There is only one way for it to stand. It can endure; but how? It can endure, as the government of heaven endures, upon the eternal rock of truth and virtue; and that is the only basis upon which any government can endure.

Source: Brigham Young
JD 9:4.

Topics: Government, Forms of; Morality; Virtue

Individual self-government lies at the root of all true and effective government, whether in heaven or on earth. Those who govern should be wiser and better than the governed, that the lesser may be blessed of the greater. Were this so, then the people would willingly repose their dearest interests to the trusts of their rulers or leaders, and with a feeling of pleasure bow to and carry out to the letter their instructions and conclusions on all matters that pertained to the general good. This will apply to great kingdoms and mighty nations, to small companies of immigrants crossing the plains, or to the home circle. A republican government in the hands of a wicked people must terminate in woe to that people, but in the bands of the righteous it is everlasting, while its power reaches to heaven.

Source: Brigham Young
JD 10:19.

Topics: Responsibility

We cannot close our eyes to the fact that the world is ripening in iniquity. The present-day turmoil and bitter strivings threaten to undermine the basic foundations of Christian relationship. Liberty, freedom of speech, self-government, faith in God, and, particularly, faith in the efficacy of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are facing a bombardment from the ranks of error such as the world has seldom if ever witnessed.

Source: President David O. McKay
General Conference, October 1969

Topics: Christianity; Freedom, Loss of

Security never granted

To “subdue the earth,” a person must look mainly to himself and not to others, except as others might offer good counsel or set a good example Most persons are striving to find what they consider security. It has been pointed out:

“People who look to government for ‘security’ are seeking that which has never been granted to human kind. Man was promised his living by the sweat of his brow, and where he wastes his substance he will want in spite of all human devices to render it otherwise. Nowhere in her system does nature offer security to anyone or anything. Nature’s way is the law of change and succession, or replacement and fulfillment; but never the unalterable, the fixed or the guaranteed. It is defeatism in the individuals to seek security in living, a misunderstanding of the function of life itself. It was not so that the pioneers of this land lived, when there were few governments to do things for them. They met the wilderness on its own terms, and pushed it back. Men and women worked together to found their homes, raise their children, and wrest a competence from what the land had to offer them. They helped one another. They had time for worship, and they knew that over man there was God. Our age is a pioneering one, and to eac are offered widening chances of development. It is a neglect of self-improvement to seek security without having earned it, to attempt to reap without having sown. No government can produce what people don’t in themselves create.” (“Security—A Mirage!” Life Line, October 31, 1964.)

A prominent American, in contemplating the subject, gave this advice to young people: “Don’t dream about security; make it for yourself, out of yourself.” He then concluded his thoughts on self-reliance with these words: “Dare to believe in yourself . . . and act accordingly. If you do, both your present and your future are secure.”

Source: Elder Henry D. Taylor
General Conference, April 1968

Topics: Responsibility; Security; Self-Reliance

Law must be sustained

In a republic, the government has the sovereign right as well as the duty to protect the rights of the individual and to settle civil disputes or disorders by peaceful means. Citizens do not have the right to take the law into their own hands or exercise physical force. The sovereign laws of the state must be sustained, and persons living under those laws must obey them for the good of the whole. In this regard The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes a strong position. One of the fundamental tenets of its faith is clearly stated in these words: “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” (Article of Faith 12.)

Those in the world who have a belief in God live under the unusual circumstances of a dual sovereignty. In addition to being subject to the supreme power of the state, they have a fealty to God and a solemn duty to keep the commandments given by him. This idea of divine kingship and a sovereignty runs through all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament.

Source: Elder Howard W. Hunter
General Conference, April 1968

Topics: Christianity; Law; Republic

The Church is little, if at all, injured by persecution and calumnies from ignorant, misinformed, or malicious enemies. A greater hindrance to its progress comes from faultfinders, shirkers, commandment-breakers, and apostate cliques within its own ecclesiastical and quorum groups.

So it is with any government. It is the enemy from within that is most menacing, especially when it threatens to disintegrate established forms of good government.

Today, there are in this country enemies in the form of “isms.” I call them anti-Americanisms, and what is true in America is true in other countries. Only a few of the leaders fight openly; most of the army carry on as termites, secretly sowing discord and undermining stable government.

Source: President David O. McKay
General Conference, October 1967

Topics: Government, Downfall

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