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XX
Summary and Conclusion
Summary
We have now completed our examination of the two plans for man on earth—the Lord’s plan to provide free agency and Satan’s plan to destroy it. In doing so, we achieved the goal outlined in the first chapter of identifying the Great and Abominable Church of the Devil. We concluded that the only organization which will adequately serve his purposes and. fulfill the description given of it in the scriptures is prostituted government. In the light of this conclusion, those prophecies of a “great division” discussed in Chapter II and those predicting universal deception which were discussed in Chapter III, are logically explained. When great divisions have occurred in times past, they have been along political lines. It is only to be expected that when the “great division” and war between the church of the devil and the Church of the Lamb comes, it will be a contest between groups with opposing political philosophies who have aligned themselves with opposing governments.
The massive deception predicted in the last days is also easily understood when it is concluded that Satan’s church is corrupted government. His great deception consists of inducing men to do in the name of government, that which they know would be wicked and destructive of freedom if done outside its framework. Man’s lust for power and gain blinds him to the fact that such actions are equally as evil and equally as destructive of freedom when done by a group as when done by a individual. Men are also deceived into assuming that they are not morally accountable for evil done in the name of government. The devil’s overwhelming success has been rendered doubly easy in this age of irreligion because almost no one believes in his existence; much less do they accept the teaching of the scriptures that he controls a world-wide organization to which almost all people belong. Let us summarize the more important conclusions we have reached regarding the nature and purposes of this organization and its rise to world dominion.
The Lord’s Plan To Provide Free Agency
To better understand Satan’s plan, we deemed it necessary to discuss the Lord’s plan which it is Satan’s purpose to defeat. To this end we analyzed the problem of man’s free agency and observed that there are four possessions which are essential to its exercise—life, liberty of action, property and knowledge. It was seen that these possessions are the same for people in every age and in every country, and that the nature of those evil acts and intentions which destroy these elements never varies either. Because every person desires freedom for himself and is acutely aware of the nature of the acts and intents of others which destroy the elements of his own freedom, every person knows what acts are evil for him to do to others.
It is this universal understanding of evil which makes it possible for the Lord to establish a single set of civil laws which prohibit the destruction of the elements of freedom, and hold all mankind morally accountable for disobeying them. We saw that while the Lord uses the family and the Church to provide life, sustenance (property), and knowledge, He uses government to protect these elements of freedom. Government performs this function by executing the law of retribution which decrees that he who undertakes to destroy the freedom of others shall lose his own. We examined religious history for evidence that:
governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them…(D&C 134:1)
Our research confirmed the following words of John Taylor:
By a careful perusal of the scriptures, however, we find that God in ancient days had as much to do with governments, kings, and kingdoms, as he ever had to do with religion. (Mill. Star 5:8-9)
The scriptures conclusively show that when men have been righteous enough to accept the Lord’s political guidance, He has designated forms of government, revealed laws, and appointed civil rulers. They also demonstrate that when nations to whom such guidance has been given deviate therefrom and corrupt their laws, they are severely punished.
God May Judge All Men By Their Political Beliefs
We saw that the Lord may use our political philosophy as a reliable measure of moral character and that this standard may be used for all men because all men, regardless of religious or other differences, live under a government of some type and form beliefs regarding what is right and what is wrong for government to do. The propriety of judging men by this standard was based upon these observations:
1. One’s views on government constitute his most sincere beliefs regarding good and evil and thus reflect his inherent moral nature. Those acts which he considers most evil are forbidden by the laws he favors, and those acts he considers so good and beneficial that he assumes he has a moral right to compel others to perform them are commanded by the laws he favors. Furthermore, so certain is he that his code is right that he is willing to force it upon all other members of society by the use of physical violence. It is most apparent that if a person uses government to punish those acts which provide free agency and allows those acts which destroy it to go unpunished, he will be condemned by the Lord.
2. The Lord may use a person’s political philosophy to determine whether he is entitled to rise in the resurrection of the “just.” One’s views on laws constitute his code of justice because those acts and omissions he condemns in others are set forth in the laws he favors as are the penalties he wants imposed for disobedience. If such laws deny others a freedom he desires for himself, or if they impose a punishment he would consider inequitable were he called upon to suffer it, then he may expect to be classified with the unjust.
3. A person’s views on government can be used to determine the extent to which he adheres to the Lord’s plan of freedom on the one hand, or Satan’s plan of slavery on the other. Every act he would deny others the freedom to do or not do is forbidden or commanded by the laws he favors, and every act he would allow others the freedom to do or not do is not forbidden or commanded by the laws he favors. Thus, a person’s political code can be used to determine the extent to which he agrees with or opposes the Lord’s plan of free agency.
The Plan To Destroy Free Agency
We then discussed the devil’s plan to defeat the plan of the Lord and concluded that the only effective way he can destroy the four elements of freedom and the three organizations the Lord uses to provide and protect them is by prostituting the agency of government. In confirmation of this fact, we examined religious history and found that since the beginning, Satan has built up secret combinations whose primary purpose is to seize control of the armies, navies, and police power and use them to thwart the work of God. While the Lord has openly and often revealed His own purpose to control government and establish His kingdom, Satan has always worked in darkness and deepest secrecy. Only those who study and accept the scriptures and prophets will believe that Satan’s plan is to control government and induce wicked men to use it to wage war, commit murder, impose slavery and get power and gain.
The Lord has promised that He will expose Satan and his combinations by making known
all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the [chosen] land (Alma 37:25)
We saw that He has kept his promise by revealing the identity of Satan’s organization through modern prophets. One of these prophets on two separate occasions testified to the priesthood of the Church that Satan’s greatest threat on earth today is “domination by the state,” or Communism. From this and other utterances by latter-day prophets, we concluded that the socialist-communist movement which is being implemented by the welfare-state programs proposed by Marx and others for this purpose constitutes Satan’s Great and Abominable Church.
Prompted by the statement of a latter-day prophet that “the entire concept and philosophy of Communism is diametrically opposed to everything for which the Church stands,” and using a concise statement of this philosophy called the “Communist Manifesto,” which had been drawn up by the so-called father of modem socialism, we examined the doctrines of the Devil’s church. We found them to be as the prophet had stated—diametrically opposed to everything for which the Church stands. The program outlined therein proposes that believers in the Devil’s plan, i.e., Communists, Socialists, and Welfare-statists seize control of government and then use it to destroy individual freedom by destroying the basis upon which it rests—the right and control of property. It also outlines plans for abolishing the Lord’s three organizations—family, Church, and government.
We examined the various types of laws proposed by the “Manifesto” for the destruction of private property and discovered that the ten point program contained therein is being adopted all over the earth. Those laws which the Lord revealed for the protection of freedom are being ignored while on the other hand innumerable laws are being adopted in every nation which destroy it We concluded that since the sole purpose of any law is to compel people against their wills, every law which does not have the effect of protecting free agency, has the opposite effect. This agrees with the Lord’s statement that anything which is more or less than those freedom-protecting laws He caused to be established cometh of evil.
Satan’s Scheme To Perpetuate His System Of Slavery
That proposal of the Manifesto which demanded our greatest attentions was the one which provides for:
Free education for all children in public schools.
We concluded that this political measure was more essential to Satan’s plan than any other because through it he can indoctrinate each child with a belief in that plan and largely prohibit the teaching of contrary doctrines. By instilling in each succeeding group of children a faith in socialism, and more especially in socialized education, his diabolical system is perpetuated and each generation of parents is induced to enslave their own children. In the words of the scriptures,
the creeds of the fathers who have inherited lies, [are] strongly riveted…upon the hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity.
It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell. (D&C 123:7-8)
We observed that there is nothing new in using government to impose thought control on citizens. Secular as well as religious history shows that whenever given the opportunity, Satan has induced men to use the police power to establish enforced priestcraft. Time and again, church and state have been combined and the power of government used to deny religious freedom as well as freedom of speech and press which are an inextricable part thereof. Government has been used not only to suppress all but the favored sect, but also the taxing power has been used to support its priests and their activities. The essential evil of priestcraft lies in prostituting the power of government and using it to promulgate false creeds and deny religious freedom.
Communism is more diabolical than any other type of priestcraft because its central doctrines are atheism and the destruction of free agency through socialism. Organic evolution, materialism, and humanism are the theories used to justify atheism and socialism by providing false explanations of the origin of life and its purposes.
Our discussion of government controlled learning included a survey of three cases of priestcraft from the Book of Mormon and one from the Bible. In each case, we found this evil practice leading to murder of the saints and bringing terrible punishment upon those who engaged in it. Prophecies which predicted priestcraft among the Gentiles in these latter days were considered and it was concluded that such prophecies were meant to include the enforced priestcraft of socialized education.
We then considered the doctrines taught by government schools in non-communist countries and noted that where the laws forbid state financed religious instruction, such doctrines are very similar to those taught in communist nations. Since public schools cannot teach that God is the source of life, they attribute it to the blind chance of organic evolution; since their admitted goals are to prepare their students to obtain wealth, the wisdom of the world, and the honors of men, and since they are prohibited from giving priority to the spiritual goals taught by true religion, the philosophy instilled is essentially that of dialectical materialism or humanism; since socialized education is itself one of the most important points of the communist manifesto, and since it generally encompasses many other socialist programs, students are taught socialism both in theory and practice.
We noted the strenuous opposition of the prophets to the introduction of government schools among the Saints in the early days of the Church. While little has been said in public since this system has become part of our Constitution and laws, the Brethren were at one time very outspoken. Our living prophet has expressed himself on the subject in these words:
The education of the present day is very largely knowledge without the accompanying intelligence, of light and truth. It is bound to be so, and much of the knowledge will be mixed with error, where faith in God and in his revelations is eliminated, and only the cold and many times barren conclusions of mind and reason are the guide. Such learning leads to spiritual death, not to spiritual life. (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. I, p. 320)
The Kingdoms Of God And Satan
To better understand the nature of the earthly organizations of Christ and Satan, and to confirm the conclusion that these contending forces utilize government in the freedom battle, we discussed what the prophets have said regarding the kingdoms of God and Satan. Since the beginning of time the Lord has tried to maintain His kingdom here on earth and He has advised men to consider it their foremost duty to assist Him in this purpose. We saw that the Lord’s kingdom includes political sovereignty and that any nation which ignores this fact by adopting laws of its own, and making and selecting rulers of its own choosing, is in rebellion against that kingdom. It was noted that throughout most of the history of the world, people have rejected the Lord’s political guidance and have used government to destroy His system of stewardships. Prophets, both ancient and modern, were cited to show that Satan’s kingdom has been established in every nation and he now reigns over the earth.
The Apostasy Of The Latter Days
Additional evidence of the establishment of the church and kingdom of the devil was found in those prophecies which foretell world-wide wickedness and apostasy in these latter days. Scriptures were cited indicating that there would be extensive defection from gospel principles among the members of Christ’s Church, and that only a “few” of the “many” called to hold the Priesthood would retain it in the hereafter. Because of the universal disposition to exercise unrighteous dominion, almost all men when given the freedom to abuse the power of government without fear of retaliation or condemnation will use it to commit crimes, thus adopting Satan’s plan to destroy freedom.
Conclusion
The conclusions reached herein regarding Satan’s church and kingdom seem to the author to be so at variance with prevailing opinion that he anticipates they may engender ridicule and even animosity in some quarters. Today, people are inclined to look to government for the solution to almost all problems. The remedy for ignorance, poverty, disease, or the lack of culture, facilities, or opportunities of any description is commonly sought for through the compulsion of state action. As President McKay once stated, there is today a “trend to a welfare state in which people look to and worship government more than their God.” (Letter to BYU Admin. & Faculty, 5/25/67) To attack this god as has been done herein by denominating all government functions, except the preservation of freedom, as part of the devil’s plan to destroy free agency, may produce in some, feelings of resentment.
Let those who may experience such feelings know that in writing this book, the author has been motivated only by a desire to present the correct meaning of certain scriptures for which he could find no other explanation than the one herein given. For example, if these are the last days as the prophets are saying, and if the prophecies of Nephi and John regarding Satan’s organized efforts during this period are true as the author believes them to be, then the following conclusions cannot be avoided:
1. Satan is a personage who is as real as is Jesus Christ;
2. Satan is guiding a specific identifiable organization here on earth today just as surely as Christ is guiding his Church.
3. Satan’s organization covers the entire earth and either now has, or shortly will have, dominion “among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.”
4. Everyone except a few either belong to Satan’s organization now or will belong to it in the near future.
If the reader believes the scriptures to be the word of God, and if he rejects the explanation of Satan’s activities herein given, he is invited to find an organization other than government which executes the devil’s plan and satisfies the descriptions of it given by the prophets. Insofar as the author is aware, government is the only organization which has dominion over all the earth; it is the only organization to which all men belong; according to the scriptures, it is the one organization Satan has always sought to use; and finally the only freedom-destroying philosophy which almost all men have in common is that the police power should be used to limit or destroy the Lord’s system of individual stewardships. It is probably true that upwards of ninety percent of the laws being enforced by governments throughout the world today are unjust in the sight of God because their purpose is not to punish evil, but rather to deny men their freedom to manage their private affairs. One may test the validity of this assertion for himself and if he does, he will find that in the overwhelming majority of cases, proof of an evil intent is not required to convict one for violating a law.
There may be some who will take vigorous exception to comments made herein regarding public education. But once the decision is made that prostituted government is indeed, Satan’s Great and Abominable Church, the conclusions reached herein regarding socialized education naturally follow, because to the extent that the devil is in control of government to that same extent will government schools teach his doctrines. No other result can be expected. People who have come to equate the wisdom of the world and the acquisition of wealth with happiness and joy may find it difficult to believe that secular knowledge could ever prove harmful. Believing as they do that worldly knowledge and the production of wealth is the supreme goal of life, and knowing that learning and knowledge has made an abundance of wealth possible, when it is stated that an education without faith in God is harmful, their whole philosophy of life is attacked. On the other hand those who have not set their hearts so much upon the things of this world and the honors of men will not find it incredible that “free education for all children in public schools” is part of the devil’s program.
The One And Only Solution To The Transcendent Problem Of The Human Race
Concerning government, it might truthfully be said that;
1. There are no convictions about which there is more dispute, more strife, and more hatred;
2. There is no organization which has caused more death, more misery, more suffering and more sorrow;
3. There is no institution from which man has more to fear; and
4. There is no problem which is in greater need of solution.
The great and desperate need of this age—of any age—is to find the one correct solution to the problem of providing governance for mankind. This transcends all others. There are, in reality, only two choices: one is the kingdom of God; the other is the kingdom of the devil; one leads inevitably to freedom and happiness; the other leads to slavery and misery.
It is unthinkable that a kind and loving Heavenly Father would leave His children without guidance in solving this, the greatest of all their problems. That He has provided such guidance may be said to be the thesis of this book. While the author’s manifest lack of writing skill and his imperfect understanding may serve to convey erroneous impressions, if he has pointed out convincing evidence that the only correct solution to the problem of government is to be found in the words of God’s prophets, he will have accomplished his main purpose.
If we can come to realize that, throughout history, governments have been instituted of God for the benefit of man; that He has revealed those civil laws He desires enforced; and that He stands ready to provide civil leadership whenever we are ready to accept it, we will have learned some of the most important truths taught by the scriptures. But such knowledge is woefully incomplete unless it is also known that Satan is attempting to establish his kingdom on earth; that anything which is more or less than those freedom-protecting laws God caused to be established, cometh of evil, and that when we befriend any laws except those constitutional laws designed to protect freedom, we are building up the kingdom of the devil. Each political decision constitutes a partial choice between the kingdom of God and Satan.
The Responsibility Of A Believer
Throughout the centuries, millions of people have believed in Jesus Christ and have accepted as true the scriptural account of the establishment of his Church upon the earth. On the other hand, even though the same scriptures testify to the truth of the matter, it is probable that relatively few people have believed that there is a literal Satan who has his organizations on earth. He has kept his church and his works so well hidden that only those who search the revelations of God for knowledge concerning him will be aware of his existence and his plans. But a knowledge and rejection of evil is as essential to salvation and exaltation as a knowledge and acceptance of good. Belonging to Christ’s Church and believing his scriptures may prove a curse rather than a blessing if at the same time one permits himself to be deceived into belonging to the church of the devil and participating in his works:
For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation. (D&C 82:3)
Since there are so very few who seem to believe in the existence of Satan’s church and his plan to destroy free agency, those who acquire such knowledge have an obligation to share it with others. The following scriptures appear to impose such a responsibility:
Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven— These should then be attended to with great earnestness.
Let no man count them as small things;for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.
You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. (D&C 123:13-17, see also D&C 84:117 and D&C 18:20)
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