A Better Option

It has been my observation that any time any problem gains the attention of the people of this country, the first and only reaction is: "What is the government going to do to fix this?" If our problems will ever be solved, we must start looking to a different source.

"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.' ”

Where do we stand now? We stand at a point in time where the Ten Commandments of God are banned from the halls of our governments. We may firmly believe in our religion and in our rights to exercise our religion, but too many people, including too many LDS people, share the belief that religion has no place in government. The Constitutional text that was written to protect religion from government has been twisted to protect government 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 and corrupt legislation. All churches not only have the right to speak out on public moral issues, but they have the solemn obligation to do so. Religion represents society’s conscience, and churches must speak out when government chooses a course that is contrary to the laws of God."

If there is any hope for the future of America, it must be based on the morality of her people.

"If we would maintain the independence and freedom the Founding Fathers intended, we must work to preserve and protect the moral foundation upon which they built the U. S. government. We must stand boldly for righteousness and truth, and must defend the cause of honor, decency, and personal freedom espoused by Washington, Madison, Adams, Lincoln, and other leaders who acknowledged and loved God. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the same predicament President Lincoln observed in 1863."

"Said Lincoln: 'We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of their own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!'"

"Let us resolve to make our own families truly free by teaching them that God holds us all accountable. His laws are absolutes; breaking them brings misery and unhappiness; keeping them brings joy, happiness, and the blessings of heaven. Let us teach our families and others the importance of moral responsibility based on the laws of God."

[Note: All paragraphs in this post that are in quotations are quoting M. Russell Ballard's talk, Religion in a Free Society, from the October 1992 Ensign. Like everything else I quote, I recommend you read it in its entirety.]