Brothers and Sisters, Aloha. I add my warm welcome to all of you here at our first devotional of this new academic year. These devotionals are a wonderful feature of the Church Education System, and one that can bless all of our lives as we meet together each week at this same hour.
We live at a unique time in the history of the world. We have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the blessings of being guided by apostles and prophets. And on this campus we also have the blessings of being a part of the Church Education System and having a temple of the Lord nearby. How we have been blessed!
In addition, we live in a time when the Church is clearly coming out of obscurity. In fact some in the media have referred to the current focus on the Church as "The Mormon Moment." Discussions about the Church and our beliefs and practices are appearing throughout the world and in all types of media and conversations. Just this past week I received a letter from one of the sister missionaries who served with us ten years ago in London. She is from France – a very secular country - and she was eager to tell us about the increased awareness of the Church in France – something she thought would never happen. Let me read a brief paragraph from her letter.
"As I'm writing to you, I'm listening to a radio broadcast and the topic is all about Mormonism because of Mitt Romney and the soon-to-be-built Temple in Paris. All this causes a great agitation in my country… It reminds me of when I was serving in England during the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002. This past week has been full of TV shows and other broadcasts on the Mormons because the church isn't very much known in France and journalists are trying to fill this gap…. It is a great opportunity for missionary work. Church members here are really excited about it and I take [every] opportunity to share the gospel with my friends."
What a blessing this focus on the church and its members will be in giving many more of the Lord's children the opportunity to hear His message. The conditions that have led to this focus on the Church and its beliefs would hardly have been imaginable a few decades ago but as religious freedom has spread across the globe, so too has missionary work and the opportunities to share the message.
But in spite of this "Mormon Moment" on the world stage, those we sustain as prophets, seers and revelators have recently raised the voice of warning that our religious freedom is being challenged and threatened on several fronts. And they have made it clear that if we simply take the blessing of religious freedom for granted, we will lose that blessing. This is the topic that I want to discuss with you today.
I've organized my remarks around three important aspects of religious freedom. First is a brief review of how the blessing of religious freedom was established initially through the hand of the Lord guiding the founding fathers as they created the United States Constitution with its Bill of Rights. Second, I want to outline the nature of the challenges and attacks that are threatening to restrict, reduce, and even eliminate this blessing in our daily lives. And third, I want to share some of the steps that the Lord's prophets have recommended we pursue as we seek to preserve and strengthen the great blessing of religious freedom.
Our Divinely Inspired Constitution (and Bill of Rights)1
Modern revelation makes clear that God established the U.S. Constitution so we might act according to moral agency and be accountable for those actions. As the Lord taught the prophet Joseph Smith in the 101st section of the Doctrine and Covenants,
"According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;
"That every man may act in doctrine and principle … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the Day of Judgment.
"…And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." (D&C 101:77-78, 80.)
The United States Constitution was the first written constitution of its kind in the world. And both Elder Dallin H. Oaks2 and Elder Quentin L. Cook3 have described it as the country's most important export, pointing out that today every nation in the world except six have adopted written constitutions.
Following the war of independence, the 13 colonies with their 3 ½ million citizens had no true central government. Fortunately, farsighted statesmen such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of George Washington, knew that if the U.S. were to become a successful nation it would need a radically different constitution and organization than what then existed.
But the problems facing those delegates who arrived to "form a more perfect union" appeared almost insurmountable. The most divisive issue was whether the United States should have a strong central government. This issue led President George Washington to use the word "miracle" in describing the drafting of the Constitution. In a letter to his friend, Lafayette, he said,
"It appears to me, little short of a miracle that the delegates from so many different states (which states you know are also different from each other in their manners, circumstances, and prejudices) should unite in forming a system of national Government…"4
And in addition to having a strong central government, they had to resolve the question of how large states and small states would be represented in the legislative branch. The Great Compromise on this issue was to provide for equal representation for each state in the Senate and representation proportionate to population for each state in the House.
Indeed the constitution drafted by these wise men was a wonderful compromise on many fronts due in no small part to the willingness of individual delegates to forgo many of their special interests in order to achieve a better solution for all. As James Madison who became the fourth President of the United States wrote in the preface to his notes on the Constitutional Convention:
"There never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them."5
Even when the U.S. constitution had been drafted, it still took nine months to get sufficient states to ratify it before it could take effect. And that ratification only occurred with the promise that a Bill of Rights would be drafted and approved as well.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks6, who previously served as a constitutional lawyer and law professor for over twenty years and then as a Supreme Court justice for the State of Utah for three-and-a-half years, has identified what he refers to as "five great fundamentals" that were the result of divine guidance in the creation of the U.S. Constitution:
- Separation of Powers – The Lord's hand is seen in the practical adaptation of the separation of powers into the legislative branch (consisting of the House and the Senate), the executive branch (led by the President and the administration) and the judicial branch (represented by the courts), with checks and balances on each.
- A written Bill of Rights – The Lord's hand is visible in the brilliant, practical implementation of preexisting principles. To this, Elder Oaks has added: "I have always felt that the United States Constitution's closest approach to scriptural stature is in the phrasing of our Bill of Rights. Without the free exercise of religion, America could not have served as the host nation for the restoration of the gospel, which began just three decades after the Bill of Rights was ratified."7
- Division of Power –The Lord's hand is clearly visible in the division of powers between the federal government and the states. In addition, the tenth amendment clarifies that those "powers not delegated to the central government by the constitution nor prohibited to it by the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people." This principle of limited national powers is one of the great fundamentals of the Constitution.
- Popular sovereignty – The Lord's hand here makes clear that "the people are the source of government power. … God gave the power to the people, and the people consented to a constitution that delegated certain powers to the government." Elder Oaks goes on to state, "the most desirable condition for the effective exercise of God-given moral agency is a condition of maximum freedom and responsibility. Popular sovereignty necessarily implies popular responsibility. Instead of blaming their troubles on a king or other sovereign, all citizens must share the burdens and responsibilities of governing."8
- The Rule of Law and Not of Men – Through the hand of the Lord all of the blessings enjoyed under the U.S. Constitution are dependent on the rule of law.
Not only was the hand of God clearly visible in the drafting of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but the men involved were themselves "raised up" by God for "this very purpose." A century later President Wilford Woodruff9 added his testimony of the founding fathers and what they accomplished, stating:
"I am going to bear my testimony … that those men who laid the foundation of this American government . . . were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. These were choice spirits… General Washington and all of the men that labored for this purpose were inspired of the Lord . . . . [They] called upon me as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ in the temple at St. George two consecutive nights and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them."
And as President Ezra Taft Benson10 pointed out in one of his talks on the U.S. Constitution, "what the framers did, under the inspiration of God, was to draft a document that merited the approval of God himself, who declared it to be 'maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh.'"
Let me conclude this discussion of the role of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in establishing the blessing of religious freedom "for the rights and protection of all" by citing one example of the impact it has had on other countries. I cite the case of Mongolia11 because many of us on this campus have seen first-hand the blessings of religious freedom in that land and its impact on the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Mongolia, the freedoms of speech, press and religion remained unfulfilled even after the first popular elections in 1990. Oyun Altangerel, a wife and mother who worked in the state library, courageously organized a small group of co-workers to speak out for the freedoms of worship, belief and expression. When Oyun was fired she began a hunger strike and was quickly joined by many others. They gained support in what became a national anti-government movement that voiced powerful support for the basic human freedoms of speech, press and religion. Eventually the government accepted the demands, and two years later Mongolia adopted a democratic constitution in another major step toward a free society.
For Latter-day Saints and those at BYU-Hawaii, this birth of constitutional freedoms in Mongolia has special interest. In 1992, the first missionary couples began holding their meetings in the state library where Oyun was working. She again showed great courage a year later by joining the Church and two years after that, her 22 year old son, was baptized. In 2009 the first stake in Mongolia was organized and today there are over 10,000 members of the Church in Mongolia. Called as the first Mongolian Stake President was Oyun's son, President Odgerel. President Odgerel came to BYU-Hawaii's Asian Management Program to learn English in 2000 and his wife earned a bachelor's degree at BYU-Hawaii.
The Expanding Attacks on Religious Freedom
There can be no doubt as to the hand of the Lord in establishing, securing and preserving the blessing of religious freedom in this land for the "rights and protection of all." "At the most basic level, religious freedom is the human right to think, act upon and express what one deeply believes, according to the dictates of his or her moral conscience. In fact, religious freedom has always been understood in conjunction with 'freedom of Conscience' - the liberty to develop and hold moral convictions and to act accordingly. So while religious freedom encompasses the liberty of religious belief and devotion – it also extends well beyond that, incorporating the freedom to act, - to speak freely in public, to live according to one's moral principles and to advocate one's own moral vision for society."12
In speaking about our religious freedom as established by the founding fathers, Elder Oaks has stated:
"For many of the Founding Fathers, and for many Americans today, religious liberty is the basic civil liberty because faith in God and His teachings and the active practice of religion are the most fundamental guiding realities of life. Thus, for many citizens, religious liberty provides the very reason that all other civil liberties are desired."13
Furthermore, in the view of the founding fathers, maintaining and protecting religious freedom is essential if society is to be maintained and preserved. Thus John Adams, the second U.S. President, observed,
"We have no government armed with [sufficient] power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."14
Elder Dallin H. Oaks summarized his views on this point when he stated:
"The founders who established this nation believed in God and in the existence of moral absolutes—right and wrong—established by this Ultimate Law-giver. The Constitution they established assumed and relied on morality in the actions of its citizens. Where did that morality come from and how was it to be retained? Belief in God and the consequent reality of right and wrong was taught by religious leaders in churches and synagogues, and the founders gave us the First Amendment to preserve that foundation for the Constitution."15
But with the growth in secularism fueled by the popular press and many others intent on banishing the discussion of religion and faith from the public square, even the most basic principles of religious freedom are under attack. This topic has been the focus of several recent talks given by General Authorities of the church. Let me cite three brief examples of these attacks from a talk given to the J. Reuben Clark Law Society by Elder Lance B. Wickman16, the Chief Legal Counsel for the Church and an emeritus Seventy.
The first example is of an effort by Great Britain's labor government to extend antidiscrimination practices so as to prohibit a church from requiring its employees to adhere to its moral standards. Under such legislation a Church employer in the UK – such as CES with its seminary and institute teachers and BYU with its London Study Abroad Center – would no longer have been allowed to use either Church membership, or adherence to Gospel standards as a criterion in hiring. Fortunately, at the 11th hour, a coalition of faith-based groups, including the Mormons and the Catholics, banded together to preserve the rights of churches to require adherence to their standards among their employees.
One British commentator strongly endorsed the position of these faith-based groups in countering this threat to religious freedom, saying:
"There are times when human rights become human wrongs. This happens when rights become more than a defense of human dignity, which is their proper sphere, and become instead a political ideology, relentlessly trampling down everything in their path. This is happening increasingly in Britain…using the ideology of human rights to assault religion risks undermining the very foundation of human rights themselves."17
The second example is one that all of those living in the U.S. for the past few decades are well aware of. It is the gradual but steady restriction of the use of prayer and references to God in public settings. I still remember when the words "under God" were added to the pledge of allegiance that all of us in elementary school would repeat each morning. But today it is common for some public officials to purposely omit those two words when stating the pledge of allegiance.
While the early court cases against prayer were argued on the basis of "separation" of church and state", the more recent legal cases have clearly focused on the "elimination" of religion, God, and Faith in public whenever the government is involved in any way. As pointed out by Elder Wickman, "The dimensions of the public square where religious activities can be tolerated are constricting." He then cites one commentator who said, "The Left is trying to create a [civil] right that destroys [freedom of religion]."18
The third example relates to the many recent legal cases brought against state governments who have laws declaring that marriage is between a man and a woman. While the first two examples I've cited would drive religious values and prayer from public and civil settings, this third example seeks to drive out "religious opinions" as well.
Elder Wickman points out that in perhaps the best known of these challenges – the legal suit against the success of Proposition 8 a few years ago in California – "[the opponents] claimed that the voters – from whom all authority in a democracy flows – may not consider religious views and values when deciding these alleged social and cultural civil rights."19 Or in other words, civil and social rights should have priority over religious rights – exactly the opposite of what the founding fathers had in mind when they drafted the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.20
Regarding these relentless attacks on religious freedom, Elder Wickman concluded with a quote from Elder Oaks:
"There is a growing anti-religious bigotry in the United States. . . . For three decades people of faith have watched a systematic and very effective effort waged in the courts and the media to drive them from the public square and to delegitimize their participation in politics as somehow threatening. For example, a prominent gay-rights spokesman gave this explanation for his objection to our Church's position on California's Proposition 8: 'I'm not intending it to harm the religion. I think they do wonderful things. Nicest people. . . . My single goal is to get them out of the same-sex marriage business and back to helping hurricane victims.'"21
Let me cite the conclusions of one other apostle, Elder Russell M. Nelson regarding these threats to our religious freedom. In a talk given in Boston, MA in 2010, Elder Nelson declared:
"If civil law were altered to recognize so-called "same-gender" marriage, you as believers in God, and keepers of His commandments, would then be regarded as exceptions to the rule. Your conscientious convictions would then be regarded as discriminatory. If you were a Christian school teacher, you could be charged with bigotry for upholding the Lord's law of chastity. In truth dear brothers and sisters, if you lose marriage, you also lose freedom of religion. Atheistic moral bedlam and religious repression go hand in hand. At stake is our ability to transmit to the next generation the life-giving and inseparable culture of marriage and the free exercise of religion."22
Preserving and Strengthening Religious Freedom
With so many others, I testify that a loving Father in Heaven has guided those who have sacrificed so much to secure the blessing of religious freedom in this land and elsewhere. Furthermore, our God knows of the growing challenges and attacks that are threatening our religious freedom. And through His prophets and apostles, He has made clear that He is counting on us to help preserve and strengthen these rights and freedoms.
In the few minutes remaining, I'd like to summarize just four of the things that our inspired leaders have invited us to do as we strive with others of faith to preserve and strengthen religious freedom.
First, we need to join forces with our neighbors and like-minded people from all faiths to work together in defending against these attacks. In most of the recent legal cases that have ruled in favor of religious freedom, it has been the direct result of faith-based communities banding together for a common good. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who is one who has worked tirelessly to help facilitate such joint efforts, recently stated,
"The larger and more united the Christian voice, the more likely we are to carry the day in these matters. In that regard we should remember the Savior's warning regarding "a house divided against [itself]"—a house that finds it cannot stand against more united foes pursuing an often unholy agenda (Luke 11:17)."23
Second, we need to bring religion and the principles of truth upon which our faith and testimony are based into the public discussion and not be intimidated and chased away by those who would ridicule or attack our beliefs. Elder Neal A Maxwell made this very insightful and practical observation concerning the need for us to share our values and beliefs in the public square. He said,
"Decrease the belief in God, and you increase the number of those who wish to play at being God by being "society's supervisors.' Such 'supervisors' deny the existence of divine standards, but are very serious about imposing their own standards on society."24
When Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke in a Sunday evening devotional here on the BYU-Hawaii campus recently, he cited the importance of following the counsel given by the Lord in D&C 58:39. He said we should not let the "praise of the world" through adherence to norms of "political correctness," limit our explanation of the Lord's commandments and His eternal truths. That is, we should speak what is truth and will bring the blessings of Heaven, rather than being deterred by the familiar charge that we are trying to legislate morality. As Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States declared,
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis: a conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are the gift of God? [And] that they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just [and] His justice cannot sleep forever."25
Third, as we join the discussions taking place in the public square, we must be careful to be respectful of others and always be civil in our discourse. Elder Quentin L. Cook26 has pointed out that the moral basis of civility of all Christians should be the golden rule as taught by the Savior, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31). Elder Holland has referred to this as "convicted civility," meaning that we have a responsibility to represent our doctrine, beliefs and practices accurately and grasp that of others in the same way.27
Fourth, and perhaps most important, we have a duty, as well as a right, to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and to let our light shine that it might bless all of those with whom we associate. One of the clear messages of the Book of Mormon regarding this land was summarized by the Lord to His prophet over 4000 years ago.
"Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written." (Ether 2:12)
It is my hope and prayer that we will all take time to thank our loving Heavenly Father for the great blessing of religious freedom that we enjoy here on this campus and as residents of this great land. And may we follow the counsel of our beloved prophet, President Monson, "… to be active in the communities where we live … and to work cooperatively with other churches and organizations. … [so that we can] eliminate the weakness of one standing alone and substitute for it the strength of people working together."28 Thereby exercising our freedom of religion and ensuring that freedom for our children and grandchildren. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
1 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Inspired Constitution", Ensign, Feb. 1992 and President Ezra Taft Benson, "The Constitution: A Glorious Standard", General Conference, April 1976.
2 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Inspired Constitution", Ensign, Feb. 1992
3 See Elder Quentin L. Cook, "Restoring Morality and Religious Freedom", Ensign, Sept. 2012.
4 Letter from Washington to Lafayette, 7 Feb. 1788, quoted in Catherine Drinker Bowen, Miracle at Philadelphia, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1966, p. xvii
5 Quoted in William O. Nelson, The Charter of Liberty, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987, p. 44.
6 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Inspired Constitution", Ensign, Feb. 1992.
7 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Inspired Constitution", Ensign, Feb. 1992.
8 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Inspired Constitution", Ensign, Feb. 1992.
9 See President Ezra Taft Benson, "God's Hand in our Nation's History", BYU Provo, March 1976.
10 See President Ezra T. Benson, "God's Hand in our Nation's History," BYU Provo, March 1976.
11 Abridged from Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Religious Freedom", BYU-Idaho Devotional, Oct. 2009.
12 See "Six Part Series on Religious Freedom," (www.MormonNewsroom.org//Religious-Freedom.)
13 See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Religion in Public Life," Ensign, July 1990.
14 See Charles Francis Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, pp. 228-9 (Books for Libraries Press, 1969.)
15 Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Preserving Religious Freedom", Chapman University Law School, February 4, 2011.
16 See Elder Lance B. Wickman, "The Threatened Demise of Religion in the Public Square," J. Reuben Clark Law Society, February 11, 2010.
17 Jonathan Sacks, "The Pope is Right About the Threat to Freedom," The Times, February 3, 2010.
18 See Elder Lance B. Wickman, "The Threatened Demise of Religion in the Public Square," J. Reuben Clark Law Society, February 11, 2010.
19 See Elder Lance B. Wickman, "The Threatened Demise of Religion in the Public Square," J. Reuben Clark Law Society, February 11, 2010.
20 See Elder Lance B. Wickman, "The Threatened Demise of Religion in the Public Square," J. Reuben Clark Law Society, February 11, 2010.
21 Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Religious Freedom", BYU-Idaho, October 13, 2009.
22 See Elder Russell M. Nelson, "Religious Freedom," Boston, MA. June 10, 2010.
23 See Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Standing together for the Cause of Christ," Ensign, August 2012.
24 See Elder Neal A Maxwell, "The Prohibitive Costs of a Value-Free Society," Ensign, October 1978.
25 See Thomas Jefferson, "A Summary View of the Rights of British America," Tract published in 1774, Philadelphia, PA. (Included in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.)
26 See Elder Quentin L. Cook, "Restoring Morality and Religious Freedom", Ensign, Sept. 2012.
27 See Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Standing together for the Cause of Christ," Ensign, August 2012.
28 See President Thomas S. Monson, in "Who are the Mormons?", (http://mormonnewsroom.org/article/who-are-the-mormons.)