The following lost LDS Classic is an article I came across recently in my readings of older church writings. Though the author for the article is unknown, the editor of the Deseret News during this era was David O. Calder. What makes it interesting is the way in which it clearly lays out the limits on our obedience to the laws of man and the supremacy of God’s law. Further, it offers fuller, more correct interpretations of scriptures such as D&C 98: 4-6 which are often today used to justify our expected obedience to the State but which, properly understood, command that first and above all, we be loyal to God and His commandments no matter what the orders of the government may be. That man’s laws may make illegal that which God has commanded means nothing to the Saint who has dedicated his or her life to God. We are to obey God in all things, even if it means breaking the laws of men, even if it means suffering trial, hardship, suffering, and death for doing so. As the article points out, this is in fact the very test of life – to see if we follow God in all things no matter how all the powers of Earth and Hell may rage against us for doing so.
Category: Religion
When We Should Break The Law
From our earliest days, when the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum suffered in Liberty Jail and died in Carthage Jail, to the Saints spending nearly 30 years resisting Federal anti-polygamy laws, practicing civil disobedience and being willing to go to prison in order to serve God, on down to the modern day we have examples of the lives of great Saints who have repeatedly broken the laws of the land in order to do what is right and to serve God. Latter-day Saint history is full of rebels and rogues, people who would rather be exiled from the nation, who would rather be killed, than disobey the Lord. So how is it that so many of us have become so milquetoast about standing up the government tyranny? Why is it that so many of us think that the Saints should “strictly obey the laws of the government in which they live,” even when such laws aren’t just wrong or immoral, but even when said laws actively compel us either to disobey God or punish us for obeying Him? While there are numerous reasons, one of the largest is because Latter-day Saints have misinterpreted the Twelfth Article of Faith, D&C 58:21, and D&C 134:5 as giving commandments to the Saints to obey the law and to comply even with evil laws. A close examination of these scriptures though, as I attempt here, show that such interpretations are, by the large, gross nonsense.
Why Latter-day Saints Shouldn’t Vote
This past week I have been laying out both the ethical and practical arguments against voting. In a political system dominated by State power and control voting to use violence in order to force others to live how you think they should is evil and those in power are going to justify doing whatever they want whether the people support it or not so voting is meaningless. Here though I dig into the deeper, theological reasons against voting in a statist political system. The scriptures teach us that the power of the governments of the world come from Satan, not God. Likewise, the State sets itself into opposition to God by teaching men and women under its influence to defy and break the commandments of God in order to serve and follow it. Giving such a perverse and corrupt system even the appearance of your consent to it through voting, thereby legitimizing it in all its violence, oppression, and theft, should be something all people of all persuasions would avoid to do, especially the Saints of God who have consecrated themselves and all they have to God alone. The State is infernalistic and idolatrous and we should have no part in empowering it or promoting it.
How Mormonism Can Change The World
What would a society where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the major influences on everything look like? How would it function? What would it mean for rich people? For poor people? For property owners? For homeless people? For politicians? For the public? What would it look like in terms of sex, marriage, and children? What would its economy look like? If we could carry out a generations long experiment with the effects of Mormonism on a nation, what would be the end results and how would they stack up against other places with such a heavy Latter-day Saint influence? Our critics would have us believe that it would be a dystopian nightmare. Are they right? What proof otherwise do we have? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.
The Great Fiction of the State
With all the evils perpetuated upon society by those in power, because of the constant robbery, harassment, and violence everyone is constantly subjected to and under threat of, it seems like it wouldn’t be hard to rally people against the evils of the State. Yet, for many there is no organization for which they would more kill and die for, no idea for which they would sacrifice more, even their children, than the government, for the State. As a result the natural question we must ask ourselves is why; why do so many give so much to and do so much for that which does them so much harm and which lives off of the masses as one great parasite draining away the vital wealth and liberty of the people until it becomes so bloated and fat and society so enfeebled that everything collapses into chaos under the weight of its failures. Here I seek to answer this question and, drawing upon as diverse thinkers as Frédéric Bastiat, Robert Houghwout Jackson, and King Benjamin, I believe I have come upon three essential insights that help explain why people engage in such pious veneration of and develop such powerful loyalty to the State. After exploring these ideas of why people believe so ardently in the Great Fiction of the State, I present the solutions to the lies of the Sate and the most effective way we can help to transform the world, liberating humanity from the yoke of the State and securing greater liberty and prosperity for ourselves and our posterity for all time.
What Do You Do When An Apostle Is Wrong?
This is a topic that I think is important to address, yet it is one that we are often afraid to address. Perhaps this is because we feel like that by pointing out or acknowledging where the Brethren are in error that we are questioning the Lord Himself or like we might damage another’s faith. Yet we all know it happens. Apostles are often wrong when citing scriptures and when citing history. And refusing to address the issue creates a very unhealthy aura of infallibility around the Brethren that not only forces more weight upon their shoulders than they already carry but it also creates a very weak and sandy foundation upon which to build our own testimonies. This article is dedicated towards answering this important question in a way that will help the believer maintain and build faith in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, and His appointed leaders while also acknowledging and understanding their own fallibility, their ability to commit error, and how their doing so should impact our own understanding of the scriptures.
An Apostle Explains The End of the World
This is quite possibly one of my favorite things I’ve ever read. Herein is reproduced a letter written by one of the church’s most influential thinkers and theologians, Apostle Parley P. Pratt. The letter was sent by Elder Pratt to Queen Victoria, the Queen of England, during his first mission to Great Britain. In it, Elder Pratt does something that I absolutely adore. Instead of fawning over Victoria or her court, hoping to make some favorable impression for himself or the church as you would imagine many people then and now would, Elder Pratt, while being courteous and humble, goes for the jugular of the Empire itself. Using the scriptures he lays out the coming judgments of God against the kingdoms of the world, the events of the Last Days before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the revolutionary the establishment of the Kingdom of God through the Restoration, and calls upon the leaders of the state to repent of their wickedness, denounce their greed and power, and to lead their nation in mass repentance before they are overthrown by the power of God. For this alone it is worth reading. Throw in his clear explanation of many of the signs of the Last Days and it is without a doubt that all who read it will profit from it.
What Does It Mean To “Render Unto Caesar”?
“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and to God the things which are God’s,” is one of the most abused and least understood scriptures in the Standard Works. For nearly 2,000 years it has been used to justify the violence, brutality, and evils carried out by the State and used by its defenders to argue that Christians should obey their governments when it robs and oppresses them. But this interpretation is way off from the true meaning of the scripture.
By delving into the scriptures themselves and examining the historical and scriptural context in which Christ was speaking not only do I conclude that the classic interpretation of this scripture is wrong, but that it means almost the exact opposite of what the classical interpretation says the scripture means. It is not a call to submit to Caesar, to obey our governments, and do what we are told by these in power. Rather it is a call to rebel against the powers of the world and serve God alone.
I also talk about how this scripture has special applications for endowed Latter-day Saints as they have covenanted to give everything they own and are to Christ alone for the building of His Kingdom, not to Caesar for the building of Babylon.
What Caused The Great Disaster of 3 Nephi 8?
In 3 Nephi 8, the Prophet-Historian Mormon records that a tremendous cataclysm destroyed a multitude of cities, slew untold numbers of people, and shook the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations to their cores, bringing them to their knees in every describable way. This event consisted of horrific storms that destroyed entire cities, mass fires that burned other cities to the ground, massive earthquakes that tore apart yet other cities, and three days of darkness that covered the land in a literal, palpable darkness that could be felt and which prevented the kindling of any fire and which blocked out the Sun itself. In short, the Nephites and Lamanites got a practice run with the Apocalypse. But what caused it? What actual physical processes did the Lord use to bring about this Great Disaster? Here I attempt to provide an answer to this question that details all the major events and addresses what caused them. Finally, I comment on some important spiritual truths that we can learn from the history of these events.
The Religious Nature of the Political Right
A few weeks back I wrote an exploration of the religious nature of the political Left, exploring the ways that Leftist ideology acts as a religion within the lives of Leftists themselves. Today’s article is about the religious nature of the political Right and about the ways that right wing ideology acts as the religious beliefs of Rightists. Unlike many people, who make the easily understood and common mistake of equating the religion of the political Right with some aberrant form of Christianity, I have relied upon the works of Dr. Carlton J.H. Hayes, an eminent historian who pioneered the historical study of Nationalism, to study the true religion of the political Right and the impact it has in the lives of Rightists. In doing so I also dig into what it means to be on the political Right in terms of conservatism, traditionalism, and nationalism, seeking to reach the true taproot of the political Right, that set of beliefs which defines it even when all its other ideas shift and change over time. Here I believe I have hit on the definitive truth of not only what motivates right wing politics but what also drives the faith of Rightists in their ideology and what motivates them to try and remake the world in its image.