From President Hinckley's book "Standing For Something": Teach them the beauty of freedoms the marvelous freedoms established by the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution of this nation.In leadership, in standing for principle, there is loneliness. But men and women of integrity must live with their convictions. Unless they do so, they are miserable.Never in the history of the world has there been a more profound need for leaders of principle to step forward. Never before, at least not in our generation, have the forces of evil been so blatant, so brazen, so aggressive as they are at the present time. We are involved in an intense battle. It is a battle between right and wrong, between truth and error, between the design of the Almighty on the one hand and that of Lucifer on the other. For that reason we desperately need men and women who, in their individual spheres of influence, will stand for truth in a world of sophistry. I have lived long enough to know that many political campaigns, for example, are the same. I have heard again and again the sweet talk that leads to victory but never seems to be realized thereafter. We need moral men and women, people who stand on principle, to be involved in the political process. Otherwise, we abdicate power to those whose designs are almost entirely selfish.. We dont have the luxury of retreating to our private cloisters and pursuing only our special private interests. Strong voices are needed. The weight of our stance may be enough to tip the scales in the direction of truth and right.
From "Our Duty As Citizens" by Ezra Taft Benson: "It is our job, our duty, and our responsibility to take an active interest in these matters, and carry out the admonition and the commandment which God has given us to see to it that men of charactergood men, as measured by the standards of the gospelare elected to public office."
Spencer W. Kimball, speaking at the Rotary Club in SLC, 8 June 1976: "The only way we can keep our freedom is to work at it. Not some of us. All of us. Not some of the time, but all of the time. So if you value your citizenship and you want to keep it for yourself and your children and their children, give it your faith, your belief, and give it your active support in civic affairs.
I am convinced Latter-day Saints in general are not very politically savvy or astute. Theres not a lot of interest in politics among LDSs. We are, first of all, very busy people. We spend a lot of time serving in their local Wards and Stakes. A lot is expected of them and they expect a lot of themselves.
In the past, the Church leadership definitely has taken a stand on politics and government. According to LDS doctrine, its members are supposed to take a strong pro-Constitution stand (I the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land;), and years ago they were strongly encouraged by certain leaders like Presidents McKay and Clark, Apostle Benson and others to study the US Constitution and participate in government in ways supportive of the Constitution. At least it was that way some years ago. But being so busy, politics is easily pushed aside for religious duties. As a result, most Latter-day Saints have become fairly ignorant about whats going on in government. They dont realize how un-constitutional their FedGov has actually become. And their ecclesiastical leaders no longer strongly remind them of their responsibilities regarding striving to maintain the proper role of government. In fact, one of our (AZ) state senators said last evening she was once chastised for belonging to the John Birch Society. The senator said she told Ezra Taft Benson of the chastisement and he told her she was doing the right thing and praised her efforts. LDSs in Utah keep sending representatives and senators back to Washington who continue proposing and supporting unconstitutional programs like social welfare and foreign aid, have contributed to Congress abrogation of its constitutional responsibility to vote on and declare wars and allowed the President to do it for them, have supported and even encouraged illegal immigration, and so on. Many spout ideals that would set the American Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves.
Yes, LDSs want ethical government all right, no question about that. They talk that way, at least. But most of the conservative Mormons seem to be walking in darkness at noon day, to borrow a line of Mormon scripture. So much of their time and energy is used up in normal life, they just go on the best they can. Also, there seems to be a desire on the part of many Mormons, even those in leadership positions, to show the world that they are politically correct and in step with the crowd. Sometimes that means following the crowd. And sometimes the crowd is wrong.
If you hold politicians accountable for upholding and enforcing only powers specifically contained in the constitution, then 99% of them could be sent home. There are too many people trying to get as much money and power from others as they can, from the military-industrail complex and unconstitutional wars and standing armies, to welfare, to social security, to prescription drug plans, to home town pork, to federal interference in states' rights, to beurocratic fiats. According to LDS doctrine, its members are supposed to take a strong pro-Constitution stand (I the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; That scripture was given during a time of persecution. While retaining government leaders willing to follow the laws is important to that scripture, I think that the bigger meaning is that we should seek all the protections granted to us by the constitution and become legally savvy enough to take all legal advantages granted to us.
However, I think that advances in science and technology require at least a little ability for the federal government to evolve.
