Quorum of the Twelve

Elder Dalling H. Oaks

Constitution, Government, Law, Liberty, Politics, Religious Freedom August 20, 2016

Elder Oaks Testifies before U.S. Congressional Subcommittee

“The conflict between individual rights to freely worship God and government attempts to regulate or interfere with religious practices remains today…. If past is prologue, the forces of local, state, and federal governmental power, now freed from the compelling governmental interest test, will increasingly interfere with the free exercise of religion. We fear that the end result will be a serious diminution of the religious freedom guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Constitution, Government, Law, Liberty, Politics, Religious Freedom July 31, 2016

Preserving Religious Freedom

“We must never see the day when the public square is not open to religious ideas and religious persons. The religious community must unite to be sure we are not coerced or deterred into silence by the kinds of intimidation or threatening rhetoric that are being experienced. Whether or not such actions are anti-religious, they are surely anti-democratic and should be condemned by all who are interested in democratic government. There should be room for all good-faith views in the public square, be they secular, religious, or a mixture of the two.”

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Government, Last Days, Personal Revelation, Politics, Prophecy, Secret Combinations, Self Reliance, Signs of the Times, War, Welfare July 31, 2016

Stand Independent above All Other Creatures

“I stand before the Church this day and raise the warning voice. It is a prophetic voice… For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus… Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually… We do not know when the calamities and troubles of the last days will fall upon any of us as individuals or upon bodies of the Saints. The Lord deliberately withholds from us the day and hour of his coming and of the tribulations which shall precede it… He simply tells us to watch and be ready.”

Elder Orson Pratt

Last Days, Self Reliance, Signs of the Times, War, Welfare July 26, 2016

“…a day of great tribulation…”

“…inasmuch as we have pointed out the way of escape and shown you that the Lord has provided in regard to these matters, for all that will believe in him, and repent of their sins, and obey the gospel, do not be dilatory, do not be slack, do not be extravagant in your expenditures, but strive to lay up means… for a day of great tribulation is coming, a day of desolation…”

Ezra Taft Benson speaks in General Conference, October 1973

Discipleship, Last Days, Prophecy, Self Reliance, Signs of the Times, Welfare July 19, 2016

Prepare Ye

‘The strength of the Church welfare program lies in every family following the inspired direction of the Church leaders to be self-sustaining through adequate preparation. God intends for his Saints to so prepare themselves “that the church [as the Lord has said] may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.” …may we recognize the infallibility of God’s inspired word—whether by his “… own voice …” or the “voice of [his] my servants, it is the same.”…The days ahead are sobering and challenging. Oh, may we be prepared spiritually and temporally, I pray humbly…’

Boyd K. Packer speaks in General Conference, April 1990

Agency, Prophecy, Self Reliance, Voluntarism, Welfare July 17, 2016

Teach Them Correct Principles

“…Church activities must be replaced by family activities. Just as we have been taught with temporal affairs, the spirit of independence, thrift, and self-reliance will be re-enthroned as guiding principles in the homes of Latter-day Saints. And, just as stake leaders now will sponsor fewer activities, leaving more of the time and money to ward leaders, ward leaders in turn will leave more of both to the families. …For those who can and are willing, there comes the opportunity to make generous offerings. In leaving decisions to you, do you not see the fundamental doctrine of moral agency asserting itself? Do you not see the change from assessment to offering something of the testing which is fundamental to our mortal probation?”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Agency, Consent of Governed, Constitution, Government, Law, Liberty, Politics June 27, 2016

The Divinely Inspired Constitution

“… the most desirable condition for the effective exercise of God-given moral agency is a condition of maximum freedom and responsibility. In this condition men are accountable for their own sins and cannot blame their political conditions on their bondage to a king or a tyrant. This condition is achieved when the people are sovereign, as they are under the Constitution God established in the United States.”

Elder Ezra Taft Benson speaks in General Conference, April 1973

Agency, Government, Liberty, Politics, Self Reliance, Welfare June 25, 2016

“Watchman, Warn the Wicked”

“How strong is our will to remain free—to be good? False thinking and false ideologies, dressed in the most pleasing forms, quietly—almost without our knowing it—seek to reduce our moral defenses and to captivate our minds. They entice with bright promises of security, cradle-to-grave guarantees of many kinds. They masquerade under various names, but all may be recognized by one thing—one thing they all have in common: to erode away character and man’s freedom to think and act for himself. …Again, let us not be misled. Freedom can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks testifies before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Oct 2011

Agency, Constitution, Government, Liberty, Politics, Voluntarism, Welfare June 12, 2016

“…private sector…essential to preserving pluralism and freedom…”

“…I submit that most Americans would not have us relinquish the freedom and diversity of our vigorous private sector of charities in exchange for the assurance that the government would select and manage their functions. …That private, non-profit sector has always been an important counterweight to the powers and potentially repressive influence of governments. The private sector is essential to preserving pluralism and freedom in our nation.”