Gordon B. Hinckley

Agency, Discipleship, War May 29, 2017

An Unending Conflict, a Victory Assured

‘But there is another war that has gone on since before the world was created …That war, so bitter, so intense, has never ceased. It is the war between truth and error, between agency and compulsion, between the followers of Christ and those who have denied Him. His enemies have used every stratagem in that conflict. They’ve indulged in lying and deceit. They’ve employed money and wealth. They’ve tricked the minds of men. They’ve murdered and destroyed and engaged in every kind of evil practice to thwart the work of Christ. …The war goes on. It is waged across the world over the issues of agency and compulsion… truth and error … love and respect, of loyalty and fidelity, of obedience and integrity….’

Bitesize, Government, Politics May 29, 2017

“…be involved in the political process…”

“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 moral men and women who stand on principle, to be involved in the political process. Otherwise we abdicate power to those whose designs are almost entirely selfish.”

Government, Last Days, Secret Combinations, Self Reliance, Signs of the Times, War, Welfare February 21, 2017

The Times in Which We Live

“The Book of Mormon speaks of the Gadianton robbers, a vicious, oath-bound, and secret organization bent on evil and destruction. In their day they did all in their power, by whatever means available, to bring down the Church, to woo the people with sophistry, and to take control of the society. We see the same thing in the present situation.”

Politics, Self Reliance, Welfare July 6, 2016

“This Thing Was Not Done in a Corner”

“We teach self-reliance as a principle of life, that we ought to provide for ourselves and take care of our own needs. And so we encourage our people to have something, to plan ahead, keep … food on hand, to establish a savings account, if possible, against a rainy day. …The individual, as we teach, ought to do for himself all that he can. When he has exhausted his resources, he ought to turn to his family to assist him. When the family can’t do it, the Church takes over. And when the Church takes over, our great desire is to first take care of his immediate needs and then to help him for so long as he needs to be helped, but in that process to assist him in training, in securing employment, in finding some way of getting on his feet again. That’s the whole objective of this great welfare program.”

Agency, Government, Politics, Prophecy, War June 25, 2016

A Testimony Vibrant and True

“I know of no other writing which sets forth with such clarity the tragic consequences to societies that follow courses contrary to the commandments of God. …The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who …encouraged loose and lascivious living. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction…”

Consent of Governed, Liberty, Religious Freedom, Temple June 2, 2016

Dedicatory Prayer – London Temple

“…it was at Runnymede, in this county of Surrey, in the year 1215 that the Magna Charta was signed, establishing principles in behalf of the freedom and dignity of man. …They have spread from here and have been incorporated in the constitutions and charters of other nations across the earth who also have established governments that derive their powers from the consent of the governed. …We acknowledge thy divine hand in the establishment and preservation of that freedom in this the United Kingdom.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley speaks at a Fireside during the annual Provo Freedom Festival, Sunday June 29 1997

Government, Liberty, Politics, Religious Freedom June 1, 2016

“In God We Trust”

“We thank thee for this great and sovereign nation of which we are citizens. Touch the minds of those of our Congress that they shall stand…in defense of the liberty of the people. Bless the chief executive… Let thy spirit move upon him to…lift the burdens of government from the backs of the people and keep this nation under God, a citadel of freedom standing as an example to all the world. Bless the Supreme Court of the United States which in recent days has declared unconstitutional a measure designed to secure the religious liberty of the people of this nation. May a way be found under thy divine inspiration to bring to pass another measure which will be sustained by the court.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley speaking at BYU

Agency, Discipleship, Prophecy, Self Reliance May 15, 2016

“Believe His Prophets”

‘These are little things, but they are important things. They bring to mind the great contest between the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal. Said Elijah on that occasion, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.”’

Consecration, Courage, Family, Government, Politics, Self Reliance, Voluntarism April 16, 2016

These Noble Pioneers

“Nothing happens in this world until there is work… What a dismal station we have reached in this nation where we have borrowed and spent and failed to repay. At the close of 1994, every man, woman, and child in the United States owed as his or her part of the national debt $17,805.64. Think of it. It is a disgrace. It affects all of our monetary policies and all of our commerce. It burdens us with taxes from which there is little or no relief.”