Constitution Hanging by a Thread
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A few Item from a discourse delivered by Joseph Smith July 19— 1840 Read a chap in [Ezekiel] ed concluding with this saying and when all these things come to pass and Lo they will come then shall you know that a Prophet hath been among you Afterwards read the parable of the 12 olive trees and said speaking of the Land of Zion that It consisted consists of all N. & S America but that any place where the Saints gather is Zion which every righteous man will build up for a place of safety for his children that The olive trees are 12 stakes which are yet to be built not the Temple in Jackson as some suppose for while the 12 olive stakes are being built we will be at peace but the Nations of the Earth will be at war: our cry from the 1st has been for peace and we will continue pleading like the Widow at the feet of the unjust judge but we may plead at the feet of Majistrates and at the feet of Judges At the feet of Governors and at the feet of senotors & at the feet of the Pre[s]idents for 8 years it will be of no avail we shall find no favor in any <of the> courts of this government The redemption of Zion is the redemption of all N & S America and those 12 stake must be built up before the redemption of Zion can take place and those who refuse to gather and build when they are comanded to do so cease to be Saviours of men and are thenceforth good for nothing but shall be cast out and trodden underfeet of men for their transgression as Reed Peck was when he aplied in the name of an apostate for buisness in a store in Quincy They told him that they wanted no apostates round them and showed him the door At this same store the Authorities of this Churc<h> could have obtained almost any amount of Credit they could have asked— *We shall build the Zion of the Lord in peace untill the servants of that Lord shall begin to lay the found [a]tion of a great and high watch Tower and then shall they begin to say within themselves what need hath my Lord of this tower seeing this is a time of peace &c— Then the Enemy shall come as a thief in the night and scatter the servants abroad when the seed of these Olive trees are scattered abroad they will wake up the Nations of the whole Earth Eeven this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to peices and tumbling to the ground and when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff up[on] which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear away the constitution away from the <very> verge of destruction— Then shall the Lord say Go tell all my servants who are the strength of mine house my young men and middle aged &c Come to the Land of my vineyard and fight the battle of the Lord— Then the Kings & Queens shall come then the rulers of the Earth shall come then shall all saints come yea the Foreign saints shall come to fight for the Land of my vineyard for in this thing Shall be their safety and they will have no power to choose but will come as a man fleeeth from a sudden destruction— But before this the time shall be when these who are now my friends shall become my enemies and shall seek to take my life and shall be m there are those now before me who will more furiously pursue me and more dilligently seek to my life and be more b[l]ood thirsty upon my track thus <than> ever were the Misourian Mobbers you say among yourselves as did them of old time is it I & is it I but I know these things by the visions of the Almighty— But brethren come ye yea come all of you who can come and go to with your mights and build up the cities of the Lord and whosoever will let him come and partake of the poverty of Nauvoo freely for those who partake of her poverty shall also shall also partake of her prosperity and it is now wisdom in God that we should enter into as compact a city as posible For Zion and Jerusalem and must both be built up before the coming of Christ This will near a half of a century How long will it take to do this 10 years yes more than 40 years will pass before this work will be accomplished and when these cities are built then shall the coming of the son of man be. Now let all who can coolly and deliberately dispose of their property come up and give of their substance to the [poor?] that the hearts of the poor may be comforted and all may worship god together in holiness of heart come brethren come all of you— And I prophecy in the name of the Lord that the state of Illinois shall become a great mountain and mighty mountain as [a] city set upon a hill that cannot be hid and a great [candle?] that giveth light to the world and The city of Nauvoo als[o] shall become the Greatest city in the whole world— curse that man who says to his neighbor you are a mean man because you do not believe as I do I now invite all liberall minded men to come up to Nauvoo and help to build up the city of our God We are not greatly distressed No no nor ever will be This is the principle place of gathering therefore let the brethren begin to roll in like clouds and we will sell you lots if you are able to pay for them and of if not you shall have them without money and without price The greater blessing is unto those who come in times of adversity. For many will come to us in times of prosperity that will stand at the corners of the streets saying with long pharisaical faces to those that come after thems dont go near Bro Joseph dont go near the authorities of the church for they will pick your pockets they will rob you of all your money Thus will they breed in our midst a spirit of dissatisfaction and distrust that will end in persecution and distress—— Now from this hour bring every thing you can bring and build a Temble [Temple] unto the Lord a house into the mighty God of Jacob. We will build upon the top of this Temple a great observatory a great and high watch tower and in the top thereof we will Suspend a tremendous bell that when it is rung shall rouse the inhabitants of [Fort] Madison and wake up the people of Warsaw and sound in the ears of men [in] carthage Then comes the ancient records yea all of them dig them yes bring them forth speedily Then shall the poor be fed by the curious who shall come from all parts of the world to see this wonderful temple Yea I I prophecy that pleasure parties shall come from England to see the Mamoth and like the Queen of Sheba shall say the half never was told them. School houses shall be built here and High schools shall be established and the great men of the [earth] shall send their sons here to board while they are receiving their education among us and even Noblemen shall crave the priviledge of educating their children with us and these poor saints shall chink in their pockets the money of these proud men received from such as come and dwell with us Now brethren I obligate myself to build as great a temple as ever solomon did if the church will back me up. moreover it shall not impoverish any man but enrich thousands and I prophecy that the time shall be when these saints shall ride proudly over the mountains of Missouri and no Gentile dog nor Missouri dog Shall dare lift a tongue against them but will lick up the dust from beneath their feet and I pray the father that many here may realize this and see it with their eyes and And if it should be (Stretching his hand towards the place and in a melancholly tone that made all hearts tremble) will of God that I might live to behold that temple completed and finished from the foundation to the top stone I will say Oh Lord it is enough Lord let thy servant depart in peace which is my ernest prayer in the name of the L Jesus Amen" Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray–B, 9-22, josephsmithpapers.org.
Joseph Smith
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James Burgess recalled that JS also spoke “upon the constitution and government of the United States stating that the time would come when the Constitution and Government would hang by a brittle thread and would be ready to fall into other hands but this people the Latterday Saints will step forth and save it.” Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843, footnote 396, josephsmithpapers.org.
Joseph Smith
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It is said that brother Joseph in his lifetime declared that the Elders of this Church should step forth at a particular time when the Constitution should be in danger, and rescue it, and save it. This may be so; but I do not recollect that he said exactly so. I believe he said something like this—that the time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and said he, If the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church. I believe this is about the language, as nearly as I can recollect it. The question is whether it will be saved at all, or not. I do not know that it matters to us whether it is or not: the Lord will provide for and take care of his people, if we do every duty, and fear and honor him, and keep his commandments; and he will not leave us without a Constitution.
President Orson Hyde
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Brethren and sisters, our friends wish to know our feelings towards the Government. I answer, they are first-rate, and we will prove it too, as you will see if you only live long enough, for that we shall live to prove it is certain; and when the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the “Mormon” Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it. We love the Constitution of our country; it is all we could ask; though in some few instances there might be some amendments made which would better it. We love the Federal Government, and the laws of Congress. There is nothing in those laws that in the least militates against us, not even to our excluding common law from this Territory.
President Brigham Young
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The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work. D&C 101:80 But was that which was given to them perfect, not admitting of any addition whatever? No; for if men know anything, they must know that the Almighty has never yet found a man in mortality that was capable, at the first intimation, at the first impulse, to receive anything in a state of entire perfection. Isa. 28:9-13 They laid the foundation, and it was for after generations to rear the superstructure upon it. It is a progressive—a gradual work. If the framers of the Constitution and the inhabitants of the United States had walked humbly before God, who defended them and fought their battles when Washington was on the stage of action, the nation would now have been free from a multitude of place-hunters who live upon its vitals. The country would not have been overrun with murderers and thieves, and our cities filled with houses of ill fame, as now; and men could have walked the streets of cities, or traveled on conveyances through the country, without being insulted, plundered, and perhaps murdered; and an honest, sober, industrious, enterprising, and righteous people would now have been found from one end of the United States to the other. The whole body is deranged; and the head, which ought to be the seat of sense and the temple of wisdom, is insensible to the wants of the body, and to the fact that, if the body sinks, the head must sink also. I want to tell a political anecdote; or, at least, I will tell it so nigh that you will guess the whole of it. Two fellows were stump speaking for office in the State of Illinois: one of them was a lawyer, of flowery, eloquent speech; and the other was a rough and ready homespun mechanic, but a man of sound sense. The lawyer made his speech in flaming language, interlarding it with expressions of sensitive regard for the people's interests. The mechanic mounted the rostrum, and says he—“I cannot make a speech to cope with this man's speech; but I can tell you what he and I want. He wants your votes. Now, if you will give me your votes, when I get into office, you may——and be damned.” They both felt so; and there are but few exceptions to this practice. Office seekers are full of tricks and intrigues of every kind to get an office, and then the people may——and be damned. The progress of revolution is quite considerable in every government of the world. But is the revolution for the constitutional rights of the people in progress? No: it is on the retrograde. I know how they can be brought back to the people, and the Government be redeemed and become one of the most powerful and best on the earth. It was instituted in the beginning by the Almighty. He operated upon the hearts of the Revolutionary Fathers to rebel against the English King and his Parliament, as he does upon me to preach “Mormonism.” Both are inspired by him; but the work unto which they are called is dissimilar. The one was inspired to fight, and the other to preach the peaceable things of the kingdom D&C 36:2 of God. He operated upon that pusillanimous king to excite the colonists to rebellion; and he is still operating with this nation, and taking away their wisdom, until by-and-by they will get mad and rush to certain destruction. Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.” It will be so. With regard to the doings of our fathers and the Constitution of the United States, I have to say, they present to us a glorious prospect in the future, but one we cannot attain to until the present abuses in the Government are corrected. You have heard our Judge relate an incident, which is only one more among numberless abuses perpetrated by the rulers of the nation. The particulars of this incident can be found upon our dockets, showing that the President of the United States assumes to himself power to remove a circuit Judge. I am not a lawyer; but I wish to propound a question—By what law, constitutional or statute, has the President a right to remove a United States' Judge, except for illegal conduct or inability? It is, to say the least, a flagrant assumption of power. What business have they thus to remove our Judges? What end have they in view? I'll tell you. It is— “Tickle me, tickle me, O Billy, do; And, in your turn, I'll tickle you.”
President Brigham Young
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We have been asked today to be patriotic. This Church, as has been read by President McKay, has a record of accomplishment that is a delight to all of us, and a testimony to the world of the patriotism of this people. We have been sending our boys into the army, and will continue to do so. We will buy war bonds and stamps. We will pay inordinate taxes, for the carrying on of the work for the buying of planes and munitions of war. We will produce and conserve foodstuffs, that there may be sufficient of the necessities to carry on, as we have been requested by our government. But beyond all that, the Latter-day Saints have a responsibility, that may be better understood when we recall the prophecy of Joseph Smith who declared that "the time would come when (the destiny and) the Constitution of these United States would hang as it were by a thread, and that this people, the sons of Zion, would rise up and save it from threatened destruction" (Journal of Discourses, 7:15). I want to ask you to consider the meaning of that prophecy, in the light of the declaration of the prophets of the Book of Mormon times, who declared that this land was a choice land above all other lands, and would be free from bondage and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of this land, even our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a people whom the Lord has chosen to preach the gospel of righteousness. We talk of security in this day, and yet we fail to understand that here on this Temple Block we have standing the holy temple wherein we may find the symbols by which power might be generated that will save this nation from destruction. Therein may be found the fulness of the blessings of the Priesthood. Yesterday morning, as we assembled and heard the broadcast from that place, broadcasting to the world a message, it to me was significant of the prophecy that from this place "the law shall go forth to the world, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" The spires on the eastern towers of the temple are to represent the presidency of the Melchizedek Priesthood; the spires to the west, the presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood; the gilded figure of the angel Moroni symbolizes the preaching of the gospel to the world. The gospel must be preached as a witness under the direction of the holy Priesthood: "Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come". Therein lies the responsibility of this Church in sanctifying this people and this nation, that they might be spared the judgments that otherwise might come upon them, were it not for the preaching of the humble elders of this Church. The Prophet Isaiah comforted his struggling people with these words: Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. May we return home and teach our people the way of peace — peace because they are willing to live the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, I humbly pray, in His name. Amen.
Elder Harold B. Lee
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You and I have heard all our lives that the time may come when the Constitution may hang by a thread. I do not know whether it is a thread, or a small rope by which it now hangs, but I do know that whether it shall live or die is now in the balance. I have said to you before, brethren, that to me the Constitution is a part of my religion. In its place it is just as much a part of my religion as any other part. It is a part of my religion because it is one of those institutions which God has set up for His own purposes, and, as one of the brethren said today, set up so that this Church might be established, because under no other government in the world could the Church have been established as it has been established under this Government. I think I would be safe in saying that my fellowship with you in the Church depends upon whether or not I accept the revelations and the principles which God has revealed. If I am not willing to do that, then I am not entitled to fellowship. Anyone else who fails to accept the revelations and the principles which God has revealed stands in precisely the same situation. In the 101st Section of the D&C, which contains a revelation received by the Prophet in 1833, when the persecution in Missouri was at its highest, the Lord told the brethren that they should appeal for help. Then He added these verses, which I want to read to you: 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 pertaining to futurity, 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. Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. 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 101:77-80 INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAS I suppose you brethren will all know, but I will recall it to your attention, that the Constitution of the United States is the basic law for all of the Americas, or Zion, as it has been defined by the Lord. You brethren from Canada know that, your great British North America Act, in its fundamental principles, is based upon our Constitution, and you know that in the courts of Canada, the reports of our Supreme Court, and our Federal courts generally, are just as persuasive as the decisions of the courts of England, and even more so, where questions of constitutional law and constitutional interpretation are involved. You brethren also know that from the Rio Grande down to the Horn there is no constitutional government except those that are founded primarily upon our own Constitution. In Mexico the revolutionary party which more than a century and a quarter ago rebelled against the king of Spain and established a republic, copied almost verbatim, and practically overnight, our Constitution, and made it their own. Neither Mexico nor the others to the South interpret their Constitutions as we interpret ours. They have different standards and different canons of interpretation, for their fundamental system is the civil law, while ours is the common law. But the great essentials of that document, the Constitution of the United States, which God Himself inspired, is the law of Zion, the Americas. THE LAW OF ZION So, brethren, I wish you to understand that when we begin to tamper with the Constitution we begin to tamper with the law of Zion which God Himself set up, and no one may trifle with the word of God with impunity. Now, I am not caring today, for myself, anything at all about a political party tag. So far as I am concerned, I want to know what the man stands for. I want to know if he believes in the Constitution; if he believes in its free institutions; if he believes in its liberties, its freedom. I want to know if he believes in the Bill of Rights. I want to know if he believes in the separation of sovereign power into the three great divisions: the Legislative, the Judicial, the Executive. I want to know if he believes in the mutual independence of these, the one from the other. When I find out these things, then I know who it is who should receive my support, and I care not what his party tag is, because, brethren, if we are to live as a Church, and progress, and have the right to worship as we are worshipping here today, we must have the great guarantees that are set up by our Constitution. There is no other way in which we can secure these guarantees. You may look at the systems all over the world where the principles of our Constitution are not controlling and in force, and you will find there dictatorship, tyranny, oppression, and, in the last analysts, slavery. ALLEGIANCE I have said enough. I believe you understand what I have said. Today, our duty transcends party allegiance; our duty today is allegiance to the Constitution as it was given to us by the Lord. Every federal officer takes an oath to support that Constitution so given. The difference between us and some of those to the South of us is this: down there, their fealty runs to individuals; here, our fealty and our allegiance run to the Constitution and to the principles which it embodies, and not to individuals. God give us wisdom and enable us in these times of trouble and strife clearly to see our way, that we may be instrumental in sustaining the Constitution, in upholding our free institutions, our civil rights, our freedom of speech, of press, of religion, and of conscience. If we shall stand together we shall save the Constitution, just as has been foreseen, and if we do not stand together, we cannot perform this great task.
Elder J. Reuben Clark Jr.
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Yet, according to his contemporaries, he foresaw the time when the destiny of the nation would be in danger and would hang as by a thread. Thank God he did not see the thread break. He also indicated the important part that this people should yet play in standing for the principles embodied in these sacred documents—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. SPREAD OF COERCIVE SYSTEMS We see abroad today on every hand, and to some degree in our own land, the spread of coercive man-made systems, which are contrary to eternal principles and which strike at the very foundation of all we hold dear as American citizens. These programs would take from us our liberty and freedom, and those opportunities for achievement which the Lord has promised for this nation in order that it might perpetuate those eternal principles so that a haven might be established here where men from all lands might come and enjoy the glorious blessings of freedom and liberty. We see abroad in the world an increase in these coercive systems. We witness millions of God's children in bondage, who have had their blessings of liberty and freedom taken from them. Great numbers of liberty-loving people no longer have their free agency, no longer have freedom of choice such as we enjoy here. They no longer have the privilege of living where they wish, taking advantage of any educational or work opportunity, but on the contrary they are under the power of these coercive systems and have lost completely their God-given free agency. The impelling force in the hearts of the founding fathers as also in the hearts of the pioneers of these valleys was their love of truth and virtue and their belief in the overruling power of Almighty God. They believed in the existence of eternal laws and principles in both the physical and spiritual realms. These, they believed, never change but are eternal and are embodied in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was their conviction that there are certain inalienable rights which are God-ordained and that no man, group of men, or nation has the right to withhold these blessings from others of their fellow men. To them, governments should be the servants and not the masters of the people. There was no place in their hearts for the principles of communism, fascism, or any other coercive system which endangers the enjoyment of freedom. WARNING AGAINST COMMUNISM One of the greatest conflicts ever known to man is rapidly spreading throughout the world. Eternal principles of right and wrong are involved. Communism, to my mind, is not merely an economic program. It is a total philosophy of life utterly atheistic and utterly opposed to all we hold dear as a great Christian nation. There should be no place in the heart of any true Latter-day Saint for the principles enunciated by the leaders of these coercive systems such as communism, fascism, or any form of state control. I am pleased to quote to you a part of a statement which was made by the First Presidency of the Church in 1936, and reaffirmed later, regarding this problem of communism which has been referred to. It reads as follows: Communism being thus hostile to loyal American citizenship and incompatible with true Church membership of necessity no loyal American citizen and no faithful Church member can be a communist. We call upon all Church members completely to eschew communism. The safety of our divinely inspired Constitutional government and the welfare of our Church imperatively demand that communism shall have no place in America. A MESSAGE OF PEACE My brothers and sisters, our message to the world is, of course, first of all, a message of peace, a message of love, a message of the restored gospel. At the same time we stand firmly in support of the principles enunciated in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and every Latter-day Saint would defend to the last those eternal principles. We should measure every coercive system, every program that might be offered, by the standards of those principles set forth in these sacred documents. At the same time, as we face the spread of communism and the spread of other coercive forces in the world, we must keep our hearts free from hatred and remember ever that we should carry with us always a love for the children of men. We should renounce war and declare peace. The Lord has commanded us so to do. Our message is a message of peace. We are followers of the Prince of Peace, and we should rededicate our lives to the spread of truth and righteousness and the preservation of the liberty and freedom, which have been vouchsafed to us as American citizens and as Latter-day Saints. SECURITY BASED ON RIGHTEOUSNESS This nation rests upon a solid spiritual foundation, established by the Lord of heaven, and I hope and pray that the nation may go forward to accomplish its great mission. There is no security except upon the basis of righteousness. The prophets, ancient and modern, have so declared. And so may we value these spiritual principles and keep them close to our hearts and preserve this land as a land of liberty and freedom, that this, his Church, which has been established by the hand of the Lord, might go forward and accomplish its great mission. I leave my testimony with you, my brothers and sisters, that God has again spoken from the heavens, that he has raised up a prophet as he said in the first section of the D&C, in preparation for the calamites which will follow: Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments. Zion is intended to be a place of refuge, a defense from the storm that is to come, from the wrath which shall be poured out upon the entire earth. God help us to be true and to live the gospel and do all in our power to promote righteousness in this great land.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
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The statement has been made that the Prophet said the time would come when this Constitution would hang as by a thread, and this is true. There has been some confusion, however, as to just what he said following this. I think that Elder Orson Hyde has given us a correct interpretation wherein he says that the Prophet said the Constitution would be in danger. Said Orson Hyde: I believe he said something like this—that the time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and said he: "If the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church." I believe this is about the language, as nearly as I can recollect it. (Journal of Discourses, 6:152.) Now I tell you it is time the people of the United States were waking up with the understanding that if they don't save the Constitution from the dangers that threaten it, we will have a change of government.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
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It was Joseph Smith who has been quoted as having said that the time would come when the Constitution would hang as by a thread and at that time when it was thus in jeopardy, the elders of this Church would step forth and save it from destruction. Why the elders of this Church? Would it be sacrilegious to paraphrase the words of the Apostle Peter, and say that the Constitution of the United States could be saved by the elders of this Church because this Church and this Church alone has the words of eternal life. We alone know by revelation as to how the Constitution came into being, and we, alone, know by revelation the destiny of this nation. The preservation of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" can be guaranteed upon no other basis than upon a sincere faith and testimony of the divinity of these teachings. We have been given a serious responsibility in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We have been told in meetings even preceding this conference session that we must reach out to the minorities. Our beloved Brother Kimball has urged others and has devoted his energies for the past few years to an energetic, proselyting urge among the Lamanites and those minority groups. But again, how can these backward children of our Heavenly Father be brought out of darkness and uplifted? A lifelong missionary, in commenting about his work among the Indians out in the west Shoshone reservation in Nevada, in reporting on various uplift activities to reclaim the Indians, made this very significant statement: All their zealous and patient efforts to help the Indian's plight tend to become another crutch that the Indian depends upon. Those Indians who have become progressively independent apparently have become so because of personal and religious factors wholly unrelated to the government program. What he is saying, in effect, is that the building of faith and testimony in these people is fundamental and essential to this redemption. It was that same thing the Master said about the reclaiming of the Jews, when he declared that: . . . the fulness of my gospel shall be preached unto them; And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall praise the Father in my name. Then will the fathers gather them together again and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance. It has been a great source of satisfaction to me to know that those who are now planning for a standard missionary program to be given out to the stakes and to the missions of the Church, have laid as the foundation for the introduction of the gospel to those who are our friends and investigators, a testimony of the divinity of the Godhead of this world, and a belief in the mission of Jesus Christ, as the Son of the Living God. To me the reclaiming of the souls of men must be begun by building faith, just as the parents in this dispensation were taught must be so in their own families. In the early rise of his Church, the Lord said, Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others that they should proclaim these things unto the world... That faith also might increase in the earth. God grant that the gospel of Jesus Christ might be so effectively taught in all the world that the prayer of our President might be fully realized, that it might be an effective weapon against communism and dictatorship in nations, and sin and wickedness in men, I humbly pray, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Harold B. Lee
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In connection with attack on the United States, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith there would be an attempt to overthrow the country by destroying the Constitution. Joseph Smith predicted that the time would come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that time "this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction." (Journal History, Brigham Young's Speech, July 4, 1854.) It is my conviction that the elders of Israel, widely spread over the nation, will at that crucial time successfully rally the righteous of our country and provide the necessary balance of strength to save the institutions of constitutional government.
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
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The Prophet Joseph Smith said the time would come when the Constitution would hang as it were by a thread. Modern-day prophets for the last thirty years have been warning us that we have been rapidly moving in that direction. Fortunately, the Prophet Joseph Smith saw the part the elders of Israel would play in this crisis. Will there be some of us who won't care about saving the Constitution, others who will be blinded by the craftiness of men, and some who will knowingly be working to destroy it? He that has ears to hear and eyes to see can discern by the Spirit and through the words of God's mouthpiece that our liberties are being taken. The enemy is amongst and upon us. Zion must awake and arouse herself. We, the elders of Israel can be and should be, the leaven in the loaf for freedom. Years ago, President Brigham Young stated, "We all believe that the Lord will fight our battles D&C 105:14 but how? Will he do it while we are unconcerned and make no effort whatever for our own safety when the enemy is upon us? . . . it would be quite as reasonable to expect remission of sins without baptism, as to expect the Lord to fight our battles without our taking every precaution to be prepared to defend ourselves. The Lord requires us to be quite as willing to fight our own battles as to have Him fight them for us. If we are not ready for the enemy when he comes upon us, we have not lived up to the requirements of Him who guides the ship of Zion, or who dictates the affairs of His kingdom" (Journal of Discourses 11:131). May we as a free people face courageously the challenging responsibility which faces us. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke.) We are not here to sit by complacently while our birthright of freedom is exchanged for a mess of socialist-communist pottage. I love this great land—the Lord's latter-day base of operations. I love the free world. I love our Father's children everywhere. God bless us in our stewardship. May we be at least as valiant for freedom and righteousness, here and now, as we were when we fought for these principles in the pre-existence. There is no other safe way. For "Righteousness exalteth a nation"
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
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Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism wherever we live. We should trust in the Lord and be positive about this nation’s future.
President Dallin H. Oaks
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