This page reflects, in some part, a few little religious justifications for my anti-control beliefs. If you are LDS with inspirations of anti-control sentiments and actions, take heart, the Lord is on our side. It is our obligation as members of God’s true church to stand in opposition from unjust control and illegal subjugation. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are a well-informed public and ready and able to teach the truth to all those who will hear and accept it.
Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. – 2 Nephi 2:27
It is a poor, unwise and very imbacile people who cannot take care of themselves. – Brigham Young
The doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is clear on the subject of the proper role of government; governments were instituted of God for the protection of our inalienable rights (see D&C 134 and/or My Political Beliefs page). The Book of Mormon itself is replete with anti-control sentiments, examples, and testimonies. From the very beginning, the Lamanites sought control over the Nephites and through their entire history God gave the righteous power over that control. We are taught through the examples of these ancient prophets and the righteous people not only the steps to avoid unlawful subjugation, but how stand against it.
If it is justification you seek, you cannot ask for a more compelling and inspirational explanation than the simplistic and plain words of the Lord that were given to us by way of commandment in D&C 98:4-10, which are as follows:
And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them. And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil. I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free. Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn. Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.
Those members who are fortunate enough to live in a country governed by one of the constitutional governments that scripture mentions, have a government that is limited by it’s very law, which is the constitution itself. And that is the fundamental fact of constitutional government that conventional wisdom hides from the citizenry. As members of God’s church, we are commanded to uphold and sustain that law, or, in other words, enforce those limits.
You cannot expect a greater justification, than a direct commandment from God.
When public servants begin to assume and exercise responsibilities and duties beyond predefined limits, they are braking the law. The law that God has said we are justified in upholding. The very law He has commanded us to enforce. For, does the butler tell the lord of the manor when to come and go? Does the maid tell the lord where he may sit or what he may dirty? Of course not. For the instant they do, they seek to control him.
Control, by its very nature, is Satanic. We know that in our premortal life there was a great separation of the hosts of heaven because Satan purposed a plan of salvation utilizing control to force us into gospel compliance. Christ’s plan was a plan of agency where all mankind was afforded liberty, the exact opposite of subjugation and control (see Moses 4:1-4).
All of us on Earth fought against Satan’s concepts for the right to manage our own lives free from oppression. We fought for the right to choose. We fought, perhaps not physically, having no bodies, but we did stand against Satan and his followers and fight. The Lord Jesus stood along side us and God, our Heavenly Father, did justify us (see Rev. 12:7-9)
Below is a letter from the First Presidency (Herber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and David O. Mckay) to the U.S. Treasury, dated September 30, 1941 as it appears in “The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil” by H. Verlan Andersen.
“. . . Thus, according to the gospel plan which the Church is established and operates, the care of the widow, the orphan, and the poor, is a Church function, is a part of the brotherhood of man which underlies our whole social and religious life. As God’s children all, and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we must as a matter of spiritual responsibility and pursuant to positive divine command care for the helpless, the unfortunate, and the needy. Furthermore, it is essentially a neighbor to neighbor obligation. It is not a function of civil government. This is fundamental. . . .
“The primary aim of this program is to provide for the material wants of faithful members of the Church who find themselves now in difficulty, to rebuild them spiritually, and to restore to them the proper concept, pride, and appreciation of American citizenship . . . No effort has been spared to teach the people to be self reliant, independent, to take a humble, righteous pride in being, individually and as communities, fully self supporting. . . .
“These things have been told in order that you may have a background and understanding of what we are now to say.
“Viewing all of these things it will be easy for you to understand that the Church has not found it possible to follow along the lines of the present general tendency in the matter of property rights, taxes, the curtailment of rights and liberties of the people, nor in general the economic policies of what is termed the “New Deal”. The great bulk of what these people are trying to do is, in the final analysis, absolutely contrary to the fundamental principles of which we have spoken. It is the considered, long considered opinion of President Grant and those who are associated with him, that our nation cannot be preserved if the present government policies shall continue. We do not believe that any other great nation or great civilization can be built up or maintained by the use of such policies. . . . As we see it, there is no way in which we can, to use your words, ‘preserve and perpetuated our freedom-freedom to govern ourselves, freedom of speech, and freedom to worship God according to our own light,’ except we shall turn away from our present course and resume the normal course along which this great country traveled to it’s present high eminenc of prosperity, of culture, of universal education, and of the peace and contentment which we enjoyed prior to the inauguration of the “New Deal.”
“We have done in the past, we are doing now, and we shall continue in the future to do everything within our power to secure this turning of which we speak. We confess to you that it has not been possible for us to unify our own people even upon the necessity of such a turning about, and therefore we cannot unfortunately, and we say it regretfully, make any practical suggestion to you as to how the nation can be turned about. But the President of the United States could do it in good part if he were willing to exert his effort along that line, but this he appears not to be willing to do.
“. . . this we feel we can definitely say, that unless the people of America forsake the sins and the errors, political and otherwise, of which they are now guilty and return to the practice of the great fundamental principles of Christianity, and of Constitutional government, there will be no exaltation for them spiritually, and politically we shall lose our liberty and free institutions.
“Returning to your original letter and our reply thereto regarding the selling of defense bonds. The Church as a Church does not believe in war and yet since its organization whenever war has come we have done our part. . . . we do thoroughly believe in building up our home defenses to the maximum extent necessary, but we do not believe that aggression should be carried on in the name and under the false cloak of defense. We therefore look with sorrowing eyes at the present use to which a great part of the funds being raised by taxes and by borrowing is being put. . . . We believe that our real threat comes from within and not from without, and it comes from the underlying spirit common to Naziism, Fascism, and Communism, namely, the spirit which would array class against class, which would set up a socialistic state of some sort, which would rob the people of the liberties which we possess under the Constitution, and would set up such a reign of terror as exists now in many parts of Europe. . . .
“We trust you will pardon this long letter, but we feel we must say that you invited it.
“Trusting that the Lord will point out some way, will somehow bring about a rejuvenation of the American spirit along with a true love of freedom and of our free institutions, and for Constitutional government, we are,
“Faithfully yours, /s/ Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay.”
