![]() Those concepts were handed down by God to the framers of the U.S. “As I have stood before the cross that marks his grave, I have thanked God for the cause for which he died, for the great and eternal concepts” of human dignity, liberty and freedom to worship, speak and assemble. Revered as a prophet by members of the Mormon Church, Hinckley decried the disappearance of family prayer and attempts to remove reference to deity from society.Īt times seeming to suppress tears, Hinckley recalled his visits to the American military cemetery in France, where his brother is buried. ![]() Ancient prophets had spoken of this long-awaited day.Įvoking images of the Mayflower pilgrims and of George Washington at Valley Forge, Hinckley said the United States was founded on “an unequivocal trust in the power of the Almighty to guide and defend us.” No one faith was favored above another.Īfter centuries of darkness and pain and struggle, the time was ripe for the restoration of the gospel. Then came the American Revolutionary War, resulting in the birth of a nation whose constitution declared that government should not reach its grasping hand into matters of religion. While this great ferment was stirring across the Christian world, political forces were also at work. Their one desire was to find a niche in which they might worship God as they felt He should be worshiped. ![]() They did so without priesthood authority. When that reformation was not realized, the reformers organized churches of their own. Protestantism was born with its cry for reformation. These were men of great courage, some of whom suffered cruel deaths because of their beliefs. Reformers worked to change the church, notably such men as Luther, Melanchthon, Hus, Zwingli, and Tyndale. ![]() We, and our children after us, must do it. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. I do not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I am familiar, as are you, with the declarations of modern revelation that the time will come when the earth will be cleansed and there will be indescribable distress, with weeping and mourning and lamentation (see D&C 112:24). I cannot dismiss from my mind the grim warnings of the Lord as set forth in the 24th chapter of Matthew. I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh’s dream of the fat and lean kine and of the full and withered stalks of corn. I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us. The Constitution under which we live, and which has not only blessed us but has become a model for other constitutions, is our God-inspired national safeguard ensuring freedom and liberty, justice and equality before the law. The God of heaven spoke to these people of the Americas through prophets, telling them where true security could be found: “Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). The Book of Mormon is an affirmation of the Old Testament proverb: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). No other written testament so clearly illustrates the fact that when men and nations walk in the fear of God and in obedience to His commandments, they prosper and grow, but when they disregard Him and His word, there comes a decay that, unless arrested by righteousness, leads to impotence and death. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction of two great civilizations in two different eras. ![]() The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who countenanced and even encouraged loose and lascivious living. Each began as a small nation, its people walking in the fear of the Lord. Its pages trace the stories of two distinct civilizations that flourished on the Western Hemisphere. 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. But in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions of those problems. The Book of Mormon narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. ![]()
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