Ezra
Taft Benson
13th President
1985–1994
The
United States
Constitution
The
Bill of Rights
Declaration
of
Independence
Survival
and the
American Way
of Life
Civic
Standards for
Faithful Saints
Watchman
Warn
The Wicked
Righteousness
Exalteth A
Nation
Watchman,
Warn the Wicked
The
prophet Ezekiel declared:
Son
of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore
hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When
I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not
warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his
life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at thine hand.
Yet
if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his
wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy
soul. (Ezek. 3:17-19.)
The
inspired Book of Mormon prophets saw our day and warned us of the strategy
of the adversary:
For
behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men,
and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
And
others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they
will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and
thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down
to hell.
Yea,
wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the
power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! (2 Ne. 28:20-21,
26.)
Through
a modern prophet, Joseph Smith, the Lord has also given us warning:
Wherefore
the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will
hear may hear:
And
the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who
will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants,
neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut
off from among the people;
For
they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting
covenant;
They
seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in
his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the
likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which
waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which
shall fall.
What
I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though
the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but
shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my
servants, it is the same. (D&C 1:11,
14-16, 38.)
These
warnings were given more than 140 years ago. The fulfillment is now. We
are living witnesses, unless we are blinded by our own complacency and the
craftiness of evil men.
As
watchmen on the tower of Zion, it is our obligation and right as leaders
to speak out against current evils—evils that strike at the very
foundation of all we hold dear as the true church of Christ and as members
of Christian nations.
As
one of these watchmen, with a love for humanity, I accept humbly this
obligation and challenge and gratefully strive to do my duty without fear.
In times as serious as these, we must not permit fear of criticism to keep
us from doing our duty, even at the risk of our counsel being tabbed as
political, as government becomes more and more entwined in our daily
lives.
In
the crisis through which we are now passing, we have been fully warned.
This has brought forth some criticism. There are some of us who do not
want to hear the message. It embarrasses us. The things which are
threatening our lives, our welfare, our freedoms are the very things some
of us have been condoning. Many do not want to be disturbed as they
continue to enjoy their comfortable complacency.
The
Church is founded on eternal truth. We do not compromise principle. We do
not surrender our standards regardless of current trends or pressures. As
a church, our allegiance to truth is unwavering. Speaking out against
immoral or unjust actions has been the burden of prophets and disciples of
God from time immemorial. It was for this very reason that many of them
were persecuted. Nevertheless, it was their God-given task, as watchmen on
the tower, to warn the people.
We
live in an age of appeasement—the sacrificing of principle. Appeasement
is not the answer. It is never the right answer.
One
of the modern Church watchmen has given this sound warning:
A
milk-and-water allegiance kills; while a passionate devotion gives life
and soul to any cause and its adherents. The troubles of the world may
largely be laid at the doors of those who are neither hot nor cold; who
always follow the line of least resistance; whose timid hearts flutter at
taking sides for truth. As in the great Council in the heavens, so in the
Church of Christ on earth, there can be no neutrality. We are, or we are
not, on the side of the Lord. An unrelenting faith, contemptuous of all
compromise, will lead the Church and every member of it, to triumph and
the achievement of our high destiny.
The
final conquerors of the world will be the men and women, few or many
matters not, who fearlessly and unflinchingly cling to truth, and who are
able to say no, as well as yes, on whose lofty banner is inscribed: No
compromise with error. . . .
Tolerance
is not conformity to the world's view and practices. We must not surrender
our beliefs to get along with people, however beloved or influential they
may be. Too high a price may be paid for social standing or even for
harmony. . . . The Gospel rests upon eternal truth; and truth can never be
deserted safely. (John A. Widtsoe, Conference Report, April 1941,
pp. 115-16.)
It
has been well said that "our greatest national problem is erosion.
Not erosion of the soil, but erosion of the national morality."
The
United States of America has been great because it has been free. It has
been free because it has trusted in God and was founded upon the
principles of freedom set forth in the word of God. This nation has a
spiritual foundation. To me, this land has a prophetic history.
In
the year 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French historian, came to
our country at the request of the French government to study our penal
institutions. He also made a close study of our political and social
institutions. In less than ten years, de Tocqueville had become
world-famous as the result of the four-volume work that he wrote, entitled
Democracy in America. Here is his own stirring explanation of the
greatness of America:
I
sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors
and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and
boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast
world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of
America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand
the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is
good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be
great.
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 that they all have in common: to erode away
character and man's freedom to think and act for himself.
Effort
will be made to lull us away into a false security. Proposals will be and
are being offered and programs sponsored that have wide appeal. Attractive
labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the
name of public welfare and personal security. Again, let us not be misled.
Freedom
can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack.
Too
long have too many Americans, and people of the free world generally,
stood by as silent accessories to the crimes of assault against
freedom—assault against basic economic and spiritual principles and
traditions that have made nations strong.
Let
us strive for progress down the road of goodness and freedom. With the
help and blessings of the Lord, the free people of the United States and
the free world can and will face tomorrow without fear, without doubt, and
with full confidence. We do not fear the phony population explosion, nor
do we fear a shortage of food, if we can be free and good. The Lord has
declared, ". . . the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.
. . ." (D&C 104:17.) We can accept this promise with confidence.
President
Calvin Coolidge pinpointed the problem some years ago with these words:
We
do not need more material development, we need more spiritual development.
We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do
not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more
government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more
religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of
the things that are unseen. It is on that side of life that it is
desirable to put the emphasis at the present time. If that side is
strengthened, the other side will take care of itself. It is that side
which is the foundation of all else. If the foundation be firm, the
superstructure will stand. (The Price of Freedom, Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1924, p. 390.)
As
a free people, we are following very closely in many respects the pattern
which led to the downfall of the great Roman Empire. A group of well-known
historians has summarized those conditions leading to the downfall of Rome
in these words.
.
. . Rome had known a pioneer beginning not unlike our own pioneer
heritage, and then entered into two centuries of greatness, reaching its
pinnacle in the second of those centuries, going into the decline and
collapse in the third. Yet, the sins of decay were becoming apparent in
the latter years of that second century.
It
is written that there were vast increases in the number of the idle rich,
and the idle poor. The latter [the idle poor] were put on a permanent
dole, a welfare system not unlike our own. As this system became
permanent, the recipients of public largesse [welfare] increased in
number. They organized into a political block with sizable power. They
were not hesitant about making their demands known. Nor was the government
hesitant about agreeing to their demands . . . and with ever-increasing
frequency. Would-be emperors catered to them. The great, solid middle
class—Rome's strength then as ours is today—was taxed more and more to
support a bureaucracy that kept growing larger, and even more powerful.
Surtaxes were imposed upon incomes to meet emergencies. The government
engaged in deficit spending. The denarius, a silver coin similar to our
half dollar, began to lose its silvery hue. It took on a copper color as
the government reduced the silver content.
Even
then, Gresham's law was at work, because the real silver coin soon
disappeared. It went into hiding.
Military
service was an obligation highly honored by the Romans. Indeed, a
foreigner could win Roman citizenship simply by volunteering for service
in the legions of Rome. But, with increasing affluence and opulence, the
young men of Rome began avoiding this service, finding excuses to remain
in the soft and sordid life of the city. They took to using cosmetics and
wearing feminine-like hairdo's and garments, until it became difficult,
the historians tell us, to tell the sexes apart.
Among
the teachers and scholars was a group called the Cynics whose number let
their hair and beards grow, and who wore slovenly clothes, and professed
indifference to worldly goods as they heaped scorn on what they called
"middle class values."
The
morals declined. It became unsafe to walk in the countryside or the city
streets. Rioting was commonplace and sometimes whole sections of towns and
cities were burned.
And,
all the time, the twin diseases of confiscatory taxation and creeping
inflation were waiting to deliver the death blow.
Then
finally, all these forces overcome the energy and ambition of the middle
class.
Rome
fell.
We
are now approaching the end of our second century. (Address by Governor
Ronald Reagan of California at Eisenhower College, New York, 1969.)
In
1787 Edward Gibbon completed his noble work The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire. Here is the way he accounted for the fall.
1.
The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the
basis of human society.
2.
Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread
and circuses for the populace.
3.
The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more and more
exciting and brutal.
4.
The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within the
decadence of the people.
5.
The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form, losing touch with
life, and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.
Is
there a parallel for us in America today? Could the same reasons that
destroyed Rome destroy America and possibly other countries of the free
world?
For
eight years in Washington I had this prayerful statement on my desk:
"O God, give us men with a mandate higher than the ballot box."
The
lessons of history, many of them very sobering, ought to be turned to
during this hour of our great achievements, because during the hour of our
success is our greatest danger. Even during the hour of our great
prosperity, a nation may sow the seeds of its own destruction. History
reveals that rarely is a great civilization conquered from without unless
it has weakened or destroyed itself within.
The
lessons of history stand as guideposts to help us safely chart the course
for the future.
As
American citizens, as citizens of the nations of the free world, we need
to rouse ourselves to the problems which confront us as great Christian
nations. We must recognize that these fundamental, basic
principles—moral and spiritual—lay at the very foundation of our past
achievements. To continue to enjoy present blessings, we must return to
these basic and fundamental principles. Economics and morals are both part
of one inseparable body of truth. They must be in harmony. We need to
square our actions with these eternal verities.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands firm in support of the
great spiritual and moral principles which have been the basic traditions
of the free world. We oppose every evil effort to downgrade or challenge
the eternal verities which have undergirded civilization from the
beginning.
We
will use every honorable means to strengthen the home and family; to
encourage obedience to the first and great commandment, to multiply and
replenish the earth through noble parenthood; and to strengthen character
through adherence to high spiritual and moral principles.
In
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chastity will never be out
of date. We have one standard for men and women, and that standard is
moral purity. We oppose and abhor the damnable practice of wholesale
abortion and every other unholy and impure act which strikes at the very
foundation of the home and family, our most basic institutions.
A
continuation of these immoral practices will surely bring down the wrath
and judgments of the Almighty.
In
our concentration upon materialism and material acquisitions, are we
forgetting the spiritual basis upon which our prosperity, security, and
freedom rest? God help us to repent of our evil ways and humble ourselves
before the offended power.
There
is great safety in a nation on its knees.
What
assurance it would give of the much-needed blessings of the Lord if the
American people, and people everywhere, could all be found daily—night
and morning—on their knees expressing gratitude for blessings already
received, acknowledging our dependence upon God, and seeking his divine
guidance.
The
spectacle of a nation praying is more awe-inspiring, more powerful, than
the explosion of an atomic bomb. The force of prayer is greater than any
possible combination of man-controlled powers, because "prayer is
man's greatest means of tapping the resources of God." The founding
fathers accept this eternal verity. Do we? Will we?
Yes,
it is in our own enlightened self-interest to engage in this simple
practice, this powerful practice of prayer. Roger Babson said many years
ago: "What this country needs more than anything else is
old-fashioned family prayer." Yes, our greatest need is a return to
the old-fashioned, time-tested verities.
God
help us, as free men, to recognize the source of our blessings, the threat
to our freedom and our moral and spiritual standards, and the need for
humble, yet courageous, action to preserve these priceless, time-tested
blessings.
Jesus
Christ Joseph Smith
Jr.
Brigham Young
John Taylor
Wilford Woodruff
Lorenzo Snow
Joseph F. Smith
Heber J. Grant
George A. Smith
David O. McKay
Joseph F. Smith
Harold B. Lee
Founding
Fathers Spencer Kimball Howard Hunter
Gordon Hinckley First Presidency Elders
Citizens
Rule Book
