Joseph
F. Smith
6th President
1901–1918
The
United States
Constitution
The
Bill of Rights
Declaration
of
Independence
Born:
13 November 1838
Ordained an Apostle and Counselor to the
First Presidency: 1 July 1866
Member of the Quorum of the Twelve: 8 October 1867
Second Counselor to John Taylor: 10 October 1880
Second Counselor to Wilford Woodruff: 7 April 1889
Second Counselor to Lorenzo Snow: 13 September 1898
First Counselor to Lorenzo Snow: 6 October 1901
President of the Church: 17 October 1901 - 19 November 1918
Died: 19 November 1918
As
an Apostle
1.
The Lord Almighty has prepared the way for the coming forth of the kingdom
of God in this dispensation by establishing the republican government of
the United States; a government affording the widest liberty and the
greatest freedom to man that has ever been known to exist among men,
outside of those governed by the direct communication of heaven. It was
part of the design of the Almighty when He influenced our fathers to leave
the old world and come to this continent; He had a hand in the
establishment of this government; He inspired the framers of the
Constitution and the fathers of this nation to contend for their
liberties; and he did this upon natural principles, that the way might be
prepared, and that it might be possible for Him to establish His kingdom
upon the earth, no more to be thrown down. (JD 22:44-45)
2.
We are told . . . that no man need break the laws of the land who will
keep the laws of God. . . . The law of the land, which all have no need to
break, is that law which is the Constitutional law of the land, and that
is as God himself has defined it. And whatsoever is more or less than this
cometh of evil. Now it seems to me that this makes this matter so clear
that it is not possible for any man who professes to be a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make any mistake, or to be
in doubt as to the course he should pursue under the command of God in
relation to the observance of the laws of the land. I maintain that the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has ever been faithful to the
constitutional laws of our country. . . .
I
ask myself, What law have you broken? What constitutional law have you not
observed? I am bound not only by allegiance to the government of the
United States, but by the actual command of God Almighty, to observe and
obey every constitutional law of the land, and without hesitancy I declare
to this congregation that I have never violated, nor transgressed any law,
I am not amenable to any penalties of the law, because I have endeavored
from my youth up to be a law-abiding citizen, and not only so, but to be a
peacemaker, a preacher of righteousness, and not only to preach
righteousness by word, but by example. . . . If lawmakers have a mind to
violate their oath, break their covenants and their faith with the people,
and depart from the provisions of the Constitution where is the law human
or divine, which binds me, as an individual, to outwardly and openly
proclaim my acceptance of their acts? (JD 23:70-71)
3.
By revelation to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, the Lord declared that he had
established the Constitution of the United States through "wise men
raised up unto this very purpose" [D&C 101:80]. It is also our
belief that God has blessed and prospered this nation, and given unto it
power to enforce the divine decrees concerning the land of Zion, that free
institutions might not perish from the earth. Cherishing such convictions,
we have no place in our hearts for disloyal sentiments. ("An
Address" 489; also in MFP 4:150)
4.
We love our country and pray for the perpetuity of its government, we
support its institutions, we venerate the Constitution. ("Magazine
Slanders Confuted" 724; also in MFP 4:229)
5.
I hope with all my soul that the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints will be loyal in their very hearts and souls, to the
principles of the Constitution of our country. From them we have derived
the liberty that we enjoy. They have been the means of guaranteeing to the
foreigner that has come within our gates, and to the native born, and to
all the citizens of this country, the freedom and liberty that we possess.
We cannot go back upon such principles as these. We may go back upon those
who fail to execute the law as they should. We may be dissatisfied with
the decision of judges, and may desire to have them removed out of their
places. But the law provides ways and means for all these things to be
done under the Constitution of our country, and it is better for us to
abide the evils that we have than to fly to greater evils that we know not
what the results will be. . . .
These
principles that I propose to read to you are the foundation and basic
principles of the Constitution of our country, and are eternal, enduring
forevermore, and cannot be changed or ignored with impunity:
"And
God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God which hath
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou
shalt have no other gods before me." . . .
"Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image of any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth."
"Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them." . . .
"Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." . . .
"Six
days shall thou labor and do all thy work." . . .
"Honor
thy father and thy mother." . . .
.
. . "Thou shalt not kill." . . .
"Thou
shalt not commit adultery." . . .
"Thou
shalt not steal."
"Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
"Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neightbor's
wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor anything
that is thy neighbor's" [Ex 20:1-6].
Now,
these are the commandments of God, the principles contained in these
commandments of the great Eternal are the principles that underlie the
Constitution of our country and all just laws. ("The Mexican
Trouble—Loyalty to the Constitution" 98-101)
6.
Joseph Smith, the prophet, was inspired to affirm and ratify this truth,
and he further predicted that the time would come, when the Constitution
of our country would hang as it were by a thread, and that the Latter-day
Saints above all other people in the world would come to the rescue of
that great and glorious palladium of our liberty. We cannot brook the
thought of it being torn into shreds, or destroyed, or trampled under foot
and ignored by men. We cannot tolerate the sentiment, at one time
expressed, by a man, high in authority in the nation. He said: "The
Constitution be damned; the popular sentiment of the people is the
Constitution!" That is the sentiment of anarchism that has spread to
a certain extent, and is spreading over "the land of liberty and home
of the brave." We do not tolerate it. Latter-day Saints cannot
tolerate such a spirit as this. It is anarchy. It means destruction. It is
the spirit of mobocracy, and the Lord knows we have suffered enough from
mobocracy, and we do not want any more of it. Our people from Mexico are
suffering from the effects of that same spirit. We do not want any more of
it, and we cannot afford to yield to that spirit or contribute to it in
the least degree. We should stand with a front like flint against every
spirit or species of contempt or disrespect for the Constitution of our
country and the constitutional laws of our land. ("The Mexican
Trouble—Loyalty to the Constitution" 101-02)
7.
I wish to say this, there isn't a feeling in my soul, nor in any fibre of
my being that is disloyal to the government of the United States or to the
desire that we have in our souls to maintain the principles of individual
and National liberty, justice and freedom that have been established in
the Constitution of our country. I believe in the Constitution of the
United States. I believe in the principles which that instrument
promulgates—the freedom of mankind to do right, to worship God according
to the dictates of their own conscience, freedom to pursue their way in
peace and to observe and maintain their rights, their freedom, their
liberties, and justly recognize and equally preserve and defend their
rights, freedom and liberty of their neighbors and of their fellow
beings—and of all God's creatures. I believe that the Constitution of
the United States was and still is an inspired instrument. The Lord God
Almighty inspired the minds that framed it, and I believe it ought to be
most sacredly preserved. It is worthy of the defense and should be upheld
by all the people of our land. ("Thrift and Economy" 634-35)
8. It was part of the design of the Almighty when He influenced the fathers to leave the old world and come to this continent; He had a hand in the establishment of this government; He inspired the framers of the Constitution and the fathers of this nation to contend for their liberty. ("The Constitution Is an Inspired Document" 644)
Jesus
Christ Joseph Smith
Jr.
Brigham Young
John Taylor
Wilford Woodruff
Lorenzo Snow
Founding
Fathers
Heber J. Grant
George A. Smith
David O. McKay
Joseph F. Smith
Harold B. Lee
Spencer Kimball Ezra T. Benson Howard Hunter
Gordon Hinckley First Presidency Elders
Citizens
Rule Book
