D&C 134

D&C 134Because Joseph Smith felt so strongly about the government’s duty to protect the individual’s rights and because the American government had failed to protect the Saints in Missouri from the mobs, Joseph Smith decided to run for the office of president of the United States in 1844. He felt none of the candidates running for president would represent the cause of the Saints fairly and guarantee them their constitutional rights.

On April 9th 1844, during the General Conference of the Church, Joseph Smith’s campaign for the presidency was launched. “A series of thirty-seven conferences was scheduled to be conducted throughout the nation by the Twelve with the final conference held at Washington D.C. from September 7th through the 15th (Ivan J. Barrett, Joseph and the Restoration: A History of the Church to

1846, 577)

AMERICA: THE QUIZ• Who said, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all

men are created equal’?

• Who said, “Give me liberty or give me death’?

• Who is known as “Lady of Liberty”?

• Which article of Faith speaks about government?

• Which document, drafted in 1215, lead to the colonization of the US?

• Who wrote the National Anthem

• In which war was the Star Spangled Banner written?

• What sight inspired the author to pen the (then) poem?

•  What other animal did the Founding Fathers almost select as our National Mascot?

• How many Presidents have we had in the US?

• Who sewed the first American flag?

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 134:1–4

• The responsibilities of governments are set forth

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 134:5-6, 8

• The responsibilities of citizens are set forth

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 134:7, 9-10, 12

• The relationship between religion and government is described

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THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1844

The following are some of the men who ran for President of the United States in 1844:

• Martin Van Buren (Had been defeated twice)• Henry Clay• John C. Calhoun• Lewis Cass• Richard Johnson• Joseph Smith• James K. Polk (Won the election)

ARTICLE OF FAITH TWELVE

ARTICLES OF FAITH #12WE BELIEVE IN BEING SUBJECT TO KINGS,

PRESIDENTS, RULERS, AND MAGISTRATES, IN OBEYING,

HONORING, AND SUSTAINING THE LAW.

“The Prophet Joseph Smith … said, ‘Patriotism should be sought for and will be found in right living.’ Isn’t that interesting? You can’t be really patriotic unless you’re righteous. No man can be a good Latter-day Saint and not be true to the best

interests and welfare of his country.” Hartman Rector, Jr.

“The Land Choice Above All,” in Speeches of the Year, 1974

[Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1975]

“We urge all Latter-day Saints to be

good neighbors and to be good citizens,

loyal to their flag and country.”

Spencer W. Kimball CR, April 1981

D&C 134

War“There is [a] war that has gone on since before the world was created and

which is likely to continue for a long time yet to come. …“That war … is the war between truth and error, between agency and

compulsion, between the followers of Christ and those who have denied Him. His enemies have used every stratagem in that conflict. …

“… It is as it was in the beginning. … The victims who fall are as precious as those who have fallen in the past. It is an ongoing battle. …

“The war goes on. … It is waged in our own lives, day in and day out, in our homes, in our work, in our school associations; it is waged over questions of love and respect, of loyalty and fidelity, of obedience and integrity. We are all involved in it. … We are winning, and the future never looked brighter” (President Hinckley, “The War We Are Winning,”Ensign, Nov. 1986, 42, 44–45).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAJGkQGz4yI Religious Freedom

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good

men to do nothing.”

M. Russell Ballard CR, October 2003

(Quote attributed to Edmund Burke)

“When, therefore, constitutional law, obedient to these principles, calls the manhood of the Church into the armed service of any country to which they owe allegiance, their highest civic duty requires that they meet that call. If, harkening to that call and obeying those in command over them, they shall take the lives of those who fight against them, that will not make of them murderers, nor subject them to the penalty that God has prescribed for those who kill, beyond the principle to be mentioned shortly.

The First Presidency CR, April

1942

When to obey…

Romans 13:7

Matthew 22:17-22

D&C 98:5

1 Peter 2:13-17

Titus 3:1,2

When not to obey…

Acts 4:18-20

Daniel 3

Daniel 6

1 Nephi 4:10-18

Mosiah 24:11-15

President Boyd K. Packer,: “Youth today are being raised in enemy territory with a declining standard of morality. But as a servant of the Lord, I promise that you will be protected and shielded from the attacks of the adversary if you will heed the promptings that come from the Holy Spirit.“Dress modestly; talk reverently; listen to uplifting music. Avoid all immorality and personally degrading practices. Take hold of your life and order yourself to be valiant. Because we depend so much on you, you will be remarkably blessed. You are never far from the sight of your loving Heavenly Father” (Nov. 2011).

D&C 134

FOUNDERS OF AMERICA

President Wilford Woodruff, seventy-eight years ago, reported that a tithe of those “wise men,” those who had also signed the Declaration of Independence, appeared in the St. George Temple with George Washington at their head, and “demanded” temple ordinances. (Conference Report, April 10, 1898, pp. 89–90.)

D&C 134