Religion in the Public Square

Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman spoke at Brigham Young University on Tuesday 25 October 2011 about the necessity of religion in the public square.  He also spoke of Governor Romney and Mormonism.  Senator Lieberman made telling remarks concerning those who try to alienate religious freedom from the public square.  Said he, "Anybody who tries to separate faith from America's public square is doing something unnatural and ultimately bad for our country" ("A test of fairness", Deseret News, Wednesday 26 October 2011, A6).

Indeed it is foolish for those who are non-believers to say religion should stay out of the public square.  Well did Elder Neal A. Maxwell, then of the Quorum of Seventy but later a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, prophesy of the rise of the irreligious sentiment when he said,

Your discipleship may see the time come when religious convictions are heavily discounted. . . . In its mildest form, irreligion will merely be condescending toward those who hold to traditional Judeo-Christian values.  In its more harsh forms, as is always the case with those whose dogmatism is blinding, the secular church will do what it can to reduce the influence of those who still worry over standards such as those in the Ten Commandments. . . . But there is occurring a discounting of religiously-based opinions.  There may even be a covert and subtle disqualification of some for certain offices in some situations. ("Meeting the Challenges of Today", 10 October 1978, p. 2).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke of the need for religious freedom's defense as well as religion's place in the public square and political debate.  Said he,  

We are fortunate to have such a guarantee [of religious freedom] in the United States, but many nations do not.  The importance of that guarantee in the United States should make us ever diligent to defend it. . . . The extent and nature of religious devotion in this nation is changing.  The tide of public opinion in favor of religion is receding, and this probably portends public pressures for laws that will impinge on religious freedom. . . . Such forces — atheists and others — would intimidate persons with religious-based points of view from influencing or making the laws of their state or nation. . . . We should never be reticent to declare and act upon the sure foundations of our faith.  The call of conscience — whether religious or otherwise — requires no secular justification. ("Religious Freedom", speech given at BYU-Idaho, 13 October 2009).

I know that God has established the Constitution of the United States of America to protect the rights of all people.  In addition to the establishment of the Constitution, He also established The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - and no other religion whatsoever.  The Church of Jesus Christ - and all Americans - have a mandate, as stated in the Constitution, to ensure all people receive God's gifts of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".  Religion must have a place in the public square - along with all other reasons why one maintains the political beliefs he does - in order for the United States to function correctly.  I know this is true.  I know what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches regarding the Constitution is true.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Payson Utah Temple Groundbreaking Anncouned

From ldschurchnews.com:

"The Church announced Sept. 7 that the Payson Utah Temple groundbreaking will take place on Oct. 8, with Elder Dallin H. Oaks presiding at the 9 a.m. ceremony.

"The property for the temple is located at approximately 930 West and 1550 South on the southwest side of Payson, a mile from the 800 South I-15 interchange.  The new temple will help meet the needs of a growing Church membership in the area and will ease the heavy use of the Provo Utah Temple, which is one of the busiest in the Church.  The Payson temple will bring to 15 the number of operating and announced temples in Utah.

"The new temple will serve approximately 22 stakes from Spanish Fork to Nephi comprising approximately 78,000 Church members.  Temple-going members have been driving 14 miles to Provo or 66 miles Manti for temple services.

"President Thomas S. Monson announced on Jan. 25 that a new temple will be built in Payson, a once agrarian area located in southern Utah County."

Prayer and Offenses Eminating Therefrom: But to Kick God Out?

From the Provo Daily Herald, 15 April 2011, an article appears wherein it is announced that the National Day of Prayer is no longer ruled unconstitutional.  The article reads, "A three-judge panel of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have standing to sue [against the National Day of Prayer ruling] because while they disagree with the president's proclamation, it has not caused them any harm."  Apparently, the Atheists hate God so much, that they must do everything to stamp Him out of the public square.  Just because one person believes in God with conviction, but the FFRF says otherwise (and that militantly, too) does not give the Atheists right to whine to the nation's highest courts because they are apparently offended because of prayer.  If they don't like God, then so be it.  They should not try to kick Him out of America.

The article quotes Rev. Barry W. Lynn as saying, "This decision is part of ominous trend in the federal courts to deny Americans the right to challenge church-state violations."  Well, Reverend Lynn, that is a cop-out, and you know it.  To claim that a nationally publicized admonition (because that's what it is - just an admonition) from the President of the United States to pray is a breach of church-state violations is preposterous.  The National Day of Prayer has been ruled constitutional since 1952, and all the sudden now it is unconstitutional because it offends some poor whiny Atheist?!

We cannot and must not kick God out of the public square.  Prophecy says we must not do so.  Alma 46:12-13, 18 reads, 

And it came to pass that [Captain Moroni] rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it— In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.  And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land— And he said: Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions.

In the July 1990 Ensign, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "[The Constitutional] provision securing religious liberty was divinely inspired, not only to bless the inhabitants of this nation but also to stand as an example to all the nations of the world."  

I therefore declare that the move by the Wisconsin judges is in keeping with what God, through scripture, has declared must forever be, or we must be destroyed.  That is, God must be kept in the public square because it is He - and He alone - who has given us all that we have, whether that be food, the air we breathe, our material possessions, or our divinely sanctioned Liberty. 

I know if America keeps God in the public square, He will keep the United States of America truly free - free from sin and from both seen and unseen enemies.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.