#44 Being Good Citizens

D&C 58:21-22, 26-28; 98:4-10; 134 Art. Of Faith 1:12; Our Heritage p133-134

I admit I am a cynic when it comes to government and laws and political venues. I have never had much faith or respect in any of it in fact I distance myself as far away from it as possible. So to say that this lesson was difficult is an understatement, I fell asleep every time I sat down to read/prepare it. This was a brutal one for me, however I found a couple of articles that made me think a little differently, where my personal involvement is concerned. Admitting this, I do recognize that there are many in this room who love the whole government involvement issue and in fact have done much to develop those areas in our own community, I encourage you to speak up today, share your stories that will give me hope that not all government actions are corrupt and that they can bring further hope to our community.

The thing that has always given me hope for the future of the government has been this phrase: “The day is to come, and is near at hand, when the Lord will come in his power and make an end of all man-made governments and take His rightful place as King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

However, Erastus Snow gave a quote that I can relate with: “Anarchy-shall I say, is the worst of all governments? No: Anarchy is the absence of all government; it is the antipodes opposite of order; it is the acme of confusion; it is the result of unbridled license, the antipodes of true liberty. The Apostle Paul says truly: ‘For there is no power but of God: The powers that be are ordained of God.’ At first this is a startling statement. Even the monopoly of the one-man-power as in Russia, or the monopoly of the aristocracy as in other parts of Europe, or the imbecility and sometimes stupidity of a republic like our own, is far better than no government at all. And for this reason, says the Apostle Paul, ‘the powers are ordained of God,’ not that they are always the best forms of government for the people, or that they afford liberty and freedom to mankind but that any and all forms of government for the people, or that they afford liberty and freedom to mankind but that any and all forms of government are better than none at all, having a tendency as they do to restrain the passions of human nature and to curb them, and to establish and maintain order to a greater or less degree. One monopoly is better than many; and the oppression of a king is tolerable, but the oppression of a mob, where every man is a law to himself and his own right arm, is his power to enforce his own will, is the worst form of government.” (journal of discourses 22:151)

So the truth here, some form of government is better than no government because each man ruling himself in his own way would be a disaster!
We have the laws set up to form guidelines to keep us from killing each other. D&C 98:4-10 gives us the purposes of the laws, from the Lord’s perspective; vs. 4 we are commanded to obey the laws of the land, even those laws we don’t like? Even for those who live in 3rd world countries who have no freedoms? Well vs. 5 says yes, in the footnote under governments and liberty, I got that whatever type of government we live under, we obey those laws. In vs. 6 He is saying that we should live those laws, befriend those laws even if we may not entirely agree with them, I didn’t like this thought very much, because there are some laws I don’t entirely agree with, but vs. 8 gave me a new thought. I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free. What I got out of this is if we obey his commandment to obey the laws of the land that act will make us free-free of any wrong doing; because we are living the laws of the land, and living those laws is what makes us free of any accountability that may incur even if it goes against our better judgment.

This thought makes vs. 9 true doesn’t it-we the people will mourn when wicked people rule because we may have to live laws we don’t entirely agree with, we see this very thing in the Book of Mormon when the people of Alma were enslaved by the wicked Lamanites and forced to do things they didn’t like right?

Therefore the next scripture v10 takes on more meaning to us then, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and we should observe to uphold them. (in political office) If we don’t want to mourn or live laws that evil men make then we need to find good men and women to put in and support them as they make wonderful service oriented laws.

So how do we find these good people, how do we become those good people ourselves?

Let’s go back to D&C 58: 27 We should be anxiously engaged in a good cause. If we are anxiously engaged in good causes, will we not find the kind of men and women we are seeking? We will know that they love the same things we love and live the same way we are striving to, because as the scripture states, doing those things ‘brings to pass much righteousness’. V28 for as we do righteous things and we are finding righteous people to associate with we can be agents unto ourselves, which brings us to D&C 58:21-22 That is, if we ourselves are keeping the laws of God (being agents unto ourselves) we will have no need of breaking the laws of the land, because the laws of the land will be patterned after righteous principles.

I know that only by the Lord’s hand could this country have been formed and started. There were just too many miracles that took place to think otherwise. I believe that the men that started this country were righteous men, who started off coming here with the initial intention of getting away from England rule, to live and make choices that would keep them free. They knew that there needed to be a constitution a union formed to keep England or other world forces from taking over, so these good men got together and I believe through the power of God, which governments can and have been formed, made a wonderful document that became the basis of this country. Since then a few things have gone down hill because wicked men have been put into office, but the scriptures tell us all is not lost. We have our armor, as well as being able to use our sword for defense against satan we can use it to take offensive action within our own communities.

There are things we can do to make our communities a safe, productive place to live? An article in the 1999 feb. ensign gave this advise:
If experience shows that it is much easier to raise and maintain strong families if the community is strong, the reverse also is true. It is much more difficult for families to succeed if the community is divided, uncaring, run-down, crime-ridden, and unsafe. If adults do not care about children, if children are exposed daily to sights and sounds which frighten, threaten, and intimidate them, and if young people have constantly before them flagrant examples of evil and wrongdoing, their lives will eventually be twisted and blighted. How difficult it is for a child in many settings in this and every other state to grow up physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually healthy, regardless of what his or her family struggles to accomplish. The wickedness of the streets is a potent teacher of the young.
Of course there are exceptions to the general rule that strong communities are needed if we are to have strong families. Just as some individuals somehow overcome the limitations of severely dysfunctional families, so too some families do reasonably well even in severely dysfunctional communities. But the odds are much against such happening.
Volunteerism—freely-given service to others—is a powerful aid in our struggle to forge and maintain strong communities. It is important to note that each community has its own set of problems, which often can best be dealt with by local people applying local solutions. In saying this we recognize, of course, that there are circumstances when problems are best dealt with on a regional or even national basis. Alexander B. Morrison, “A Caring Community: Goodness in Action,” Ensign, Feb 1999, 13


We mentioned the first one elect good men and women into our city offices.
Roger Burnett our own ward member served as mayor for a while, he got elected because he was involved in other areas, he was a good man who did good things. But we don’t necessarily know all the men and women running, how do we know what they stand for and what kind of things they are involved in. We ourselves should be involved and meeting these people. There are also literature that is passed around about these individuals do we read them or just toss them? There are websites that are set up for these purposes, do we check them out? Do we involve ourselves in their campaigns? Here are more suggestions from the 1st presidency:
Citizens should also be practitioners of civic virtue in their conduct toward government. They should be ever willing to fulfill the duties of citizenship. This includes compulsory duties like military service and the numerous voluntary actions they must take if they are to preserve the principle of limited government through citizen self-reliance. For example, since U.S. citizens value the right of trial by jury, they must be willing to serve on juries, even those involving unsavory subject matter. Citizens who favor morality cannot leave the enforcement of moral laws to jurors who oppose them.
The single word that best describes a fulfillment of the duties of civic virtue is patriotism. Citizens should be patriotic. My favorite prescription for patriotism is that of Adlai Stevenson:
“What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? … A patriotism that puts country ahead of self; a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” 20
“Thus, we strongly urge men and women to be willing to serve on school boards, city and county councils and commissions, state legislatures, and other high offices of either election or appointment, including involvement in the political party of their choice.
First Presidency Urges Citizen Participation,” Ensign, Apr. 1998, 77
I like the idea of being willing to serve on school boards, if we want what is taught in our schools to be patterned after our beliefs then we need to be the ones that attend those meetings and offer input. Dallin H. Oaks suggests getting involved inside those schools, even if you don’t have children that attend there, because these children make up the population on our neighborhood streets, if you don’t want to be scared of them then you need to know who they are and their background so that you aren’t afraid.
• Adults truly care for and are concerned about the children in their community—all children, not just their own. They get involved with the schools attended by their own and other children and are active in parent and teacher associations, neighborhood associations, community councils, and so forth. They insist on high standards in their schools, both scholastically and socially.
Dallin H. Oaks, “The Divinely Inspired Constitution,” Ensign, Feb 1992, 68
We do this by volunteering in classrooms teaching these kids how to read, 10 kids out of 25-30 don’t read on grade level because no one is willing to teach them. We click our tongues at the parents, but if they themselves have never been taught and we stand idle we are just as guilty, we just had announced in RS that the juvenile detention center has a great need for volunteers to go in and work with kids, teaching them how to read. Do you think there may be a connection with the fact that these kids are staying here and can’t read?
Another suggestion the lesson gives, obeying the laws of the land. If we slide by or don’t obey how will they learn? Or better yet what if we are constantly trying to get them off because we don’t want anything on their record, what kind of community will that breed?
Other suggestions, is to serve as a family in our communities at the Heritage Care Center, around the homes in our neighborhoods, parks, the city has an adopt-a-park clean-up program as well as an adopt-a tree program. 25th street in Ogden has had a major clean-up effort, because the local businesses are getting involved and volunteering services and supporting each other. It is a great thing to witness. Anyway, those are just a few ideas of things that can help us become better citizens and make our communities places we want to live in. The Lord is in charge of our lives, He is completely aware of what is happening in government, maybe He’s just waiting for us to stand up and fight with that sword of ours, by serving each other and in our communities, may you take one or more of these ideas and implement them into you life is the advice the brethren of the church, in the name of Jesus Christ amen.