Religious Freedom Talk

Here's the message I shared at church this last Sunday. It went very well and I was humbled and glad to get to share it. :)

Good morning brothers and sisters. It is that time of year again when we reflect on our country’s history, how our nation came to be what it is today, and celebrate the freedoms we have because of the work of many inspired and courageous men. When most people think of Independence Day and the people who were involved in the revolution that brought about this day, they might think of the names they learned in text books, such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many more. But one name that most likely is not going to be thought of in dealing with the history of this nation, at least not outside of the church, is Nephi.

In the First Book of Nephi, Nephi has a vision of the re-discovery of this promised land after the falling of Christ’s church. We read in 1^st Nephi 13:12:

And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and ^awrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

The vision showed how there were many followers after this man, and that they had the Spirit of God with them. They humbled themselves before the Lord, and the power of the Lord was with them.

This vision is testimony that God indeed had an immense role in guiding the explorers and followers to this land and that He had influence and gave spiritual guidance to those searching for a new world. And because of Nephi’s prophesying, we may gain testimony of God’s plan for this country today.

There is evidence of God’s influence in the growth of this country scattered all throughout history, from Columbus claiming to have inspiration to travel from the Holy Ghost, to Benjamin Franklin making an appeal to have daily prayers in the Constitutional Convention. In the appeal, Franklin said “If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? I believe without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the building of Babel.”

The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that the founders of our country truly were inspired. For the purpose of maintaining the rights and protection of all flesh, moral agency, and that every man will be accountable for his own sins and not be in bondage with another, the Lord stated in D&C 101:80 that He “established the ^aConstitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the ^bshedding of blood.”

So we see evidence of God’s hand working in the minds of our founding fathers. I’d like to focus now on one of the freedoms we have that is a key part in allowing Christ’s church to be restored to the earth. That is the freedom of religion. We have this freedom because the Lord inspired the founding fathers to make it so.

I’d like to share some parts of a speech given by Dallin H. Oaks at BYU-Idaho last fall:

The First Amendment guarantees the right of free exercise of religion and free speech and press for the rights and protection of all flesh. Without these great fundamentals of the Constitution, America could not have served as the host nation for the restoration of the gospel, which began just three decades after the Bill of Rights was ratified. The First Amendment is also intended to separate churches and government, to prevent a national church of the kind still found in Europe.

The American colonies were originally settled by people who, for the most part, had come to this continent to be able to practice their religious faith without persecution, and their successors deliberately placed religious freedom first in the nation’s Bill of Rights. So it is that our national law formally declares: “The right to freedom of religion undergirds the very origin and existence of the United States.”

The free “exercise” of religion obviously involves both the right to choose religious beliefs and affiliations and the right to “exercise” or practice those beliefs. But in a nation with citizens of many different religious beliefs, the right of some to act upon their religious principles must be qualified by the government’s responsibility to protect the health and safety of all. Otherwise, for example, the government could not protect its citizens’ person or property from neighbors whose intentions include taking human life or stealing in circumstances rationalized on the basis of their religious beliefs.

Elder Oaks comments on the complications that the Supreme Court must go through in interpreting the Constitution and identifying principles. He relates stories to the early Mormons and the struggles they had with laws being built against them. Elder Oaks brings up the fact that we are fortunate to have such a guarantee in the United States, and that many nations don’t. The importance of the guarantee of religious freedom in the United States should make us ever diligent to defend it. And it is in need of being defended. Not only in offence from other countries who do not agree with the ways of our nation, but from those opposing many basic religious beliefs in the first place.

Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke to a group of youth in Boston, Massachusetts on June 10th, just 2 weeks ago. He spoke to them about religious freedom and how we need to protect it. He said:

§ "Even the definition of marriage is now a topic of heated debate. That is only the tip of a larger iceberg. Below this tip is the weightier matter of free exercise of religion. Contention is raging over two main issues: (1) Can marriage survive as the bedrock of our cultural heritage? and (2) Can our precious freedom of religion be preserved?"

§ "If civil law were altered to recognize so-called "same-gender" marriage, you as believers in God, and keepers of His commandments, would then be regarded as exceptions to the rule. Your conscientious convictions would then be regarded as discriminatory. If you were a Christian school teacher, you could be charged with bigotry for upholding the Lord's law of chastity. In truth dear brothers and sisters, if you lose marriage, you also lose freedom of religion. Atheistic moral bedlam and religious repression go hand in hand. At stake is our ability to transmit to the next generation the life-giving and inseparable culture of marriage and the free exercise of religion."

We must stand for what we know is right. We must be missionaries in these latter days. We are commanded not only to keep the commandments, but to stand for and share them. D&C 88:81: it becometh every man who is warned to warn his neighbor.

I have a testimony that this church is true. I know that our founding fathers were influenced by the spirit and that this great country was created by God as a part of His plan. It is such a blessing to live here, where we can meet here as a congregation weekly and worship to our hearts content without worry of breaking the law, where we have such a religiously diverse culture – missionary opportunities surround us! We can take advantage of our religious freedom and share what we know. I know the Lord is pleased when we do what is right. We are so blessed to live here; I know this is true, I know Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet and that the scriptures are true. I know the Lord loves everyone, and it is our duty to share his love.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen