Much of what I took away came at the end of the talk. President Benson declares, "For centuries our forefathers suffered and sacrificed that we might be the recipients of the blessing of freedom. If they were willing to sacrifice so much to establish us as a free people, should we not be willing to do the same to maintain that freedom for ourselves and for future generations?" Many Latter Day Saints have heard that the Constitution will "hang by a thread." We are commanded by the prophet to act in the following manner:
1. We must be righteous.
Much of the Book of Mormon is a warning to us of what happens when a civilization does not follow the commandments of God. It is a reminder that in order to continue to enjoy the blessings of this free nation, we must be obedient.
2. We must learn the principles of the Constitution in the tradition of the Founding Fathers.
I hear a lot of arguments of how the Constitution is based upon Christian values and the opposite view that the Founding Fathers were not actually religious but merely acting within the dominating cultural influence of the time, which happened to be Protestant religious values. I do believe that there is some foundation for both arguments, but the distinction is that while not every individual who helped create and sign the Constitution was completely religious, the main influences and the inspiration for the Constitution was guided by the hand of the Lord. The Lord even says so in Doctrine and Covenants 101:8 ("I established the Constitution of this land by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose.").
That being said, President Benson asks us several important questions:
a) Have we read the Federalist papers?
b) Are we reading the Constitution and pondering it? Are we aware of its principles, abiding by these principles, and teaching them to others?
c) Could we defend the Constitution?
d) Can we recognize when a law is constitutionally unsound?
e) Do we know what the prophets have said about the Constitution and the threats to it?
I am somewhat embarrassed to say that my answer for almost all of these questions is, "no, I could not." I'll probably spend my next many blog posts working to address each question and change my answer from "no" to "yes."
3. We must become involved in civic affairs to see that we are properly represented.
I voted for the first time since I was 18 this past year, much in part to the importance of the presidential race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (though living in New York meant my presidential vote for Mitt Romney didn't count for much more than a show of support). My older brother, Jacob, called me up a few weeks prior to my vote and told me how much he enjoyed researching the local candidates and the satisfaction he felt at being a conscientious voter. He inspired me to do the same, and I also was surprised at the satisfaction I felt after casting my vote. When push comes to shove, how can we criticize our government actions if we are not doing our part to share what our opinion on what the government should be doing?
4. We must make our influence felt by our vote, our letters, our teaching, and our advice.
As stated by President Benson, "We must become accurately informed and then let others know how we feel." I am so grateful for that first emphasis on becoming accurately informed. With the availability of the internet and so much information at our fingers, we must be careful and learn how to distinguish fact from fiction. For example, Snopes if one of my favorite websites because it is devoted to bring to light internet scams/pranks from truth and debunks much of the popular nonsense that proliferates on website like Facebook.
As mentioned, I felt incredible satisfaction in being active in the voting process this past year, but I rarely follow the rest (sending letters, teaching others, giving advice). As mentioned in this past general conference (April 2013), we should not be afraid to share our testimony and our religion through such mediums as social media and blogging, which is something I am very guilty of. I have always been of the opinion that such matters are between me and the Lord, but the words of the prophets speak otherwise. What I find interesting is that we should not only be sharing our religion, but our informed opinions as well. I suppose I should add another item to the list of things I should be improving about myself.
The closing of the talk contains the most important information, though. President Benson makes the following two statements: "It (the Constitution) will be saved by the righteous citizens of our nation who love and cherish freedom. It will be saved by enlightened members of this church - among others - men and women who understand and abide the principles of the Constitution... I testify that the God of Heaven sent some of His choicest spirits to lay the foundation of this government, and He has now sent other choice spirits to help preserve it."
I've always felt that there would be a few prominent members of the church that would come forth and be instruments that the Lord will use to defend and preserve the Constitution. After seeing the results of this past presidential race and reading the words of President Benson, I have come to realize that it is the responsibility of every American Latter Day Saint to know and defend the Constitution and not the responsibility of just a few. The Lord needs us all to stand together with other righteous citizens of this nation in order for the Constitution, now more than ever.
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