The Cause of Religious Freedom
As this is the Sunday after the 4th of July I have the privilege of speaking about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I could talk about the ideas and philosophy and history and importance of freedom and liberty for hours. I mean who doesn’t love freedom especially in America during the summer. After all this is the great ideal humanity strives for and yet all too often struggles to achieve or maintain. I was given Elder Rasband’s message from General Conference last year in April 2022 where he specifically focuses on freedom of religion. I will also go through the book of Alma with some of my favorite verses and stories of liberty found in scripture. As I was preparing this talk a couple of questions came to mind that I would also invite each of you to consider as I speak this afternoon. We sustain Elder Rasband (who is an apostle) as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Isaiah describes these men in 62:6 as “watchmen…which shall never hold their peace day nor night” and Pres Ballard stated apostles have the duty to: “warn people of the dangers before them. [They] are duty bound to watch [and] warn.” With that said what was it that prompted or inspired Elder Rasband to speak on this topic surrounding the importance of religious freedom and why did he entitle his message “To Heal the World”?
Elder Rasband begins his message with a strong declaration about the condition of liberty in the world today: “There is a scourge sweeping the globe: attacks on your and my religious freedom.” To understand what he meant with this statement I went to the dictionary to get a good definition. It states a scourge is “a source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war. A means of inflicting severe suffering.” That’s pretty serious. Understanding what that means it’s important to not minimize how serious of a threat one of our present day watchmen considers the worldwide attacks on religious freedom. There are men and women, institutions, doing everything in their power to “remove religion and faith in God from the public square, schools, community standards, and civic discourse.” These actions could lead to unimaginable suffering for all of us as believers. And if this is so are we (men and women who call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ and defenders of the faith) doing everything we can to keep or bring religion and faith back into public discourse.
“Efforts to curtail religious liberty are not new.” - We can think about many examples throughout history. Pilgrims left England for America, Catholics and Protestants have engaged in violence, Jews throughout Europe with the pogroms, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were miraculously saved from death after sticking to their religious convictions, and of course our own church is based here in Utah after having to constantly deal with religious persecution since Joseph Smith had his first vision. Speaking of the prophet Joseph Smith this quote on religious liberty is one of my favorites from him. “I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the … Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves. (This is the good part…) It is a love of liberty [that] inspires my soul—civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” That’s similar to what it says in our Declaration of Independence “all men are created equal…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We know that America is a promised land of liberty and we have enjoyed this blessing for hundreds of years. However, the goal is for everyone everywhere to enjoy the blessings of liberty. It is not something that only a select few are meant to enjoy. It is for all of us as God’s children to strive for, defend, fight for. And as hard as it might be to do, we must be ready (as the prophet Joseph Smith said) to sacrifice even our very lives for what we believe and the right others have to believe differently.
Since before the beginning there was one - along with his followers - who sought to disrupt Heavenly Father’s plan for all of His children to enjoy liberty. “That Satan is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me…I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost…Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him…I caused that he should be cast down;”. It is critical to remember that agency/liberty/freedom whatever word we use to describe our individual right to choose what we think and how we live is a gift from God. Even if those choices are not the ones He would have us make or ones that we would agree with.
Elder Rasband also states: “Opponents of religious freedom seek to impose restrictions on expressions of heartfelt convictions. They even criticize and ridicule faith traditions.” This desire to impose restrictions on what we deeply hold to be true is in direct conflict with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In D&C 134:4-5 we read: “We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to Him, and to Him only, for the exercise of it…we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul. We believe…[in] holding sacred the freedom of conscience.” Sacred. Freedom to think and believe and express ourselves and worship. We hold these ideas holy. Not to be treated lightly or with disrespect or unimportant or taken for granted. Because when we do, when we forget that freedom is sacred, a gift from our Father in Heaven, then we begin to lose it.
So “What is religious freedom?” Elder Rasband explains: (this is important because if we don’t know what something is then we can’t really defend it) “It is freedom of worship in all its configurations: freedom of assembly [meeting at church every Sunday], freedom of speech [speaking from the pulpit without fear of getting arrested], freedom to act on personal beliefs [praying and reading scriptures, not drinking alcohol, sending out missionaries to preach the Gospel], and freedom for others to do the same [other Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Sikhs]. Religious freedom allows each of us to decide for ourselves what we believe, how we live and act according to our faith, and what God expects of us.” Anything that imposes on this description is an attack on religious freedom. Anything! People can disagree with us. We don’t all believe the same thing obviously. But if people try to use violence, intimidation, the rule of law to prevent any of those things Elder Rasband mentioned we need to - first of all - stand strong in what we believe and then do what we can to push back. We know the importance of selecting good men and women to serve in public office. We have the opportunity to ourselves serve if we so choose. We can share on social media or gather in marches when we support or oppose a cause that threatens what we hold dear. But we can’t stand by idly and do nothing. Doing nothing never works out well in the end.
With that said I want to now turn to the Book of Mormon where I will share an example of righteous people fighting for the cause of liberty. In these verses we can see the connection between righteousness and liberty. Lehi, before his passing, shared these words with his posterity. “Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom [the Lord] shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” (2 Nephi 1:7) From the very moment anyone arrived on these shores they were counseled that in order to be free they must choose to do what is right. And we see this time and time again. When the people are righteous they are free. When wickedness takes over then bad things start to happen culminating with the destruction of the Nephite civilization.
I love the book of Alma. I feel a strong admiration (and personal hope that great change is possible) for someone who once had sought to destroy the Church and then became an amazing political and (more important) religious leader. Sadly, much of “his book” focuses on so much unnecessary suffering and destruction as too many Nephites sought wickedness and tyranny against faithful members of the church and their fellow countrymen. While on a mission to the city of Ammonihah Alma and Amulek have to watch as women and children are thrown into a fire (along with scriptures) for accepting what was taught.
Beginning in chapter 45 and continuing to the end of the book we read about wicked men - due to pride and riches - who tried to overthrow the chosen form of government under elected judges and replace it with a monarchy. Amalickiah is the first of these who instigates a series of events that lead to ~15 years of conflict with tens of thousands killed. “Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake.” So we see that there is a wicked man and his followers who seek to both destroy the Church and liberty. Not one or the other. Both of them together must be removed from the picture.
But within this trying time we do read about some of the greatest heroes of the Book of Mormon (Captain Moroni, Teancum, Helaman and his sons) and hear their words on the importance of liberty to individuals and societies.
Capt Moroni declares: “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. Behold, whosoever will maintain this title [of Liberty] upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.”
Helaman speaking of his adopted sons: “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.”
Pahoran while dealing with internal conflict: “I do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.”
Someone wrote in an article “Religious freedom is not the default experience for human history. It will not protect itself against the siege laid at its gates. That duty falls to you and me.” Elder Rasband wrapped us his talk with an invitation to “champion the cause of religious freedom”. Our national anthem states: “Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!” This is not just a physical war like we see in Ukraine today. It is an eternal spiritual war we are waging. Brothers and sisters I love liberty more than my life. I testify that it is a gift from our Heavenly Father and one of His most precious ones. Along with the Gospel of Jesus Christ it is the greatest source of lasting joy in this life and in eternity. I hope each of us - including myself - will always have the courage to stand up for what we believe no matter the cost. Christ is our great Liberator and because of Him there is hope, peace, and healing. I say these things in His name. Amen.
“Efforts to curtail religious liberty are not new.” - We can think about many examples throughout history. Pilgrims left England for America, Catholics and Protestants have engaged in violence, Jews throughout Europe with the pogroms, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were miraculously saved from death after sticking to their religious convictions, and of course our own church is based here in Utah after having to constantly deal with religious persecution since Joseph Smith had his first vision. Speaking of the prophet Joseph Smith this quote on religious liberty is one of my favorites from him. “I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the … Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves. (This is the good part…) It is a love of liberty [that] inspires my soul—civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” That’s similar to what it says in our Declaration of Independence “all men are created equal…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We know that America is a promised land of liberty and we have enjoyed this blessing for hundreds of years. However, the goal is for everyone everywhere to enjoy the blessings of liberty. It is not something that only a select few are meant to enjoy. It is for all of us as God’s children to strive for, defend, fight for. And as hard as it might be to do, we must be ready (as the prophet Joseph Smith said) to sacrifice even our very lives for what we believe and the right others have to believe differently.
Since before the beginning there was one - along with his followers - who sought to disrupt Heavenly Father’s plan for all of His children to enjoy liberty. “That Satan is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me…I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost…Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him…I caused that he should be cast down;”. It is critical to remember that agency/liberty/freedom whatever word we use to describe our individual right to choose what we think and how we live is a gift from God. Even if those choices are not the ones He would have us make or ones that we would agree with.
Elder Rasband also states: “Opponents of religious freedom seek to impose restrictions on expressions of heartfelt convictions. They even criticize and ridicule faith traditions.” This desire to impose restrictions on what we deeply hold to be true is in direct conflict with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In D&C 134:4-5 we read: “We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to Him, and to Him only, for the exercise of it…we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul. We believe…[in] holding sacred the freedom of conscience.” Sacred. Freedom to think and believe and express ourselves and worship. We hold these ideas holy. Not to be treated lightly or with disrespect or unimportant or taken for granted. Because when we do, when we forget that freedom is sacred, a gift from our Father in Heaven, then we begin to lose it.
So “What is religious freedom?” Elder Rasband explains: (this is important because if we don’t know what something is then we can’t really defend it) “It is freedom of worship in all its configurations: freedom of assembly [meeting at church every Sunday], freedom of speech [speaking from the pulpit without fear of getting arrested], freedom to act on personal beliefs [praying and reading scriptures, not drinking alcohol, sending out missionaries to preach the Gospel], and freedom for others to do the same [other Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Sikhs]. Religious freedom allows each of us to decide for ourselves what we believe, how we live and act according to our faith, and what God expects of us.” Anything that imposes on this description is an attack on religious freedom. Anything! People can disagree with us. We don’t all believe the same thing obviously. But if people try to use violence, intimidation, the rule of law to prevent any of those things Elder Rasband mentioned we need to - first of all - stand strong in what we believe and then do what we can to push back. We know the importance of selecting good men and women to serve in public office. We have the opportunity to ourselves serve if we so choose. We can share on social media or gather in marches when we support or oppose a cause that threatens what we hold dear. But we can’t stand by idly and do nothing. Doing nothing never works out well in the end.
With that said I want to now turn to the Book of Mormon where I will share an example of righteous people fighting for the cause of liberty. In these verses we can see the connection between righteousness and liberty. Lehi, before his passing, shared these words with his posterity. “Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom [the Lord] shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.” (2 Nephi 1:7) From the very moment anyone arrived on these shores they were counseled that in order to be free they must choose to do what is right. And we see this time and time again. When the people are righteous they are free. When wickedness takes over then bad things start to happen culminating with the destruction of the Nephite civilization.
I love the book of Alma. I feel a strong admiration (and personal hope that great change is possible) for someone who once had sought to destroy the Church and then became an amazing political and (more important) religious leader. Sadly, much of “his book” focuses on so much unnecessary suffering and destruction as too many Nephites sought wickedness and tyranny against faithful members of the church and their fellow countrymen. While on a mission to the city of Ammonihah Alma and Amulek have to watch as women and children are thrown into a fire (along with scriptures) for accepting what was taught.
Beginning in chapter 45 and continuing to the end of the book we read about wicked men - due to pride and riches - who tried to overthrow the chosen form of government under elected judges and replace it with a monarchy. Amalickiah is the first of these who instigates a series of events that lead to ~15 years of conflict with tens of thousands killed. “Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake.” So we see that there is a wicked man and his followers who seek to both destroy the Church and liberty. Not one or the other. Both of them together must be removed from the picture.
But within this trying time we do read about some of the greatest heroes of the Book of Mormon (Captain Moroni, Teancum, Helaman and his sons) and hear their words on the importance of liberty to individuals and societies.
Capt Moroni declares: “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. Behold, whosoever will maintain this title [of Liberty] upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.”
Helaman speaking of his adopted sons: “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.”
Pahoran while dealing with internal conflict: “I do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.”
Someone wrote in an article “Religious freedom is not the default experience for human history. It will not protect itself against the siege laid at its gates. That duty falls to you and me.” Elder Rasband wrapped us his talk with an invitation to “champion the cause of religious freedom”. Our national anthem states: “Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!” This is not just a physical war like we see in Ukraine today. It is an eternal spiritual war we are waging. Brothers and sisters I love liberty more than my life. I testify that it is a gift from our Heavenly Father and one of His most precious ones. Along with the Gospel of Jesus Christ it is the greatest source of lasting joy in this life and in eternity. I hope each of us - including myself - will always have the courage to stand up for what we believe no matter the cost. Christ is our great Liberator and because of Him there is hope, peace, and healing. I say these things in His name. Amen.
0 comments :