Stacy.
At 02:58 AM 12/17/2002 +0000, you wrote:
Stacy Smith wrote: --- If one is not economically or politically free can they really decide what they should or should not do? Not really, in my opinion. This is where I may draw the line with some conservatives. Give me liberty or give me death:! ---Interestingly, we are able to enjoy economic and political freedom in part to the extent that laws and governments protect human rights and the exercise thereof. Religious freedom cannot seem to sustain itself in an anarchistic environment. Our propensity for tyranny and oppression always seems to overcome natural rights when unprotected by the rule of law. Church doctrine and policy support the ideal of laws which promote freedom and righteousness. "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves." (Joseph Smith quoted by John Taylor, _JD_ 10:57-58.) While this idea suggests the informed exercise of agency leading to righteous living, this obviously does not happen in a vacuum. Being taught "correct principles" implies a common understanding of the laws which govern. Without these laws, there is no freedom. "The individual has as full a measure of capability to violate the laws of health, the requirements of nature, and the commandments of God in matters both temporal and spiritual, as he has to obey all such; in the one case he brings upon himself the penalties that belong to the broken law; as in the other he inherits the specific blessings and the added freedom that attend a law-abiding life. Obedience to law is the habit of the free man; the transgressor fears the law, for he brings upon himself deprivation and restraint, not because of the law, which would have protected him in his freedom, but because of his antagonism to law." (Talmage, _Articles of Faith_ p46.) "At a clear and extreme level, violations of inalienable rights by a government might excuse citizens from the performance of some obligations of citizenship. But the history of Latter-day Saints' relations to their governments shows that any such exceptions would have to be far more extreme than anything we have experienced in this country. "Even when victimized by what they must surely have seen as very severe government oppressions and abridgments of freedom, the Mormon people and their leaders have remained loyal to their government and its laws. Think of the persecutions in Missouri, the expulsion from Nauvoo, and the repressions suffered in the Utah Territory. As long as a government provides aggrieved persons an opportunity to work to enlarge their freedoms and relieve their oppressions by legal and peaceful means, a Latter-day Saint citizen's duty is to forego revolution and disobedience of law. Our doctrine commits us to work from within. Even an oppressive government is preferable to a state of lawlessness and anarchy in which the only ruling principle is force and every individual has a thousand oppressors. (See D&C 134:6.) "Church members who seek to use LDS doctrine as a basis for concluding that government infringements on inalienable rights have excused them from obeying the law seem to have forgotten the principle of following the prophets. Until the prophets invoke this principle, faithful members will also refrain from doing so. We remain committed to uphold our governments and to obey their laws." (Dallin H. Oaks, "Some Responsibilities of Citizenship", BYU Marriott Center, July 3, 1994) Elder Oaks' speech is one of the finest discussions available on this topic of doctrinal support for honoring the law. It is worth studying. Here's a link to the full text-- "http://www.ldsinfobase.net/liberty/DHO_citizenship.htm"; --- Mij Ebaboc ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.423 / Virus Database: 238 - Release Date: 11/25/2002
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