President Ezra Taft Benson:
From his book God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties, pg. 356. 1974:
"In the war in heaven the devil advocated absolute eternal security at the sacrifice of our freedom. Although there is nothing more desirable to a Latter-day Saint than eternal security in Gods presence, and although God knew, as we did, that some of us would not achieve this security if we were allowed our freedom, yet the very God of heaven who has more mercy than us all still decreed no guaranteed security except by a mans own freedom of choice and individual initiative.
Today the devil as a wolf in a supposedly new suit of sheeps clothing is enticing some men, both in and out of the Church, to parrot his line by advocating planned government-guaranteed security programs at the expense of our liberties. Latter-day Saints should be reminded how and why they voted as they did in heaven. If some have decided to change their votes they should repent, throw their support on the side of freedom, and cease promoting this subversion."
5 comments:
Certainly I am not one to advocate throwing freedom to the wind. On the other hand, I have noticed a lot from history how God's people have multiplied, even when they were slaves. The Jews prospered in Babylon and Persia, while Esther was certainly not free, even though she was a queen. Christianity spread into the barbarian lands of Europe when they were captured by raiders and led away to be slaves, but also became spiritual teachers also.
But maybe that doesn't quite relate to the post ...
Looney, this reminds me of what gospel scholars refer to as the "pride cycle". This is a pattern shown in the Book of Mormon. When people remember God, and keep His commandments, He blesses them. When they are blessed, they prosper. But often, when they prosper, they begin to become proud, and forget God. When they forget God, then they are left at the mercy of their enemies, and are sometimes taken in to captivity, sometimes defeated in war. Then they recognize once again their dependence on God and repent of their sins. They are forgiven, and once again enjoy the blessings of obeying God. The crucial element is to not allow ourselves to become proud.
But maybe that doesn't quite relate to your comment. ;) jk
Do you think that God could send a Christian society off to slavery for no reason? A bit like Job, but the happy ending doesn't happen until we arrive in heaven?
Looney,
I don't think God would send a Christian society off to slavery for "no reason". Even when we look at people like Joseph sold in to Egypt, there was a purpose behind it.
Most of the cases that I see in the scripture are due to the peoples' "stiff neckedness"; not obeying the commandments and not remembering God. The Book of Mormon warns that, in particular, this land, the Americas, is a choice land, but will only be free to a society that serves God. The Book of Mormon contains a record of just such a people; the early inhabitants of the Americas. They did serve God at times, but ultimately turned away, and their land was over taken by the Europeans. There are no promises of freedom from God if we don't obey His commandments.
Wow...bad grammar. That should read, "God promises no freedom if we don't obey His commandments."
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