_POLITICAL GOVERNMENT_
_Theocratic Government_--I believe in a true republican theocracy,
and also in a true democratic theocracy, as the term democratic is now
used; for they are to me, in their present use, convertible terms.
6:346.
What do I understand by a theocratic government? One in which all laws
are enacted and executed in righteousness, and whose officers possess
that power which proceedeth from the Almighty. That is the kind of
government I allude to when I speak of a theocratic government, or the
Kingdom of God upon the earth. It is, in short, the eternal powers of
the Gods. 6:346-7.
If the Kingdom of God, or a theocratic government, was established on
the earth, many practices now prevalent would be abolished.
One community would not be permitted to array itself in opposition to
another to coerce them to their standard; one denomination would not
be suffered to persecute another because they differed in religious
belief and mode of worship. Every one would be fully protected in
the enjoyment of all religious and social rights, and no state, no
government, no community, no person would have the privilege of
infringing on the rights of another; one Christian community would not
rise up and persecute another. 6:343.
But few, if any, understand what a theocratic government is. In every
sense of the word, it is a republican government, and differs but
little in form from our National, State, and Territorial Governments;
but its subjects will {544} recognize the will and dictation of
the Almighty. The Kingdom of God circumscribes and comprehends the
municipal laws for the people in their outward government, to which
pertain the Gospel covenants, by which the people can be saved; and
those covenants pertain to fellowship and faithfulness.
The Gospel covenants are for those who believe and obey; municipal laws
are for both Saint and sinner.
The Constitution and laws of the United States resemble a theocracy
more closely than any government now on the earth, or that ever has
been so far as we know, except the government of the Children of Israel
to the time when they elected a king.
All governments are more or less under the control of the Almighty,
and, in their forms, have sprung from the laws that he has from time
to time given to man. Those laws, in passing from generation to
generation, have been more or less adulterated, and the result has been
the various forms of government now in force among the nations; for, as
the Prophet says of Israel, "They have transgressed the laws, changed
the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant."
Whoever lives to see the Kingdom of God fully established upon the
earth will see a government that will protect every person in his
rights. If that government was now reigning upon this land of Joseph,
you would see the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Episcopalian,
the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Quaker, the Shaker,
the Hindoo, the Mahometan, and every class of worshipers most strictly
protected in all their municipal rights and in the privileges of
worshiping who, what, and when they pleased, not infringing upon the
rights of others. {545} Does any candid person in his sound judgment
desire any greater liberty? 6:342-343.
In the sincere observances of the principles of true religion and
virtue, we recognize the base, the only sure foundation of enlightened
society and well-established government. 2:178.
I have had some people ask me how I manage and control the people. I do
it by telling them the truth and letting them do just as they have a
mind to. 14:162.
_Republican Government_--There is no other platform that any
government can stand upon and endure, but the platform of truth and
virtue. 10:108.
How can a republican government stand? There is only one way for it
to stand. It can endure; but how? It can endure, as the government of
heaven endures, upon the eternal rock of truth and virtue; and that is
the only basis upon which any government can endure. 9:4.
What is a true republican government is easily answered. It is a
government or institution that is perfect--perfect in its laws and
ordinances, having for its object the perfection of mankind in
righteousness. This is true democracy. 7:10.
Individual self-government lies at the root of all true and effective
government, whether in heaven or on earth. Those who govern should be
wiser and better than the governed, that the lesser may be blessed
of the greater. Were this so, then the people would willingly repose
their dearest interests to the trusts of their rulers or leaders, and
with a feeling of pleasure bow to and carry out to the letter their
instructions and conclusions on all matters that pertained to the
general good. This will apply to great kingdoms and mighty nations,
to small companies of immigrants crossing the plains, or to the home
circle. A republican government in the hands {546} of a wicked people
must terminate in woe to that people, but in the hands of the righteous
it is everlasting, while its power reaches to heaven. 10:19.
Suppose this people inhabiting these mountains are broken off entirely
from the nations of the world, rendering no allegiance to any earthly
power combined or isolated; free to make laws, to obey them, or to
break them; free to act, to choose, and to refuse, and, in every
sense of the word, to do as they please, without any fixed order
of government whatever, and they make a constitution a system of
government for mutual protection and advancement in the principles of
right, to be framed according to the best wisdom that can be found in
this community;--I say, let them govern themselves by a republican
system of government, selecting a man from their midst to preside over
them. 7:11.
A true system of civilization will not encourage the existence of every
abomination and crime in a community but will lead them to observe the
laws Heaven has laid down for the regulation of the life of man. There
is no other civilization. A truly civilized person is one who is a real
gentleman or lady; in language and manners he is truly refined, and
gives way to no practice that is unhallowed or uncomely. This is what
we are after, and trying to attain to. 12:287.
I believe in a true republican government; but where is the man
capable of exhibiting in their true character the principles of such a
government? 7:10.
The man who fights with coolness and calculation in moral and domestic
reform will win every time. 10:205.
_God and Governments_--Every government not ordained of God, as we
have just been hearing, will, in its time, crumble to the dust and be
lost in the fog of forgetfulness. 14:93.
If your eyes were opened, you would see his hand in the {547} midst
of the nations of the earth in the setting up of governments and
in the down-fall of kingdoms--in the revolutions, wars, famine,
distress, and wretchedness among the inhabitants of the earth. In these
manifestations you would discern the footsteps of the Almighty just as
plainly as you may see the footsteps of your children upon the soft
earth. 7:144.
Why are they thus led to sow the seeds of their own destruction?
Because the kingdoms of this world are not designed to stand. When men
are placed at the head of government who are actually controlled by the
power of God--by the Holy Ghost--they can lay plans, they can frame
constitutions, they can form governments and laws that have not the
seeds of death within them, and no other men can do it. 4:267.
In the laws of every government now on this earth, there are certain
principles in their constitutions that will ere long sap the
foundations of their existence; and so it will be, so long as men
continue to persist in ruling and making laws, in regulating and
controlling by human wisdom alone, and in issuing their mandates and
sending their officers to administer laws, made by the wisdom of man.
4:267.
If a nation transgresses wholesome laws and oppresses any of its
citizens or another nation, until the cup of its iniquity is full,
through acts that are perfectly under its own control, God will
hurl those who are in authority from their power, and they will be
forgotten; and he will take another people, though poor and despised,
a hiss and a by-word among the popular nations, and instill into them
power and wisdom; and they will increase and prosper, until they in
turn become a great nation on the earth. 6:146.
Great and mighty empires are raised to the summit of human greatness
by him, to bring to pass his inscrutable purposes, {548} and at his
pleasure they are swept from existence and lost in the oblivion of
antiquity. All these mighty changes are pointing to and preparing the
way for the introduction of his Kingdom in the latter times, that will
stand forever and grow in greatness and power until a holy, lasting,
religious and political peace shall make the hearts of the poor among
men exult with joy in the Holy One of Israel, and that his Kingdom is
everywhere triumphant. 9:368.
_Fitness of Rulers_--No being is fit to rule, govern, and dictate,
until he has been controlled, governed, and dictated,--has yielded
obedience to law, and proved himself worthy, by magnifying the law that
was over him, to be master of that law. 8:324.
What is the reign of a king who cannot control his passions? Will not
his subjects sorrow? Yes, they will feel the weight of his wrath, and
their backs will ache, and their heads will ache, and they will receive
the lash from a heavy hand. 8:324.
_Labor and Politics_--Put a community in possession of knowledge
by means of which they can obtain what they need by the labor of their
bodies and their brains, then, instead of being paupers they will be
free, independent and happy, and these distinctions of classes will
cease, and there will be but one class, one grade, one great family.
16:20.
Do you wish to possess enlarged influence in a political point of
view? Gather around you the poor and honest of mankind and bestow your
charity on them, not by giving them in the way that charity is almost
universally understood, but supply them labor that will pay an interest
on the outlay of means and, at the same time, afford food, raiment
and shelter to the laborer; in this way the man of means becomes a
benefactor to his race. 10:193. {549}
If you wish to gain power in the minds of any people, give them
the same opportunity that you possess to become independent and
self-sustaining, and endow them with all the wisdom and knowledge that
they are capable of receiving, and let them increase with you and
unitedly grow and become strong. 10:190.
_Saints and Politics_--I stand for Constitutional law, and if
any transgress, let them be tried by it, and, if guilty, suffer its
penalty. 10:109.
I say God speed everybody that is for freedom and equal rights! I am
with you. Whom do we want to fill our public offices? We want the
best men that we can find for governor, president and statesmen, and
for every other office of trust and responsibility; and when we have
obtained them, we will pray for them and give them our faith and
influence to do the will of God and to preserve themselves and the
people in truth and righteousness. 13:274.
If we live our religion, honor our God and his Priesthood, then we
shall honor every wholesome government and law there is upon the
earth and become aliens to all unrighteous, unjust and unlawful
administrators, wherever they may be found. In the various nations,
kingdoms and governments of the world are to be found laws, ordinances
and statutes as good as can be made for mortal man. 10:41.
Are we a political people? Yes, very political indeed. But what party
do you belong to or would you vote for? I will tell you whom we will
vote for: we will vote for the man who will sustain the principles of
civil and religious liberty, the man who knows the most and who has the
best heart and brain for a statesman; and we do not care a farthing
whether he is a whig, a democrat, a barnburner, a republican, a new
light or anything else. These are our politics. 13:149. {550}
If nobody will speak for us, let us speak for ourselves; if no person
else will do anything for us, let us do something for ourselves. This
is right; it is politically right, religiously right, nationally right,
socially and morally right, and it is right in every sense of the word
for us to sustain ourselves. 11:140.
Let those called Latter-day Saints so learn wisdom as to carry out the
true principles of government, that they may be able to govern and
control all things wisely. 7:64.
_The Constitution of the United States, an Inspired Document_--We
mean to sustain the Constitution of the United States and all righteous
laws. 9:157.
We will cling to the Constitution of our country, and to the government
that reveres that sacred charter of freemen's rights; and, if
necessary, pour out our best blood for the defense of every good and
righteous principle. 10:41.
It was observed this morning that the Government of the United States
was the best or most wholesome one on the earth, and the best adapted
to our condition. That is very true. 2:310.
To accuse us of being unfriendly to the Government, is to accuse us
of hostility to our religion, for no item of inspiration is held
more sacred with us than the Constitution under which she acts. As a
religious society, we, in common with all other denominations, claim
its protection. 2:175.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of
the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work. But was
that which was given to them perfect, not admitting of any addition
whatever? No; for if men know anything, they must know that the
Almighty has never yet found a man in mortality that was capable, at
the first intimation, at the first impulse, to receive anything in a
state of {551} entire perfection. They laid the foundation, and it
was for after generations to rear the superstructure upon it. It is a
progressive--a gradual work. 7:14.
The general Constitution of our country is good, and a wholesome
government could be framed upon it, for it was dictated by the
invisible operations of the Almighty; he moved upon Columbus to launch
forth upon the trackless deep to discover the American Continent; he
moved upon the signers of the Declaration of Independence; and he moved
upon Washington to fight and conquer, in the same way as he moved upon
ancient and modern Prophets, each being inspired to accomplish the
particular work he was called to perform in the times, seasons, and
dispensations of the Almighty. God's purpose, in raising up these men
and inspiring them with daring sufficient to surmount every opposing
power, was to prepare the way for the formation of a true republican
government. They laid its foundation; but when others came to build
upon it, they reared a superstructure far short of their privileges, if
they had walked uprightly as they should have done. 7:13.
We believe that the Lord has been preparing that when he should bring
forth his work, that, when the set time should fully come, there
might be a place upon his footstool where sufficient liberty of
conscience should exist, that his Saints might dwell in peace under
the broad panoply of constitutional law and equal rights. In this
view we consider that the men in the Revolution were inspired by the
Almighty, to throw off the shackles of the mother government, with her
established religion. For this cause were Adams, Jefferson, Franklin,
Washington, and a host of others inspired to deeds of resistance to
the acts of the King of Great Britain, who might also have been led to
those aggressive acts, for ought we know, to bring to pass the purposes
of God, in thus establishing a new {552} government upon a principle of
greater freedom, a basis of self-government allowing the free exercise
of religious worship.
It was the voice of the Lord inspiring all those worthy men who bore
influence in those trying times, not only to go forth in battle but
to exercise wisdom in council, fortitude, courage, and endurance in
the tented field, as well as subsequently to form and adopt those wise
and efficient measures which secured to themselves and succeeding
generations, the blessing of a free and independent government.
This government, so formed, has been blessed by the Almighty until she
spreads her sails in every sea, and her power is felt in every land.
2:170.
This, then, is our position towards the Government of the United
States and towards the world, to put down iniquity, and exalt virtue;
to declare the word of God which he revealed unto us, and build up
his Kingdom upon the earth. And, know all men, Governments, Nations,
Kindreds, Tongues, and People, that this is our calling, intention,
and design. We aim to live our religion, and have communion with our
God. We aim to clear our skirts of the blood of this generation, by
our faithfulness in preaching the truth of heaven in all plainness and
simplicity; and I have often said, and repeat it now, that all other
considerations of whatever name or nature, sink into insignificance in
comparison with this. To serve God and keep his commandments, are first
and foremost with me. If this is higher law, so be it. As it is with
me, so should it be with every department of the Government; for this
doctrine is based upon the principles of virtue and integrity; with
it, the Government, her Constitution, and free institutions are safe;
without it no power can avert their speedy destruction. It is the life
giving power to the Government; it is the vital {553} element on which
she exists and prospers; in its absence she sinks to rise no more.
2:176.
_The Saints Will Yet Save the Constitution_--When the day comes in
which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States
will proudly flutter unsullied on the flag staff of liberty and equal
rights, without a spot to sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our
fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by
those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity. 2:317.
How long will it be before the words of the prophet Joseph will be
fulfilled? He said if the Constitution of the United States were saved
at all it must be done by this people. It will not be many years before
these words come to pass. 12:204.
When the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a
single thread, they will have to call for the "Mormon" Elders to save
it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it. 2:182.
The present Constitution, with a few alterations of a trifling nature,
is just as good as we want; and if it is sustained on this land of
Joseph, it will be done by us and our posterity. 8:324.
I expect to see the day when the Elders of Israel will protect and
sustain civil and religious liberty and every constitutional right
bequeathed to us by our fathers, and spread these rights abroad in
connection with the Gospel for the salvation of all nations. I shall
see this whether I live or die. 11:262.
_Religious Liberty Should be Observed_--The Government of the
United States, and the President of the United States ought to
treat the religion of the Latter-day Saints as they do Methodism,
Presbyterianism, Quakerism, Shakerism, and many other isms, and say,
"Here, I wish you to hold your tongues about the 'Mormons,' for they
have just as good a {554} right to their religion as you have to
yours." And when the people petition for this or that (as the right
of petition should never be denied), it is the duty of those who are
addressed to hearken to the petitions of the people 2:186.
Are not our religious sentiments as sacred to us as to any other
portion of the community? And should it not be the duty, as well as
the pride, of every American citizen to extend that provision of the
Constitution to us which he claims for himself? And is not that sacred
instrument invaded and broken as much in debarring and excluding this
people from its privileges, rights, and blessings, as it would be if
your rights and privileges were thus invaded? No, gentlemen, we have
broken no laws, our glorious Constitution guarantees unto us all that
we claim. Under its broad folds, in its obvious meaning and intents,
we are safe, and can always rejoice in peace. All that we have ever
claimed, or wish to, on the part of the Government, is the just
administration of the powers and privileges of the National Compact.
2:172.
I pause now to ask, Had not Joseph Smith a right to promulgate and
establish a different, a new religion and form of worship in this
Government? Every one must admit he had. This right was always held
sacred, for upon it was based the religious liberty of every citizen
of the Republic. It was a privilege held sacred in the bosom of
every class of people; no judge dared invade its holy precincts. No
legislator nor governor ventured to obstruct the free exercise thereof.
Whenever the iron hand of oppression and persecution has fallen upon
this people, our opposers have broken their own laws, set at defiance
and trampled under foot every principle of equal rights, justice,
and liberty found written in that rich legacy of our fathers, _The
Constitution of the United States_. 2:171.
Whether our religion is believed by any other people or {555} not, it
is by us, and no power or authority in the Government can lawfully or
righteously molest us in the peaceable and quiet enjoyment thereof. It
cannot be done without law, and surely the Government has no right to
make any law concerning it, or to prevent the free exercise thereof.
2:177.
The Government of the United States has never engaged in a crusade
against us as a people, although she has remained silent, or refused
us, when appealed to for redress of grievances. She has permitted us
to be driven from our own lands, for which she had taken our money,
and that too with her letters patent in our hands, guaranteeing to
us peaceable possession. She has calmly looked on and permitted one
of the fundamental and dearest provisions of the Constitution to be
broken; she has permitted us to be driven and trampled under foot
with impunity. Under these circumstances, what course is left for us
to pursue? I answer that, instead of seeking to destroy the very best
Government in the world, as seems to be the fears of some, we, like all
other good citizens, should seek to place those men in power who will
feel the obligations and responsibilities they are under to a mighty
people; who would feel and realize the important trusts reposed in
them by the voice of the people who call them to administer law under
the solemn sanction of an oath of fidelity to that heaven inspired
instrument, to the inviolate preservation of which we look for the
perpetuity of our free institutions. 2:175.
_Opposed to Corrupt Administrators of Law_--I do not lift my voice
against the great and glorious Government guaranteed to every citizen
by our Constitution, but against those corrupt administrators who
trample the Constitution and just laws under their feet. 5:232.
It is a pretty bold stand for this people to take, to say that they
will not be controlled by the corrupt administrators of our {556}
general Government. We will be controlled by them, if they will be
controlled by the Constitution and laws; but they will not. Many of
them do not care any more about the Constitution and the laws that
they make than they do about the laws of another nation. That class
trample the rights of the people under their feet, while there are
many who would like to honor them. All we have ever asked for is our
Constitutional rights. We wish the laws of our Government honored,
and we have ever honored them; but they are trampled under foot by
administrators. 5:231.
I repeat that the Constitution, laws, and institutions of our
Government are as good as can be, with the intelligence now possessed
by the people. But they, as also the laws of other nations, are too
often administered in unrighteousness; and we do not and cannot love
and respect the acts of the administrators of our laws, unless they act
justly in their offices. 6:344.
_The President of the United States_--As I have already stated,
the President of the United States should be a perfect pattern for
all the people to walk after; so also should the Vice-President, the
members of the Cabinet, and of Congress, the Governors of States and
Territories, and in fine, all the officers in the Government, be
patterns for the people to imitate. 2:183.
And the people should concentrate their feelings, their influence, and
their faith to select the best man they can find to be their President,
if he has nothing more to eat than potatoes and salt--a man who will
not aspire to become greater than the people who appoint him, but be
contented to live as they live, be clothed as they are clothed, and in
every good thing be one with them. 7:12-13.
When the best man is elected President, let him select the best men he
can find for his counselors or cabinet; and let all {557} the officers
within the province of the Chief Magistrate to appoint, be selected
upon the same principle to officiate wisely in different parts of the
nation. 6:345.
The Government of the United States is republican in form, and
should be in its administration, and requires a man for President
who is capable of communicating to the understanding of the people,
according to their capacity, information upon all points pertaining
to the just administration of the Government. He should understand
what administrative policy would be most beneficial to the nation. He
should also have the knowledge and disposition to wisely exercise the
appointing power, so far as it is constitutionally within his control,
and select only good and capable men for the office. He should not only
carry out the legal and just wishes of his constituents, but should be
able to enlighten their understanding and correct their judgment. And
all good officers in a truly republican administration will constantly
labor for the security of the rights of all, irrespective of sect or
party. 7:63.
In the free and independent Government of the United States, who
in the eyes of the Almighty ought to have the privilege of sitting
in the Presidential chair, to be countenanced, adored, loved, and
reverenced in his capacity, and be justified therein by the heavenly
hosts? It is that man who is sanctified before God, and who loves the
Lord Jesus with all his heart, or in other words, who is endowed with
wisdom from on high, and has revelations, visions, and dreams, giving
him understanding to provide for the welfare of every portion of the
nation, and a willingness to preserve to every one their fair and just
religious rights, as well as political, for the good and benefit of
all. In the eyes of eternal justice, only such a man has a right to
that office. They are afraid to put a man there who is a professor of
religion, lest he favor his own party. A {558} man is a fool that would
do that, when he has laws to preserve and keep inviolate towards all
religious denominations. 2:188-189.
In our Government a President is elected for four years, and by custom
re-elected but once, thus limiting the time of any one person to but
eight years at most. Would it not be better to extend that period
during life or good behavior; and when the people have elected the best
man to that office, continue him in it as long as he will serve them?
Would it not be better for the States to elect their Governors upon the
same principle; and if they officiate unjustly, hurl them from office?
If a good man is thus elected and continues to do his duty, he will
keep in advance of the people; and if he does not, he does not magnify
his office. Such is the Kingdom of God, in comparison. 6:345.
Is a man fit to be President of the United States, who will bow and
succumb to the whims of the people? No. A President should learn the
true situation of his constituents, and deal out even-handed justice to
all, utterly regardless of the clamor of party. 5:126.
We want men to rule the nation who care more for and love better the
nations' welfare than gold and silver, fame, or popularity. 7:12.
Who is the most suitable judge between man and man? The man who is
the most capable of judging between right and wrong; let him sit upon
the judgment seat, and do not ask him whether he is a Democrat, a
Whig, a Tory, or a Republican. Is he a just man, and will he render
an impartial judgment? If so, I care not to what political party he
belongs; I am content that he should adjudicate between me and my
neighbor. 10:193.
_Political Parties_--It has been told me from my youth up {559}
that opposition is the life of business, especially in the political
arena. It is opposition that has ruined our nation, and has been, is
and will be the ruin of all nations. 10:190.
When the people's affections are interwoven with a republican
government administered in all its purity, if the administrators act
not in virtue and truth it is but natural that the people become
disaffected with mal-administration, and divide and sub-divide into
parties, until the body politic is shivered to pieces. 10:108.
Parties in our Government have no better idea than to think the
Republic stands all the firmer upon opposition; but I say that it is
not so. A republican government consists in letting the people rule by
their united voice, without a dissension,--in learning what is for the
best, and unitedly doing it. That is true republicanism. 5:228.
_States' Rights_--Suppose there is a division between the North
and South, and the fifteen slave States try to form a permanent
government, can they do it? I tell you they cannot. How long will
it be before some other States, perhaps New York, forms a separate
government? And if a State has a right to secede, so has a Territory,
and so has a county from a State or Territory, and a town from a
county, and a family from a neighborhood, and you will have perfect
anarchy. 8:322.
If we are what we profess to be--a republican Government, there is
no State in the Union but what should be amenable to the general
Government holding to the old English rights in Rhode Island. Then
Congress, with the President at their head, could meet and veto every
act made by any department of the Government, if it was necessary.
So let Congress come together when any of the States transcend the
bounds of right and hold them amenable for their actions. The general
Government should never give any portion of the nation license {560} to
say they are free and independent. This should only apply to the nation
as a whole. 7:13.
So it is with States and Territories. Let them be unduly fostered
and sustained by the general Government, and it will lead them into
idleness, inactivity, and corruption; they will not be as spirited and
active as when they are made to rely upon their own resources. 2:321.
_Forebodings of the Civil War_--The nation that gave me and
many of you birth is very nigh to the hours of sorrow. Their cup is
very nigh filled to the brim. They reject the servants of God; they
reject the Gospel of salvation; they turn away from the principles of
truth and righteousness; and they are sinking in their own sins and
corruptions. I would that they would have mercy on themselves: I will
pray the Lord to have mercy on them, but I pray them to have mercy on
themselves to return to the Lord, forsake their wickedness and learn
righteousness, and then God would have mercy on them, and bestow his
blessings upon them, if they would receive them. 4:371.
What will be their condition when the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn?
They will whet the knife to cut each other's throats, and as Brother
Hooper remarked, try to make Mason and Dixon's the dividing line; but
that will not remain, for they will cross it to destroy each other, and
the sword and fire will be prevalent in the land. 8:147-8.
Yes, his mercy yearns over the Nation that has striven for a score
of years to rid the earth of the Priesthood of the Son of God and to
destroy the last Saint. He has mercy upon them, he bears with them, he
pleads with them by his Spirit, and occasionally sends his angels to
administer to them. Marvel not, then, that I pray for every soul that
can be saved. 8:124. {561}
_War_--If I had my wish, I should entirely stop the shedding of
human blood. 10:108.
There is a spirit which prompts the nations to prepare for war,
desolation, and bloodshed--to waste each other away. 8:174.
From the authority of all history, the deadly weapons now stored up and
being manufactured will be used until the people are wasted away, and
there is no help for it. The spirit of revolution goes on through the
nations: it never goes back. 8:157.
Do not be discouraged when you hear of wars, and rumors of wars, and
tumults, and contentions, and fighting, and bloodshed; for behold they
are at the thresholds of our doors. 4:369.
Does one nation rise up to war with another without having motives,
and those which they will substantiate as being good and sufficient?
Will one people rise up to war with another people, except the motive
that moves them is of a nature to justify them in their own minds and
judgment for doing so? No. There is not a people upon the face of this
earth that would do so; they all calculate to do that which seemeth
good to them. 3:88.
The difficulty with the whole world in their divisions and
sub-divisions, is that they have no more confidence in each other than
they have in their God, and that is none at all, no, not one particle.
This confuses nations, and breaks them up; it weakens them, and they
tumble to pieces. It disturbs cities and countries, and really the
seeds of destruction are within those kingdoms where the people have
not confidence in each other. 4:296.
Wars, commotions, tumults, strife, nation contending against nation,
and people against people, have all been governed {562} and controlled
by him whose right it is to control such matters.
Among wicked nations, or among Saints, among the ancient Israelites,
Philistines, and Romans, the hand of the Lord was felt; in short, all
the powers that have been upon the earth, have been dictated, governed,
controlled, and the final issue of their existence has been brought to
pass, according to the wisdom of the Almighty. Then my testimony is, it
is all right. 1:163.
Of one thing I am sure; God never institutes war; God is not the
author of confusion or of war; they are the results of the acts of the
children of men. Confusion and war necessarily come as the results of
the foolish acts and policy of men; but they do not come because God
desires they should come. If the people, generally, would turn to the
Lord, there would never be any war. Let men turn from their iniquities
and sins, and, instead of being covetous and wicked, turn to God and
seek to promote peace and happiness throughout the land, and wars
would cease. We expect to see the day when swords shall be turned into
ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks, and when men shall learn war
no more. This is what we want. We are for peace, plenty and happiness
to all the human family. 13:149.
Our traditions have been such that we are not apt to look upon war
between two nations as murder; but suppose that one family should rise
up against another and begin to slay them, would they not be taken up
and tried for murder? Then why not nations that rise up and slay each
other in a scientific way be equally guilty of murder? "But observe
the martial array, how splendid! See the furious war horses, with
their glittering trappings. Then the honor and glory and pride of the
reigning king must be sustained, and the strength and power {563} and
wealth of the nation must be displayed in some way; and what better way
than to make war upon neighboring nations, under some slight pretext?"
Does it justify the slaying of men, women, and children that otherwise
would have remained at home in peace, because a great army is doing the
work? No: the guilty will be damned for it. 7:137.
The very Indians who massacre men, women, and children on the plains,
have their religious ceremonies and pray to their God for success in
killing men, women, and children. The French and Austrians meet and
slay one another by hundreds and thousands; and thousands of women and
children who were not engaged in battle are also sacrificed by the
folly of those Christian wars. The instigators of those wars are just
as guilty of murder, before God, as the Indians are for killing the
men, women, and children who are passing through their country. What is
the difference in the eyes of our Father and God? It is just as much
murder to kill, unjustly, a million at a blow as it is to kill one,
though Dr. Young has stated that "One murder makes a villain; millions
make a hero." Were I to make war upon an innocent people, because I had
the power, to possess myself of their territory, their silver, gold,
and other property, and be the cause of slaying, say fifty thousand
strong, hale, hearty men, and devolving consequent suffering upon one
hundred thousand women and children, who would suffer through privation
and want, I am very much more guilty of murder than is the man who
kills only one person to obtain his pocket-book. 7:137.
_Woman Suffrage_--Now, sisters, I want you to vote also, because
women are the characters that rule the ballot box. 1:218. {564}