Life, Liberty, Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I'm sure I've mentioned at how much I love my classes and how they make me think and stretch my mind in directions I hadn't previously thought of. Today I had one such class. Now all my classes do that, but today, it was just amazing learning things I sorta knew, but now really understand.

The class was American Foundations. It's a class everyone at BYU-I has to take at one point or another. But I have it with Brother Ryan Johnson. It's amazing.

There are quizzes based on the readings, but you don't know when you will have the quiz and when you will not. So no matter what you have to do the reading. The reading I did was This Nation Shall Endure by Ezra Taft Benson. He's given it several times to several different groups of people. I would highly highly recommend just getting the book to read. In anycase, I read parts 1-3 for my assignment. I love it. It basically states what the purpose of Government is, or the Principles government should follow, more especially, this wonderful country of the United States of America. It tells us to not tare down the characters of our Founding Fathers and make them less then they were. They received the ordinances of the temple after their death, so they were worthy of such a thing. But read it, because I honestly don't know how to explain it to you properly. READ IT though, so that you can understand the rest of what I am saying, although, you might understand it anyways.

So to properly begin:

The Founding Fathers were led by Heavenly Father to create this country's Declaration of Independence and Constitution. All men are created equal by their Heavenly Father, as they are all children of His. Natural and Inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness existed before government and was given to each of us by our Heavenly Father. God gave them to us. The Government's Job, according to Benson and in which I agree and I'm sure the Founding Father's would as well, is to protect these Natural Rights and that is all. That is the moral justification of Government. To Protect these rights by deriving their power from the people.

The Ten Commandments. I'm sure you all know them. But let's quickly go through them again.
1. Thou shalt have no other God before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing in heaven above, or things which are in the earth beneath.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and they mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet . . . anything that is thy neighbor's.

Now think about all the redistribution the Government does now a days. Would you call that taking away from some to give to others? Is it a form of legalized stealing?

If just because it's a law of a country make it right? The twelfth article of faith states: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." So in terms of Hitler and the Nazi's in Germany was it right to follow the law or to stand up for moral righteousness? But what if everyone only had a certain degree of light, or knowledge, of the awful things going on about them. If they had a greater knowledge do they have a responsibility to share that knowledge even if it means death? So then coming back to the United States, if a law legalizes something that goes against the ten commandments should we do it?

Should we turn to the government for financial support when we are between jobs or suffering from heavy medical bills? In the church the standard is more like you depend on yourself first, then on your family, then the church. If you must get government help, it should first be the local government, then the state government, and only as a very very last resort should you go to the Federal Government.

If we believe that God truly blessed us with these Natural Rights of life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness, we must practice faith in that belief in that God will provide.

We must humble ourselves sufficiently to ask for such help.

If we wish to incorporate it into our lives study it out, prayerfully, and have faith to apply these principles.

In my class, we discussed the right or wrongs of food stamps or government college grants, but it's each a person decision and between God and yourself.

Moses 4:1-5
After Heavenly Father presented his plan, Satan presented his, but it doesn't really seem like Heavenly Father even asked for another's idea. It was The Plan. Satan's plan wasn't even possible. He wouldn't be able to come through with his promise of security in Exaltation because to be saved one must have agency. He probably didn't convince people to follow him and his plan by telling them they will loose their agency, probably just that they will have security in that choice.

Revelations 12 the Chapter Heading, John sees the war in heaven in the beginning when Satan was cast out and he sees the continuation of that war on earth. What is that war over? Our agency. We have the ability to choose liberty or a sense of security in bondage. Like the scripture in 2 Nephi 2:27 "Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or choose captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

In Mosiah 29:38-39, King Benjamin creates the Judges. Giving them the choice to choose agency and the continuing in that agency. With this plan God will judge the people of their choices (Mosiah 29:12) because they have greater agency then they did under a king because of the Rule of Law, which is a where the law are constant throughout different leaders and generations creating stability and having the rulers constrained by those laws as well. Rather then a Rule of Man where with every leader the laws are changed.

We then talked about the United Order verse Communism or Socialism. The difference? Agency. The United Order you choose to donate and sacrifice. In Communism or Socialism you are coerced into doing so. Security at the expense of agency verses respect of agency.

Without private property rights your agency is limited. It becomes a violence. And violence and force is the opposite of charity and love and willingness. There becomes a breakdown.

For what reason did God free this land and continues to be free?
The Restoration and so Zion can be built. It is a special land on which Adam dwelt, the Jaredites lived, and Lehi's descendants live.

It was one of the most thought provoking classes I have had for a long time. Or ever. A full hour and a half. And the question then comes to mind, how to apply these teachings best into our lives now??? How can we affect our country, or whichever country we live in, to become better in following these principles??

Other sources of information:
Socialism and the United Order, Elder Marion G. Romney, April 1966
J. Reuban Clark, 113th Semi-Annual Conference, Oct. 1942
President Benson, Ensign, Jan 1988, p. 3, 5
1st Presidency Message, 112th Annual Conference, April 6, 1942