In today’s political climate, it is hard to find people who believe their duty transcends party allegiance. Many seem to give their allegiance to one party or another, but at what cost? In 1942, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. thought it paramount to give allegiance to the Constitution over and above party affiliation. He said:
Now, I am not caring today, for myself, anything at all about a political Party tag. So far as I am concerned, I want to know what the man stands for. I want to know if he believes in the Constitution; if he believes in its free institutions; if he believes in its liberties, its freedom. I want to know if he believes in the Bill of Rights. I want to know if he believes in the separation of sovereign power into the three great divisions: the Legislative, the Judicial, the Executive. I want to know if he believes in the mutual independence of these, the one from the other. When I find out these things, then I know who it is who should receive my support, and I care not what his party tag is, because, brethren, if we are to live as a Church, and progress, and have the right to worship as we are worshipping here today, we must have the great guarantees that are set up by our Constitution. There is no other way in which we can secure these guarantees. You may look at the systems all over the world where the principles of our Constitution are not controlling and in force, and you will find there dictatorship, tyranny, oppression, and, in the last analysis, slavery . . . . Today, our duty transcends party allegiance; our duty today is allegiance to the Constitution as it was given to us by the Lord.1
Sources:
- Clark, J. Reuben, Jr. Conference Report. October 1942: 59.↩
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Tags: Constitution, Freedom, J. Reuben Clark, Party Affiliation
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frankg
on October 14, 2008 at 7:56 am
Laws are multiplying, but all the laws in the world won’t help us if we’re evil in our hearts. And there is so much effort to stamp out the definition of good and bad. The constitution was meant to be used by people who were lawful and good in their character. It needs defended from so many quarters today, laws being passed by ambitious people with no regard to the constitution. Like the king men in the BOM who wanted to change a point of law when Pahoran became chief judge. I read the headlines today and think we are at the beginning of a dividing time in America.
I’m glad for the important point you bring up. I wish I could vote for the constitution. -
Greg
on October 16, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Thanks for your comments. I had similar thoughts (i.e. dividing time) while watching conference a week or more ago. I believe President Eyring used the word “conflict” four times in his talk in the Sunday morning session of conference.
I do believe there are still a few candidates who believe and adhere to the constitution, but I am concerned that they have almost all but disappeared.
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