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Show The Paper That Dares To Take A Stand Page 6 The Utah Independent September 25, 1975 PRESIDENT BENSON SPEAKS IN TAIWAN ( untinurd from page 1 faces of many European people, in the aftermath of World War II. It fell my lot. under the direction of the President of the Church, to be among the first to go into war-tor- n European countries and distribute food, clothing, and bedding to the suffering members of our Church. I saw first hand entire nations pros- trate. flat on their backs looked into the economically. face of hunger the pale, the thin, the many dressed in rags, and some barefooted. I saw the refugees, the poor unwanted souls who were driven from their homes to destinations unknown. They came with all their possessions on their backs. I visited some of their homes shacks where as many as twenty-tw- o people were living in one room four complete families. I saw men enslaved by habit barter their food and clothing for a cigarette. I saw some fortunate to get hold of an American magazine and pour over its pages and wonder if what they saw could possibly be true. 1 saw the stuggles on every hand to get to America some legal and others illegal all in an effort to enjoy freedom and liberty. These were a people who had once known freedom, but had let it slip I away. The second unforgettable, experience was when 1 was in kus-si- a in 1959. We had been touring seven European countries as part of the objective of the government of the United States to develop world markets and create good will. Mr. Krushchev had promised me that I would be able to visit a Christian Church in Russia. During our stay there, the guides did everything possible to prevent this. On the way to the airport, before leaving Moscow, I insisted that we go to a Baptist Church in Moscow. It was only a few minutes out of the way. Reluctantly, we were taken to the Church. Our guides had told us that the churches were empty, that no one attended church any more, and that religion is the opiate of the people. When we arrived at that Baptist Church, we found it full to overflowing. 1 looked into the faces of the people. Many were middle-age- d and older, but a surprising number were young. As we were being ushered to pews, which had been vacated for our unexpected visit, people reached out and grasped for our hands to touch us almost", in the words of one newsman, as one would reach out for the last final caress of tine's most beloved just before the casket is lowered." They were in misery and yet a light shone through the misery. They gripped our hands like frightened children. Later in the service I was asked to address the congregation. I spoke to them about God and I enJesus Christ. His Son. couraged them to be unafraid and to pray for peace. I witnessed to them the reality of the resurrection and that this life is only a part of eternity. Then, in closing. I told them that truth would endure and that time was on the side of truth. I don't recall all I said, .but I recall being lifted up and inspired by their rapt faces. When I sat down, the whole congregation broke into a favorite hymn of my childhood. God Be With You Till We walked We Meet Again." down the aisle and they waved their it nation is to preserve freedom and in farewell handkerchiefs seemed all 1500 were waving as we prevent its own downfall. May When we finally left, the cite left. four of these conyoung lady Russian guide ditions pillars upon which a w hispered to my wife. Im a Chrisnation's security rests. The lirst tian. too." pillar I name is: It has been my privilege to A faith in God and in the . speak before many church bodies universal brotherhood of all manin all parts of the world, but the imkind. I believe with all my heart the pact of that experience is almost I indescribable. shall never forget words of the American patriot, that evening as long as live. Patrick Henry, who. on the eve of Seldom, if ever, have I felt the the American Revolution said. oneness of mankind and the There is a just God w ho presides ble yea rning of the human over the destinies of nations and heart for freedom so keenly as at who will raise up friends to tight that moment. One correspondent our battles for us. (March 23. described the experience in these 1775.) Further, it is part of my words: The Communist plan is faith that no people can maintain that when these Mast believers' die freedom unless their political off. religion will die with them. institutions are founded on faith in What the atheists don't know is God and belief in the existence of that God can't be stamped out moral law. God has endowed men either by legislated atheism or with certain inalienable rights and no government may morally limit firing squad. This Methodist backslider w ho occasionally grumbles or destroy these. The Founding Fathers of the about having to go to church, stood crying unashamedly, throat United States seemed to have a lumped, and chills running from clear realization that, to survive, the new' nation would need a spine to toes. It was the most heartrending and most inspiring scene reliance on the protection of God In the Ive ever witnessed. With heavy for their survival. hearts we left to rejoin the smug, Declaration of Independence there smart-alec- k atheist guides who is an appeal to the Supreme Judge took us to the church but refused to of the world." and to the laws of go in." (Tom Anderson, Editor nature and natures God." The and Publisher, Farm and Ranch document is concluded with this affirmation: And for support of this Magazine.) Never will I forget this victory declaration, w ith a firm reliance on of spirit over tyranny, oppression, the protection of Divine and ignorance. Never can I doubt Providence, we mutually pledge to the ultimate deliverance of the each other our lives, our fortunes, Russian people. and our sacred honor. In perilous circumstances. Here we see that the principle a such as Taiwan finds itself todav. it of supremacy of the individual over is quite natural that its people government is rooted in religious would have a concern about the precept. The corollary to this external threat of recognition and reliance upon God CommunistChina. Freedom from is the belief in the worth of the individual. The two precepts go aggression is a justifiable concern. As historians have pointed out. hand in hand. The truth is very however, great nations do not evident and simple. There is a God in heaven who is the Sovereign usually fall by external aggression: they first erode and decay power of the universe, and we are inwardly, so that, like rotten fruit, His literal offspring. He has endowed us with inalienable rights they fall of themselves. The history of nations shows among which are life, liberty, and that the cycle of the body politic the pursuit of happiness. This He but slowly surely undergoes has implanted in the human breast. This is why men cannot be driven change. It progresses From bondage to spiritual indefinitely or led by despotic faith rulers to intellectual or physical From spiritual faith to courage slavery and bondage. Fear and From courage to freedom despotism may rule for a From freedom to abundance generation or two. or three, but in From abundance to selfishness time the human spirit rebels, the comFrom selfishness to spirit of liberty manifests itself.and its placency tyrannous hand is overthrown. Yes. as the offspring of God, we complacency to apathy share" a common paternity that From apathy to fear From fear to dependency makes us literally hrothers. and -- From a common destiny. When this thus dependency to bondage The greatest threat to the truth sinks into the human heart, freedom of any nation is erosion, men demand their rights- - life, not erosion from the soil but liberty, and happiness. It is as the erosion of the national morality Apostle Paul told the Corinthians. and character. What we have to Where the spirit of the Lord is. fear is not force from without, but there is liberty." (II Corinthians weakness from within. 3:17.) I believe this Every nation yearns for spirit of liberty is its own beginning to manifest itself in liberty, but too frequently the posSoviet Russia today, as evidenced precludes of the freedom. of sibility speak by the testimonial of the Nobel trend of pleasure without Prize recipient. Alexander conscience, wealth without work, Solzhenitsyn. business without morality, politics W'e the dissidents of the without principle, and worship IJ.S.S.R. don't have any tanks. W'e I believe without sacrifice. don't have any weapons. W'e have no organization. W'e don't have personally there is a strong relationship between a strong, anything. Our hands are empty. prosperous nation and the faith W'e have only a heart and what we and righteousness of its people. have lived through in the half cenI bis of crux the my brings me to tury of this system. And when we to message you today. have found the firmness within There are indispensable conourselves to stand up for our rights, ditions which must be met if a we have done so. Its only by 1 1 1 ha ever-prese- nt self-indulgen- ce 1 firmness of spirit that we have withstood. And if I am standing here before you, it s not because of the kindness or the good will of not thanks to Communism, detente, but thanks to my own firmness and your firm support. would not yield I hey knew that one inch, not one hair. And when they couldn't do more they themselves fell back." (Congressional Record - Senate. July 8. 1975. SI 1956.) In the meantime, we must not blesforget the Source of all our sings - our prosperity, our wealth, our comforts, our freedom. We must not forget that it is by Gods 1 bondage one to another." (D&C 101:79.) The other system is that which had its historic origin almost two hundred years ago. 1776, the year of the American independence. The Founding Fathers were men who understood the tyranny that can come out of the system of civil law. They had been indoctrinated in a different system of thought, that of common law. which was premised on the idea that true sovereignty rested with the people. Believing this to be in accord with truth, they inserted this imperative in the Declaration of Independence: That to secure and the gracious hand that these blessings these rights (life, liberty, are preserved, and not by our own pursuit of happiness, governments instituted among men. deriving superior wisdom. May we keep are their just powers from the consent alive our faith in God by worshipof the governed." ping Him and keeping His comLater, when the young nation mandments. A second pillar of had won her independence through freedom is: the Revolutionary War, a free 2. Strom homes and family ties. peoples representatives drafted a The home is the rock foun- second document, the Constitution dation. the cornerstone of of the United States, which opens civilization. No nation will rise with this Preamble: We the people of the United above its homes, and no nation will long endure when the family unit is States, in order to form a more weakened or destroyed. Even the perfect union, establish justice, inChinese Communists found, with sure domestic tranquility, provide their communal social experiment for the common defense, promote in dissolving the family, that they the general welfare, and secure the could not do that and endure as a blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and esnation. I need not remind you of the tablish this Constitution for the great threat to the family in all United States of America." were Here the people nations of the world today. Divorce is epidemic. The father's speaking. They recognized their r. place at the head of the home is sovereignty, not that of a king, or oligarchy. All rights and being challenged, and mothers have, in many instances, left the powers not granted specifically to hearth to join the work force, the government were retained by which weakens the stability of the themselves. This is the difference home. Children, not growing up between freedom and despotism! There are only two possible with strong parental guidance and spiritual influence, are allowed to sources of man's rights. Rights are roam freely. Not only does this either God-give- n as part of the lack of training and permissiveness divine plan or they are granted by sponsor indolence, but many of government as part of the political these youth, out of boredom, have plan. Reason, necessity, tradition, turned to drugs, juvenile delin- and religious convictions all lead me to accept the divine origin of quency. or crime. Your nation faces some of these rights. If we accept the these problems as does my own. premise that human rights are but I am heartened to know that in granted by government, then we Taiwan, strong family ties are still must be willing to accept the fostered, this being a part of your corollary that they can be denied cultural and traditional past. May by government. I. for one. shall God bless you to preverve this never accept that premise. As the honorable tradition. For a third French political economist. Frederick Basliat. phrased it so pillar. I name: A political climate and 3. Life, liberty, and succinctly. governmental system which property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, protects mans inalienable rights. it was the fact that life, liberty, and Every governmental system has a sov ereign, one or sev eral who property existed beforehand that possess all the executive, caused men to make laws in the first place." (The Imw 1850. p. 6.) legislative, and judicial powers. That sovereign may be an inSince God created man with dividual. a group, or the people certain inalienable rights, and man. themselves. Broadly speaking, in turn, created government to help there are only two governmental secure and safeguard those rights, systems in the world today. One it follows that man is superior to system recognizes that the government and should remain sovereign power is vested in the master over it, not the other way head of state (a monarchy or dicaround. Even the nonbeliever can tatorship) or a group of men (an appreciate the logic of this relationoligarchy). This system is as old as ship. history and rests on the premise It just isnt good for that the ruler grants to the people government to do for people what the rights and powers he thinks they can and should do for they should have. It is the basis of themselves. Any country which Roman or civil law, and all dicpursues policies that caus'c the tatorships of history. The system is initiative, and freedom of wrong regardless of how its people to slowly drain away is a benevolent the dictator may be. in Let it be country danger. because it denies that which remembered that our primary task, to men under God. as all belongs government leaders inalienably their right to life, is to protect the freedom of the property, and liberty. Since all people. This leads me to the final men arc brothers, it follows that it pillar: is not right for any man to be in em-poro- self-relian- ce. |