There are the military wars and rumours of war that surround our world;
there is the war for faith, family and morality that impinges on
the peace and happiness of our homes;
and there is the war ongoing within each one of us as our natural urges compete with
the impulses of the spirit and atonement of Jesus Christ that act upon us.
When preparing this talk, I was asked to speak about the Latter-day Saint perspective on the proper Christian response to military war.
The US Civil War did indeed come to pass almost exactly 28 years later, with the declaration of secession by South Carolina in December 1860. Joseph Smith did not live long enough to learn that his prophecy was true; nor could he have lived long enough to see the rest of what the Lord told him come to pass.
The Lord had further revealed to Joseph that the US Civil War would “eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls” [Doc. & Cov. 87:1] and that it was just the beginning of conflicts that would consume the world. He added that while the conflict was internal to the Americas, its combatants would call upon England and other nations to become involved in their battle, that they in turn would make alliances amongst themselves, and that ultimately, “war shall be poured out upon all nations." [Doc. & Cov. 87:2, 4] All of this came to pass.
- The US Civil War was bloody and miserable. Over a million soldiers and civilians died, and most of the wealth in the southern, Confederate states was destroyed.
- War began to involve more and more nations of the world. Although European involvement in the US Civil War was more diplomatic and economic than military, it served to advance the conditions in which treaties, threats, promises and secret alliances so evolved that, only 50 years later and upon a seemingly minor trigger, the world was plunged into the First World War, and about two decades after that, the Second.
- And, lastly, from the US Civil War and other conflicts of that time period came the entrenchment of what military scholars call “total war” – war in which every person is a potential soldier and victim, and every aspect of a civilization is both a resource and a target of attack. Prior to the Civil War period, “total war” was rare. After it, “total war” became a predominant characteristic of all major conflicts. It became the way war was waged. And since those times, the situation has only worsened, as the new technologies of war have significantly increased our capacity to do harm on a widespread and indiscriminate level.
Just as the Lord had warned Joseph, the era of history commencing with the US Civil War and continuing to our day has been one in which, “with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth [have mourned].” [Doc. & Cov. 87:6]
As citizens living in such a time of war, how are Latter-day Saints expected to behave?
Let me say first, that an overriding commandment of the Lord in all circumstances in our lives is that we should not be afraid.
[E.g., Isaiah 41:13; Matthew 14:27 (22-33); Mark 5:36; Doc. & Cov. 6: 34-36]
We should trust that all things are in the hands of God,
and that if we live so as to align ourselves with His will, then whatever occurs in our lives should be
exactly what He intended
and is therefore the best for us, no matter how tragic or disappointing it might seem.
[Doc. & Cov. 59:7, 21]
But, answering the question more practically, in the simplest terms, the Lord declared through the prophet Joseph Smith:
Renounce war |
Speaking in the midst of World War II, in 1942, the First Presidency of the Church – being its then living prophet, Heber J. Grant, and his two counselors, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay – issued a formal statement including this counsel:
Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay, Conference Report, April 1942, p. 94, quoted in Lesson 39 in Doctrine & Covenants Instructor’s Guide: Religion 324-325, (1981), pp. 77-78. For interest, see also the Conference Report of October 1942, in which the Church’s position on war is reiterated with these words: “We renew the statement made in our message of the last April conference, that obedient to the direct command of the Lord given to us more than a hundred years ago (directing us to "renounce war and proclaim peace" -- D&C 98:16) the Church is and must be against war, for war is of Satan and this Church is the Church of Christ, who taught peace and righteousness and brotherhood of man.” |
O foolish men who think to protect the world with armaments, battleships, and space equipment, when only righteousness is needed! The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (Bookcraft, 1982), p. 416. Fifteen years later, shortly following the end of the Vietnam War, and then as president of the Church, President Kimball said, |
[People\ train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Saviour’s teaching: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.’ The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (Bookcraft, 1982), p. 417. |
war is wicked, and
our role is to proclaim and promote peace.
Speaking at the time of the 9-11 attacks that occurred just twelve years prior to time when this talk was first written, President Gordon B. Hinckley said
We are people of peace. We are followers of the Christ who was and is the Prince of Peace. Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Times in Which We Live,” General Conference, October 2001 ...those who long for peace, who teach peace, who work for peace. Gordon B. Hinckley, “War and Peace,” Ensign, May 2003, p. 78 |
Is it the role of the true Christian, the Latter-day Saint,
to purchase peace at any cost,
to give up freedom in order to survive?
President Hinckley answered this question directly in that same 2003 speech, when he said,
Furthermore, we are a freedom-loving people, committed to the defense of libertywhenever it |
There are… two conditions which may justify a truly Christian man to enter – mind you, I say enter, not begin – a war: (1) An attempt to dominate and to deprive another of his free agency, and, (2) Loyalty to his country. Possibly, there is a third… Defense of a weak nation that is being unjustly crushed by a strong, ruthless one…
Paramount among these reasons, is the defense of man’s freedom. An attempt to rob man of his free agency caused dissension even in heaven...
So fundamental in man’s eternal progress is his inherent right to choose, that the Lord would defend it even at the price of war. Without freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom of action within lawful bounds, man cannot progress…
Lesson 39 in Doctrine & Covenants Instructor’s Guide: Religion 324-325, (1981), pp. 77-78.
The link within the quotation is a speech on agency and freedom by Elder Dallin H. Oaks
in which he also describes the basis for the war in heaven.
In The Book of Mormon we are told that the faithful Nephites were “taught to defend themselves against their enemies, even to the shedding of blood if it were necessary.” However, they were also taught, “never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise the sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives.” [Alma 48:14]
Likewise, while we are expected to carry out as a duty whatever is needed to defend the liberty that affords us the right to worship God and live in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are not ever to seek occasion to instigate aggression.
We do not initiate wars or conflicts of any kind, and we
must never act outside of the bounds of the generous love
that is offered and exemplified by the Lord Jesus Christ.
As suggested by the counsel in Doctrine and Covenants section 121,
the proper Christian approach to resolving matters of concern and conflict is to use
“persuasion…
long-suffering…
gentleness and meekness, and…
love unfeigned.” [Doc. & Cov. 121:41]
When war is brought upon us, however, we may fight for freedom, and in these circumstances may be called upon to commit violence, including even to kill. The question arises as to whether this is a sin. In some cases, it might be.
The late Elder Boyd K. Packer, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, has said,
In armed conflicts, there are casualties. Sometimes clean, worthy men [and women\, innocent of any desire to kill, devoid of any aggressive will to own that which belongs to someone else, fall victims of the confused, wicked ugliness of war. Boyd K. Packer, “The Member and the Military,” Conference Report, April 1968, pp. 33-36. |
It is a disgraceful thought that a man to become soldier should become a rake and abandon himself to crime and wickedness. Let the soldiers that go out… remain men of honour. And when they are called, obey the call, and manfully meet the duty, the dangers, or the labour, that may be required of them… [but\ do it with an eye single to the accomplishment of the good that is aimed to be accomplished, and not with the bloodthirsty desire to kill and to destroy. |
The total message of the prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ to us in our day comes down to this: that
despite war and conflict,
we must always seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
being emissaries and exemplars of peace,
raising first the standard of peace.
We must seek to resolve conflicts through
the kindest feelings of our hearts toward our neighbours
of all cultures, nationalities, races and religions.
And then if peace cannot be achieved
and if war is waged against us,
we are entitled to use violence
only if it is necessary to defend against
an attack upon life and liberty,
and not out of any desire to do harm.
Hopefully, none of us will ever have to be in that awful position. If we are truly fortunate, for us military conflict will only ever be experienced at long distance, as something only others are directly engaged in.
But at the start of this talk I mentioned two other kinds of war. Those two are conflicts that none of us can avoid,
that affect us even as we sit comfortably in our Sunday pews,
and to which our response must likewise be
faithful adherence to the gospel of Jesus Christ and
active defense of the liberty and decision to believe and follow our God.
One of these is the war on morality, faith and family.
The other is the war that goes on within each one of us.
Since these comments are offered only as an extension of the topic I was originally given, I touch only briefly on these two conflicts, but I want to communicate that to my mind these are
significantly more important
than any other battles we might face.
In particular, the war within ourselves should be of foremost concern to us.
Both James and Paul refer in their writings in the New Testament to wars within themselves, describing the conflict between the spiritual desires of the heart and mind, and the lustful impulses of the body. [E.g., Romans 7:23; James 4:1]
Each of us has likely sometimes felt like the Apostle Paul when he wrote, “what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do. …the will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” [Romans 7:15, 18]
In this regard, the apostle is describing what we also call, “the natural man,” which King Benjamin, in The Book of Mormon, said is “the enemy of God.” [Mosiah 3:19]
Winning this battle means
overcoming the natural impulses of the body,
subjecting them to the direction of the Spirit.
It means
eliminating sin or ungodliness from our lives, and
being spiritual beings,
following Jesus Christ
with every fibre of our being.
The problem we face, is that we cannot do this ourselves.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has explained, has two basic effects:
One is its redeeming and cleansing power to take away the effects of sin.
The other is its enabling power,
which aids us in our mortal journey and makes us able to
cast off natural impulses and become sanctified, or, truly, saints.
In this regard, Elder Bednar commented,
[Some\ may mistakenly believe that we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves, through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline. Rather, he explains, the truth is that we must rely on the grace that comes through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which he defines as, |
divine assistance [that\… strengthens us to do and be good and to serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity.
David A. Bednar, “The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality,” Ensign, April 2012. |
As Elder Russell M. Nelson, another apostle, has said, No [person other than Christ\, even with the greatest wealth and power, could ever save one soul – not even his own. |
As stated by Elder Wilford W. Anderson of the Seventy in the article, “Receiving and Retaining a Mighty Change,” [Ensign, April 2012]:
“When we yield our hearts to Christ…He changes us,”
a process which is also described by the prophet Moroni in the concluding chapter of The Book of Mormon, where he writes,
Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him… [If\ ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. |
Then, just as Jesus said to his apostle, Peter, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” [Luke 22:32] once we have won this battle, at least to the extent of putting ourselves on-side with God, establishing faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice as central elements of our lives, we are then in a position to wage that third and also vital war, the war for faith, family and morality.
This war is as real and as dangerous – possibly more so – than the wars of nations and terrorists. This is a “total war” against each and every one of us, and like the war within us it is one in which it is not your mortal body and life that are at stake, but your immortal soul and eternal potential.
In our April 2013 General Conference, the late Elder L. Tom Perry, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, said,
Today, we find ourselves in …war. This is not a war of armaments. It is a war of thoughts, words, and deeds. It is a war with sin. …Secularism is becoming the norm, and many of its beliefs and practices are in direct conflict with those that were instituted by the Lord Himself for the benefit of His children. |
We live in a very dangerous world that threatens those things that are most spiritual. The family, the fundamental organization in time and eternity, is under attack from forces seen and unseen. The adversary is about. His objective is to cause injury. If he can weaken and destroy the family, he will have succeeded. Boyd K. Packer, “These Things I Know,” General Conference, April 2013. |
Satan is working overtime to attack the family. He tells us that marriage is not important, that children do not need a father and a mother… that moral values are old-fashioned and silly. When challenges come, [he\ tells us to abandon our beliefs and go the ways of the world. He entices us…and tells us where to find the easy life. He attacks our faith in God and tries to discourage even the strongest and most loving families. [And he\ is delighted when we give in – even just a little. |
To those without the light of the gospel…morality is often viewed as on a sliding scale that follows the whims of popularity…with little thought for the consequences of acts. But treating morality as though it were the season’s latest fashion is a recipe for sorrow. |
In fact, Latter-day Saints in particular appear to be called to be at the forefront of this war, to be protectors and teachers of the weak in faith, to wear the whole armor of God –
the girdle of truth,
the breastplate of righteousness,
the helmet of salvation,
carrying the shield of faith
and the sword of the Spirit,
and walking in the preparation of the gospel of peace
[Ephesians 6:14-17]
– wherewith, the Apostle Paul said, we will be able to “stand against the wiles of the devil,” [Ephesians 6:11 (see also, Doc. & Cov. 27:15-18)] and in so doing also provide a defense and an example to others who are overcome by or struggling with the influences and deception of Satan.
The ways in which we can do this are many, and just as Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ provided Joseph Smith and later prophets and apostles with insights and guidance about the military wars that embroil our world, so too has He given guidance to latter-day prophets about the spiritual battles we face, which has been consistent over the years. If we heed them and do as they say, we need not fear but can face the enemy and bear witness of the truth.
I am confident in my faith that God loves us, that He loves all His children, and that He desires that each of us would be saved from the misery Satan seeks to inflict. I am grateful for the living prophets who help to communicate God’s will, warnings and wishes to us. I affirm that as we obey their counsel, and trust in the Atonement of Jesus Christ to strengthen us, we can be free of all fear of the calamities and dangers of this world, whether mortal or moral, and that by His grace we can be sanctified and made perfect and dwell in peace and happiness.