Great Book!

When I read books, I read a lot of books. I have currently 5 books that I've started reading and have yet to finish. That's not including reading General Conference talks and the scriptures. There are some of those 5 books that I haven't picked up in months. The reason for so many books is that most of the books that I'm reading are informational books so they're a little harder to get through in one sitting. There's also the fact that there are just so many good books that I want to read so I try to, at the same time. I wanted to mention one in particular that I just picked up again. It's called, Just and Holy Principles: Latter-Day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution.

This book was actually a required book for my American Heritage class at BYU. I kept the book after the class was over, because I thought that it'd be a good book to keep. I saw it in my bin of books that my mom brought with her when she visited. I've been thinking a lot lately about the Constitution and was really excited to read what prophets, apostles, and other church authorities have said about America and the Constitution.

I've only made it to the prologue, because it's amazing. I kept reading parts to Ashton yesterday and we'd talk about it. Then we switched books and he read parts to me from Ezra Taft Benson, Wilford Woodruff, Dallin H. Oaks, and others. I couldn't believe how right on they were about what we'd be facing, or what we were facing and what we continue to face. It really shouldn't amaze me, because these are inspired men, but it was like they were here and, of course, some of them are, like Elders Dallin H. Oaks and Jeffrey R. Holland. They talk about communism, socialism, the separation of church and state, the Constitution, and other topics.

There are so many good quotes that I could pull out from the book. There are so many that I want to share because they address problems that we are facing. One of the sections that impressed me was President Ezra Taft Benson's talks. Among other things, President Benson talked about 5 principles that are basic to understanding the Constitution. He talked about the principle of agency. We have the right to choose for ourselves and not be forced into "government guaranteed security programs" (117, 119-120). The next principle is the proper role of government in which he quotes Doctrine and Covenants section 134 verses 1-2 and 5. The third principle is the source of human rights. God gave us our rights, not the government. It even says so in our Declaration of Independence. The next two principles go hand in hand and I want to quote them.

"The fourth basic principle we must understand is that people are superior to the governments they form. Since God created people with certain inalienable rights, and they, in turn, created government to help secure and safeguard those rights, it follow that the people are superior to the creature they created.

The fifth and final principle that is basic to our understanding of the Constitution is that governments should have only limited powers. The important thing to keep in mind is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves, have in the first place. Obviously, the cannot give that which they do not possess.

By deriving its just powers from the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft, and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property nor to force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will. Government is created by the people. No individual possesses the power to take another's wealth or to force others to do good, so no government has the right to do such things either. The creature cannot exceed the creator (120-121)."

(These principles came from President Benson's talk The Constitution - A Heavenly Banner on September 16, 1986).

I think the role of government has gotten way too big. It's a big problem when the government is creating more jobs than the private sector, not to mention spending way more money than we have. We're paying for those government jobs, bailouts, and everything else the government does. The creature, the government, is exceeding the creator, us, and that needs to stop.