Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith

by Joseph F. Smith

THE CHURCH NOT IN POLITICS. The Church does not engage in politics; its members belong to the political parties at their own pleasure—to the Republicans, the Democrats, or to no party at all. They are not asked, much less required, to vote this way or that—a requirement made by the Protestant ministers of their members against the Saints. But they cannot justly be denied their rights as citizens, and there is no reason why they should be, for, on the average, they are as loyal, as sober, as well educated, as honest, as industrious, as virtuous, as moral, as thrifty, and as worthy in every other respect as any people in the nation or on the earth, for that matter. I think that they are just a little better in these respects than most other communities or individuals.

To the young men who may be disheartened by false attacks upon the Saints, and to the missionaries in the world, who are driven and persecuted, I wish to say: have no fear; slacken not your labors for the truth; live as becometh Saints. You are in the right way, and the Lord will not let your efforts fail. This Church stands in no danger from opposition and persecution from without. There is more to fear in carelessness, sin and indifference, from within; more danger that the individual will fail in doing right and in conforming his life to the revealed doctrines of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we do the right, all will be well, the God of our fathers will sustain us, and every opposition will tend only to the further spread of the knowledge of truth.—Improvement Era, Vol. 6, June, 1903, p. 625.

SHUN THE SPIRIT OF MOB VIOLENCE. Nobody in the world deplores more than do the Latter-day Saints the prevalence and brutality of mob violence. If mob violence in this country did not have its origin in the drivings and persecutions of the Latter-day Saints, it is certain that no class of people in this country have suffered more and longer from the lawlessness of the mob than have the Latter-day Saints. For more than half a century the "Mormons" have been the victims of lawless mob violence against which very little has been said, for the chief reason that the victims had been so long pursued by hatred and prejudice that the world had been taught to withdraw all its sympathy from them. Whipping, driving, and shooting "Mormon" elders in the South called forth no anxiety and little objection upon the part of the press; and the "Mormon" elder, pure and upright in his life, has received less sympathy and protest in his favor than the negro ravisher who deserved, perhaps, the punishment, however inexcusable the method of executing it.

The Latter-day Saints in Utah, and everywhere, are earnestly and prayerfully admonished to shun as a sacred religious duty the spirit of mob violence. It is better to be patient and endure deprivations of human rights than to violate the institutions of our country, and to substitute violence for law and order. If the reign of the mob extends its hideous rule over this country as rapidly in the future as it has done in the past, it may reach communities where the Saints live before they are aware of its presence. It is not only the duty of every Latter-day Saint, therefore, to refrain from the violent and unlawful conduct of bodies of men bent upon human destruction, but to exercise his influence and power to restrain others from imbuing their hands in the blood of their fellow men.—Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 38, September, 1903, p. 564.

THE DANGER OF MOBS. One of the greatest menaces to our country is that of the combination of men into irresponsible, reckless mobs, wild with prejudice, hatred and fanaticism, led by men of ambition, or passion, or hatred. There is no other thing in the world that I can conceive of so absolutely obnoxious to God and good men as a combination of men and women filled with the spirit of mobocracy. Men combining together to stop or shut off the food supply from the mouth of the honest laborer to starve the man that is willing to work, and the wife and the children who are dependent upon him, because he is not willing to join a mob, is one of the most infamous perils and menaces to the people of our country today. I do not care who they are, or what name they go by. They are a menace to the peace of the world.—Oct. C. R., 1911, p. 122.

THE BASIS OF LABOR UNIONS. If we are to have labor organizations among us, and there is no good reason why our young men might not be so organized, they should be formed on a sensible basis, and officered by men who have their families and all their interests around them. The spirit of good-will and brotherhood, such as we have in the gospel of Christ, should characterize their conduct and organizations. For be it known, the religious note is and should remain the dominant note of our character and of all our actions.

While there is no reason why workmen should not join together for their own mutual protection and benefit, there is every reason why in so doing they should regard the rights of their fellows, be jealous of the protection of property, and eliminate from their methods of warfare, boycotts, sympathetic strikes, and the walking delegate.—Improvement Era, Vol. 6, August, 1903, p. 182.

LABOR UNIONS. Labor unions will find that the same eternal law of justice applies to unions that applies to individuals, that fair dealing and rational conduct must be maintained if financial misfortunes are averted. Where there are Latter-day Saints in unions they should assume a conservative attitude and never arouse men's prejudices by inflaming their passions. There can be no objections to a firm and persistent contention for the right of labor, if the contention is maintained in the spirit of reason and fairness. Above all things, the Latter-day Saints should hold sacred the life and liberty of their fellow-men, as also their rights of property and maintain inviolate every right to which humanity is entitled.

The unions are forcing our people into an inconsistent and dangerous attitude when they compel Latter-day Saints within the union to make war upon their brethren who are without the union, and thereby denying the most sacred and God-given rights of one class of Saints that another class may gain some advantage over a third person, their employer. Such conduct is destructive of the liberty which every man is entitled to enjoy, and will lead in the end to the spirit of contention and apostasy.

It is not easy to see how the Latter-day Saints can endorse the methods of modern labor unions. As a people we have suffered too much from irrational class prejudice and class hatred to participate in violent and unjust agitations. No one denies the rights of laborers to unite in demanding a just share of the prosperity of our country, provided the union is governed by the same spirit that should actuate men who profess the guidance of a Christian conscience.