President Gordon B. Hinckley
I hope that the Lord’s people may be at peace one with another during times
of trouble, regardless of what loyalties they may have to different governments
or parties.
My brethren and sisters, last Sunday as I sat in my study thinking of what I
might say on this occasion, I received a phone call telling me that Staff
Sergeant James W. Cawley of the U.S. Marines had been killed somewhere in
Iraq. He was 41 years of age, leaving behind a wife and two small children.
Twenty years ago Elder Cawley was a missionary of the Church
in Japan. Like so many others, he had grown up in the Church, had played as
a schoolboy, had passed the sacrament as a deacon, and had been found worthy
to serve a mission, to teach the gospel of peace to the people of Japan. He
returned home, served in the Marines, married, became a policeman, and was
then recalled to active military duty, to which he responded without hesitation.
His life, his mission, his military service, his death seem
to represent the contradictions of the peace of the gospel and the tides of
war.
And so I venture to say something about the war and the gospel
we teach. I spoke of this somewhat in our October conference of 2001. When
I came to this pulpit at that time, the war against terrorism had just begun.
The present war is really an outgrowth and continuation of that conflict.
Hopefully it is now drawing to a conclusion.
As I discuss the matter, I seek the direction of the Holy
Spirit. I have prayed and pondered much concerning this. I recognize it is
a very sensitive subject for an international congregation, including those
not of our religious faith.
The nations of the earth have been divided over the present
situation. Feelings have run strong. There have been demonstrations for and
against. We are now a world Church with members in most of the nations which
have argued this matter. Our people have had feelings. They have had concerns.
War, of course, is not new. The weapons change. The ability
to kill and destroy is constantly refined. But there has been conflict throughout
the ages over essentially the same issues.
The book of Revelation speaks briefly of what
must have been a terrible conflict for the minds and loyalties of God’s
children. The account is worth repeating:
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
“And prevailed not; neither was their place found
any more in heaven.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called
the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation
12:7–9).
Isaiah speaks further concerning that great conflict
(see Isaiah
14:12–20). Modern revelation gives additional light (see D&C
76:25–29),
as does the book of Moses (see Moses
4:1–4),
which tells of Satan’s plan to
destroy the agency of man.
We sometimes are prone to glorify the great empires of the
past, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and in
more recent times, the vast British Empire. But there is a darker side to
every one of them. There is a grim and tragic overlay of brutal conquest,
of subjugation, of repression, and an astronomical cost in life and treasure.
The great English essayist Thomas Carlyle once
ironically shared the observation, “God must needs laugh outright, could such a thing
be, to see his wondrous mannikins here below” (quoted in Sartor Resartus [1836],
182). I think our Father in Heaven must have wept as He has looked down upon
His children through the centuries as they have squandered their
divine birthright in ruthlessly destroying one another.
In the course of history tyrants have arisen from time to
time who have oppressed their own people and threatened the world. Such is
adjudged to be the case presently, and consequently great and terrifying forces
with sophisticated and fearsome armaments have been engaged in battle.
Many of our own Church members have been involved in this
conflict. We have seen on television and in the press tearful children clinging
to their fathers in uniform, going to the battlefront.
In a touching letter I received just this week,
a mother wrote of her Marine son who is serving for the second time in
a Middle Eastern war.
She says that at the time of his first deployment, “he came home on leave
and asked me to go for a walk. . . . He had his arm around me and he told
me about going to war. He . . . said, ‘Mom, I have to go so you and the family
can be free, free to worship as you please. . . . And if it costs me my life . . . then giving my life is worth it.’ ” He is now there again and has written
to his family recently, saying, “I am proud to be here serving my nation and
our way of life. . . . I feel a lot safer knowing our
Heavenly Father is with me.”
There are other mothers, innocent civilians, who cling to
their children with fear and look heavenward with desperate pleadings as the
earth shakes beneath their feet and deadly rockets scream through the dark
sky.
There have been casualties in this terrible conflict, and
there likely will be more. Public protests will likely continue. Leaders of
other nations have, in no uncertain terms, condemned the coalition strategy.
The question arises, “Where does the Church stand
in all of this?”
First, let it be understood that we have no quarrel with the
Muslim people or with those of any other faith. We recognize and teach that
all the people of the earth are of the family of God. And as He is our Father,
so are we brothers and sisters with family obligations one to another.
But as citizens we are all under the direction of our respective
national leaders. They have access to greater political and military intelligence
than do the people generally. Those in the armed services are under obligation
to their respective governments to execute the will of the sovereign. When
they joined the military service, they entered into a contract by which they
are presently bound and to which they have dutifully responded.
One of our Articles of Faith, which represent
an expression of our doctrine, states, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents,
rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Articles
of Faith 1:12).
But modern revelation states that we are to “renounce war
and proclaim peace” (D&C 98:16).
In a democracy we can renounce war and proclaim peace. There
is opportunity for dissent. Many have been speaking out and doing so emphatically.
That is their privilege. That is their right, so long as they do so legally.
However, we all must also be mindful of another overriding responsibility,
which I may add, governs my personal feelings and dictates my personal loyalties
in the present situation.
When war raged between the Nephites and the Lamanites,
the record states that “the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they
were not fighting for . . . power but they were fighting
for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and
their all, yea, for their
rites of worship and their church.
“And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which
they owed to their God” (Alma
43:45–46).
The Lord counseled them, “Defend your families even unto bloodshed” (Alma
43:47).
And Moroni “rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and
wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace,
our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.
“And he fastened on his headplate, and his breastplate, and
his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole,
which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of
liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his
God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren” (Alma
46:12–13).
It is clear from these and other writings that there are times
and circumstances when nations are justified, in fact have an obligation,
to fight for family, for liberty, and against tyranny, threat, and oppression.
When all is said and done, we of this Church
are people of peace. We are followers of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was the
Prince of Peace. But even He said, “Think not that I am come to send peace
on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew
10:34).
This places us in the position of those who long for peace,
who teach peace, who work for peace, but who also are citizens of nations
and are subject to the laws of our governments. Furthermore, we are a freedom-loving
people, committed to the defense of liberty wherever it is in jeopardy. I
believe that God will not hold men and women in uniform responsible as agents
of their government in carrying forward that which they are legally obligated
to do. It may even be that He will hold us responsible if we try to impede
or hedge up the way of those who are involved in a contest with forces of
evil and repression.
Now, there is much that we can and must do in
these perilous times. We can give our opinions on the merits of the situation
as we see it,
but never let us become a party to words or works of evil concerning our
brothers and sisters in various nations on one side or the other. Political
differences
never justify hatred or ill will. I hope that the Lord’s people may be at
peace one with another during times of trouble, regardless of what loyalties
they may have to different governments or parties.
Let us pray for those who are called upon to bear arms by
their respective governments and plead for the protection of heaven upon them
that they may return to their loved ones in safety.
To our brothers and sisters in harm’s way, we
say that we pray for you. We pray that the Lord will watch over you and
preserve you from
injury and that you may return home and pick up your lives again. We know
that you are not in that land of blowing sand and brutal heat because you
enjoy the games of war. The strength of your commitment is measured by
your
willingness to give your very lives for that in which you believe.
We know that some have died, and others may yet die in this
hot and deadly contest. We can do all in our power to comfort and bless those
who lose loved ones. May those who mourn be comforted with that comfort which
comes alone from Christ the Redeemer. It was He who said to His beloved disciples:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in
God, believe also in me.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, . . . that
where I am, there ye may be also.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as
the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid” (John
14:1–3, 27).
We call upon the Lord, whose strength is mighty
and whose powers are infinite, to bring an end to the conflict, an end
that will result
in a better life for all concerned. The Lord has declared, “For I, the Lord,
rule in the heavens above, and among the armies of the earth” (D&C 60:4).
We can hope and pray for that glorious day foretold
by the prophet Isaiah when men “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah
2:4).
Even in an evil world we can so live our lives
as to merit the protecting care of our Father in Heaven. We can be as the
righteous living
among the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded that these cities
might be spared for the sake of the righteous. (See Genesis
18:20–32.)
And, above all, we can cultivate in our own hearts, and proclaim
to the world, the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His atoning
sacrifice we are certain life will continue beyond the veil of death. We can
teach that gospel which will lead to the exaltation of the obedient.
Even when the armaments of war ring out in deathly serenade
and darkness and hatred reign in the hearts of some, there stands immovable,
reassuring, comforting, and with great outreaching love the quiet figure of
the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. We can proclaim with Paul:
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come,
“Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans
8:38–39).
This life is but a chapter in the eternal plan of our Father.
It is full of conflict and seeming incongruities. Some die young. Some live
to old age. We cannot explain it. But we accept it with the certain knowledge
that through the atoning sacrifice of our Lord we shall all go on living,
and this with the comforting assurance of His immeasurable love.
He has said, “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in
the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).
And there, my brothers and sisters, we rest our faith. Regardless
of the circumstances, we have the comfort and peace of Christ our Savior,
our Redeemer, the living Son of the living God. I so testify in His holy name,
even the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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