Transcript PP13 Cook, The Restoration of Morality and Religious Freedomx

Elder Quentin L. Cook,
“The Restoration of
Morality and Religious
Freedom”
(16 December 2011)
Mormonnewsroom.org

My purpose today is to challenge you to work
with people of other faiths to improve the moral
fabric of this nation and the world and to protect
religious freedom. In order to do this, you need
to understand and comprehend “things which
have been,” with particular emphasis on certain
knowledge and events which were
precursors to the restoration of the gospel
of Jesus Christ and still need to be protected.
These are the underpinnings of our JudeoChristian heritage and bless people worldwide
(emphasis added).
Introduction: Working with People of Other Faiths
The King James Bible
 English Common Law and the United
States Constitution
 The Communications Revolution
 A Return to Judeo-Christian Moral
Principles

Elder Cook’s Four Bridges

This great book of scripture, the King
James Bible, has endured and is as
important to us today as it was 400 years
ago. Significantly, we share with the vast
majority of citizens a love and
appreciation for the Judeo-Christian
values set forth in the King James Bible.
Reason and Relate: What do you know about the Bible that would allow you to connect heart
to heart with someone from a non-LDS Judeo-Christian background?

President J. Reuben Clark and Elder Dallin H.
Oaks, two apostles who had previously been
eminent lawyers, share a common view of our
understanding that the Constitution is divinely
inspired. … These two great leaders, between
them, identified five elements of the Constitution
as being particularly inspired. First is the
separation of powers into three independent
branches of government. Second is the Bill of
Rights’ guarantee of freedom of speech, press
and religion. The third is the equality of all men
and women before the law. The fourth is the
federal system, with the division of powers
between the nation as a whole and the various
states. And the fifth is the principle of popular
sovereignty; the people are the source of
government.
Reason and Relate: How could a conversation about inspired Constitutional principles
forward the respective causes of both a LDS and a Catholic at the same time?

Elder Gerrit W. Gong has eloquently summarized
these events: “For those … who see Heaven’s hand in
the affairs of men, it comes as no coincidence that
the central theme of What Hath God Wrought is that
the early nineteenth century [was] a time of a
communications revolution.”[10] Howe states,
“During the thirty-three years that began in 1815,
there would be greater strides in the improvement of
communication than had taken place in all previous
centuries.”[11] A second communications revolution
has occurred during the lives of those of us in this
BYU-Idaho Center. The most significant part of this
involves the Internet. This is an area where you have
great understanding.
Reason and Relate: How could a conversation about providential
communications revolutions unify people of different faiths?


The practice of religious beliefs had been a
principal reason for the original settlements
in New England, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
“More material was printed in mid-18thcentury America about religion than about
political science, history, and law
combined.”[14] On the eve of the
Revolutionary War, religious pamphlets
“topped secular pamphlets from all 13
colonies by 4 to 1.”[15]
A farmer who had fought at Concord Bridge
“declared that he had never heard of Locke
or Sidney, his reading having been limited to
the Bible, the Catechism, Watt’s Psalms and
Hymns, and the Almanac.”[16] It was these
principles that he was defending.
Reason and Relate: What responsibilities does a shared
heritage of moral principles bequeath to all Americans?


The role of religion in blessing a secular society was set
forth succinctly by Alexis De Tocqueville in his classic
Democracy in America. He stated, “The greatest advantage
of religion is to inspire … principles. There is no religion
which does not place the object of man’s desires above and
beyond the treasure of earth, and which does not naturally
raise his soul to regions far above those of the senses. Nor
is there any which does not impose on man some sort of
duties to his kind, and thus draws him at times from the
contemplation of himself.”[29]
My challenge today[30] is that you join with people of all
faiths who feel accountable to God in defending religious
freedom so it can be a beacon for morality. We caution you
to be civil and responsible as you defend religious liberty
and moral values. We ask that you do this on the Internet
and in your personal interactions in the neighborhoods and
communities where you live. Be an active participant, not a
silent observer.
(5 min.) Reason and Relate with a Partner: What are five points of agreement that matter
most in your cooperative defense of religious freedom with people of all faiths?
2/28/02
Dear Nicholas,
We are so happy to have received another letter from you. How
wonderful to hear how happy you are and how satisfying you
accept your missionary work. It is your choice, your time and
attentive work. From our positions we have the constant and
affirmative declaration that the chief good for anything alive is
happiness, consisting of rational activity pursued in accordance
with virtue. I believe that we’re creatures of intelligence and
therefore in our lives it has been common to be rational and civil.
I believe to live at all times a practical and moral life rather than
religion. “In the world you shall have tribulation: But be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Suffering does
come to men, but it can be endured with a Stoic ideal and
happiness. Severe pains are short and lasting pains are never
severe. Moreover pains can never hurt us if our minds are
abstracted from them. Pleasure, not sensual or instinctual, can
be attained if you seek it wisely. …
[God] will endow some people with His thoughts to keep others in
all His concerns. Think how true it is that God the Creator does
endow the Gentiles with the gifts of creation.
Love, Papa
Elder Oaks: “I am convinced that on this issue [religious freedom] what all believers
have in common is far more important than their differences” (4 Feb. 2011).