An address to Church members and Utah HB 116

This blog post is addressed not to the American public at large but to a certain subset. These people are the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a side note I will write another post in response to the American public at large so no need to fear. The question before us today is concerning illegal immigration. There are many arguments both for and against it that shall be addressed in the general blog post and touched upon here. What we are going to discuss is concerning the LDS church’s stance on Utah House Bill 116 (known as the Bill or 116). For some reason many find it strange that the church would support a bill that seems to grant amnesty to the illegals and allow them to live as legal residents. There is of course a proviso in their that the detractors fail to realize and that is that the Bill encourages and supports enforcement of current immigration laws while pushing for a change to a less Draconian system. Herein we shall discuss the detractors most used argument—that of using Article of Faith 12—and look at it from a reasonable standpoint and deconstruct the argument as it stands.

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” (Article of Faith 12) So for the detractor’s argument they state that the support of 116 breaks this Article and command from God. I would argue against such a stance for this one reason. The first is that illegal immigration is an act of desperately seeking freedom from a nation that is ruled by crime lords and kingpins and is therefore seeking a higher and more transcendent law. This is the law of caring for the family. This nation was built upon the breaking of laws to create a better place for their prosperity. In fact treason was committed thus breaking the 12^th Article of Faith. So I ask this question for all to ponder and that is, “If our fathers broke the law, bucked their duty to their king do they not stand condemned?” If you answer that they do not stand condemned by reason of fulfilling a higher law by seeking freedom from oppression then cannot the same be said for illegal immigrants? They seek freedom, not from governmental tyranny but the tyranny of fear and crime. Therefore are they not as innocent as our revolutionaries? Of course they are the fight of our fathers and the fight or the immigrant is the same it is the fight of freedom. The fight of justice. The fight to become more than they were before and secure a better place for their posterity.

There is also a second point I would like to point out and that is the road to apostasy. Many would say that this is merely an opinion given by the First Presidency and that this in no way bears any stamp or approval from God. That is false in every way imaginable. An official opinion given by the general offices of the church is, of necessity, approved by the First Presidency after much prayer and consideration. This prayer will lead to revelation and such was the case concerning 116. There are others who say that since they did not say, “This saith the Lord…” that it is merely the general opinion. Again that is a false assertion. Joseph Smith the First President of the Church and Prophet of the Restoration stated that the words “Thus saith the Lord” are not necessary when conveying the will of the Lord only the word of the prophet speaking officially in his capacity as prophet. In this instance the word of the Lord has been sent down from above and given to his chosen rulers. The Church’s support of 116 is the will of God and when we start to question this support then we draw closer to that dark realm of apostasy.

In conclusion the support from the Church in relation to HB 116 is logical and does not in fact counter the commands found in Article of Faith 12 for it is supporting the higher law of supporting the family and attaining freedom from an evil tyrant. Furthermore my fellow members we have sustained the brethren in General Conference we must sustain this decision by them or else we take a step closer to apostasy. My fellow members look deep into your hearts and consider your opinions on this matter and follow that which is true. Although to come to a good and honest conclusion concerning the matter we must look closer and use the reasoning that God has given us and as stated before another post on that will be coming later.