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Subject:	LDS Prophets on "Survivalism" Prt 3   
From:		Oiled Lamp    
Date:		Mon, 20 Oct 1997 17:56:54 -0500   
   
". . . Latter-day Saints should have nothing to do with the secret   
combinations and groups antagonistic to the constitutional law of the   
land, which the Lord 'suffered to be established,' and which 'should be   
maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh according to just   
and holy principles.' " (Gospel Ideals, by David O. McKay p. 306.   
Italics added.)   
   There are those who recommend that the clash between communism and   
freedom be avoided through disarmament agreements. Abolishing our   
military strength and adopting an unenforceable contract as a   
substitute to protect us would go down in history as the greatest   
mistake free men could make in a time of peril.   
   President McKay declared:    
   "Force rules in the world today, consequently, our government must   
keep armies abroad, build navies and air squadrons, create atom bombs to   
protect itself from the threatened aggression of a nation which   
seems to listen to no other appeal than compulsion." (Ibid., p. 304.)   
   This parallels the historic statement by George Washington when he   
vigorously warned:    
   "There is a rank due the United States among the nations that will be   
totally lost by the reputation of weakness. If we would avoid insult we   
must be able to repel it, if we would secure the peace it must be   
known that we are at all times ready for war."   
   Some timid, vacillating political leaders proclaim that communism is   
something we will have to learn to live with . . . whether it is   
Khrushchev, or some other leader. The present communist system, they   
declare, will continue because there is no alternate system to replace   
communism. The policy of increasing power, of pushing their system   
outward and using the communist party, they say, will go on.   
   Such a negative attitude writes off the hundreds of millions behind   
the iron curtain as a lost cause. Surely no courageous, liberty-loving   
citizen will treat the communist secret combination as "something we   
will have to learn to live with."   
   There is a more courageous and sounder point of view. President McKay   
expressed it in these words:    
   "Men will be free. I have hoped for twenty years that the Russian   
system would break up. There is no freedom under it, and sooner or later   
the people will rise against it. They cannot oppose those fundamentals   
of civilization and of God. They can't crush their people always. Men   
will be free." (Church Section, Deseret News, November 6 1957, in an   
article entitled, "President McKay receives Senator Kennedy at Church   
Offices.")   
   What is the official position of the Church on communism? In 1936 the   
First Presidency made an official declaration on communism which has   
never been abrogated. I quote the concluding paragraph:     
  "We call upon all Church members completely to eschew communism. The   
safety of our divinely inspired constitutional government and the   
welfare of our Church imperatively demand that communism shall have no   
place in America"   
   We must ever keep in mind that collectivized socialism is part of the   
communist strategy. Communism is fundamentally socialism. We will never   
win our fight against communism by making concessions to socialism.   
Communism and socialism, closely related, must be defeated on principle.   
The close relationship between socialism and communism is clearly   
pointed out by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in a letter to   
the editor of the Washington Post, of August 6, 1961, in these words:    
   ". . . Both socialism and communism derive from the teachings of Marx   
and Engels. In fact, the movements were one until the split over methods   
of approach, which resulted after the Russian revolution in 1905.... The   
aim and purpose of both was then and is now world socialism, which   
communism seeks to achieve through revolution and which socialists seek   
to achieve through evolution.   
   "The industrial achievements of the U. S. are the result of an   
economic system which is the antithesis of socialism. Our economic   
system is called 'capitalism' or 'private enterprise' and is based on   
private property rights, the profit motive and competition.   
   "Both communism and socialism seek to destroy our economic system and   
replace it with socialism; and their success, whether through evolution   
by socialism or through revolution by communism or a combination, will   
destroy not only our economic system, but our liberty, including the   
'civil' aspects as well....   
   ". . . The 'common ground' of socialism and communism is a factor to   
which the American people should be alerted. Without a clear   
understanding that communism is socialism, the total threat and   
menace of the cold war can never be comprehended and fought to victory."   
   When socialism is understood, we will realize that many of the   
programs advocated, and some of those already adopted in the United   
States, fall clearly within the category of socialism. What is   
socialism? It is simply governmental ownership and management of the   
essential means for the production and distribution of goods.   
   We must never forget that nations may sow the seeds of their own   
destruction while enjoying unprecedented prosperity.   
   The socialistic-communist conspiracy to weaken the United States   
involves attacks on many fronts. To weaken the American free-enterprise   
 economy which outproduced both its enemies and allies during World War   
II is a high priority target of the communist leaders. Their press and   
other propaganda media are therefore constantly selling the principles   
of centralized or federal control of farms, railroads, electric   
power, schools, steel, maritime shipping, and many other aspects of the   
economy -- but always in the name of public welfare.   
   This carries out the strategy laid down by the communist masters.   
John Strachey, a top official in the Labor Socialist party of Great   
Britain, in his book entitled The Theory and Practice of Socialism said:    
   "It is impossible to establish communism as the immediate successor   
to capitalism. It is accordingly proposed to establish socialism as   
something which we can put in the place of our present decaying   
capitalism. Hence, communists work for the establishment of socialism as   
a necessary transition stage on the road to communism."   
   The paramount issue today is liberty against creeping socialism. It   
is in this spirit that President McKay stated:    
   "Communism is antagonistic to the American way of life. Its avowed   
purpose is to destroy belief in God and free enterprise.... The   
fostering of full economic freedom lies at the base of our liberties.   
Only in perpetuating economic freedom can our social, political, and   
religious liberties be preserved." (Excerpt from Inaugural address for   
Dr. Henry A. Dixon, President of USU, delivered by President McKay at   
the USU fieldhouse, Logan, Utah, Monday, March 18, 1954.)   
   Again President McKay warned, citing the words of W. C. Mullendore,   
president of Southern California Edison Company:    
   "During the first half of the twentieth century we have traveled far   
into the soul-destroying land of socialism and made strange alliances   
through which we have become involved in almost continuous hot   
and cold wars over the whole of the earth. In this retreat from freedom   
the voices of protesting citizens have been drowned by raucous shouts of   
intolerance and abuse from those who led the retreat and their   
millions of gullible youth, who are marching merrily to their doom,   
carrying banners on which are emblazoned such intriguing and misapplied   
labels as social justice equality, reform patriotism social welfare."   
(Gospel Ideals, p. 273.)   
   It is significant that 118 years ago this month the Prophet Joseph   
Smith, after attending lectures on socialism, made this official entry   
in church history: "I said I did not believe the doctrine." (History of   
the Church, Vol. 6, p. 33.)   
   No true Latter-day Saint and no true American can be a socialist or a   
communist or support programs leading in that direction. These evil   
philosophies are incompatible with Mormonism, the true gospel of   
Jesus Christ.    
What can priesthood holders do? There are many things we can do to   
meet the challenge of the adversary in our day.   
   First, we should become informed about communism, about socialism,   
and about Americanism. What better way can one become informed than by   
first studying the inspired words of the prophets and using that as a   
foundation; against which to test all other material. This is in keeping   
with the Prophet Joseph Smith's motto, "When the Lord commands, do it."   
(Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 170.)   
   The Foundation for Economic Education, Irvington-on-Hudson, New York   
on which President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., served as a board member,   
continues to supply sound freedom literature. We should know enough   
about American free enterprise to be able to defend it. We should know   
what makes it possible for six percent of humanity -- living under our   
free economy -- to produce about one-half of the earth's developed   
wealth each year.   
   We should know why paternalism, collectivism, or unnecessary federal   
supervision will hold our standard of living down and reduce   
productivity just as it has in every country where it has been tried. We   
should also know why the communist leaders consider socialism the   
highroad to communism.   
   Second, we should accept the command of the Lord and treat   
socialistic communism as the tool of Satan. We should follow the counsel   
of the President of the Church and resist the influence and policies of   
the socialist-communist conspiracy wherever they are found -- in the   
schools, in the churches, in governments, in unions, in businesses, in   
agriculture.   
   Third, we should help those who have been deceived or who are   
misinformed to find the truth. Unless each person who knows the truth   
will "stand up and speak up" it is difficult for the deceived or   
confused citizen to find his way back.   
   Fourth, we should not make the mistake of calling people "communist"   
just because they happen to be helping the communist cause. Thousands of   
patriotic Americans, including a few Latter-day Saints, have helped the   
communists without realizing it. Others have knowingly helped without   
joining the party. The remedy is to avoid name-calling, but point out   
clearly and persuasively how they are helping the communists.   
   Fifth, each priesthood holder should use his influence in the   
community to resist the erosion process which is taking place in our   
political and economic life. He should use the political party of his   
choice to express his evaluation of important issues. He should see that   
his party is working to preserve freedom, not destroy it. He should join   
responsible local groups interested in promoting freedom and free   
competitive enterprise, in studying political issues, appraising the   
voting records and proposed programs, and writing to members of   
Congress, promoting good men in public office and scrutinizing local,   
state, and federal agencies to see that the will of the people is being   
carried out. He should not wait for the Lord's servants to give   
instruction for every detail once they have announced the direction in   
which the priesthood should go. Each member should exercise prayerful   
judgment and then act.   
   Sixth, and most important of all, each member of the priesthood   
should set his own house in order. This should include:    
   1. Regular family prayer, remembering especially our government   
leaders.   
   2. Getting out of debt.   
   3. Seeing that each member of the family understands the importance   
of keeping the commandments.   
   4. Seeing that the truth is shared with members of the family, with   
neighbors, and with associates.   
   5. Seeing that each member is performing his duties in the     
priesthood, in the auxiliary organizations, in the temple, and in the   
civic life of the community.   
   6. Seeing that every wage earner in the home is a full tithepayer and   
fulfilling other obligations in financial support of the kingdom.   
   7. Providing a one-year supply of essentials.   
   In doing these things a member of the Church is not only making   
himself an opponent of the adversary, but a proponent of the Lord.   
   In the prophecies there is no promise except to the obedient. To a   
modern prophet the Lord said:    
   "Therefore, what I say unto one, I say unto all: Watch, for the   
adversary spreadeth his dominions, and darkness reigneth;    
   "And the anger of God kindleth against the inhabitants of the earth;    
   ". . . I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it   
may turn to you for your salvation.   
   "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what   
I say, ye have no promise."   
"   
(D&C 82:5-6, 9-10.)   
   May God give us the wisdom to recognize the threat to our freedom and   
the strength to meet this danger courageously.   
   Yes, perilous times are ahead, but if we do our duty in all things,   
God will give us inner peace and overrule all things for our good. God   
grant it may be so, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.   
   
Ezra Taft Benson   
April Conference, 1965   
   
    For years we have been counseled to have on hand a year's supply of   
food. Yet there are some today who would not start storing until the   
Church comes out with a detailed monthly home storage program. Now   
suppose that never happens? We still cannot say we have not been told.   
    Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church...a famine   
in this land of one year's duration could wipe out a large percentage of   
slothful members, including some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot   
say we have not been warned.   
   
 
"   
Harold B. Lee   
Welfare Meeting, October Conference, 1966   
   
    Brother Taylor has talked about storage. I think there is nothing   
that has been so expanded all out of the original intent as has this   
storage program, which is intended to teach a principle. Now one or two   
things we must say to you, and in some places it is getting way out of   
hand. Wards and stakes are not to enter into a buying and selling   
program to their members, and certainly it is not to be done by the   
Relief Society, [the Relief Society is the women's organzation of the   
Church - A.S.] the priesthood quorums nor any other Church units. To go   
to wholesalers and solicit a little better price on a can of beans or   
pork and beans, merely to help save a few cents, usually for those who   
are able to buy themselves, and then to have somebody complain, "Well, I   
don't like that brand of corn," or, "I don't like that brand of peas,"   
is not a part of the Welfare Program.   
    We can get into more trouble with our local grocerymen, with our   
taxing authorities, and with the public generally by entering into a   
buying and selling program of this sort, which is but competing with the   
corner groceryman who is struggling to keep a litle life in his   
business. Now I think there can be more harm done than the small good   
that will be accomplished. We teach the principle of putting aside for   
the "rainy" day.   
    We have never laid down an exact formula for what anybody should   
store, and let me just make this comment: Perhaps if we think not in   
terms of a year's supply of what we ordinarily would use, and think more   
in terms of what it would take to keep us alive in case we didn't have   
anything else to eat, that last would be very easy to put in storage for   
a year...just enough to keep us alive if we didn't have anything else to   
eat. We wouldn't get fat on it, but we would live, and if you think in   
terms of that kind of annual storage rather than a whole year's supply   
of everything that you are accustomed to eat which, in most cases, is   
utterly impossible for the average family, I think we will come nearer   
to what President Clark advised us way back in 1937.   
   
Harold B. Lee   
Welfare Agricultural Meeting   
April Conference, 1969   
   
    We have had those who have tried to take advantage of this home   
storage program by capitalizing from a commercial standpoint. We have   
cautioned you to avoid that, but to pursue the course nevertheless, to   
see that food is in your homes; and counsel your neighbors and friends   
to do likewise, because someone had a vision to know that this was   
going to be necessary, and it will be necessary in the future, and has   
been the savior of our people in the past.   
 ...Now let's not be foolish and suppose that because the sun is shining   
today that there won't be clouds tomorrow. The Lord has told us by   
revelation some of the things that are ahead of us, and we living in the   
day when the fulfillment of those prophecies is now at hand, and we are   
startled, and yet there is nothing happening today that the prophets   
didn't foresee. Sometimes centuries ago, as one prophet of the Book of   
Mormon [another volume of LDS scripture - A.S.] said: "I see in that day   
as though they were now present." That's revelation.   
    God help us to keep our own houses in order and to keep our eyes   
fixed upon those who preside in this Church and to follow their   
direction, and we won't be led astray.   
   
Dr. Edwin Brown Firmage (well-known LDS scholar)   
"The Nuclear Arms Race" - Ensign, March 1971   
   
 ...There now exists sufficient nuclear explosive power in the arsenals   
of the two superpowers (Russia and the U.S.) to provide the equivalent   
of over one hundred tons of TNT for every man, woman, and child in the   
world.   
 ...The danger of this massive expenditure on weaponry, apart from the   
tragic waste of resources, is that the arms race itself, admittedly   
originating from forces other than armaments, soon becomes a cause as   
well as a result of international tension and mistrust. And weapons made   
eventually become weapons used.   
    Brigham Young saw this and lamented it as the United States was on   
the brink of civil war: "When the nations have for years turned much of   
their attention to manufacturing instruments of death, they have sooner   
or later used those instruments. Our nation, England, France, Germany,   
Austria, Italy, and other nations have exercised their inventive   
skill, and expended much means in inventing and fabricating instruments   
of death....From the authority of all histroy, the deadly weapons now   
mustored up and being manufactured will be used....(Journal of Discourses,   
vol. 8, p. 157.)   
   
Harold B. Lee   
Welfare Agricultural Meeting   
April Conference, 1970   
   
For 30 years the leaders of this Church have been telling us to store   
food and to prepare for a rainy day. We have listened, many have paid no   
attention, and now suddenyl disaster begins to strike and some if those   
who have been slothful are running to the banks and taking out their   
savings, and buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of    
foodstuffs. The Lord has given us time to prepare, and many have.   
   
Neal A. Maxwell    
(Asst. to the Twelve, 1974; Seventy, 1976; Apostle, 1981)   
"New Era," January 1971   
   
Our task is to react and to notice without overreacting, to let life go   
forward without slipping into the heedlessness of those in the days of   
Noah. It has been asked, and well it might be, how many of us would have   
jeered, or at least been privately amused, by the sight of Noah building   
his ark.   
    Presumably, the laughter and the heedlessness continued until it   
began to rain-and kept raining. How wet some people must have been   
before Noah's ark suddenly seemed the only sane act in an insane,   
bewildering situation! To ponder signs without becoming paranoid, to be   
aware without franctically matching current events with expectations and   
using energy that should be spent in other ways-these are our tasks.    
   
Spencer W. Kimball   
"Who Contendeth With the Almighty"   
Prepared for Area Conferences in Manchester, England   
but not delivered, August 1971   
   
    _Maintain a year's supply._  The Lord has urged that his people save   
for the rainy days, prepare for the difficult times, and put away for   
emergencies, a year's supply or more of bare neccessities so that when   
come the flood, the earthquake, the famine, the hurricane, the storms of   
life, our families can be sustained through the dark days. How many of   
us have complied with this? We strive with the Lord, finding many   
excuses: We do not have room for storage. The food spoils. We do not   
have the funds to do it. We do not like these common foods. It is not   
needed-there will always be someone to help in trouble. The government   
will come to the rescue. And some intend to obey but procrastinate.   
   
Harold B. Lee   
"Ensign," December 1971   
   
    A few days ago we had a faith-promoting report from a young mission   
president and his wife who have just been released from presiding over a   
mission in Peru, where recently there was experienced one of the worst   
calamities in the history of the world, in which an estimated seventy   
thousand persons were buried when an earthquake moved an entire over   
two cities, which was completely destroyed. We had four missionaries   
laboring there, two in each city. When the earthquakes came, they were   
at the Lord's buiness; two of our elders were teaching a gospel lesson   
on the outskirts of town and the other two were in a preparation meeting   
in another city.    
    After the three terrifying days of semidarkness from the choking   
dust, they philosophized that this might be like the time when the   
Savior was crucified, when there were three days of darkness, [this   
event occured on the American continent and is recorded in the Book of   
Mormon - A.S.] and when he would come again, when two should be grinding   
at the mill, and one would be taken and the other left; two would be   
working in the field, and one would be taken and the other one left.   
(See Matt. 24:40-41.)   
    When an earthquake strikes, every person would be taken as he is   
then living-if at a movie, or a tavern, or in a drunken stupor, or   
whatever. But the true servants of God, who would be doing their duty,   
would be protected and preserved, if they would do as the Lord has   
counseled: to "stand ye in holy places, and be not moved," when there   
days should come. (D&C 87:8.)   
   
Spencer W. Kimball   
Welfare Services Meeting, April 6, 1974   
   
    We have had many calamities in this past period. It seems that every   
day or two there is an earthquake or a flood or a tornado or distress   
that brings trouble to many people. I am grateful to see that our people   
and our leaders are beginning to catch the vision of their self-help.   
    Let me say that as a stake president long ago, we had a flood in the   
Duncan Valley in Arizona. As soon as we overcame the excitement of the   
first report of it, my counselors and I formulated a telegram and sent   
it to Salt Lake City and said, "Please send us $10,000 by return mail."   
I found that I was learning about welfare programs when no $10,000 came.   
When President Lee, President Romney, and President Moyle came down   
and took me back in my little office in my business place we sat down   
around the table and they said, "This isn't a program of 'give me.' This   
is a program of 'self-help.'" And so we learned much from those   
brethren.   
 ....Something was said about gardens and about trees. I should say that   
in our little yard Sister Kimball is our farmer, and she nearly feeds us   
through the year from that little yard in the back. We have carrots, and   
we have apricots, and we have applesauce, and we have other things that   
help. Then she plants beans along the grillwork of our back porch, down   
among the roses, and they climb up over this grillwork. I joke with her   
a lot of times about having done that so she can sit in her rocking   
chair and pick the beans, but we just almost live on beans and it is   
good food, very good food. The little gardens and the few trees are   
very valuable. I remember when the sisters used to say, "Well, but we   
could buy it at the store a lot cheaper than we can put it up." But that   
isn't quite the answer, it is, Sister Spafford? Because there will come   
a time when there isn't a store. I remember long years ago that I asked   
a very prominent grocer who had a chain of grocery stores, "How long   
would your supply of groceries last if you did not have trucks to bring   
in new supplies?" And he said, "Maybe we could stretch it out two weeks   
from our storehouses and from our supplies." People could get awfully   
hungry after two weeks were over.   
   
Spencer W. Kimball   
October Conference, 1974   
   
    We are also concerned with the great waste from our homes and stores   
and restaurants and otherwise. After the usual banquet, enough is   
carried out in the garbage to feed numerous mouths that have been   
drooling for a bite to eat in less-favored countries. Many are starving,   
and we throw away much and waste much.   
   
Spencer W. Kimball   
October Conference, 1974   
   
   _Gardens promote independence._ Should evil times come, many might   
wish they had filled all their fruit bottles and cultivated a garden in   
their backyards and planted a few fruit trees and berry bushes and   
provided for their own commodity needs.    
    The Lord planned that we would be independent of every creature, but   
we note even many farmers buy their mild from dairies and homeowners buy   
their garden vegetables from the store. And should the trucks fail to   
fill the shelves of the stores, many would go hungry.   
   
H. Burke Peterson    
(First counselor to Presiding Bishop Victor L. Brown, 1972; Seventy,   
1985)   
October Conference, 1975   
   
To foster the economic self-sufficiency of the Latter-day Saint   
families, fathers and mothers, priesthood and Relief Society leaders are   
encouraged first to focus upon family preparedness, an important part of   
which is home production-canning, gardening, sewing, making household   
items-and also upon home storage, on the need for Saints to have a   
year's supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. All this is   
accomplished as fathers, mothers, and children respond to priesthood   
direction and prepare for the eventualities that lie ahead. Fathers   
receive instruction through their priesthood quorums, mothers from their   
husbands and through Relief Society's program for provident living.    
 ...Therefore, family preparedness, with home production and storage,   
must be the way the majority of our families take care of themselves.   
 ...The study revealed that only about 5 percent of our Church members   
had a year's supply of meat products. Only 3 percent had a year's supply   
of dried or canned fruits or vegetables. Approximately 18 percent had a   
year's supply of grains. In the milk group, only three families in a   
hundred had a year's supply of canned or powdered milk. On the average,   
about 30 percent of the Church had a two-months supply of food; the   
remainder had little or none.    
   These survey statistics indicate that most Church members are not   
prepared to meet month-to-month problems and future economic trials.   
Clearly, in this area of home production and storage, it is extremely   
important that priesthood and Relief Society leaders and all Latter-day   
Saints place great emphasis on home storage-on obtaining and carefully   
storing a year's supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. In   
the area of home production, we would hope that members would heed the   
admonition of the prophets and, where possible, grow a garden, sew their   
own clothing, make household items, and, in general, become as   
self-sufficient as possible to prepare against the days to come. In the   
words of President Kimball, "We are pleased that many people are   
planting gardens and fruit trees and are buying canning jars and   
lids....We congratulate those families who are listening and doing.   
   "We make a conscientious effort to look out for our own members, and   
we teach them to practice economy, to store a year's supply of basic   
commodities." (Ensign, May 1975, pp. 5-6)   
   
Victor L. Brown    
(Second counselor to Presiding Bishop John H. Vandenberg, 1961;   
Presiding Bishop,   
1972; Seventy, 1985; Emeritus General Authority, 1989)   
October Conference, 1975   
   
   We realize that it sounds as though these represent some extremes;   
however, they also represent the facts of life. There are few of us who   
do not need bolstering in some aspects of personal welfare at some time   
in our lives.   
   In the Welfare Services session of conference held last April,   
Bishop H. Burke Peterson described family preparedness this way: "When   
we speak of family preparedness, we should speak of foreseen,    
anticipated, almost expected needs which can be met through wise   
preparation. Even true emergencies can be modified by good planning."   
(Welfare Services Meeting, April 5, 1975, p. 5.)   
    Family preparedness is the key to meeting personal welfare needs for   
the members of the family. Every other aspect of Welfare Services, such   
as ward preparedness, is designed to support family preparedness.   
 ...Home production and storage: The prepared family has sufficient   
stores to take care of basic needs for a minimum of one year. Further,   
they are, where possible, actively involved in the growing, canning, and   
sewing, and production of their year's supply.   
   
(cont.)   

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