Moral Law

                The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that we cannot maintain our freedom without our laws and policies being founded upon faith in God and moral law.  Moral law is the first principle in the proper role of government.  Thomas Jefferson wrote the following statement in the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

                President Ezra Taft Benson and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture taught that our rights come from God and preceded the creation of our government.  “Rights are either God-given as part of the Divine Plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan.  Reason, necessity, tradition and religious convictions all lead me to accept the divine origin of these rights.  If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be will to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government”  (“The Proper Role of Government”).  

                President Benson was not the first person with this belief.  Cicero (106-43 B.C.) stated that “True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions….  And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal land unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times and there will be one master and ruler, that is God, over us all, for he is author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.”

                Other great men have made similar statements, many of which can be found at this site.  I did some deep thinking after I saw a bumper sticker claiming that God is neither Republican (in large letters) nor Democrat (in much smaller letter.  I decided that I agreed with the statement as it was written, but I do believe that God is conservative in his laws and principles.  I am positive that God is pro-life, against same-sex marriage, for working to supply our daily needs, and defending our home land, homes, and families.  The natural laws of God are the eternal laws that we should have guiding our nation.