It's great to see the country energized by the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama. While we did not vote for him, we wish him and our country well, and pray that God will guide him and grant him wisdom and the humility to listen to the people of this great land. We also pray that all of us will work together to help America fully achieve its potential, and that the leaders and peoples of countries around the world will work together for true freedom, justice, and equality.
We are grateful that this country's government is based on the Constitution and the teachings of Jesus Christ. About 1600 years ago, Moroni, the last prophet of an Israelite civilization in the Americas that had just been destroyed, wrote these words to us (because the Lord had shown our day to him):
Behold this is a choice land and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ… (Book of Mormon, Ether 2:12).
If not, Moroni warned:
And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done (Ether 2:11).
We are concerned that the idea of pluralism in our society has been elevated to be a greater good than truth and the "right." Yes, people do disagree about what these ideals are, but the search for them is what helps our country progress. Not striving for the truth, the "right" things to be and say and do—and not having the courage to live by and defend what we find—result eventually in dust and ashes for people and civilizations.
Ms. Star Parker of the Scripps Howard News Service recently wrote ("Obama's views could hardly be more different from Lincoln's," Deseret News, 19 Jan 2009, p. A11):
Beyond his trademark "change we can believe in," Obama's defining theme has been unity and inclusiveness….
Obama, of course, does not suggest that we don't have differences. His point is that those differences are not critically important and they're getting in our way. Let's put differences aside, get practical and solve our problems.
The inaugural ceremonies have pastors for everyone. A white evangelical who opposes same-sex marriage, a white homosexual, a left-wing black male and a left-wing black female.
His economic stimulus plan has large government expenditures to please Democrats and tax benefits to please Republicans.
Lincoln, too, sought unity. But Lincoln's notion of where national unity would lie was far different from Obama's.
He prophetically stated the challenge after accepting the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1858.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to be dissolved. I do not expect the House to fall. But I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
As historian Harry Jaffa points out, "For Lincoln, as for Jefferson and for all genuine supporters of the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the distinction between right and wrong is antecedent to any form of government and is independent of any man's or any majority's will."
Lincoln knew that some principles are so fundamental they cannot be compromised. He knew that we couldn't ignore our key differences. Unity could only come from facing them and making the hard choices.
We pray that God will guide leaders and the citizens of this country and others throughout the world to search for truth and the "right" and to have the courage to make the hard choices and defend them until these principles are established.
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