Editorial Note: In this General Conference address from 1967, fifty years ago, Ezra Taft Benson, who later became a president of the
Church, speaks prophetically to issues seen in the news media today. Some of
what he said could have been written in the last few days and weeks. Sometimes
we forget how insightfully prophetic the apostles and prophets really are, because
their messages are buried in the past. We are now reminded. Some academics have
dismissed Ezra Taft Benson’s General Conference messages out of hand because he
spoke a lot about Communism. Such dismissal is now seen as unwise—as usual. On
the issue of race and the priesthood brought up in this address, Brother Benson
was present when the revelation on the priesthood was received in 1978 and
fully supported it afterward and while church president; he would have referred
readers to Official Proclamation 2 in the Doctrine and Covenants for resolution
of that issue. As for now, Elder Benson’s message serves as a guide to how to
view current events—as conspiring men and women seek to harm the United States
of America. As would be expected, his words run contrary to many of the false
philosophies of our day and point us in the right direction toward solutions
and public improvement.
In the Book of Mormon the prophet Nephi exclaims: "O
Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put
my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his
trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or
maketh flesh his arm." (2 Ne. 4:34.)
Prophesying of our day, Nephi said, ". . . they have
all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ;
nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are
taught by the precepts of men." (2 Ne. 28:14.)
Precepts of men or principles of God
Yes, it is the precepts of men versus the principles of God.
The more we follow the word of God, the less we are deceived, while those who
follow the wisdom of men are deceived the most.
Increasingly the Latter-day Saints must choose between the
reasoning of men and the revelations of God. This is a crucial choice, for we
have those within the Church today who, with their worldly wisdom, are leading
some of our members astray. President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., warned that
"the ravening wolves are amongst us from our own membership and they, more
than any others, are clothed in sheep's clothing, because they wear the
habiliments of the Priesthood. ... We should be careful of them." (The
Improvement Era, May 1949, p. 268.)
The Lord does not always give reasons for each commandment.
Sometimes faithful members, like Adam of old, are called upon to obey an
injunction of the Lord even though they do not know the reason why it was
given. Those who trust in God will obey him, knowing full well that time will
provide the reasons and vindicate their obedience.
The arm of flesh may not approve nor understand why God has
not bestowed the priesthood on women or the seed of Cain, but God's ways are
not man's ways. God does not have to justify all his ways for the puny mind of
man. If a man gets in tune with the Lord, he will know that God's course of
action is right, even though he may not know all the reasons why. The Prophet
Joseph Smith understood this principle when he said, ... the curse is not yet
taken off from the sons of Canaan, neither will be until it is affected by as
great a power as caused it to come; and the people who interfere the least with
the purposes of God in this matter, will come under the least condemnation
before Him; and those who are determined to pursue a course, which shows an
opposition, and a feverish restlessness against the decrees of the Lord, will
learn, when perhaps it is too late for their own good, that God can do His own
work, without the aid of those who are not dictated by His counsel."
(Documentary History of the Church, Vol. , p. 438.)
The world largely ignores the first and great commandment—to
love God—but talks a lot about loving their brother. They worship at the altar
of man. Would Nephi have slain Laban if he had put the love of neighbor above
the love of God? Would Abraham have taken Isaac up for a sacrifice if he had
put the second commandment first?
The attitude of the world is reflected in a phrase of
falsehood that reads, "Presume not God to scan, the proper study of
mankind is man." But only those who know and love God can best love and
serve his children, for only God fully understands his children and knows what
is best for their welfare. Therefore, one needs to be in tune with God to best
help his children. That's why the Church, under the inspiration of the Lord,
encourages its members to first look to themselves, then their family, then the
Church and if need be to other voluntary agencies to help solve the problems of
poverty, unemployment, hunger, sickness, and distress. Those who are not moved
by that same inspiration turn instead to government. Such man-made course of
action does little good compared to the Lord's approach and often results in
doing great harm to our Father's children, even though the intentions may seem
to have been noble.
The first commandment first
Therefore, if you desire to help your fellowmen the most,
then you must put the first commandment first.
When we fail to put the love of God first, we are easily
deceived by crafty men who profess a great love of humanity, while advocating
programs that are not of the Lord.
In 1942 Presidents Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and
David O. McKay warned us about the increasing threat to our constitution caused
by revolutionists whom the First Presidency said were "using a technique
that is as old as the human race—a fervid but false solicitude for the
unfortunate over whom they thus gain mastery, and then enslave them. They a
suit their approaches to the particular group they seek to deceive." (The
Improvement Era, May 1942, p. 343.)
That timely counsel about a fervid but false solicitude for
the unfortunate" could have saved China and Cuba if enough people knew
what the Communist masters of deceit really had in mind when they promised
agrarian reform.
False solicitude for the unfortunate
Such timely counsel could help save our country from
Communism, as the same masters of deceit are showing the same false solicitude
for the unfortunate in the name of civil rights.
Now there is nothing wrong with civil rights; it is what's
being done in the name of civil rights that is alarming.
There is no doubt that the so-called civil rights movement
as it exists today is used as a Communist program for revolution in America
just as agrarian reform was used by the Communists to take over China and Cuba.
This shocking statement can be confirmed by an objective
study of Communist literature and activities and by knowledgeable Negroes and
others who have worked within the Communist movement.
As far back as 1928, the Communists declared that the
cultural, economic, and social differences between the races in America could
be exploited by them to create the animosity, fear, and hatred between large
segments of our people that would be necessary beginning ingredients for their
revolution.
Three-fold attack
Briefly, the three broad objectives were and are as follows:
1. Create hatred
2. Trigger violence
3. Overthrow established government
First, create hatred. Use any means to agitate blacks into
hating whites and whites into hating blacks. Work both sides of the split. Play
up and exaggerate real grievances. If necessary, don't hesitate to manufacture
false stories and rumors about injustices and brutality. Create martyrs for
both sides. Play upon mass emotions until they smolder with resentment and
hatred.
Second, trigger violence. Put the emotional masses into the
streets in the form of large mobs, the larger the better. It makes no
difference if the mob is told to demonstrate "peacefully" so long as
it is brought into direct confrontation with the antagonist. Merely bringing
the two emotionally charged groups together is like mixing oxygen and hydrogen.
All that is needed is one tiny spark. If the spark is not forthcoming from
purely spontaneous causes, create it.
Third, overthrow established government. Once mob violence
becomes widespread and commonplace, condition those who are emotionally
involved to accept violence as the only way to "settle the score"
once and for all. Provide leadership and training for guerilla warfare. Institute
discipline and terrorism to insure at least passive support from the larger,
inactive segment of the population. Train and battle-harden leadership through
sporadic riots and battles with police. Finally, at the appointed time, launch
an all-out simultaneous offensive in every major city.
Defense to be impaired
Police and national guard units will never be adequate to
handle such wide-spread anarchy, especially if a large part of our men and
equipment are drained away in fighting foreign wars. In self-defense, larger
numbers are brought into fighting on both sides. The appearance of a nationwide
civil war takes form. In the confusion, potential anti-Communist leaders of
both races are assassinated, apparently the accidental casualties of race war.
Time the attack to coincide, if possible, with large-scale
sabotage a water supplies, power grids, main rail road and highway arteries,
communication centers, and government buildings With fires raging in every
conceivable part of town, with wanton looting going on in the darkness of a big
city without routine police protection, without water to drink, without
electrical refrigeration, without transportation or radio or TV, the public
will panic, lock its doors in trembling fear, and make it that much easier for
the small but assembled and fully disciplined guerrilla bands to capture the
power centers of each community. Overthrow the government! After complete
control is consolidated (and that may take many months, as in Cuba), only then
allow the people to discover that it was a Communist revolution after all.
Revolution through force and violence
If Communism comes to America, it will probably not happen
quite like that. Even, though this is the basic formula used in so many other
countries now part of the Communist empire, there is one very important
difference. In China, in Cuba, and in Algeria, the segment of the population
that the Communists used as the "battering ram" of their revolution
of force and violence was the majority segment. In America, though, the Negro
represents only 10 percent of the population. In any all-out race war that
might be triggered, there isn't a chance in the world that Communism-led Negro
guerilla units could permanently hold on to the power centers of government
even if they could capture them in the first place.
It would be a terribly bloody affair, all Americans
suffering mightily but with Negroes paying the highest toll in human life. And
the Communists know this better than anyone else. They do not really expect to
take America with a "war of national liberation" (which is their term
for internal conquest through force and violence) unless the aggressive
revolutionary force can be broadened to include not only the minority of
Negroes, but also migratory farm laborers, the poor, the unemployed, those on
welfare, other minority groups, students, the so- called "peace
movements," and anyone who can be propagandized into mob action against
established government But unless and until they can manipulate an overwhelming
majority of the population into at least sympathizing with their revolutionary
activities, they will use violence, anarchy, and sabotage, not as a means of
seizing power, but merely as a support operation or a catalyst to an entirely
different plan.
Internal strife and conflict
In such countries as Czechoslovakia, the Communists have
used an entirely different method of internal conquest. Instead of the force
and violence of a bloody revolution (a "war of national liberation),
parliamentary and political means were used to bring about a more peaceful
transition to Communism. The Communist strategists call this alternate plan a
"proletarian" revolution.
This plan is as follows: Using unidentified Communist agents
and non-Communist sympathizers in key positions in government, in
communications media, and in mass organizations, such as labor unions and civil
rights groups, demand more and more government power as the solution to all
civil rights problems. Total government is the objective of Communism. Without
calling it by name, build Communism piece by piece through mass pressures for
presidential decrees, court orders, and legislation that appear to be aimed at
improving civil rights and other social reforms. If there is social, economic,
or educational discrimination, then advocate more government programs and
control.
If riots come
And what if riots come? Then more government housing,
government welfare, government job training, and, finally, federal control over
police. Thus the essential economic and political structure of Communism can be
built entirely "legally" and in apparent response to the wishes of
the people who have clamored for some kind of solution to the problems
played-up, aggravated, or created outright by Communists for just that purpose.
After the machinery of Communism is firmly established, then allow the hidden
Communists one by one to make their identities known. Liquidate first the
anti-Communists and then the non- Communist sympathizers who are no longer
needed in government. The total state mechanism can now openly and
"peacefully" be transferred into the hands of Communists. Such is the
so-called proletarian revolution. Such has happened in other, once free,
countries. It has already started here.
Factors of internal conflict
The Communists are not entirely certain whether force and
violence or legal and political means or a combination of both would be best
for the internal conquest of America. At first, there was talk of splitting
away the "Black Belt," those southern states in which the Negro held
a majority, and calling them a Negro Soviet Republic. But, as conditions
changed and more Negroes migrated to the northern states, they applied this
same strategy to the so-called ghetto areas in the North. It now seems probable
that the Communists are determined to use force and violence to its fullest,
coupled with a weakening of the economy and military setbacks abroad, in an
effort to create as much havoc as possible to weaken America internally and to
create the kind of psychological desperation in the minds of all citizens that
will lead them to accept blindly the application of legal and political means
as the final blow.
Some wonder if it can happen here. Just take a good look at
what has been going on around us for the past few years. It is happening here]
If it is to be prevented from running the full course, we must stop pretending
that it doesn't exist.
Let us consider some suggestions for our survival. The hour
is late.
Factors of conspiracy becoming commonplace
The Communist program for revolution in America has been in
progress for many years and is far advanced. While it can be thwarted in a
fairly short period of time merely by sufficient exposure, the evil effects of
what has already been accomplished cannot be removed overnight. The
animosities, the hatred, the extension of government control into our daily
lives—all this will take time to repair. The already-inflicted wounds will be
slow in healing. But they can be healed; that is the important point.
Negroes victims not cause
1. First of all, we must not place the blame upon Negroes.
They are merely the unfortunate group that has been selected by professional
Communist agitators to be used as the primary source of cannon fodder. Not one
in a thousand Americans—black or white—really understands the full implications
of today's civil rights agitation. The planning, direction, and leadership come
from the Communists, and most of those are white men who fully intend to
destroy America by spilling Negro blood, rather than their own.
Beware anti-Negro reactions
2. Next, we must not participate in any so-called
"blacklash" activity which might tend to further intensify
inter-racial friction. Anti-Negro vigilante action, or mob action, of any kind
fits perfectly into the Communist plan. This is one of the best ways to force
the decent Negro into cooperating with militant Negro groups. The Communists
are just as anxious to spearhead such anti-Negro actions as they are to
organize demonstrations that are calculated to irritate white people.
Legal discovery of facts
3. We must insist that duly authorized legislative
investigating committees launch an even more exhaustive study and expose the
degree to which secret Communists have penetrated into the civil rights
movement. The same needs to be done with militant anti-Negro groups. This is an
effective way for the American people of both races to find out who are the
false leaders among them.
Build up local police
4. We must support our local police in their difficult task
of keeping law and order in these trying times. Police should not be encumbered
by civilian review boards, or asked to be social workers. They have their hands
full just trying to keep the peace. Recent soft-on-crime decisions of the
Supreme Court, which hamper the police in protecting the innocent and bringing
the criminal to justice, should be reversed. Persistent cries of "police
brutality" should be recognized for what they are—attempts to discredit
our police and discourage them from doing their job to the best of their
ability.
Salaries should be adequate to hold on to and attract the
very finest men available for police work. But, in questions of money, great
care should be taken not to accept grants from the federal government. Along
with federal money, inevitably there will come federal controls and guidelines
that not only may get local police embroiled in national politics, but may even
lead to the eventual creation of a national police force. Every despotism
requires a national police force to hold the people in line. Communism is no
exception. Our local police should remain free from federal control.
5. Further encroachment of government should be stopped and
the entire process reversed. The solution to most, if not all, of the current
problems involving civil rights is less government, not more.
Awaken citizens to know the menace
6. Lastly, we need a vast awakening of the American people
as to the true nature of the Communist blueprint for revolution. Considering
the degree to which the controlling influences of the federal government and
many of the communications media are now furthering this Communist revolution,
it is unrealistic to expect most of our present leaders or the networks to
bring about this awakening. In fact, they may be expected to resist it. That
means that individual citizens must stand up and assume more than their share
of the responsibility. The speaker's platform, hand distribution of literature,
study clubs, home discussions—all must be pressed into service. All of us should
read the new book, Communist Revolution in the Streets, written by Gary Allen,
with an introduction by W. Cleon Skousen. Each of us must be willing to discuss
the problem openly with our friends—especially those of the Negro race.
The success or failure of Americans of all races to meet
this challenge may well determine the fate of our country. If we fail, we will
all lose our civil rights, black man and white man together, for we will live
under perfect Communist equality—the equality of slaves.
Satanic threat to peace, liberty and God's work
As President McKay has stated, "The position of this
Church on the subject of Communism has never changed. We consider it the
greatest satanical threat to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God's work
among men that exists on the face of the earth."
He has also counseled that "next to being one in
worshiping God, there is nothing in this world upon which this Church should be
more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United
States]" (The Instructor, Vol. 93 (1956), p. 94.)
May we unite behind the Prophet in opposing the Communist
conspiracy and preserving our freedom and our divine constitution, I pray in
the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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