Just and Holy Principles

The Founders:

Alexander Hamilton: The citizens of America have too much discernment to be argued into anarchy. and I am much mistaken if experience has not wrought a deep and solemn conviction in the public mind that greater energy of government is essential to the welfare and prosperity of the community. (Hamilton, Alexander Federalist No. 26)

Thomas Paine: Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. (Paine, Thomas Common Sense, 1776)

John Adams: Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest numbers of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best. (Adams, John Thoughts on Government, 1776)

John Adams: Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it. (Adams, John Thoughts on Government, 1776)

Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. (Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776)

Thomas Jefferson: The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere. (Jefferson, Thomas letter to Abigail Adams, February 22, 1787)

James Madison: If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself. (Madison, James Federalist No. 51, February 8, 1788)

James Monroe: How prone all human institutions have been to decay; how subject the best-formed and most wisely organized governments have been to lose their check and totally dissolve; how difficult it has been for mankind, in all ages and countries, to preserve their dearest rights and best privileges, impelled as it were by an irresistible fate of despotism. (Monroe, James speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 10, 1788)

Thomas Jefferson: [A] wise and frugal government...shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. (Jefferson, Thomas First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801)

James Madison: It has been said that all Government is an evil. It would be more proper to say that the necessity of any Government is a misfortune. This necessity however exists; and the problem to be solved is, not what form of Government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect. (Madison, James to an unidentified correspondent, 1833)

The Brethren:

Shirley D. Christensen: In modern scripture the Lord’s prophets have clearly stated the proper role of governments:

“We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.

“We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life” (D&C 134:1–2).

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (A of F 1:12). (Shirley D. Christensen, “I, the Lord God, Make You Free,” Ensign, Feb. 2006, 26 )

Ezra Taft Benson: These are the principles that, in my opinion, proclaim the proper role of government in the domestic affairs of the nation:

I believe that governments were instituted by God for the benefit of man; and that He holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them. …

[I] believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life…

[I] believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments. (D&C 134:1–2, 5.)

In other words, the most important single function of government is to secure the rights and freedoms of individual citizens. (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Constitution: A Glorious Standard,” Ensign, Sept. 1987, 6 )

References:

→  Ezra T. Benson, “The Constitution:  A Glorious Standard,” Ensign, Sep. 1987

→  Neal A. Maxwell, "Insights from My Life,"  Oct. 26, 1976

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