President Dallin H. Oaks' conference talk -- in which he took on the topic of partisan politics -- continues to reverberate in Utah. Regardless whether you believe in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , what President Oaks said is of import simply because of the number of people here who do believe in it. Plus, the talk was important from the vantage point that Oaks, a former clerk to the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice, has wisdom to impart.
Two of the quotes he offered that drew attention:
One, "(The diversity of issues) will sometimes require voters to support candidates or political parties or platforms whose other positions they cannot approve. That is one reason we encourage our members to refrain from judging one another in political matters. We should never assert that a faithful Latter-day Saint cannot belong to a particular party or vote for a particular candidate."
Two, "There are many political issues, and no party, platform, or individual candidate can satisfy all personal preferences. Each citizen must therefore decide which issues are most important to him or her at any particular time. Then members should seek inspiration on how to exercise their influence according to their individual priorities. This process will not be easy. It may require changing party support or candidate choices, even from election to election."
This quote is also of interest:
"We are to be governed by law and not by individuals, and our loyalty is to the Constitution and its principles and processes, not to any office holder."
Among the things he said that might not have received good attention were these five:
One, "I speak from 37 years as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, responsible to study the meaning of the divinely inspired United States Constitution to the work of His restored Church."
That he said this is significant because he is saying that as one of the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ, he has a responsibility to study the Constitution. He suggests it is part of his calling.
Two, "The Constitution was not 'a fully grown document,' said President J. Reuben Clark. 'On the contrary,' he explained, 'we believe it must grow and develop to meet the changing needs of an advancing world.' For example, inspired amendments abolished slavery and gave women the right to vote.
Three, "However, we do not see inspiration in every Supreme Court decision interpreting the Constitution."
Thus, an acknowledgment that every Supreme Court decision might not be correct.
Four, "A second inspired principle is the division of delegated power between the nation and its subsidiary states. In our federal system, this unprecedented principle has sometimes been altered by inspired amendments, such as those abolishing slavery and extending voting rights to women, mentioned earlier. Significantly, the United States Constitution limits the national government to the exercise of powers granted expressly or by implication, and it reserves all other government powers 'to the States respectively, or to the people.' "
Thus, President Oaks reaffirmed the belief that much of the work of government should be reserved to the states.
Five, "Another inspired principle is the separation of powers. Well over a century before our 1787 Constitutional Convention, the English Parliament pioneered the separation of legislative and executive authority when they wrested certain powers from the king. The inspiration in the American convention was to delegate independent executive, legislative, and judicial powers so these three branches could exercise checks upon one another."
Thus, he emphasized that the three branches of government should operate independent of each other. This might seem an obvious thing, but that President Oaks said this opens the possibility that he was looking at current experiences, events of which have left some of us questioning whether the different branches are reaching into the powers of the others.
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