Government

The living of one protective principle of the gospel is better than a thousand compensatory governmental programs-which programs are, so often, like "straightening deck chairs on the Titanic." (Ensign, November 1974, p. 12.)

It is no accident that the lessening, or loss, of belief in certain absolute truths, such as the existence of God and the reality of immortality, has occurred at the same time there has been a sharp gain in the size and power of governments. Once we remove belief in God from the center of our lives, as the source of truth and as a determiner of justice, a tremendous vacuum is created into which selfishness surges, a condition that governments delight in managing. (Notwithstanding My Weakness, p. 34.)

In our members' diverse and sometimes stressful situations the world over, can we not follow the twelfth article of faith, rendering appropriately unto God and Caesar? After all, Jesus' immediate audience was a repressed people living under a military protectorate supporting corrupt civil authority. (Ensign, November 1988, p. 31.)

Misguided governments mean to live, even if they live beyond their means, thereby mortgaging future generations. (Ensign, November 1990, p. 15.)

I fear that, as conditions worsen, many will react to the failures of too much government by calling for even more government. Then there will be more and more lifeboats launched because fewer and fewer citizens know how to swim. Unlike some pendulums, political pendulums do not swing back automatically; they must be pushed. History is full of instances when people have waited in vain for pendulums to swing back. ("Insights from My Life," p. 196.)

If citizen appetites, once aroused, merely look to a new agency to do what a disestablished agency once did, it won't be enough. Addicts can always find new pushers. ("Insights from My Life," p. 196.)

Had Noah lived in our highly regulated day, he probably would have been refused a building permit! (That Ye May Believe, p. 100.)

One of the disciple's major challenges will be to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's-but to know what to do when a swollen Caesar asks too much. (Things As They Really Are, p. 17.)

Mounting concerns do not necessarily mean "back to the catacombs" for Christians, or that secular Caesars will soon reopen the Colosseum. But, already, there are would-be Caesars who will refuse to settle for citizens who render to Caesar only that which ishis-and unto God all that is His. (See Matt. 22:21.) (Ensign, May 1983, p. 10.)

For the person involved in government or politics, the constant striving for preeminence or the challenge over turf can get in the way of giving service to others. Some civil servants are barely civil. For some politicians, "getting even" is, somehow, seen as succeeding. Nor are "protective dog-in-the-manger" types likely to give place and priority to Him who was placed in a manger after His birth! (Sermons Not Spoken, p. 11.)


(Cory H. Maxwell, ed., The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], 146.)