Thank you, President Eyring.
I love to hear my brethren and sisters speak.
The Ten Commandments are fundamental to the Christian
and Jewish faiths.
Given by God to the children of Israel through the prophet
Moses, the first two of these commandments direct our
worship and our priorities.
In the first, the Lord commanded, "Thou shalt have no
other gods before me."
Centuries later, when Jesus was asked, "Which is the great
commandment in the law?" He answered, as President Eyring
has already reminded us, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind." The second of the Ten Commandments elaborates the
direction to have no other gods and identifies what
should be the ultimate priority in our
lives as His children.
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing" in the heavens or the earth.
The commandment then adds, "Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them." More than merely
forbidding physical idols, this states a fundamental
priority for all time.
Jehovah explains, "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God
... showing mercy unto them that love me, and keep my
commandments."
The meaning of jealous is revealing.
Its Hebrew origin means "possessing sensitive and deep
feelings." Thus we offend God when we "serve" other
gods--when we have other first priorities.
What other priorities are being served ahead of God by
persons, even religious persons, in our day?
Consider these possibilities, all common in our world:
cultural and family traditions; political
correctness;
career aspirations; material possessions; recreational
pursuits; power, prominence, and prestige.
If none of these examples seems to apply to any one of
us, we can probably suggest others that do.
The principle is more important
than individual examples.
The principle is not whether we have other priorities.
The question posed by the second commandment is, "What
is our ultimate priority?"
Are we serving priorities or gods ahead of the God we
profess to worship?
Have we forgotten to follow the Savior, who taught that if
we love Him, we will keep His commandments?
If so, our priorities have been turned upside down by the
spiritual apathy and undisciplined appetites so
common in our day.
For Latter-day Saints, God's commandments are based on and
inseparable from God's plan for His children--the great
plan of salvation.
This plan, sometimes called the "great plan of happiness,"
explains our origin and destiny as children of
God--where we came from, why we're here,
and where we're going.
The plan of salvation explains the purpose of creation and
the conditions of mortality, including God's commandments,
the need for a Savior, and the vital role of mortal and
eternal families.
If we Latter-day Saints, who have been given this
knowledge, do not establish our priorities in accord with
this plan, we are in danger of serving other gods.
Knowledge of God's plan for His children gives Latter-day
Saints a unique perspective on marriage and family.
We are correctly known as a family-centered church.
Our theology begins with heavenly parents, and our
highest aspiration is to attain the fulness of eternal
exaltation.
We know this is only possible in a family relationship.
We know that the marriage of a man and a woman is necessary
for the accomplishment of God's plan.
Only this marriage will provide the approved setting
for mortal birth and to prepare family members for
eternal life.
We look on marriage and the bearing of children and the
nurturing of children as part of God's plan and a sacred
duty of those given the opportunity to do so.
We believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in
heaven are our children and our posterity.
Because of what we understand about the potentially eternal
role of the family, we grieve at the sharply declining
numbers of births and marriages in many Western
countries whose historic cultures are
Christian and Jewish.
Responsible sources report the following: The United States
now has the lowest birthrate in its history, and in many
European Union nations and other developed countries,
birthrates are below the level necessary to maintain their
population.
This threatens the survival of cultures and even of nations.
In America, the percent of young adults ages 18 to 29 who
are married fell from 59 percent in 1960 to
20 percent by 2010.
The median age for first marriage is now at its highest
level in history: 26 for women and almost 29 for men.
In many countries and cultures, 1) the traditional
family of a married mother and father and children is coming
to be the exception rather than the rule, 2) the pursuit
of a career instead of marriage and the bearing of
children is an increasing choice of many young women,
and 3) the role and perceived necessity of fathers is
diminishing.
In the midst of these concerning trends, we are also
conscious that God's plan is for all of His children and
that God loves all of His children everywhere.
The first chapter of the Book of Mormon declares that God's
"power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the
inhabitants of the earth."
A later chapter declares that "he hath given [his salvation]
free for all men" and that "all men are privileged the
one like unto the other, and none are forbidden."
Consequently, the scriptures teach that we are responsible
to be compassionate and charitable
(loving) toward all men.
We are also respectful of the religious beliefs of all
people, even of those increasing numbers who profess
no belief in God.
We know that through the God-given power of choice,
many will hold beliefs contrary to ours, but we're
hopeful that others will be equally respectful of our
religious beliefs and understand that our beliefs
compel us to some different choices and
behaviors than theirs.
For example, we believe that as an essential part of His
plan of salvation, God has established an eternal
standard that sexual relations should occur only between a
man and a woman who are married.
The power to create mortal life is the most exalted power
God has given to His children.
Its use was mandated by God's first commandment to Adam and
Eve, but other important commandments were given to
forbid its misuse.
The emphasis we place on the law of chastity is explained
by our understanding of the purpose of our procreative
powers in the accomplishment of God's plan.
Outside the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman, all
uses of our procreative powers are to one degree or another
sinful and contrary to God's plan for the
exaltation of His children.
The importance we attach to the law of chastity explains
our commitment to the pattern of marriage that originated
with Adam and Eve and has continued through the ages as
God's pattern for the procreative relationship
between His sons and daughters and for the
nurturing of His children.
Fortunately, many persons affiliated with other
denominations or organizations agree with us on the nature
and importance of marriage, some on the basis of religious
doctrine and others on the basis of what they deem best
for society.
Our knowledge of God's plan for His children explains why
we are distressed that more and more children are born
outside of marriage--
currently 41 percent of all births in the United
States--and that the number of couples living together
without marriage has increased dramatically in the past
half-century.
Five decades ago, only a tiny percent of first marriages
were preceded by cohabitation.
Now cohabitation precedes 60 percent of marriages.
And this is increasingly accepted,
especially among teenagers.
Recent survey data found about 50 percent of teenagers
stating that out-of-wedlock childbearing was a "worthy
lifestyle." There are many political and social pressures
for legal and policy changes to establish behaviors
contrary to God's decrees about sexual morality and
contrary to the eternal nature and purposes of marriage and
childbearing.
These pressures have already authorized same-gender
marriages in various states and nations.
Other pressures would confuse gender or homogenize those
differences between men and women that are essential to
accomplish God's great plan of happiness.
Our understanding of God's plan and His doctrine gives us
an eternal perspective that does not allow us to condone
such behaviors or to find justification in the laws that
permit them.
And unlike other organizations that can change their policies
and even their doctrines, our policies are determined by the
truths God has identified as unchangeable.
Our twelfth article of faith states our belief in being
subject to civil authority and in "obeying, honoring, and
sustaining the law." But man's laws cannot make moral what
God has declared immoral.
Commitment to our highest priority--to love and serve
God--requires that we look to His law for
our standard of behavior.
For example, we remain under divine command not to commit
adultery or fornication, even when those acts are no longer
crimes under the laws of the states or
countries where we reside.
Similarly, laws legalizing so-called same-gender marriage
do not change God's law of marriage or His commandments
and our standards concerning it.
We remain under covenant to love God and keep His
commandments and to refrain from serving other gods and
priorities, even those becoming popular in our
particular time and place.
In this determination, we may be misunderstood and we may
incur accusations of bigotry, suffer discrimination, or have
to withstand invasions of our free exercise of religion.
If so, I think we should remember our first
priority--to serve God--and, like our pioneer predecessors,
push our personal handcarts forward with the same
fortitude they exhibited.
A teaching of President Thomas S. Monson applies to this
circumstance.
At this conference 27 years ago, he boldly declared
(quote): "Let us have the courage to defy the consensus,
the courage to stand for principle.
Courage, not compromise, brings the
smile of God's approval.
Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it
is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully,
but as the determination to live decently.
A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is
right because others will disapprove or laugh.
Remember that all men have their fears, but those who
face their fears with dignity have courage as
well" (end of quote).
I pray that we will not let the temporary challenges of
mortality cause us to forget the great commandments and
priorities we've been given by our Creator and our Savior.
We must not set our hearts so much on the things of the
world and aspire to the honors of men that we stop trying to
achieve our eternal destiny.
We who know God's plan for His children--we who have made
covenants to participate in it--have a clear
responsibility.
We must never deviate from our paramount desire, which is to
achieve eternal life.
We must never dilute our first priority--to have no other
gods and to serve no other priorities ahead of God the
Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
May God help us to understand this priority and to be
understood by others as we seek to pursue it in a wise
and loving way, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.