It was the
last full weekend of September of 1995. For women in my church, that meant
there was a worldwide broadcast, coming out of the Tabernacle in Salt Lake
City, which we could watch by satellite at our various church buildings around
the world. So I had an evening out with friends, leaving the kids at home with
our husbands. A similar evening took place this last Saturday as well.
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| The Family: A Proclamation to the World |
On
September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley had been the 15th
President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for
only a little more than half a year. We had heard from several women leaders,
all uplifting and encouraging. And then the final speaker was President
Hinckley. He also spoke in that context of love and encouragement, and
inspiration, building us up. And then he dedicated a large portion of his talk
to reading to us this proclamation, called, “The Family: A Proclamation to theWorld.”
A
proclamation is not exactly a common thing. There were three in the 1800s.
There were two in the 1900s. “The Family” is the second. Because it is such an
unusual thing, we church members were surprised that it seemed so simple, and a
repetition of what had been basic doctrine all our lives. But now, two decades
later, we can see that it was declaring God’s word ahead of each concept being
subject to disbelief and even attack.
I’ve
written about it before. The first was recounting an experience Constitutional
law professor and leader in defending the family, and my friend, Richard
Wilkins had with it at the first international conference on family that he
attended:
He told me
that he spoke about the Proclamation on the Family, issued shortly before that
by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which he was a devout
member (as I am). At the time it came out, the issues in the Proclamation were
such standard doctrine to us that he said he wondered at the reasoning. Since
that time, he says he sees it as prophetic; every line in it is challenged in
the world today. But in 1996 he happened to take a brochure of the Proclamation
with him and had it in his pocket. When he shared those ideas, the opponents to
the family (the previous speakers) hissed their disapproval, but the room at
large gave him a standing ovation. They came up to him afterward to thank him
for speaking what so many of them believed, and they formed long-standing
alliances to work toward protecting the natural family from the international
onslaught.
At last
year’s Humanum Summit at the Vatican, one of the speakers,
a Muslim, quoted two paragraphs from our Family Proclamation, as reported by Elder L. Tom Perry, one of two apostles who attended.
It is not
a proclamation to all the Mormons in the world; it is a proclamation to all people in the world. It is our belief
that it is the word of God through his prophets on the earth today—and that it
what it is even to those who do not believe in God, or that these men speak His
words.
To those
of us who know what it is, we might have a framed copy in our homes (I do). We
might carry a copy with us (I do). We might have parts or all of it memorized
(I’m working on that). Sometimes we refer to it as The Family Proclamation. For
anyone, it is worth reading and considering.
It is and
always will be true that civilization is built upon strong families. So when so
much of the world fails to understand this basic truth, The Family Proclamation
is what God is telling us. You’ll want to read the whole thing, but I’m
summarizing here, in bullet points, to bring out the specific points:
·
Marriage
is between a man and a woman, and is central to God’s eternal plan for His
children.
·
All
human beings—male and female—are created in God’s image, and gender is part of
who we are from before life on earth and into eternity.
·
Family
relationships can be perpetuated beyond the grave; families are intended to be
united eternally.
·
The
first commandment, to Adam and Eve, to multiply and replenish the earth remains
in force; procreative powers are only to be employed between lawfully wedded
husband and wife (no sex outside of marriage).
·
The
means by which mortal life is created (sexual intercourse) is divinely
appointed, and we affirm the sanctity of life.
·
Husband
and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for
their children, to raise them in love and righteousness.
·
The
family is ordained of God; children are entitled to birth within the bonds of
matrimony, and to be reared by a father and mother who honor marital vows with
complete fidelity.
·
Happiness
in family life is most likely to come from living the teachings of Jesus
Christ, by maintaining principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness,
respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.
·
By
divine design, fathers preside in love and are responsible to provide the
necessities of life and protection for the families, while mothers are
responsible for the nurture of their children; fathers and mothers help one
another as equal partners.
·
Warning:
those who violate covenants of chastity, abuse spouse or offspring, or fail to
fulfill family responsibilities will stand accountable before God.
·
Warning:
disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and
nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
·
Responsible
citizens and officers of government everywhere should promote measures designed
to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.
Back in
1995 everyone (almost everyone) knew that marriage was defined as between a man
and a woman. Certainly everyone sensible knew that male and female was basic to
who a person was, and was not open to a whim or mental choice. People still
knew that children were entitled to two parents—a mother and a father—who should
be married. “For the sake of the children” was something people thought about
and knew what was best, rather than fuzzily thinking maybe government ought to
accommodate any adult desire, regardless of the child’s needs.
We can
witness, already, wherever the family breaks down, or where marriage is denigrated
to something akin to “whatever people engaged in a sexual relationship want it
to be for the time being,” children do not get what they are entitled to, and
their lives tend to be troubled. Such children grow up to populate our prisons
and welfare rolls. Failure is not a certainty, but the odds against children
raised without the stability of two married parents is a heavy handicap to
overcome.
How do we
get thriving civilization? Start with a religious, self-governing people. Base
the structure on strong families. These are things we know. And yet, in a very
short time, knowing it is less common, and is being labeled as evil and
bigotry.
But there
is no other way to civilization. And without civilization, we have the misery
of savagery, which we are seeing, in all its horror, in news around the world
and around our own country.
“The
Family: A Proclamation to the World” is even more remarkable today, because we
can see how true it is, by contrast with the counterfeits being pushed on us by
the uncivilized. Those of us with clear vision can see that following this
proclamation would repair our world.
You can
watch President Hinckley read the Proclamation here.
His daughter,
Virginia Pearce, wrote a blog post of her memories of that evening, worth
reading, here.
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