President David O. Mckay

Read by his son, Robert R. McKay

It is a joy and a great privilege to meet with this vast audience of priesthood members gathered in this historic Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and more than four hundred other buildings throughout the United States and Canada. I extend my affectionate greetings and blessings to each of you.

"I charge thee. . . ", wrote Paul to Timothy, "before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ. . .;

In the same letter he prophetically declared, ". . . that in the last days perilous times shall come.

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . .

". . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Perilous times

Cost of crime

Crime is costing this nation twenty-seven billion dollars a year and an annual toll of death, injury, suffering and anguish for thousands of Americans.

Just recently Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, in referring to the decline in moral standards, said, "Most radical social changes come slowly. But not this time. It is almost as if the demonic powers in sex-and make no mistake, sex has its demonic side-had been released in a sudden explosion that has blasted away the restraints and traditions of centuries. The spark that has set off this explosion is a twisted concept of freedom, a `new freedom' that too often leaves its adherents in chains." And then Dr. Peale gives a Newsweek report which states: "Undoubtedly the key to the new morality is the widespread belief that a boy and girl who have established what the college calls a meaningful relationship have the moral right to sleep together."

Who is hurt?

The young people want to know what difference it makes if no one is getting hurt, but Dr. Peale says, "This sounds fine in theory, but multiply this attitude by millions of eager experiments and what do you get? You get such statistics as these: `Between the years 1940 and 1957 the illegitimacy rate increased: 112 percent in the 15-19 age group; 300 percent in the 20-24 age group; 462 percent in the 2529 age group; 478 percent in the 30-34 age group, 456 percent in the 35-39 age group; and 196 percent in the 40-44 age group.

"`Venereal disease among adolescents rose 130 percent between the years 1956 and 1961. The illegitimacy rate has tripled since 1953. By 1970, ten-million Americans will have been born out of wedlock. Forty percent of the unwed mothers are between the ages of 15 and 19.' "No one is getting hurt?" continues Dr. Peale. "What a laugh! What a hollow, tragic, gruesome laugh! And the hurt is not confined to individuals; it damages and degrades our nation throughout the world. From the beginning of recorded history, men have known that the sex drive had to be controlled if civilization was to replace anarchy. Dr. J. D. Unwin, Historian of the Cambridge University, made a study of eighty civilizations ranging over a period of four-thousand years and concluded that a society either chooses sexual promiscuity and decline, or sexual discipline and creative energy. Writes Dr. Unwin: `Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy, or to enjoy sexual freedom, the evidence is that they cannot do both formore than one generation.' " (Excerpt from Sin, Sex and Self-Control by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, pp. 49, 53-56.)

Neglect of families

One important cause of the increase in delinquency, especially in our youth, is a letdown in home ideals. A growing desire for economic independence or a too eager willingness to improve financial circumstances has influenced a great many mothers to neglect the greatest of all responsibilities-the rearing of a family.

J. Edgar Hoover, the national director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, makes the definite statement that "in the background of these youthful offenders lies the story of shocking neglect. Boys and girls are being deprived of the care and guidance necessary to the proper foundation of their characters. Their lawlessness had its roots in every instance in broken homes, in homes where mothers and fathers because of their neglect, misunderstanding, or irresponsibility had failed in their primary obligation. More often than not, God was unknown, or, more important, was unwelcome in their homes. On the other hand, in nearly every instance the youthful offender would have been a strong, upright citizen had he been given a chance."

Keep homes intact

The inspiration of God is seen in requiring the Latter-day Saints to keep their homes intact and to teach their children the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord." This command from the Lord, given to us in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 68, verse 28, leaves no question as to the responsibility of parents to teach their children-a responsibility too frequently shifted to the shoulders of the Church, public schools, and officers of the law.

Use family home evening

I believe that parents in the Church generally are teaching their children the gospel, yet I am convinced that there is still much opportunity for improvement in this regard, especially in light of present-day conditions. I am grateful and pleased that so many are responding to our program for the family home evening, in which parents gather their children around them and instruct them in truth and righteousness and in family love and loyalty. A great number of families have testified to the rich blessings that have come to them from these family home evenings.

Unwavering loyalty to God

If you ask me where I first received my unwavering faith in the existence of a God, I would answer you: in the home of my childhood-when Father and Mother invariably called their children around them in the morning and at night and invoked God's blessing upon the household and upon mankind. There was a sincerity in that good patriarch's voice that left an undying impression in the souls of his children, and Mother's prayers were equally impressive. I ask tonight that every father in the Church see to it that in all sincerity he impress his children with the reality of the existence of God and with the reality that God will guide and protect his children. You carry that responsibility. Home is one of the units-the fundamental unit-of society. Before I heard my father testify that he had heard a divine voice, I knew that he lived near to his Maker. I also know, through a nearness to that same Eternal Father since, that my father told the truth when he said that when he was on his mission in Scotland, i answer to fervent prayer, he received the following admonition given in audible tones: "Testify that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God." Such is the reality of the true Latter-day Saint's conception of God the Father.

Warning against evils

Ever since the organization of the Church, its leaders have raised their voices warning that infidelity and sexual immorality are two principal evils that threaten to weaken and to wreck present-day civilization. Unfortunately, the trends of modern life are disintegrating the very foundation of the Christian home. Sexual laxity, intemperance, and crime are its insidious and vicious enemies.

One standard of morality

In the Church there is but one standard of morality. No young man has any more right to sow his wild oats in youth than has a young girl; she is taught that second only to the crime of taking human life is that of losing her virtue, and that should be also the ideal among young men.

I know from experience that the world does not believe us when we tell them that that ideal is followed in the Church, but we know in our hearts it is true. That young man who comes to his bishop and asks for a recommend to take a pure girl to the altar is expected to give just the same purity that he expects to receive.

Peace in righteous living

No one can transgress the laws of chastity and find peace. That is the message that we must give as parents and priesthood members to the young men and women and all others throughout the Church. No matter what the opportunity, no matter what the temptation, let the young man know that to find happiness he must hold sacred his true manhood. Let him know that he is going to live, and live completely, by refusing to yield to temptations. Then he is happy. There is peace instead of turbulency in his soul.

A happy marriage begins when a young couple kneels at the altar, each giving to the other what each demands and each covenanting to be true to the other.

Marriage is of divine origin

For the proper solution of the great problem of marriage, we may turn with safety to Jesus for our guide. He declared that the marriage relation is of divine origin and that marriage is ordained of God, that only under the most exceptional conditions should it be set aside. In the teachings of the Church of Christ, the family assumes supreme importance in the development of the individual and of society. "Happy and thrice happy are they who enjoy an uninterrupted union and whose love unbroken by any complaints, shall not dissolve until the last day." It will not dissolve when a worthy couple is sealed by the authority of the Holy Priesthood throughout all eternity. The marriage ceremony when thus sealed produces happiness and joy unsurpassed by any other experience in the world.

To no other group of men in all the world is given a better opportunity to instruct and inspire our young men and women to keep themselves unspotted from the sins of the world. Members of the Church and especially of the priesthood have the opportunity to be engaged in the noblest calling in life-to establish salvation and peace to the extent that their individual efforts, their talents, and their means are consecrated, and their lives are dedicated to make the world a better and fitter place for man.

Great worth of souls

Unwavering allegiance to God

To the thousands assembled in this historic Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and to the thousands listening in by direct wire, I pray with an earnest heart, God keep you away from the base, scheming plans of him who enthrones passion, who decries self-control, who renounces the sacredness of the family, and who, in the words of the communist, Marx himself, would "dethrone God."

Officers, leaders, men of the priesthood, you are chosen of God. Go forth radiating a testimony that this is God's work. Feel it yourselves, and then the men and women in your wards and stakes will feel it, the young people especially will feel it, for you are radiating not just what you say, but what you are and what you do.

God guide us, and help us, and inspire us in this great work, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Statement concerning the position of the Church on Communism, made by President David O. McKay at the general priesthood session of the 136th Annual Conference of the Church held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Saturday, April 9, 1966, at 7:00 p.m., read by Robert R. McKay.

In order that there may be no misunderstandings by bishops, stake presidents, and others regarding members of the Church participating in non-church meetings to study and become informed on the Constitution of the United States, Communism, etc., I wish to make the following statements that I have been sending out from my office for some time and that have come under question by some stake authorities, bishoprics, and others.

Members are free

Church members are at perfect liberty to act according to their own consciences in the matter of safeguarding our way of life. They are, of course, encouraged to honor the highest standards of the gospel and to work to preserve their own freedoms. They are free to participate in non-church meetings that are held to warn people of the threat of Communism or any other theory or principle that will deprive us of our free agency or individual liberties vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States.

Church is politically neutral

Communism greatest threat to peace and the spread of God's word to men

The position of this Church on the subject of Communism has never changed. We consider it the greatest satanical threat to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God's work among men that exists on the face of the earth.

In this connection, we are continually being asked to give our opinion concerning various patriotic groups or individuals who are fighting Communism and speaking up for freedom. Our immediate concern, however, is not with parties, groups, or persons, but with principles. We therefore commend and encourage every person and every group who is sincerely seeking to study Constitutional principles and awaken a sleeping and apathetic people to the alarming conditions that are rapidly advancing about us. We wish all of our citizens throughout the land were participating in some type of organized self-education in order that they could better appreciate what is happening and know what they can do about it.

Citizens should educate themselves

Supporting the FBI, the police, the congressional committees investigating Communism, and various organizations that are attempting to awaken the people through educational means is a policy we warmly endorse for all our people.

Communism's atheism and hate

The entire concept and philosophy of Communism is diametrically opposed to everything for which the Church stands-belief in Deity, belief in the dignity and eternal nature of man, and the application of the gospel to efforts for peace in the world. Communism is militantly atheistic and is committed to the destruction of faith wherever it may be found.

The Russian Commissar of Education wrote: "We must hate Christians and Christianity. Even the best of them must be considered our worst enemies. Christian love is an obstacle to the development of the revolution. Down with love for one's neighbor. What we want is hate. Only then shall we conquer the universe."

Communism debases and destroys

Communism debases the individual and makes him the enslaved tool of the state, to which he must look for sustenance and religion. Communism destroys man's God-given free agency.

No member of this Church can be true to his faith, nor can any American be loyal to his trust, while lending aid, encouragement or sympathy to any of these false philosophies, for if he does they will prove snares to his feet.