Snubbing Benson

To snub means to rebuff, ignore, or spurn disdainfully, and that is exactly what the LDS blog Approaching Justice (hereinafter, "A.J.") did last September when it commemorated Constitution Day with a short animated cartoon and summed up the U.S. Constitution this way:

"It is about how to make laws. Really, that is it. It is rules about how laws are made and who has the power to make what laws."

Click on the image below to visit A.J.'s post.

Meanwhile, Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) was a modern apostle and prophet who explained the U.S. Constitution over and over and in detail throughout his 51 year ministry. In fact, no Prophet has taught the principles and importance of the U.S. Constitution more thoroughly or more often than did Ezra Taft Benson.

So here's the snub: After setting forth its own oversimplified, 28-word explanation of the Constitution, A.J. arrogantly asserts:

"Anyone that adds anything to that is selling you something. DO NOT BUY IT."

But Ezra Taft Benson did add something to that, a lot in fact, and he was sent by God to do it. Hence, today I am answering A.J.'s post. My response is in three parts. The first two parts were posted here on this blog last month.

Part one (click here): Preparation for his prophetic calling included Ezra Taft Benson's worldwide experience as a government official. It was not just a coincidence that he presided over the Church during the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.

Part two (click here): According to Ezra Taft Benson, verses 77 and 80 of section 101 in the Doctrine and Covenants are fundamental to a correct understanding of the Constitution. Over the years, he quoted these two verses of scripture again and again as he urged the Saints to defend and preserve the U.S. Constitution.

Part three: Every Latter-day Saint with interest in the U.S. Constitution should listen to this 1986 speech by then Church President Ezra Taft Benson. It is titled, "The Constitution—A Heavenly Banner." (Note the introduction by Jeffrey R. Holland.)

There is no animation. It is audio only. And it might seem a little long compared to A.J.'s animated cartoon. But unlike the cartoon, it is a message from a Prophet and it actually talks about the U.S. Constitution.

If you wish, you can follow along, reading the text of the speech as you listen (click here). Or you might just quickly skim over the text and call that good enough.

But whatever you decide, don't forget who established the U.S. Constitution and don't forget who prepared a modern Prophet to teach us what it is really "all about."