The Ultimate Collection of Latter-day Saint Prophets and Apostles Denouncing Socialism and Communism: Over 50 Quotes From More Than 10 Prophets and Apostles.

Many people erroneously believe that Communism and/or Socialism are compatible with the Restored Gospel. They excuse away the words of the prophets with two excuses: First: The counsel is old and therefore it is no longer applicable. Second: They believe that the only Prophet/Apostle to speak out against Communism/Socialism was Ezra Taft Benson. I want to dispel both of these excuses today.

Addressing the first excuse (that old counsel is not applicable because it has not been repeated recently), In Oct. 2020 David A. Bednar Taught: “Some Church members opine that emergency plans and supplies, food storage, and 72-hour kits must not be important anymore because the Brethren have not spoken recently and extensively about these and related topics in general conference. But repeated admonitions to prepare have been proclaimed by leaders of the Church for decades. The consistency of prophetic counsel over time creates a powerful concert of clarity and a warning volume far louder than solo performances can ever produce.” This same principle applies to the warnings on Socialism and Communism.

I gathered this entire quote collection to dispel the second excuse. (That it was only Benson). D&C 6:28 teaches “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” So here is a multiplicity of witnesses. The vast majority of these quotes are from General Conference or other official Church Publications. Enjoy over 50 quotes from more than 10 different Apostles and Prophets aka witnesses denouncing Communism and Socialism.

“Communism is of the devil. Communism started when the devil was cast out of heaven… it is well that all men know that the Church and the leaders of the Church stand squarely against communism.”
President Hugh B. Brown, General Conference, April 1962 pp. 89

“Above all else, strive to support good and conscientious candidates of either party who are aware of the great dangers inherent in communism, and who are truly dedicated to the Constitution in the tradition of our founding fathers. They should also pledge their sincere fealty to our way of liberty—a liberty which aims at the preservation of both personal and property rights. Study the issues, analyze the candidates on these grounds, and then exercise your franchise as free men and women. Never be found guilty of exchanging your birthright for a mess of pottage!”
David O. McKay, General Conference Oct. 1962 pp. 8

Whenever the God of heaven reveals His gospel to mankind, Satan, the archenemy to Christ, introduces a counterfeit… Communism introduced into the world a substitute for true religion. It is a counterfeit of the gospel plan. The false prophets of Communism predict a utopian society. This, they proclaim, will only be brought about as capitalism and free enterprise are overthrown, private property abolished, the family as a social unit eliminated, all classes abolished, all governments overthrown, and a communal ownership of property in a classless, stateless society established.
Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference Oct. 1979

“It is not the government’s duty to support you. I will raise my voice as long as God gives me sound or ability, against this communistic idea that the government will take care of us all… It is Wrong! No wonder in trying to perpetuate that idea, that men become anti-Christ, because those teachings strike directly at the doctrines of the Savior”
David O. McKay, Church News, 14 March 1953

“United Order and communism are not synonymous. Communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the United Order. There is no mistake about this and those who go about telling us otherwise either do not know or have failed to understand or are wilfully misrepresenting.”
President J. Reuben Clark Jr Conference Report, October 1943 pp. 11

“No, socialism is not the United Order. Distinguishing between these two systems need be no more difficult than solving the problem of the farmer who could not tell one of his horses from the other. They weighed the same, pulled the same load, ran at the same speed; from the looks of their teeth they were the same age. Finally, as a last resort, he measured them, and, sure enough, the white horse was six hands higher than the black one.”
Marion G. Romney, BYU 3/1/1966
(NOTE after giving this devotgional at BYU the Prophet then asked him to give a shorter version in General Conference a few weeks later, click HERE to read his general conference address)

“It is time, therefore, that every American, and especially every member of the priesthood, become informed about the aims, tactics, and schemes of socialistic-communism. This becomes particularly important when it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the pre-existence. The whole program of socialistic-communism is essentially a war against God and the plan of salvation – the very plan which we fought to uphold during ‘the war in heaven.’”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1961, p. 70

“We must protect this base from complacency – from the dangerous feeling that all is well – from being lulled away into a false security. We must protect this American base from the brainwashing, increasingly administered to our youth in many educational institutions across the land, by some misinformed instructors and some wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their false indoctrination, often perpetrated behind the front of so-called academic freedom, is leaving behind many faithless students, socialist-oriented, who are easy subjects for state tyranny.”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1962 pp. 105

“No government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property”
Doctrine and Covenants 134:2

“The united order is nonpolitical. It is therefore totally unlike the various forms of socialism, which are political, both in theory and in practice. They are thus exposed to, and riddled by, the corruption which plagues and finally destroys all political governments which undertake to abridge man’s agency.”
President Marion G. Romney, General Conference Apr. 1977

“It is the responsibility of every Latter-day Saint to work and so impart of his substance, regardless of the shifting standards of this world. We must uphold these principles and oppose every derogation of them. We must be careful not to adopt the commonly accepted practice of expecting the government or anyone other than ourselves to supply us with the necessities of life.”
President Marion G. Romney, General Conference, Oct. 1976

“We believe that our real threat comes from within and not from without, and it comes from that underlying spirit common to Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, namely, the spirit which would array class against class, which would set up a socialistic state of some sort, which would rob the people of the liberties which we possess under the Constitution”
The First Presidency 1941 ( Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay in a Letter to the Treasury from the LDS First Presidency in 1941)

“Now, brethren, we [the bearers of the Holy Priesthood] who are assembled tonight here and in 320 other places should form a great bulwark against communism and its attendant evils. The efficiency of our opposition to them depends upon the way we honor our priesthood and place ourselves in a position to seek and obtain God’s help in fighting evil. Communism is of the devil. Communism started when the devil was cast out of heaven because of his rebelling against the will of his Father that men should have their free agency. Satan and his emissaries would rob men of their priceless freedom. We do not wish tonight to enter into a long discussion of this evil, but it is well that all men know that the Church and the leaders of the Church stand squarely against communism.”
President Hugh B. Brown, General Conference, April 1962 pp. 89

“The fight against godless communism is a very real part of every man’s duty who holds the priesthood. It is the fight against slavery, immorality, atheism, terrorism, cruelty, barbarism, deceit, and the destruction of human life through a kind of tyranny unsurpassed by anything in human history. Here is a struggle against the evil, satanical priestcraft of Lucifer. Truly it can be called ‘a continuation of the war in heaven.’”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1961, pp. 70-1

“And let me say here and now, that in the whole history of the human race, from Adam until now, Tyranny has never come to live with any people with a placard on his breast bearing his name. He always comes in deep disguise, sometimes proclaiming an endowment of freedom, sometimes promising help to the unfortunate and downtrodden, not by creating something for those who do not have, but by robbing those who have. But Tyranny is always a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and he always ends by devouring the whole flock, saving none. So it is today.”
President J. Reuben Clark, Church News, 9/21/46

“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.”
David O. McKay, General Conference April 1966 pp. 109

“No, brethren, socialism is not the United Order. However, notwithstanding my abhorrence of it, I am persuaded that socialism is the wave of the present and of the foreseeable future. It has already taken over or is contending for control in most nations… We here in the United States, in converting our government into a social welfare state, have ourselves adopted much of socialism. Specifically, we have to an alarming degree adopted the use of the power of the state in the control and distribution of the fruits of industry. We are on notice, according to the words of the President, that we are going much further, for he is quoted as saying: “We’re going to take all the money we think is unnecessarily being spent and take it from the ‘haves’ and give it to the ‘have nots.’” (Lyndon B. Johnson, 3/24/64)”
President Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1966, pp. 97-98

“When you see government invading any of these realms of freedom which we have under our Constitution, you will know that they are putting shackles on your liberty, and that tyranny is creeping upon you, no matter who curtails these liberties or who invades these realms, and no matter what the reason and excuse therefore may be.” (Improvement Era, 1940)
President J. Reuben Clark Jr. (As quoted by Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report 1963 pp. 19)

“Communism and all other similar isms bear no relationship whatever to the united order. They are merely the clumsy counterfeits which Satan always devises of the gospel plan…. Latter-day Saints cannot be true to their faith and lend aid, encouragement, or sympathy to any of these false philosophies. They will prove snares to their feet.”
Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, (Conference Report, April 1942, pp. 90)

“As to the fruits of socialism, we all have our own opinions. I myself have watched its growth in our own country and observed it in operation in many other lands. But I have yet to see or hear of its freeing the hearts of men of selfishness and greed or of its bringing peace, plenty, or freedom. These things it will never bring, nor will it do away with idleness and promote ‘industry, thrift and self-respect,’ for it is founded, in theory and in practice, on force, the principle of the evil one.”
President Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1966, pp. 98

“It has been fundamental to our way of life that charity must be voluntary if it is to be charity. Compulsory benevolence is not charity. Today’s socialists—who call themselves egalitarians—are using the federal government to redistribute wealth in our society, not as a matter of voluntary charity, but as a so-called matter of right.”
Ezra Taft Benson, BYU, 4/12/77

“Satan argued that men given their freedom would not choose correctly therefore he would compel them to do right and save us all. Today Satan argues that men given their freedom do not choose wisely; therefore a so-called brilliant, benevolent few must establish the welfare government and force us into a greater socialistic society. We are assured of being led into the promised land as long as we let them put a golden ring in our nose. In the end we lose our freedom and the promised land also. No matter what you call it—communism, socialism, or the welfare state—our freedom is sacrificed. We believe the gospel is the greatest thing in the world; why then do we not force people to join the Church if they are not smart enough to see it on their own? Because this is Satan’s way not the Lord’s plan. The Lord uses persuasion and love.”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1965 pp. 123

“Why is socialism incompatible with man’s liberty? Socialism cannot work except through an all-powerful state. The state has to be supreme in everything. When individuals begin to exert their God-given rights, the state has to suppress that freedom. So belief in God must be suppressed, and with that gone freedom of conscience and religion must also go. Those are the first of our liberties mentioned in the Bill of Rights.”
Ezra Taft Benson, BYU, 4/12/77

“If, in the meantime [while we wait for the Lord to command us to live the United Order again], socialism takes over in America, it will have to be displaced, if need be, by the power of God, because the United Order can never function under socialism or “the welfare state,” for the good and sufficient reason that the principles upon which socialism and the United Order are conceived and operated are inimical.”
President Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1966 pp. 100

“Satan argued that men given their freedom would not choose correctly therefore he would compel them to do right and save us all. Today Satan argues that men given their freedom do not choose wisely; therefore a so-called brilliant, benevolent few must establish the welfare government and force us into a greater socialistic society. We are assured of being led into the promised land as long as we let them put a golden ring in our nose. In the end we lose our freedom and the promised land also. No matter what you call it—communism, socialism, or the welfare state—our freedom is sacrificed. We believe the gospel is the greatest thing in the world; why then do we not force people to join the Church if they are not smart enough to see it on their own? Because this is Satan’s way not the Lord’s plan. The Lord uses persuasion and love.”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1965 pp. 123

False Political Isms [An official First Presidency address read in general Conference].

We again warn our people in America of the constantly increasing threat against our inspired Constitution and our free institutions set up under it. The same political tenets and philosophies that have brought war and terror in other parts of the world are at work amongst us in America. The proponents thereof are seeking to undermine our own form of government and to set up instead one of the forms of dictatorships now flourishing in other lands. These revolutionists are using a technique that is as old as the human race—a fervid but false solicitude for the unfortunate over whom they thus gain mastery and then enslave them.

They suit their approaches to the particular group they seek to deceive. Among the Latter-day Saints they speak of their philosophy and their plans under it as an ushering in of the United Order. Communism and all other similar isms bear no relationship whatever to the United Order. They are merely the clumsy counterfeits which Satan always devises of the gospel plan. Communism debases the individual and makes him the enslaved tool of the state to whom he must look for sustenance and religion; the United Order exalts the individual, leaves him his property, “according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs,” (D&C 51:3) and provides a system by which he helps care for his less fortunate brethren; the United Order leaves every man free to choose his own religion as his conscience directs. Communism destroys man’s God-given free agency; the United Order glorifies it. Latter-day Saints can not be true to their faith and lend aid, encouragement, or sympathy to any of these false phosphines. They will prove snares to their feet.

Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, (Conference Report, April 1942, p. 90)

“In this modern world plagued with counterfeits for the Lord’s plan, we must not be misled into supposing that we can discharge our obligations to the poor and the needy by shifting the responsibility to some governmental or other public agency. Only by voluntarily giving out of an abundant love for our neighbors can we develop that charity characterized by Mormon as ‘the pure love of Christ.’ [Moroni 7:47.]” This we must develop if we would obtain eternal life.
President Marion G. Romney, General Conference Oct. 1972

“Efforts are being made to deprive man of his free agency, to steal from the individual his liberty; and we must never forget that next to life itself, free agency is the greatest gift of God to man.”
David O. McKay, Conference Report, October 1966 pp. 5

“In distinguishing communism from the United Order, President David O. McKay said that communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the gospel plan, and that it is an avowed enemy of the God of the land. Communism is the greatest anti-Christ power in the world today and therefore the greatest menace not only to our peace but to our preservation as a free people. By the extent to which we tolerate it, accommodate ourselves to it, permit ourselves to be encircled by its tentacles and drawn to it, to that extent we forfeit the protection of the God of this land.”
President Marion G. Romney First Presidency Message, September 1979.

“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… 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.”
David O. McKay, Conference Report, April 1966, pp. 109-110

“There is available to each of us the gift of the Holy Ghost—the power of revelation which embraces the gift of discernment by which we may unerringly detect the devil and the counterfeits he is so successfully foisting upon this gullible generation. Our course is clear and certain. It is to strictly obey the commandments of the Lord, as they are recorded in the scriptures and as they are being given by the living prophets.”
President Marion G. Romney, General Conference Apr. 1971

[Satan] by every possible means he seeks to darken the minds of men and then offers them falsehood and deception in the guise of truth. Satan is a skillful imitator, and as genuine gospel truth is given the world in ever-increasing abundance, so he spreads the counterfeit coin of false doctrine. … [As] ‘the father of lies’ he has … become, through the ages of practice in his nefarious work,” such an adept “that were it possible he would deceive the very elect.” (in Daniel H. Ludlow, Latter-day Prophets Speak [Bookcraft, 1948], pp. 20–21.)
Joseph F. Smith (As quoted by President Marion G. Romney, General Conference Apr. 1971)

“No true Latter-day Saint can be a Communist or a Socialist because Communist principles run counter to the revealed word of God and to the Constitution of this land which was established by men whom the God of Heaven raised up unto that very purpose [D&C 101:80].”
Ezra Taft Benson (“A Four-Fold Hope” 11)

“As important as are all other principles of the gospel, it was the freedom issue which determined whether you received a body. To have been on the wrong side of the freedom issue during the war in heaven meant eternal damnation. How then can Latter-day Saints expect to be on the wrong side in this life and escape the eternal consequences? The war in heaven is raging on earth today. The issues are the same: ‘Shall men be compelled to do what others claim is for their best welfare’ or will they heed the counsel of the prophet and preserve their freedom?”
Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference, April 1965

“I pray: That the Lord will somehow quicken our understanding of the differences between socialism and the United Order and give us a vivid awareness of the awful portent of those differences. That we will develop the understanding, the desire, and the courage born of the Spirit, to eschew socialism and to support and sustain, in the manner revealed and as interpreted by the Lord, those just and holy principles embodied in the Constitution of the United States for the protection of all flesh, in the exercise of their God-given agency.”
President Marion G. Romney, Conference Report April 1966

“All we have to do is … examine any movement that may be brought into our midst … and if it … attempt[s] to deprive us in the slightest respect of our free agency, we should avoid it as we would avoid immorality or anything else that is vicious. … Free agency is as necessary for our eternal salvation as is our virtue. And … as we guard our virtue with our lives, so should we guard our free agency.”
President Henry D. Moyle, Conference Report, Oct. 1947, p. 46.

“Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon’s test to these innovations [as recorded in Moro. 7:16–18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man’s divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.”
President Marion G. Romney, BYU 5/30/1957

The Prophet Joseph Smith attended a presentation on socialism in September 1843 at Nauvoo. His response was to declare that he  “did not believe the doctrine”  (History of the Church, 6:33).

“Today two mighty forces are battling for the supremacy of the world. The destiny of mankind is in the balance. It is a question of God and liberty, or atheism and slavery. The success of communism means the destruction of religion. As stated by a government committee: ‘Communism cannot dominate family life until it has first fought its way past the influence of religion upon the family. Communism cannot force its own brand of moral code upon a person without first destroying his moral code rooted in religion. Communism cannot make education a weapon in its hands so long as religion is secure in its own right to teach and to educate. Communism cannot dominate unless it has the power to remake the life of the people. It cannot ignore religion and do that.’”
David O. McKay, Church News, 7/18/53

“But there are developing tendencies, sponsored by selfishness, greed, and ambition that, if unchecked, will soon or late bring sorrow and ruin to our country. Among these tendencies is that of ‘something for nothing,’ at least ‘more and more for less and less’ — more pay for less work. And as I see it, in whatever words these tendencies are expressed, they all lead to some type of national socialism. And generally, socialism is an enemy of free enterprise in the development of which, I repeat, this country has become the greatest on earth. Then why does any honest, patriotic, intelligent citizen of America prefer socialism to free enterprise? Is it not in free enterprise that free agency, a divine gift to every human being, finds an environment favorable to growth and development and to living in harmony with our beautiful doctrine of eternal progression?”
Elder Joseph F. Merrill, General Conference April 1950 pp. 60

“Efforts are being made to deprive man of his free agency, to steal from the individual his liberty; and we must never forget that next to life itself, free agency is the greatest gift of God to man.”
David O. McKay, Conference Report, October 1966, p. 5

“May we be at least as valiant for freedom and righteousness, here and now, as we were when we fought for these principles in the pre-existence.”
Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1963

“Up to now some members of the Church have stood aloof, feeling that the fight against socialistic-communism is ‘controversial’ and unrelated to the mission of the Church or the work of the Lord. But the President of the Church in our day has made it clear that the fight against atheistic communism is a major challenge to the Church and every member in it… Our real enemies are communism and its running mate, socialism…

“I want to say a few words about a few of the paths we are following that, if we move forward thereon, will inevitably lead us to socialism or communism, and these two are as like as two peas in a pod in their ultimate effect upon our liberties…

“We may first observe that communism and socialism – which we shall hereafter group together and dub Statism – cannot live with Christianity, nor with any religion that postulates a Creator such as the Declaration of Independence recognizes. The slaves of Statism must know no power, no authority, no source of blessing, no God, but the State. The State must be supreme in everything…

This country faces ahead enough trouble to bring us to our knees in humble honest prayer to God for the help which He alone can give to save us…

Do not think that all these usurpations, intimidations, and impositions are being done to us through inadvertency or mistake, the whole course is deliberately planned and carried out; its purpose is to destroy the Constitution and our Constitutional government; then to bring chaos out of which the new Statism, with its Slavery, is to arise, with a cruel, relentless, selfish, ambitious crew in the saddle, riding hard with whip and spur, a red-shrouded band of night riders for despotism…

We have largely lost the conflict so far waged. But there is time to win the final victory, if we can sense our danger, and fight.

President J. Reuben Clark, Church News, 9/25/49

“What is the real cause of this trend toward the welfare state, toward more socialism? In the last analysis, in my judgment, it is personal unrighteousness. When people do not use their freedoms responsibly and righteously, they will gradually lose these freedoms… If man will not recognize the inequalities around him and voluntarily, through the gospel plan, come to the aid of his brother, he will find that through “a democratic process” he will be forced to come to the aid of his brother. The government will take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” Both have lost their freedom. Those who “have,” lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way they desire. Those who “have not,” lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got “something for nothing,” and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.”
Howard W. Hunter (The Law of the Harvest, BYU, 3/8/1966).

May we take a moment from some of the side issues and clear our thoughts and humble our hearts and get down on our knees and simply, fervently, thank God for freedom and then get on our feet with a firm resolve to preserve it against all who secretly or openly would set it aside.

Thank God for freedom and for the Founding Fathers who reaffirmed to a new nation, an eternal, timeless truth: that the right of choice that the free agency of manis a God-given inalienable right, and is essential to the peace and growth and progress and salvation of the very soul.

This truth has been challenged again and again, and will yet be challenged again and again. It was challenged in the heavens before time began, by the brilliant but rebellious Lucifer. There was war in heaven for freedom. And anyone who seeks to enslave men in any sense, in mind, in spirit, in thought anyone who seeks to enslave the minds, the hearts, the spirits of men is essentially in league with Satan himself for “where he spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Thank God for the Constitution of our country, which was brought into being “by the hands of wise men whom [the Lord God] raised up unto this very purpose.” Thank God for the promise that in this choice land, men “shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve” God.

Thank God for the right of choice, for the right to become whatever we can become in a free and provident land that, despite its imperfections, has proved to be more efficient for progress and human happiness than any society founded on the false philosophies that would seek to enslave the minds and souls of men.

God grant that we may repent wherever we have departed from the principles of freedom that we may preserve the right to fail and the incentive to succeed, and live, as did the Founding Fathers, knowing that there are no acceptable substitutes for freedom.

Elder Richard L. Evans. Thank God for Freedom July 4, 1954.

“Let us pray every day of our lives for the Lord to frustrate their sinister plans – plans of Communists, who disbelieve in God, who deny the existence of God, who disbelieve in the freedom of the individual, who think he should be just a spoke in the wheel of the State! The State is established to protect the individual in his rights.”
David O. McKay, Church News, 12/12/53

“In things that pertain to celestial glory there can be no forced operations. We must do according as the Spirit of the Lord operates upon our understandings and feelings. We cannot be crowded into matters, however great might be the blessing attending such procedure. We cannot be forced into living a celestial law; we must do this ourselves, of our own free will. And whatever we do in regard to the principles of the United Order, we must do it because we desire to do it.”
Lorenzo Snow: (In Journal of Discourses, 19:346.)

“One of the fundamental doctrines of revealed truth is that … God endowed men with free agency (see Moses 7:32). The preservation of this free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. … Everything which militates against man’s enjoyment of this endowment persuades not to believe in Christ, for he is the author of free agency.

“Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon’s test to these innovations [as recorded in Moro. 7:16–18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man’s divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.”

President Marion G. Romney (Speeches of the Year, Brigham Young University Press, 1957, pp. 10–11.)

“Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. … We have a right to liberty—that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, it has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the principles of truth.”
John Taylor (Journal of Discourses, 23:63.)

“One of the fundamental doctrines of revealed truth is that … God endowed men with free agency (see Moses 7:32). The preservation of this free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. … Everything which militates against man’s enjoyment of this endowment persuades not to believe in Christ, for he is the author of free agency.

“Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon’s test to these innovations [as recorded in Moro. 7:16-18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man’s divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.”

President Marion G. Romney, Council of the Twelve; (Speeches of the Year, Brigham Young University Press, 1957, pp. 7 10-11.)

“But, brethren, beware that you do not become extremists on either side. The degree of a man’s aversion to communism may not always be measured by the noise he makes in going about and calling everyone a communist who disagrees with his personal political bias.”
President Hugh B. Brown, General Conference, April 1962 pp. 89