A Call to Arms in Utah - Protecting LDS Congregations

Since submitting through my Stake President, my recommendations to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) concerning the PROHIBITION against Concealed Carry in LDS chapels in Utah, and releasing that letter for others to use through the Open Carry Utah, Facebook Page (November 18, 2017), much has happened that is not positive.

1. In Dec 2017, “a pro-ISIS media group” allegedly showed a picture of an ISIS soldier  looking at a burning San Diego, LDS Temple, with the statement, “Coming Soon.”
2. In Jan 2018, the LDS church renewed its annual PROHIBITION against Concealed Carry in LDS chapels. Sadly this indicates the Church has again:
• Identified LDS chapels as soft targets.
• Placed itself opposite “… the Lord, (who) justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land … (which) I (the Lord) established … by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose ….” (D&C 98:6-7; 101:80). Specifically, the Church is exercising a Utah option in law, to infringe on the 2^nd Amendment of the US Constitution, but which the US Supreme Court has ruled as an individual right. The Church is attempting to deny individuals the right to protect themselves by use of arms in an LDS chapel – contrary to the Lord’s statement of our rights in LDS scripture.
3. The day after the Florida High School shooting, in which 17 persons were killed, an ISIS flag was raised at Hurricane High School, Washington County, Southern Utah. The message “ISIS IS COMI” was written on an exterior wall of the school.
4. The teen who raised the ISIS flag at Hurricane High School then conducted a failed bomb attack on Pineview High School.
5. A retired Supreme Court Justice is called for the Second Amendment to be repealed. The Church PROHIBITION policy is more closely aligned with this sentiment than the Prophet Joseph Smith's declaration that “We believe that 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, and the protection of life.” (D&C 134:2).  

Sustaining the Lord and His Constitution by removing the PROHIBITION will resolve both problems.

In the year 2000, as I departed the Middle East, I knew that radical Islam would seek to bring the USA under constant attack at home, just as they have done to Israel. The first World Trade Center bombing had already occurred, and 911 was soon to happen. Attacks within the USA have continued to grow. To maintain religious legitimacy, Islamic terrorists are obliged to give warning – then come the attacks. While the FBI may not be “aware of any specific and credible threat” to Utah, this does not mean there is no threat. The FBI was specifically warned of the Florida school shooter by name, and failed to act. Neither was the FBI aware that an ISIS flag would be flying over a Utah High School. I am confident the threat is aware of our gun free zones and that LDS Chapels are open for slaughter. Infringing on the rights granted by the Lord, and hoping that a law enforcement officer is attending church when an attack occurs, is poor policy.

Considering these facts, I call for the following:

1. Citizens of Utah act in solidarity with our law enforcement officers and Constitution by being visibly armed in public places as a deterrent to those who seek us harm.
2. Members of the LDS church in Utah act in obedience to their individual obligation to the Lord, to defend their lives and the lives of their families, the right of such as granted by the Lord’s US Constitution, including in LDS chapels.
3. President Nelson, by public announcement, rescind the legalistic but unconstitutional PROHIBITION against Concealed Carry in LDS chapels in Utah.
4. President Nelson, by public announcement, affirm the LDS Church’s support of the US Constitution, including the Second Amendment, as having been established by the Lord, and that all members of the Church are justified in defending that Constitution, as the Lord himself declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. (D&C 101: 76-80; 98: 4-10; 109: 54)
5. That the LDS Church actively advocate by legal action for the whole of the US Constitution, not just the First Amendment.
6. That the LDS Church develop a system by which the expressed concerns of members are responded to and addressed - the current experience is a bureaucratic black hole.
7. Stake Presidents in Utah, take immediate action to provide armed protection for members and their guests at LDS Chapels.
8. Utah legislators immediately remove all State infringements on the Second Amendment.
9. Utah Representatives to the Congress of the United States act to remove all infringements on the Second Amendment.
10. All candidates for State or National office in the USA, declare themselves for this issue.
11. Citizens of the USA, wherever they are able, sue all laws/regulations infringing on the Second Amendment, considering the US Supreme Court’s rulings that the Second Amendment is an individual right that the Constitution declares “shall not be infringed.”

By making this public declaration I also declare that I am using my agency in full support of the Lord and His Constitution. I also sustain the Lord’s servants in leadership positions in His Church and call upon them to act in accord with the Lord’s revelations, and if the Lord has spoken anew on this topic (or any other) that they promptly declare it. Let us all be found in obedience to the Lord’s will, in pure doctrine, and not in political correctness as defined by those who routinely stand in defiance of God’s commandments.