Articles of Faith: Is Joseph Smith a True Prophet of God?

As I continue my series on the Articles of Faith, I feel that I must share information about Joseph Smith. As Joseph Smith was the writer of the Articles of Faith, it is good to know something about the author.

As a disclaimer, I must clearly state that I am an ardent supporter of Joseph Smith. I know that he was and still is a prophet of God because the Holy Ghost bore a strong witness to me.

In his book titled Articles of Faith, Elder James E. Talmage listed three classes of evidence to show the authenticity of Joseph Smith’s mission.

1. Fulfilment of Prophecy, wrought through the lifework of Joseph Smith, is abundantly attested. John the Revelator, from his prophetic vision of the latter-day dispensation, understood and predicted that the Gospel would be again sent from the heavens, and be restored to the earth through the direct ministration of an angel in the latter-days: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  A partial fulfilment of this prediction appears in the coming of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, …, whereby the restoration of the Gospel was announced, and the speedy realization of other ancient prophecies was promised; and a record, described in part as containing “the fulness of the everlasting Gospel” as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants of the western continent was committed to his care for translation and publication amongst all nations, kindred, and tongues. A further fulfilment was realized in the personal visitations of resurrected beings, who had ministered as bearers of the Holy Priesthood during their time of mortality, this Priesthood comprising divine authority and appointment to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances thereof….

2. Joseph Smith’s Authority was conferred upon him by direct ministrations of heavenly beings, each of whom had once exercised the same power upon the earth. We have already seen how the angel Moroni, formerly a mortal prophet among the Nephites, transmitted to Joseph the appointment to bring forth the record which he, Moroni, had buried in the earth over fourteen hundred years before. We learn further, that on the 15^th of May, 1829, the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery under the hands of John the Baptist, who came in his immortalized state with that particular order of Priesthood, which comprises the keys of the ministration of angels, the doctrine of repentance and of baptism for the remission of sins…. In delivering his message John the Baptist stated that he was acting under the direction of Peter, James, and John, apostles of the Lord, in whose hands reposed the keys of the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, which in time would also be given. This promise was fulfilled a month or so later, when the apostles named visited in person Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, ordaining them to the apostleship, which comprises all the offices of the higher order of Priesthood and which carries authority to minister in all the established ordinances of the Gospel….

[After the Church of Jesus Christ was organized, other ancient prophets visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to give other authority: Moses (gathering of Israel), Elijah (work for the living and the dead, sealing families together), and Elias (dispensation of Abraham, blessing succeeding generations.]

3. Joseph Smith was a true Prophet –In the days of ancient Israel an effective method of testing the claims of a professed prophet was prescribed. “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follows not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Conversely, if the words of the prophet are verified by fulfilment there is at least proof presumptive of his divine calling….

4. The Doctrines Taught by Joseph Smith, and by the Church today, are true and scriptural. To sustain this statement, we must examine the principal teachings of the Church in separate order. [Following this statement, Talmage launched into his writings on the Articles of Faith.] (Articles of Faith, 1913, 16-17, 22, 23, 28)

Talmage is not the only Apostle to author a book about the Articles of Faith. In his book titled A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, Elder Bruce R. McConkie discussed how the Articles of Faith are the fruits of Joseph Smith.

As it is with belief in Christ; as it is with accepting him as the Son of God, whose atoning sacrifice makes salvation possible; as it is with believing all that the prophets and apostles have taught in days gone by – so it is with accepting Joseph Smith as the prophet of the latter days. All spiritual things must be accepted by faith. But in the process of gaining faith, those who are wise will taste the fruits of those who profess prophetic insight. Those who partake of the fruits of true prophets will find them sweet, full of flavor, delicious to the taste, and desirable to the soul, while those who seek nourishment from the fruits of false prophets will remain unrefreshed spiritually. The fruit they eat will be bitter to the taste; it will be as wormwood in their bellies, and from it they will gain none of the sustenance needed for the long journey back to the presence of the Lord.

The prophetic fruits of Joseph Smith are many and varied. All are as delicious as manna and as overflowing with goodness as the fruits of Eden. Volumes have been and will yet be written about them. They have not grown in secret nor been harvested in the night. In this work, however, it will be our purpose, in large measure, to feast upon but one of his prophetic fruits – the doctrines he taught relative to the basic beliefs of true Christians as these are summarized in the Articles of Faith.

In his now famous Wentworth Letter, written in March 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith gave an account “of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints,” of which he had “the honor, under God, of being the founder.” (HC 4:535.) As the climax of this inspired historical account, he uttered these prophetic words: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” He then listed the thirteen Articles of Faith in almost the verbatim language they now contain. (HC 4:540-41.)

“These Articles of Faith were not produced by the labored efforts and harmonized contentions of scholastics, but were struck off by one inspired mind at a single effort to make a declaration of that which is most assuredly believed by the Church…. The combined directness, perspicuity, simplicity and comprehensiveness of this statement of the principles of our religion may be relied upon as robust evidence of a divine inspiration resting upon the Prophet, Joseph Smith.” (HC 4:535n.) The Articles of Faith are part of an eternal fulness of everlasting truth that was then and is now in process of being revealed by the Lord to his people. They did not, when first given, mention all of the basic doctrines then known, and since then added light and knowledge have been revealed relative to many things, as the Articles of Faith themselves said would be the case. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 14-16)

If you are sincere in your desire to know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, I will give you the procedure that I followed. First, I studied every single book in my house about Joseph Smith (lots of them). Then the Holy Ghost gave this prompting, “If you want to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, study the Book of Mormon.” I embarked on a study of the suggested book, sincerely and prayerfully studying it.

I suggest that you start by reading Moroni 10:4-5 in the last chapter of the book. As you study, ask God if what you are reading is true. If you are honest and sincere in your studies, you will receive an answer from God. I know because I received an answer when I met the requirements of study, humility, sincerity, and prayer.

 

How Many Names Does June Have?

June is the first month of summer. It is also a favorite month for weddings. In 1999, President Bill Clinton declared that June would officially be known as “LGBTQ+ Pride Month”. In 2009, President Barack Obama expanded the celebration, even lighting the White House in rainbow colors. Other cities celebrate with parades and rainbow decorations.

The Trump administration announced that June will be known as “Title IX Month.” This title refers to the “1972 civil rights law banning discrimination in publicly funded schools on the basis of biological sex,” according to Brigham Tomco, staff writer at the Deseret News. 

While Democrat states celebrate Pride Month, Republican states have other names for the month of June. For example, Arkansas and Utah declared June to be “Fidelity Month” to urge “Americans to rededicate themselves to principles of God, marriage, family, country and community.”  Tennessee, Alabama, and Indiana, declared June to be “Nuclear Family Month” to “underscore the role of traditional families.” Oklahoma declared it to be “Life Month” to commit to “support unborn humans from conception.”

The contest over the month of June reflects decades long culture war questions, exacerbated by partisan polarization and a sense that red and blue states increasingly represent different values ahead of America’s 250^th anniversary.

Who Are the American Colonists?

 My VIPs for this week are the American colonists who were willing to fight to preserve freedom and independence. Brenda Hafera delivered a speech on May 28, 2026, at the “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” Reenactment at The Heritage Foundation. This essay will come from a lightly edited transcript. The title of her speech is “Why the American Colonists Rebelled.” 

Britain’s seven-year war with France came at a great cost. Its consequences would alter the world.

England accumulated a substantial amount of debt throughout the war. Parliament began to look to the American colonies, long used to governing themselves, as a solution to its problem. It imposed the Sugar and Stamp Acts of 1764 and 1765 to raise revenue from their “subjects.”

The Americans found the Stamp Act particularly grating. Not only was Parliament introducing taxation without representation, but colonial forms of communication – newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, and other documents – would need stamps to circulate. While the stamps were of little financial cost, they impeded freedom of speech and deliberation, beliefs and practices central to the American character – a character fit for citizenship, not subjugation.

The back-and-forth between the colonies and Great Britain continued: with moves and countermoves, rising rhetoric, and emerging patriots.

·       Tensions grew following the Boston Massacre of 1770, when British troops fired on a group of protesters, wounding 11 and killing five.

·       In the final months of 1773, the Sons of Liberty dumped tea into the frigid waters of the Boston Harbor.

·       With the Intolerable Acts, Parliament closed the port of Boston, infested Boston’s streets with British troops and forced their quartering, and replaced elected officials with ones appointed by the royal governor.

American principles – freedom of speech, of representation, of consent – were being violated. And Paul Revere was at the ready.

The Boston native rode for five days from Massachusetts to Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. In his hands was the response to the Intolerable Acts, the Suffolk Resolves. With him, he carried a question: Would the other colonies join Massachusetts against Great Britain? Was an attack on one part an attack on the whole?

Other localities had passed resolutions against Parliament, but perhaps none were as substantive as the Suffolk Resolves. The people of Massachusetts urged their fellow colonists to form local militias and boycott British goods.

But more than that, they contended that Parliament had committed “gross Infractions of those Rights to which we are justly entitled by the Laws of Nature, the British Constitution, and the Charter of the Province.” The ongoing dispute was not about mere manmade laws or the rights of Englishmen, but about natural law and the inalienable rights of mankind.

On Sept. 17, a day that now lives in our memory as Constitution Day, the first Continental Congress unanimously endorsed the Suffolk Resolves. In 1774, George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams, and Sam Adams were there, uniting Virginia and Massachusetts in Pennsylvania.

That brings us to Virginia. Many of the ideas of the Revolution spread through churches to the 70% to 80% of colonists who attended services on a regular basis. (The religious revival known as the Great Awakening had swept through America in the 1730s and 1740s, and the most referenced work of the Founding generation was the Bible.)

On March 20, 1775, a month before Lexington and Concord, the Second Virginia Convention gathered in St. John’s Church in Richmond. Its main objective was to elect delegates to the Second Continental Congress. The course of that weeklong convention would further solidify America’s principles.

Not to be out spirited by those Massachusetts Puritans, Anglican Patrick Henry introduced resolutions t form a Virginia militia.

But that was not the only point of commonality between the Suffolk Resolves and Henry’s endeavors. By 1775, the question of Revolution was upon America.

The Declaration of Independence describes the revolutionary act not simply as a right, but as a duty. A duty to whom? The Suffolk Resolves provides the answer:

“[I]t is an indispensable Duty which we owe to GOD, our Country, Ourselves and Posterity, by all lawful Ways and Means in our Power, to maintain, defend and preserve those civil and religious Rights and Liberties for which many of our Fathers fought – bled – and died; and to hand them down entire to future Generations.”

Knowing the same, Virginia’s orator spoke “freely and without reserve,” a “responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.”

The Declaration of Independence was indeed an expression of the American mind, threading itself through Suffolk County, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Richmond, Virginia. It carries itself forward on the hearts of today’s citizens:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

 

 

 

What Is the Connection Between Religious Freedom and Moral Agency?

The topic of discussion for this Freedom Monday concerns the connection between religious freedom and moral agency. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that we all lived with Heavenly Father in the spirit world as His spirit sons and daughters before the creation of this world. While we were in His presence, our Father gave moral agency, or the freedom to choose, to each of us. We brought that moral agency with us into mortality.

Heavenly Father taught us about His plan for the eternal happiness of His children. This plan included a period of instruction and experiences available only in mortality. According to His plan, each of us would leave His presence for a few years of life on earth. There we would be instructed and have experiences to prepare us for eternal life with Him.

Heavenly Father wants each of us to return to Him, but He does not want to force us to return to His presence. The purpose of giving us moral agency is to give us the right and power to choose for ourselves. He wants us to choose Him and His ways freely – His light, truth, and goodness -- without any compulsion.

Moral agency is essential to God’s plan for our happiness. Satan sought to destroy this agency, and he was cast out of God’s presence (see Moses 4:3). On the other hand, Jesus Christ supported Heavenly Father’s plan and became the Savior of the world. Heavenly Father knew that we would make mistakes and commit sins while in mortality, and He provided a way for us to overcome our mistakes and repent of our sins so that we could return to His presence.

According to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ and this site, Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice make it possible for each of us to use our moral agency to choose God (see 2 Nephi 2:26-27). If we had no Savior, we would be in captivity to our weaknesses, sins, and the conditions of mortality. It is Jesus Christ who makes us free (see John 8:36). 

Throughout the earth’s history, the principle of moral agency has not been universally honored. Too many of God’s children have been—and still are—oppressed. At the same time, God has been inspiring His children to protect “that principle of freedom [that] belongs to all mankind” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:5). A key event in that effort happened 250 years ago: The Declaration of Independence was signed, leading to the establishment of the United States of America and its other founding document, the US Constitution. It’s appropriate, as citizens of the United States, to pause and give thanks for the freedoms these documents preserve for us. And it’s equally appropriate, as Latter-day Saints, to recognize God’s purposes and role in those founding events (see Doctrine and Covenants 101:77-80). This [celebration of America] is an opportunity to rejoice in “the Lord our God, who has redeemed us and made us free” (Alma 58:41).

God’s work and glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). The Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution help to accomplish God’s purposes for His children by protecting our freedom to choose.

In the early years after the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members of the Church were persecuted because of their religion. In 1833, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that He had a part in establishing “the Constitution of this land” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:80. Here are the words of the Lord as recorded by Joseph Smith.

76 And again I say unto you, those who have been scattered by their enemies, it is my will that they should continue to importune for redress, and redemption, by the hands of those who are placed as rulers and are in authority over you—

77 According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;

78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

80 And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.

The Saints were being persecuted, and the Lord told Joseph Smith to “importune [to the US Government] for redress and redemption.” God wanted the Saints to use the laws of the land and the very Constitution that He had established by men who were “raised up unto this very purpose.” According to the words of the Lord, the blood shed in the Revolutionary War had redeemed this land.

God was there when Americans fought for freedom in the Revolutionary War, and He was there to inspire the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. He will be with us as we use our moral agency to defend and protect our freedom of religion. Also, moral agency flourishes in conditions of freedom. 

What Covenants Are Essential to Return to God’s Presence?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to the book of Judges, particularly Judges 2-4; 6-8; 13-16, in a lesson titled “The Lord Raised Up a Deliverer.” The following information introduced the lesson. 

We all know what it’s like to sin, feel bad about it, and then repent and resolve to change our ways. But too often we forget our earlier resolve, and, when temptation comes, we find ourselves committing the same sin. This pattern appears frequently in the book of Judges. Influenced by the beliefs and worship practices of the Canaanites – whom they were supposed to drive out of the land – the Israelites broke their covenants with the Lord and turned away from worshipping Him. As a result, they lost His protection and fell into captivity. And yet each time this happened, the Lord gave His covenant people the chance to repent and raised up a deliverer, a military leader called a “judge.” Not all of the judges in the book of Judges were righteous, but some of them exercised great faith in delivering the children of Israel and restoring them to their covenant relationship with the Lord. These stories remind us that no matter what has led us away from Jesus Christ, He is the Redeemer of Israel and is always willing to deliver us and welcome us back as we return to Him.

Some principles taught in this scripture block are (1) The Lord forgives as often as I repent (Judges 2:1-19; 3:5-12). (2) I can inspire others to have faith in the Lord (Judges 4:1-15). (3) The Lord can work miracles when I trust in His ways (Judges 6-8). (4) God strengthens me as I am faithful to my covenants (Judges 13-16). I have chosen to discuss the fourth principle about being blessed by being faithful to covenants.

Judges 13-16 contains one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, the story of Samson. His parents shared a frequent problem found in the Old Testament, the inability to have a child. Manoah and his wife were blessed to have a son. Judges 13:3-5 tells the first part of the story.

3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razer shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 ¶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

The above verses tell us that this pregnancy was not only miraculous, but it also had certain conditions. The mother-to-be was instructed to be careful about what she drank – no wine or strong drink – and what she ate – no unclean thing. Once the son was born, his hair was allowed to grow and not cut. He was a Nazarite from his conception to the day of his death.

Samson was under covenant to God, but he failed to keep his covenants with God. He lost both his physical strength and his spiritual strength because he violated his covenants with God, particularly those that applied specifically to Nazarites.

Sister Ann M. Dibb taught: “Samson was born with great potential. His mother was promised, ‘He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines’ [Judges 13:5]. But as Samson grew, he looked more to the world’s temptations than to God’s direction. He made choices because they ‘pleaseth [him] well’ [Judges 14:3] rather than because those choices were right. Repeatedly, the scriptures use the phrase ‘and he went down’ [Judges 14:7] as they tell of Samson’s journeys, actions and choices. Instead of arising and shining forth to fulfill his great potential, Samson was overcome by the world, lost his God-given power, and died a tragic, early death” (“Arise and Shine Forth,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 118). 

In the April 2024 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then-First Counselor in the First Presidency, President Dallin H. Oaks concluded his talk titled “Covenants and Responsibilities” with the following testimony: 

The Church of Jesus Christ is known as a church that emphasizes making covenants with God. Covenants are inherent in each of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation this restored Church administers. The ordinance of baptism and its associated covenants are requirements for entrance into the celestial kingdom. The ordinances and associated covenants of the temple are requirements for exaltation in the celestial kingdom, which is eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God.” That is the focus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Liahona, May 2024, 93-96).

What Are Some Ways to Strengthen Family Bonds and Family Relationships?

Healthy and strong families have several ways to strengthen family bonds and improve family relationships, and strong families strengthen communities, states, and nations. An article from Anchor Light shares “8 Ways to Strengthen Family Bonds and Improve Family Relationships.

Understanding the importance of family bonding

… [It] is easy to forget that the benefits of family bonding can positively impact areas of our lives that are less overt.

Individuals with positive family relationships are likelier to cope with stress and engage in healthier behaviors. Research on adolescents shows that those with positive family dynamics are less likely to engage in risky behaviors, less likely to have a mental health diagnosis, and more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem. Children and teens with a strong family bond have fewer problem behaviors and increased resiliency. Over time, the ability to present high levels of resiliency will prove helpful when facing challenges in school and work down the line. In more way[s] than one, bonding serves as a protective factor for children and teenagers.

When family members make space for family bonding, there is an increased sense of self and understanding of one’s identity. Positively interacting with family allows children and teens to understand their place in the world and how they relate to others. An increased sense of self will pave the way for heightened confidence, making decision-making and problem-solving much simpler for your child.

How can we strengthen the bonding among family members?

Family bonding is crucial for the emotional and psychological health of its members. In today’s busy world, it’s easy to let meaningful family interactions slide in favor of work, school, and personal activities. However, with a little effort and intention, you can create opportunities for your family to grow closer and strengthen your bonds. Here are eight ways to do just that….

1. Plan quality time.

Consider quality vs. quantity – just because you have a lot of something does not mean it is high value. To work on your family bond, try searching for hobbies and activities each family member can enjoy together. When the entire family enjoys themselves, there is less room for negativity or conflict and more room to express love and compassion.

Getting out of the house is always a great idea [but not always possible….

When you get some activities scheduled, hang a calendar in a shared space in your home. Your kids can look to the week ahead and anticipate these activities before they occur. This will help build excitement and facilitate planning and problem-solving for what’s to come. Rituals and traditions are good ways to strengthen family bonds….

2. Prioritize family dinners.

Dinners are an easy part of the day in which family members can give each other their full attention and engage in important or fun discussions. Kids who eat dinner with their families daily are likelier to experience better family relationships, improved academic performance, heightened self-esteem, and greater resiliency. Further, research shows that teens who eat with their families regularly report lower levels of depression and lower levels of risk-seeking behaviors….

3. Organize game night.

Gaming is an excellent activity for strengthening family connections and creating lasting memories. We all know that games are fun, but there is more to gaming than meets the eye. Incorporating family game night into your week can increase family satisfaction and promote family bonding. Playing video games together as a family, surprisingly to some, is also helpful in promoting family closeness.

Children can pick up helpful skills from board games and other activities, such as improved motor skills, problem-solving, and communication skills. As children work with (and against) other family members, they refine their collaboration skills and goal-seeking behaviors. Games are a fantastic opportunity to learn what it means to win and lose, providing significant benefits outside the family network. One of the most important things your family can do while gaming is to debrief afterward, exploring what your family learned, what they would do differently next time, and what challenges they faced while participating in the game.

4. Make chores a family activity.

Though chores are rarely fun, there are some strategies that parents can take to make the process more cohesive with family life. Consider what could improve chores and how you can incorporate your child’s interests during chore time. Start by scheduling times for the family to complete chores together….

5. Make room for alone time.

Regardless of how well your family takes to bonding activities, it is still essential to take time for yourself… Scheduling activities for yourself, whether it is an activity you can enjoy alone or a special date night without the kids…. Alone time and self-care give us all space to learn more about ourselves and decompress when we’re irritable.

6. Get exposure to other families.

By interacting with other families, parents can learn how other family bonds look and how other families tackle problems together….

7. Make sure all family members are heard.

… Likewise, family bonds suffer when communication breaks down due to emotional immaturity….

Commit to listening wholeheartedly. You can practice active listening with eye contact and open body language. Your child, teen, and other family members will know you listen when you respond and reflect on what they share. Active listening is a great way to show that you support your loved ones and create a shared life together, and a great way to foster healthy relationships.

8. Engage in Family Traditions and Celebrations.

Creating and maintaining family traditions and celebrations is a powerful way to strengthen family bonds. Traditions provide a sense of identity and belonging, offering comfort and security to family members….

What does strengthen family bonds mean?

Strengthening family bonds means creating a deeper connection between family members and deepening the bonds of love, respect, trust, and understanding. It can involve activities that bring the family together, such as shared meals, game nights, or outings. It can also involve communication exercises to help family members better understand each other’s perspectives and feelings. Ultimately, strengthening family ties helps create a safe and supportive environment where all members can thrive.

Working with a licensed family therapist can help strengthen family members bonds.

Working with a licensed family therapist can be immensely beneficial for families struggling to build or maintain strong bonds. Family therapy offers a safe space for members to express their feelings, work through conflicts, and understand each other’s perspectives….

Family therapy can be a transformative experience, empowering families to navigate challenges together and reinforcing their bonds for a stronger, more connected family unit.

Why Are Civic Skills and Constructive Arguments Essential for Freedom?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the importance of developing civic skills and practicing constructive arguments. There is a great division in the United States between liberals/Democrats and conservatives/Republicans. Some people have cut relationship strings, and most people in this group are liberal.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of polities at Sarah Lawrence College, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a scholar with the Sutherland Institute. He authored an article, published at Deseret News, and titled “Opinion: After 250 years, has America forgotten how to argue with itself? and subtitled “A country that cannot argue with itself is a country that has stopped governing itself.” 

A country that cannot argue with itself is a country that has stopped governing itself. As America approaches its 250^th birthday, the question that should hang over the celebrations is not whether we can throw a good party. It is whether we still know how to live together when the party is over.

The honest answer is that we are no longer sure. A generation now arrives at college unable to disagree without escalation and unable to draw on a shared body of knowledge that might make such exchanges worthwhile. They can speak, but they cannot really reason. They can express, but they cannot persuade. The Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education, in its sober April report, conceded that universities have helped erode public trust of formation that did or did not happen long before. By 18, the habits are set. The college classroom is the place where the bill comes due, not the place where the work gets done.

That work is formation. A free society depends not merely on information but on formation: the slow apprenticeship by which a child becomes a citizen capable of inhabiting the republic she has inherited. This is the predictable result of decades of decisions that hollowed out that apprenticeship while pretending that something else – sentiment and self-expression – could carry the load. The diagnosis is finally widely shared. The harder news is that the cure requires two forms of formation at once, and we have been attempting one without the other for 30 years.

The civic skills the next generation is lacking.

The first thing we owe the next generation is the explicit cultivation of civic skills.

Disagreement, deliberation, listening, weighing evidence, changing one’s mind – these are not personality traits. They are skills, in exactly the same sense that addition and reading are skills. They have to be taught, practiced, modeled and reinforced, year over year, from the earliest grades. They corrode when replaced by therapeutic substitutes that treat every conflict as a wound to be soothed rather than a question to be reasoned through….

I have written about one K-12 school, the Birch Wathen Lenox School in Manhattan, that has stopped treating constructive dialogue as an assembly theme and started building it into a developmental arc: a year-by-year curriculum that walks children, beginning in the lower grades, through the actual mechanics of disagreement with trust, compassion and evidence.

The fast-growing network of classical charter schools across Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and the Mountain West is doing related work from a different starting point: pairing rigorous instruction in the founding documents with a structured culture of recitation, argument and Socratic exchange. The two models look almost nothing alike. They are converging on the same insight: a citizen is formed, not born. The work belongs to childhood, not commencement.

I see the absence of this formation every term in my own classroom. Last semester, I asked a seminar of bright, motivated juniors to argue the strongest version of a position they personally rejected….

They had not been trained to argue. They had reached 21 without the apprenticeship that should have begun at 7….

The importance of constructive arguments.

The Jewish tradition I was raised in has a name for what these students had been deprived of: machloket l’shem shamayim, argument for the sake of Heaven – the Talmudic ideal in which Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai disagree across generations because they share a sacred text and a discipline of reasoning.

Christian readers will recognize the same instinct in the medieval disputatio and in the line that runs from Augustine through Aquinas to the great pulpits of the American Founding. Lay traditions of communal teaching and self-governance – the ward council, the volunteer lesson refined among neighbors – carry that wisdom in a different idiom.

Communities of faith have long understood, even when secular institutions forget, that learning to argue well is itself a form of neighborliness and a discipline of humility before truth. They have understood that formation is not optional. It is what a community owes its young.

Tocqueville understood this in 1830s America. He admired Americans not because they agreed with one another – they did not – but because their associations, town meetings and churches had developed habits of mutual address that led argument function as the connective tissue of self-government. Those habits were formed in childhood, in congregations and one-room schoolhouses and family debate around the table, and they were carried into adult life as second nature. That tissue has thinned. It can be rebuilt, but only deliberately, and only in the years when human beings are actually being formed.

The importance of shared knowledge.

Yet civic skills alone are not enough, and this is where most of the current dialogue work falls short. You can run all the trainings, workshops and summits you want. If the participants do not share a baseline body of knowledge about the country they are arguing over – its founding documents, its religious and philosophical inheritances, its great books and great failures – the dialogue risks becoming more therapeutic than civic. It becomes an exchange of feelings about a country no one in the room actually knows. The conversation may be civil. It will not be civic.

This is the second form of formation we owe the next generation, and I have argued elsewhere that it is the precondition for everything else: a genuine inheritance, transmitted in K-12 and again in higher education. Not a checklist of requirements in which medieval political philosophy and contemporary television satisfy the same box. A real common foundation – basic historical literacy, the development of the American constitutional tradition, the religious and philosophical sources of Western civic life, the texts that shaped how the founders thought and how their critics still think. The point is not indoctrination. The point is exposure. The point is to admit the next generation into a conversation that began before them and will continue after them, so that they enter adult citizenship with something to argue from rather than only feelings to argue with.

When 10% of the room has read the Federalist and the rest have not, the room is not really having a debate about federalism. It is staging an asymmetry: Some students are arguing from a tradition, while others are left to argue from fragments. When students do not know what the Hebrew Bible, the Gospels, the classical tradition and the Enlightenment each contributed to the American settlement, they cannot tell the difference between a critique of the country and a caricature of it. A shared inheritance is what makes serious disagreement possible. Without it, you are not having a conversation. You are having a collision.