Why Should the Burden of Government Be Upon All Citizens?

 Communities and America are stronger when parents and their children are involved in the political process. Marriage and family are being slowly destroyed because there are not enough supporters of marriage and family involved in electing the people who pass the laws and make the policies.

The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ published “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” in September 1995. This statement is found in the document: “We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.” 

King Mosiah, a prophet-king who lived in ancient America, tried to convince his people to accept a new form of government – a change from a monarchy to a democracy-type government. “And many more things did king Mosiah write unto [his people], unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them. And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part” (Mosiah 29:33-34).

Alan J. Hawkins said that King Mosiah taught a moral principle: All citizens should bear the burden of good government. This is the same moral principle taught in the proclamation on the family – all responsible citizens should be involved in the political process and particularly in promoting people and policies that will maintain and strengthen families. 

There are some people who think that uninformed voters should not vote. John Stossel has a video on the web titled “Don’t Know? Don’t Vote!” Less than fifty percent of possible voters actually vote, and some of them do not bother to study the issues or the candidates. Otherwise, how could people honestly vote for a man who has brain damage from a stroke? There are also people who vote for a candidate just because there is a D or an R behind their name. These people may fall under Stossel’s description of being “stupid” and are part of the reason why he says that they should not vote. 

I do not agree with Stossel. However, I do believe that voters should be informed before they go vote. Being informed before voting is part of being responsible citizens. We should study the issues and learn as much as we can about the candidates. Then we should pray about them to obtain confirmation from the Lord that our decision is correct. This is a process that I follow. Although I am frequently surprised at the answers, I follow the inspiration in my voting.

Parents have the responsibility to become informed voters and to teach their children about the political process. By doing so, they can help their children as well as strengthen their community, state, and nation.