Why Did Our Founders Sign Their Own Death Warrant?

My VIPs for this week are the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Americans celebrated Independence Day last Friday and all weekend, a celebration that will continue for the next year until July 4, 2026 – the 250^th anniversary of our national independence.

It is easy to think of Independence Day as just a national holiday that is celebrated with barbeques, parades, and fireworks. However, we must remember and teach the rising generation that we celebrate on July 4^th because we are celebrating our “hard-won independence from Great Britain and the establishment of our great nation founded on freedom” (Mark Levin). 

One way for us to remember the importance of this day and to teach the rising generation about its importance is to revisit “the timeless principles outlined in the document that defined America’s identity and declared her sovereignty.” Mark Levin shares with Blaze Media key phrases from the Declaration of Independence and explains them to help us to remember what it means to be American citizens.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel to the separation,” he reads.

“Why do they keep talking about the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God? Because these were men of faith,” he says, noting that even Jefferson and Franklin, who were “deists,” still “embraced Judeo-Christian values” as well as the philosophies of John Locke, who declared that “your right to life, your right to be free doesn’t come from any government” or “from any man” but “from God Almighty.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“In other words, your natural rights, your unalienable rights belong to you, no matter what – even if you life in a tyranny because they’re God-given,” Levin explains.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness,” he continues reading.

Many today have forgotten that this “is the purpose of government – to secure your unalienable rights, to provide order and law so you can exercise your free will and so your voluntary participation in the civil society increases the benefit of the whole community,” Levin says. And while “we don’t rebel at the drop of a hat” – as “prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes” – we will never “acquiesce to tyranny.”

Levin reminds that, originally, there was a clause in the Declaration of Independence condemning slavery, but it was removed to maintain unity among the colonies, particularly to avoid alienating Southern states where slavery was entrenched, as the revolution required a united front against Britain.

When the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, they knew the risk. “All signed their death warrant because the British wanted to collect every one of them up and execute them,” says Levin, but they signed anyway, “[putting] their lives on the line” to make the America we love today a possibility.

“This is what Independence Day, July 4, is all about.” [Emphasis added.]

This is what the year-long celebration will be all about – a celebration of the men and women who brought about the founding of the United States of America and all those who have defended independence and freedom throughout the 250-year history of America.

How Can We Teach about the Founding of America to the Rising Generation?

The discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the beginning of a year-long commemoration of the founding of America. On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., is president of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America as well as the author of several books, and he wrote the following to start his article. 

Nearly 250 years ago, an extraordinary generation of Americans swore their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the cause of freedom. Determined to hand down the long-standing tradition of American self-government, our Founders took up arms, triumphed in a hard-fought war against the world’s strongest military power, and left us—their descendants—the greatest system of government the world has ever known. This is our inheritance. America is our birthright.

We can no more pay for such a princely gift than we can pay for the sunrise or the stars, but, as G.K. Chesterton reminds us, the way to pay for the priceless is to live lives worthy of the gift. That is what Americans today are called to do—to claim our birthright and keep alive what George Washington called “the sacred fire of liberty.”

Despite two and a half centuries of change, the United States is still at its best when its laws and policies—from immigration and national security to education and technology—reflect our founding principles.

This is impossible, however, if America’s future leaders are not familiar with the aspirations that inspired those who fought in the American Revolution and the powerful ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Unfortunately, much of this history has been forgotten. Many Americans today have grown up watching their sports heroes kneel during the national anthem and seeing their teachers refuse to say the pledge of allegiance. They have been told that they should be ashamed of our country, founded as it is on racism and sexism.

Roberts suggests in his article teaching correct principles about the founding of America will help to restore those principles in our nation today. However, we must first instill “curiosity about the Founding in their minds and a sense of informed patriotism in their hearts” before we can teach the rising “generation about the importance of the First Amendment, federalism, or the separation of powers.”

Roberts believes that the “best way to accomplish this [great task] is by recounting the remarkable stories of our Founders’ lives.” He reasons that by “encountering the lives and statesmanship of our greatest leaders, their vision for America, the challenges of the colonial world they lived in, and the sacrifices they endured to change that world,” we can be compelled “to reject the Left’s ahistorical accounts of their lives and legacies.”

To accomplish this important quest, we must believe that the best days for our nation lie ahead. We can recover the founding principles and instill them in the hearts of the rising generation. We must teach about “the courage that crossed the Delaware, the fortitude that outlasted that cold winter at Valley Forge, and the prudence that produced our Founding documents.” To teach properly, we must feel piety or “a deep sense of gratitude for what we have inherited.”

The Romans considered piety great among the virtues and it remains at the heart of any patriotic life. Unlike nostalgia and cynicism, which prompt passivity and stagnation, piety prompts action.

So, whether you are working in the classroom to remind a new generation about the moral truths and enduring principles that make America great, working in Congress to channel those truths and principles into good policy, or working in the courts to defend our Constitution’s original meaning, please take a moment today – as we celebrate 249 years of American independence – to learn more about the incredible lives of the men and women that founded our country, the patriotic piety their example rightly prompts in our hearts, and the civic action it spurs in our lives.

Let us never forget that, as Founding Father Benjamin Rush wrote, “Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice … Amor Patriae is both a moral and a religious duty. It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but of millions of our fellow creatures, not only of the present but of future generations.”

How Can I Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 71-75 in a lesson titled “No Weapon That Is Formed against You Shall Prosper.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. June 30–July 6: “No Weapon That Is Formed against You Shall Prosper”: Doctrine and Covenants 71–75

Ever since he was a boy, Joseph Smith faced critics—even enemies—as he tried to do God’s work. But it must have been particularly difficult in late 1831 when Ezra Booth began publicly berating the Church, because in this case the critic was a former believer. Ezra had seen Joseph use God’s power to heal a woman. He had been invited to accompany Joseph on the first survey of the land of Zion in Missouri. But he had since lost his faith and, in an attempt to discredit the Prophet, published a series of letters in an Ohio newspaper. And his efforts seemed to be working, because “unfriendly feelings … had developed against the Church” in the area (Doctrine and Covenants 71, section heading). What should believers do in a case like that? While there is not one right answer for every situation, it seems that often—including in this case in 1831—part of the Lord’s answer is to declare the truth and correct falsehoods by “proclaiming [the] gospel” (verse 1). Yes, the Lord’s work will always have critics, but in the end, “no weapon that is formed against [it] shall prosper” (verse 9).

The scripture block contains the following four principles: (1) The Spirit will guide me as I proclaim the Savior’s gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 71), (2) The Lord blesses me through the ministry of leaders like bishops (Doctrine and Covenants 72), (3) I have many opportunities to share the Savior’s gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 73), and (4) “Labor with your might … proclaiming the truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 75:1-16). This discussion will be about the last principle: “Labor with your might … proclaiming the truth.”

The revelation fund in Doctrine and Covenants 75 was addressed to people who had “given [their] names to go forth to proclaim [the Savior’s] gospel” (verse 2). One way to study this revelation is to make two lists: (1) how to share the gospel effectively and (2) how the Lord blesses and supports us as we do.

How to share the gospel effectively

Verse 3: Go forth without tarrying. Labor with your might and do not be idle.

Verse 4: Lift up your voices and proclaim the truth as revealed and commandments given to you.

Verse 10: Call on the name of God for the Comforter.

Verse 11: Pray always and not faint.

Verse 22: Gird up your loins and be faithful.

 

How the Lord blesses and supports us as we do

Verse 5: Those who are faithful will receive great blessings including a crown of honor and glory as well as immortality and eternal life.

Verse 16: Those who are faithful shall overcome all things and be lifted up at the last day.

Verse 21: Ye shall be filled with joy and gladness….

Verse 22: Ye shall overcome all things and be lifted up at the last day.

What Does Supreme Court Ruling on Porn Mean for Children?

Wise parents understand that independence and freedom are critical for proper growth of children. Today is Independence Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a perfect day to recognize that the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of freedom and independence from porn for our children. Jaco Booyens wrote that the Supreme Court decision was a “resounding moral affirmation” that “Children deserve protection from online pornography.” 

Booyens wrote that Big Porn used “the First Amendment like a shield” as it built a “billion-dollar industry” “on addiction, abuse, and shattered innocence.” However, the “shield” was ripped away when “the court drew a line in the sand” when it upheld “Texas’ pornography age-verification law.”

Texas’ age-verification law was never about silencing speech. It was about defending the voiceless and restoring the most basic responsibility we have as a society: to guard our children from harm.

That’s why my team at Jaco Booyens Ministries joined this case as a friend of the court. Our team submitted a brief to the Supreme Court that shared the lived experiences of survivors, the neurological science on childhood trauma, and the irrefutable consequences of exposure to online pornography.

As our brief stated in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton: “There is no liberty in trauma. There is no freedom in addiction. When minors are exposed to pornography, they are not exercising constitutional rights, they are being wounded by the unchecked rights of others.”

Still, the porn industry screamed “censorship.” Companies sued, claiming this was a violation of their “rights.” But what about our children’s right not to be harmed? What about the parents fighting to keep predators out of their homes?

The court acknowledged what every honest parent already knows: Access to this kind of content isn’t harmless. It isn’t “education.” It is psychological, emotional, and spiritual violence. During oral arguments, Justice Amy Coney Barrett captured the heart of the issue when she asked, “Why should it be so easy for a 12-year-old to access this kind of material online, when we all know it can be incredibly damaging?”

That wasn’t a rhetorical flourish; it was a recognition of truth.

For children, exposure to pornographic material isn’t a neutral event. It reshapes the brain. It numbs empathy. It seeds confusion, fear, and addiction. I can no longer pretend this is just about speech. This is about harm. Real harm. And the court, at long last, chose to see it….

This victory isn’t just for Texas; it’s a win for every child in America. It sends a clear message to every state in this nation: You have the power to protect your children… children are worth protecting, that their innocence is not up for sale, and their safety is not negotiable.

Let this ruling be a turning point – for our families, for our faith, for our future.

Wise parents understand that pornography is dangerous for children and adolescents in numerous ways. Parents can make a difference by fighting against pornography in all its versions. They can strengthen their family and then strengthen their community, state, and nation.

What Is the Trump Doctrine?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the Trump Doctrine. What is the Trump Doctrine and what does it mean? Many, if not most, presidents have a “doctrine” concerning foreign policy. Some of them are more well known than others. Martin Kelly, a history teacher and curriculum developer, wrote the following in an article. 

Foreign policy can be defined as the strategy a government uses to deal with other nations. James Monroe pronounced the first major presidential foreign policy doctrine for the newly created United States on December 2, 1823. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt made a significant amendment to the Monroe Doctrine. While many other presidents announced overarching foreign policy goals, the term “presidential doctrine” refers to a more consistently applied foreign policy ideology….

Kelly’s three key takeaways from the article are as follows:

·         The Monroe Doctrine stopped European colonization in the Americas as a key American foreign policy.

·         The Truman Doctrine promised support to countries fighting against communism and began America’s policy of containment.

·         The Reagan Doctrine provided support to anti-communist forces, influencing the fall of the Soviet Union.

In a perspective piece in The Deseret News, Valerie Hudson, a university distinguished professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, states that the “Trump doctrine is coming into focus.” 

The Trump Doctrine proceeds from the premise that the United States has lost hard power and must regain it despite interim sacrifice. Tariffs, a new emphasis on shipbuilding, the resurrection of American manufacturing – all are designed to increase the hard power of the United States. The Trump Doctrine also implies that involving ourselves in many geographic regions has helped sap US power, and contends that our allies are simply not doing enough to help.

More broadly, the Trump Doctrine asserts that the “rule-based order” of the post-World War II world no longer works for the United States. This was most recently articulated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, during his Senate confirmation hearings, said, “The postwar global order is not just obsolete, it is now a weapon being used against us.” Interestingly, that is the same position being taken by both Russia and China, as well.

Thus, the Trump Doctrine is a reversion back to what is apparently believed to be a surer foundation for peace: great power spheres of influence, that is, a true multipolar world that relies on regional policemen, not one global policeman, to keep the peace internationally. According to the Trump Doctrine, the U.S. will be uninvolved in sub-Saharan Africa until and unless there is a threat to homeland security that emanates from that continent. The Western Hemisphere, of course, will be the suzerainty of the United States….

The idea behind “spheres of influence” is that each great power respects the others’ spheres, dampening the potential for great power conflict. Until and unless the Trump Doctrine’s inconsistencies regarding the Middle East and Asia are sorted out, then, it is unclear whether the United States will not still wind up in conflicts that will prove very unpopular with the American people, and which are unlikely to end with resounding U.S. victories. These inconsistencies bear continued scrutiny.

In sum, the Trump Doctrine is a return to the traditional Realpolitik view that great power spheres of influence are the foundation of international security, with the corollary that the rebuilding of American hard power, especially its manufacturing base, will be necessary to maintain the American sphere. Without American support, the rule-based international order is truly over, though it is possible to assert that it’s been over for a while but no one wanted to acknowledge that reality. Now that it’s been acknowledged in Washington, D.C., it’s time to hold the funeral. Mourning may be justified, but it won’t resurrect the dead.

The Trump Doctrine puts America and Americans first. Taxpayer money will be used to benefit Americans, not other countries or foreigners who sneak into America. He is bringing manufacturing back to  America and using tariffs to bring about fairer trade. However, Trump will not hesitate to use America’s influence and power to stop aggression and to bring about peace.

Should Donald Trump Receive the Nobel Peace Prize?

Pakistan officials said that Donald Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) said that she has nominated him for the prize two separate times. She wrote on social media platform X: “No modern leader has done more for World Peace than President Trump, and it’s long past time he receives recognition.”

During Trump’s first administration, he brokered the Abraham Accords, which Tenney called “the first new Arab-Israeli peace agreements in nearly 30 years … shattering the myth that peace in the Middle East required endless concessions to terrorists.”

According to an article written by Lorenzo Prieto and published at The Daily Signal, Tenney nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in January 2024 and again in December 2024. She said that she would nominate him again when the nomination portal reopens in Fall 2025 if he does not receive a much-deserved Nobel Peace Prize. 2 Lawmakers Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

In addition to Tenney, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA.) said that he also nominated Trump this week for the Nobel Peace Prize “in recognition of his historic role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran and preventing the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet.”

However, Trump posted on Truth Social earlier in June that he doubted that the Nobel Peace Prize would be given to him despite his success at bringing peace to various parts of the world.

I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between Serbia and Kosovo, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for keeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia (A massive Ethiopian built dam, stupidly financed by the United States of America, substantially reduces the water flowing into The Nile River), and I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for doing the Abraham Accords in the Middle East which, if all goes well, will be loaded to the brim with additional Countries signing on, and will unify the Middle East for the first time in ‘The Ages!’

No, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that’s all that matters to me!

Are Modern LDS Falling to the Mistakes of Ancient Israel?

I had an experience last week that troubled me at the time and still troubled me the following day. As is often the case, I decided to ask the Lord if I should be concerned about the topic, and I felt that the answer was positive: I should be troubled and concerned about the situation.

The situation was a gathering of a few members of my family, and the topic of discussion was a change in the style of the sacred temple garment.

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enter the temple and receive the temple endowment, they make certain covenants with God. One of those covenants is to wear the temple garment as instructed. The instructions are to wear the garment throughout life and to wear it without any modification. Wearing the garment appropriately requires us to dress modestly.

Part of the temple endowment ceremony tells patrons that the temple garment is a reminder of the veil of the temple and is meant to remind us of the covenants made in the temple. The ceremony also teaches us that the veil represents Jesus Christ. This means that as we put on the temple garment, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. T

All the temple ordinances are sacred, and the Lord requires us to keep the covenants that we make in order to receive certain blessings. For those who do not keep their temple covenants, they lose those blessings.

Change in Style

At this point I would like to return to the change in the style of the temple garment. The previous style – still available – has a slight covering of the shoulder and a modest neckline for women. The new style still has a modest neckline but is sleeveless. This style is only available in nations that are extremely hot, such as the African nations. However, members in other areas of the world learned about the new style and are purchasing them while on vacation while in the hot areas or receiving them from family members or friends who live in the hot areas.

The change in style is not great, but the situation prompts some questions. One question has to do with having different standards of dress in various areas of the world. I believe that God has the same standards of living for all the children of men, so why are sleeveless garments available in some areas of the world and not in others?

A second question is much more serious. Was the change in garment style brought about because members of the Church rebelled about wearing the previous style and going without the applicable blessings? I was told that only 36% of the young adult generation wear the temple garment as instructed. Did the Church lower the standard because of this rebellion?

Examples from the Old Testament

As I pondered my new knowledge and discussed my concerns with God in prayer, I was reminded of a couple of times when the ancient Israelites rebelled against God.

The first example took place in the time of Moses who was instructed by God to prepare the Israelites to meet God. (See Exodus 19-20.) The people prepared for three days to sanctify themselves for the presence of God. However, the people became afraid then they saw “thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking,” and they moved away from the mountain. They “said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19).

The people missed the blessing of being taught by God because they did not trust God. They missed the opportunity of having the higher priesthood and were given the Law of Moses with the lower priesthood to guide them.

The second example took place during the time of the prophet Samuel. Samuel was old, and his sons were behaving unrighteously. The people did not want Samuel’s sons to rule over them. They said to Samuel, “make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

The people’s request did not please Samuel, and he took the problem to God. The Lord told Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

The ancient Israelites wanted to be like all other nations, and they rejected God. Therefore, they missed numerous blessings because they wanted to be like the people around them.

I wonder if the change in garment style is a lower standard given to Latter-day Saints because a sizable portion of members were not able to live the higher standard.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

After I considered the two examples discussed above, my mind went to the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Latter-day prophets and apostles teach that the ten virgins represent members of the Church of Jesus Christ. All ten of the virgins received an invitation to the wedding. Therefore, they knew the approximate date and time of the wedding. However, only five of the virgins brought sufficient oil to keep their lamps burning.

When the Bridegroom came at about midnight, the virgins trimmed their lamps. Five wise virgins added their extra oil to their lamps, but they did not have enough oil to share with the five foolish virgins. Therefore, the five foolish virgins had to go buy oil. When they returned to wedding venue, the door was closed, and they were not able to participate in the wedding.

Prophets and apostles have shared what the “oil” represents for us in the latter-days. President Spencer W. Kimball taught the following about the Ten Virgins: 

I believe that the Ten Virgins represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ and not the rank and file of the world. All of the virgins, wise and foolish, had accepted the invitation to the wedding supper….

They had the saving, exalting gospel, but it had not been made the center of their lives. They knew the way but gave only a small measure of loyalty and devotion….

Rushing for their lamps to light their way through the blackness, half of them found them empty. They had cheated themselves….

Hundreds of thousands of us today are in this position. Confidence has been dulled and patience worn thin. It is so hard to wait and be prepared always….

At midnight, the vital cry was made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Even the foolish ones trimmed their lamps, but their oil was used up and they had none to refill the lamps….

At midnight! Precisely at the darkest hour, when least expected, the bridegroom came. When the world is full of tribulation and help is needed, but it seems the time must be past and hope is vain, then Christ will come…. In the daytime, wise and unwise seemed alike; midnight is the time of test and judgment – and of offered gladness….

The foolish asked the others to share their oil, but spiritual preparedness cannot be shared in an instant. The wise had to go, else the bridegroom would have gone unwelcomed. They needed all their oil for themselves; they could not save the foolish. The responsibility was each for himself.

This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself.

The foolish virgins were not averse to buying oil. They knew they should have oil. They merely procrastinated, not knowing when the bridegroom would come.

In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures – each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity – these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.

Conclusion

The ”drops of oil” listed by President Kimball can be summarized by the word converted or conversion. Doing the acts (attending sacrament meeting and temple, wearing the temple garment, fasting and prayer, etc.) are good. It is good to be obedient to the commandments. However, the reason for why we do them is also important.

Do we attend sacrament meetings merely to be obedient and out of duty? Do we attend to be with our friends? Do we go because we love God and want to renew our covenants with Him? The same can be said about temple attendance or doing service or fulfilling callings. Are we doing them to be seen of other people, or do we do them because we love God and want to help Him to accomplish His work? Do we wear our temple garments as instructed, or do we alter them or not wear them at all?

Our attitudes and feelings are important. Are we merely going through steps, or are we becoming the type of person who will be qualified to be in the presence of Jesus Christ? Doing is good, but becoming is best. As for the temple, it is important to go through the temple and to make covenants with God, but it is more important for us to allow the temple to go through us and help us to become like Jesus Christ.