The statement that “governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man” does not imply that all governments were instituted of God, just the general concept of government. The standards for good government are also explained in this passage. Governments should make and administer laws “for the good and safety of society,” and these laws should “secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life” (D&C 134:1–2). Throughout the history of the world, many governments have failed to live up to these standards. Latter-day Saints hold an obligation to uphold these principles within the governments they live under. President Dallin H. Oaks counseled, “We should be knowledgeable citizens who are active in making our influence felt in civic affairs.”¹

The statement that “religion is instituted of God” also should not be taken to imply that all religion is instituted of God. There is much beauty and inspiration found in the different religions of the world. Latter-day Saints must use the lens of the restored gospel to measure the worth of religious concepts and teachings. In many cases religion has been abused and used to exercise unrighteous dominion and to stoke the flames of hatred and anger among men and women.

The standards for moral religion are presented Doctrine and Covenants 134:1-4 as well. Religions should not “infringe upon the rights and liberties of others” (D&C 133:4). Proper government should not prescribe rules of worship, bind the conscience of men or women, control conscience, or suppress freedom of the soul (D&C 134:4).

When a society encourages a robust freedom of religion, the rights of all people are safeguarded. Elder Robert D. Hales taught, “The faithful use of our agency depends upon our having religious freedom. We already know that Satan does not want this freedom to be ours. He attempted to destroy moral agency in heaven, and now on earth he is fiercely undermining, opposing, and spreading confusion about religious freedom—what it is and why it is essential to our spiritual life and our very salvation.”²

1. Dallin H. Oaks, “Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution,” April 2021 General Conference.

2. Robert D. Hales, “Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom,” April 2015 General Conference.

In an 1842 letter to John Wentworth, the editor of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith declared on behalf of the Church, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Article of Faith 10).³ Around the world, Latter-day Saints live under a number of different systems of government. In each country, the Saints are counseled to be good citizens and neighbors and to work to better themselves and the nations they live within.

An epistle written from Joseph Smith and other Church leaders in 1834 provided the following counsel to the elders of the Church:

All regularly organized and well established governments, have certain laws by which, more or less, the innocent are protected and the guilty punished. The fact admitted, that certain laws are good, equitable and just, ought to be binding upon the individual who admits this fact, to observe in the strictest manner an obedience to those laws. These laws when violated, or broken by that individual, must, in justice convict his mind with a double force, if possible, of the extent and magnitude of his crime; because he could have no plea of ignorance to produce; and his act of transgression was openly committed against light and knowledge.⁴

3. “Church History,” 1 March 1842, p. 710, JSP. 

4. Letter to the Church, circa February 1834, p. 135, JSP. 

Joseph Smith and other Church leaders forcefully emphasized the importance of religious freedom and the dangers of religious intolerance. Writing to John Wentworth in 1842, Joseph Smith asserted, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may” (Article of Faith 11).⁵ Though Joseph Smith and others sought to establish the kingdom of God on the earth, one of the values upheld and enshrined within that kingdom was tolerance for those with different religious convictions.

In a meeting of the Council of Fifty, a body intended to serve as a parliamentary council over the kingdom, Joseph Smith spoke at length on the importance of religious tolerance. He taught:

God cannot save or damn a man only on the principle that every man acts, chooses and worships for himself; hence the importance of thrusting from us every spirit of bigotry and intolerance towards a man’s religious sentiments, that spirit which has drenched the earth with blood. When a man feels the least temptation to such intolerance, he ought to spurn it from him. It becomes our duty on account of this intolerance and corruption—the inalienable right of man being to think as he pleases—worship as he pleases and being the first law of everything that is sacred—to guard every ground all the days of our lives.⁶

In the same meeting of the Council of Fifty, Joseph further declared:

When I have used every means in my power to exalt a man’s mind and have taught him righteous principles to no effect—he is still inclined in his darkness, yet the same principles of liberty and charity would ever be manifested by me as though he embraced it. Hence in all governments or political transactions a man’s religious opinions should never be called in question. A man should be judged by the law independent of religious prejudice, hence we want in our constitution those laws which would require all its officers to administer justice without any regard to his religious opinions, or thrust him from his office.⁷

5. “Church History,” 1 March 1842, p. 710, JSP.

6. Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846, Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845, pp. 117–18, JSP.

7. Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846, Volume 1, 10 March 1844–1 March 1845, p. 120, JSP.

The final part of the declaration must be carefully considered in the context in which it was written. The 1830s were a time of intense racial division in the United States. During this time many people of African ancestry lived in slavery, and there was a great racial divide between white and black Americans. Most Church members came from the Northern United States, where slavery was not allowed, though some Church members came from Southern States, where slavery was legal. Church leaders recognized the reality of this situation and counseled missionaries to be cautious and careful when teaching slaveholders or slaves. In a letter written to the missionaries of the Church, leaders counseled: “It should be the duty of an elder, when he enters into a house[,] to salute the master of that house, and if he gain his consent, then he may preach to all that are in that house, but if he gain not his consent, let him go not unto his slaves or servants, but let the responsibility be upon the head of the master of that house, and the consequences thereof; and the guilt of that house is no longer upon thy skirts.”⁸

The persecutions the Church faced in Missouri was one factor that inspired Church leaders to write the declaration in Doctrine and Covenants 134. Part of the intent of the declaration was to soothe the government leaders in Missouri who feared that Church members intended to spread abolitionist views. Church leaders may have also been concerned about accusations made by the Painesville Telegraph, a newspaper near to Kirtland, that the Church was seeking greater political influence.⁹

When Joseph Smith ran for president of the United States in 1844, he openly opposed slavery and advocated for its end. In his official presidential platform, he declared, “Petition also, ye goodly inhabitants of the slave states, your legislators to abolish slavery by the year 1850, or now, and save the abolitionist from reproach and ruin, infamy and shame. Pray Congress to pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands, and from the deduction of pay from the members of Congress. Break off the shackles from the poor black man and hire him to labor like other human beings; for ‘an hour of virtuous liberty on earth, is worth a whole eternity of bondage!’”¹⁰

8. Letter to the Elders of the Church, 16 November 1835, p. 211, JSP.

9. “Historical Introduction,” Appendix 4: Declaration on Government and Law, circa August 1835 [D&C 134], JSP.

10. General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, 7 February 1844, p. 9, JSP.