“Speaking Up for Truth,” Liahona, Aug. 2023, United States and Canada Section.
Speaking Up for Truth
The Lord has called us to “testify and warn the people.”
Years ago my mother was reading in the newspaper that a large church in our area of Detroit, Michigan, was having a meeting to expose the “Mormon cult.” We were shocked when my mother announced she was going. This was not something she would normally do.
The evening came, and my mother went and sat in the middle of several thousand people. The pastor read some literature against the Church and criticized its doctrine. At the end he asked, “Are there any questions?”
My little mother raised her hand and stood up. “I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I categorically deny everything you have said as falsehoods!” she stated boldly. Then she continued sweetly, “If anyone would like to know the truth about the Church, I’d be happy to answer their questions in the foyer afterward.” There was dead silence.
After the meeting, it was like the parting of the Red Sea as my mother walked out resolutely and stood in the foyer. Thousands filed past her quietly, knowing that what they had heard that day about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was simply not true. She then shook the pastor’s hand and left. She came home and shared her experience. We were stunned. I have never been prouder of my courageous mother in my life.
When I think of standing for truth, I also think of the Apostle Paul. The New Testament is full of stories of Paul fearlessly teaching the truth in front of leaders and Jews and Gentiles. He told the elders of the Church:
“I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:20–21).
Paul didn’t fear man and was devoted to testifying boldly of Christ.
Each of us has been called to stand for truth and be a voice of warning in the last days. The Lord said, “I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:81).
Why We Should Speak Up for Truth
We merely have to watch the daily news or look around us to see that society is degrading rapidly. It can become soul numbing, and many of us may be tempted to just withdraw and keep quiet. But the Lord’s direction is clear. We are expected to speak up. We are expected to be a warning voice. We are expected to defend the truth in a world that increasingly does not want to hear or accept truth.
“The time has come when members of the Church need to speak out and join with the many other concerned people in opposition to the offensive, destructive, and mean-spirited media influence that is sweeping over the earth,” said President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.1
At a religious studies symposium in California, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who grew up in Germany during World War II, talked about a visit he and his wife made to Auschwitz, a former concentration camp established in German-occupied Poland: “I wonder how history might have been changed had the people of Germany spoken with one voice against the evil that rose around them. Perhaps future generations will ask the same of us today.”2
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to know truth and to have the influence of the Holy Ghost to help us recognize the difference between truth and error. When we use these gifts to speak, our influence for good will grow and have profound impacts. “Too often evil rises in the world because good men and women do not find the courage to speak against it,” said Elder Uchtdorf. “And sometimes terrible, preventable events happen because we fail to open our mouths.”3
So how do we speak up for what’s right?
Follow the Promptings of the Spirit
It is important to be in tune with the Spirit to guide us on when and where to speak up. My mother was clearly prompted by the Spirit. Attending a large meeting of another church was not something she would normally do. But she felt that she should do it and acted on that feeling.
Addressing the women of the Church, President Russell M. Nelson declared: “Attacks against the Church, its doctrine, and our way of life are going to increase. Because of this, we need women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ and who will use that understanding to teach and help raise a sin-resistant generation. We need women who can detect deception in all of its forms. We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity.”4
Certainly, we need men and youth and children who will express their beliefs as well.
And we need to do so in a way that avoids contention so we can be guided by the Spirit. Elder Uchtdorf taught:
“Conflict is inevitable. …
“Contention, however, is a choice. It’s one way people choose to respond to conflict. …
“There is a better way.
“To some, we say nothing. To others, we state with quiet dignity who we are, what we believe, and why we believe.”5
Speak Truth
Several years ago, an atheist parent of a child in our school district was demanding that the words “under God” be removed from the students’ daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. He was also demanding a “God-free” classroom for his daughter where there would be no mention of God or any religion. I went to the school board meeting where the issue would be discussed.
One of the speakers was a 12-year-old Latter-day Saint young man. He told the school board members his name and said, “Please don’t do this. I have one friend who is Jewish, one who is Muslim, one who is Catholic, one who is Buddhist, and me—I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of us stand for the pledge, and some don’t. Some say, ‘under God,’ and some don’t. It’s OK. We’re all different. We all get along. Please vote this down.”
The entire room erupted into a standing ovation, and the school board voted it down—quoting a courageous 12-year-old young man.
He spoke truth. And everyone heard it clearly. In a vote that could have failed, one 12-year-old young man made the difference.
President Nelson said, “We are grateful for each time you stand up and speak up for truth—especially when it is not popular.”6 As we speak truth, the Spirit can and will witness of the truth of our words to those who hear.
It can be as easy as just stating a positive opinion:
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I remember when a fellow ward member spoke up during a picnic when the conversation was going astray and said, “We try to watch good movies in our family.” It immediately changed the conversation.
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A mother spoke to her child’s teacher about a questionable assignment, saying, “Please give my son another assignment. We try to protect our child’s innocence.”
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A teen girl spoke up to her friends and said, “Please keep your language cleaner around me.”
All simple statements. All are effective in influencing the situation and others for good.
I am always strengthened by watching leaders of the Church unapologetically and directly speak truth. They are not embarrassed. They do not mince words. They are not harsh or unkind, but they are true to the Savior and to His doctrine. We can follow their example.
Be Respectful and Courageous
It is important that we maintain a respectful tone when speaking out. President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, stated: “We are cast as combatants in the war between truth and error. There is no middle ground. We must stand up for truth, even while we practice tolerance and respect for beliefs and ideas different from our own and for the people who hold them.”7
Often when we contemplate speaking up, we feel fear. We wonder, “What will the neighbors think?” “What if people laugh at me?” “What if I lose my job or my reputation?” “What if my friends or family members reject me?”
It is clear who is the source of this fear. President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: “The adversary of all truth would put into your heart a reluctance to make an effort. Cast that fear aside and be valiant in the cause of truth and righteousness and faith.”8
We will have more and more opportunities to speak for truth and light in a darkening world. President Hinckley also stated:
“Let our voices be heard. I hope they will not be shrill voices, but I hope we shall speak with such conviction that those to whom we speak shall know of the strength of our feeling and the sincerity of our effort. …
“I think the Lord would say to us, ‘Rise, and stand upon thy feet, and speak up for truth and goodness and decency and virtue.’”9
The Lord is counting on us—His valiant sons and daughters—to stand for truth and be a warning voice to all of His children. It will require us to be in tune with the Spirit, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) and with courage and faith in the Lord. And as we do, we will be a vital part in building the Lord’s kingdom on the earth.
The author lives in Utah.