This excerpt from Elder Boyd K. Packer's speech
(What Every Freshman Should Know), to graduates of University of Utah in 1973, was quite interesting. I have always loved Shakespeare and I have also, long felt the 'higher education system' strips the innocence away from our youth. Mainly, my biggest concerns are with the increasingly, progressive curriculum and overtly, liberal leaning professors who use academia to distort the truths which have been taught in the childhood homes of wide-eyed Freshmen. *Disclaimer: Please do not think I feel this way about all professors, this is a result of the experiences I have had in my own education, as well as those of close friends and family members.
What Every Freshman Should Know is a powerful talk. I feel there are some important points which, considering the date it was given and looking at our own societal turmoil, I feel are deeply prophetic. I will try to highlight a few but strongly urge the reader to study the excerpt for themselves.
Dissenters:
Be
assured that one who strives to widen the breadth of accepted moral
conduct does so to condone what he is doing. Not infrequently you will
find him unworthy. If he derides spiritual development, it can generally
be concluded that he has failed in the subject. He defends himself by
declaring it an unnecessary discipline. He is the one to ridicule faith
and humility, to smile in contempt when anyone mentions virtue, or
reverence, or dedication, or morality.
Let
me give you a clue. There is something very interesting about a person
who is anxious to forsake the standards of his church, particularly if
he leaves them and encourages others to do likewise.
Speaking of the treasonous Iago (Othello) :
You
may meet an Iago one day. Through innuendo and sly remarks, through an
inflection or a question, in mock innocence he might persuade you to
kill your faith, to throttle your patriotism, to tamper with drugs, to
abandon morality and chastity and virtue. If you do, you have an
awakening as terribly tragic as that of Othello.
This
is the man that ridicules belief in a hereafter and says there is no
such thing as God. He’d better hope he is right. For if, as some of us
know, the opposite is true, the final scene will be his, and justice
more than poetic and penalties adequate in every way will be exacted
from him.
Patriotism and Political Correctness:
Some
years ago a plaintiff prospered in her grievance concerning the saying
of prayers in public schools. The practice was declared unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court. The decision was partial. The effect was to offer
great encouragement to those who would erase from our society every
trace of reference to the Almighty.
She
wanted to protect her son from any contact with religion. Her son is
protected from my type of religion—my son is exposed to hers.
~~~~
Remember,
there are some rights and wrongs. We must come to understand that there
are basic truths and basic principles, basic conformities necessary to
achieve happiness. There are some things that are false, that are wrong.
We cannot be happy and at once be wicked. Never, regardless of how
generally accepted that course may be.
If
it were printed in every book, run on every news press, set forth in
every magazine; if it were broadcast on every frequency, televised from
every station, declared from every pulpit, taught in every classroom,
advocated in every conversation, still it would be wrong. Wickedness
never was happiness, neither indeed can it be, neither indeed ever will
it be.
(Boyd K. Packer, What Every Freshman Should Know University of Utah Commencement 1973)
And ultimately, the strong reminder of how we ought to respond to infringements upon our God-given rights:
I declare in favor of full academic freedom. If prayer is to leave our
schools, let the ridicule of prayer leave also. I speak for humility,
for faith, for reverence, for brotherhood, for charity, for patriotism. I
speak for temperance, and I likewise speak for justice. (Boyd K. Packer, What Every Freshman Should Know University of Utah Commencement 1973)
It is vitally important for us to stand firm in our standards, to hold strong to our faith, to pledge openly our devotion to God, Country, and Family. If it were imperative for a servant of God to preach this to a graduating class, how much more crucial is it for us to follow this counsel now? We cannot back down to those who would bully us or shame us for doing that which our Heavenly Father instructs us to do.
Hope from an Apostle:
Take with you your faith, your patriotism, your virtue. If they are
battered a bit, carry them away with you nevertheless. They can be
renewed. You will come to know in the years ahead that life has precious
little to offer without them. (Boyd K. Packer, What Every Freshman Should Know University of Utah Commencement 1973)
Our children look to us, depend on us, to remain vigilant and to prepare them adequately for the onslaught which awaits them, in the world. the way to accomplish this is by following the counsel of those, loving servants, send from the Father to watch over and guide our day.
